Portland, Projects, & Moisture Festival in Seattle

Its Sunday.  I have been working on two awesome projects but they both are part of some up coming birthday presents for friends so I cant share them yet.  Can't wait to though since they are fun and easy projects that you can do too. 

Above you can see a photo of an utensil drawer/divider that must used to sit in someones kitchen drawer protecting spoons and forks.  Over time its interior green flocked material lining stuff has faded and come off in places to give it this perfect velvet looking green patina inside of it.  I love it.  As soon as I saw it at Stars Antique Mall near Sellwood I thought it could either hold litle miniature items oe become part of an assemblage piece I am working on.  I literally have tons of this kind of stuff around here.  Waiting its turn to be the next project in process. 

I saw two old cruddy and perfect patina painted red drawers just like these at a sale on Friday but I passed them up.  Sometimes I cant bring myself to buy a good piece because I have so many projects going and cant justify having another thing laying around waiting for attention.  I should have bought the red ones though.  Darn it! 

This amazingly perfect condition lamp shade/ lighted picture thingy is so cool.  Chad found it hanging on the wall in someones space at House of Vintage in Portland, on Hawthorn, and it was only $10.  Yes, I know, can you believe it?!  Maybe you have to see theis in person to see how neat it is.  The picture shows on both sides and its like really thick transperancy film material, but thick, I mean really thick.  And each corner has a very small grommet stuck in it like you are meant to attach it to the front of something lit up, like an advertising sign//board, or to those old vintage light up pictures people woould hang in their living room.  Or maybe its meant to wrap around a lamp shade base or something similar.  We have it leaning in a window right now and it looks cool with the light coming thru.  We intend to find a flatish little slab of wood that we can cut a channel in and wrap the shade into a cylinder shape and fit it in there with a light bulb in the middle.  Another small little project that needs to happen.  It'lll happen, cuz I love this thing!  Nice score Chad!

Above you can see a couple covers of old books I found in Portland.  The bluish book covers on the left I found at Stars Antique Mall and there are two of them, with both sides looking perfectly aged and with great patina, so I have 4 pieces of those when I seperate the backs and fronts.  The one on the right is from Monticello and its back side is great too so I have 2 covers there.  I will use all 6 peices, seperately, in assemblage pieces I have in mind.  Most likely they will end up as the background in a shadow box/ diorama type dealio.  I wish I could get my walls to look like any of these book covers and I would be in heaven.  The age, wear, patina, and mix of colors, texture and depth are what I long for.  I cant stand my flat single color walls but know this is not the house to completely make over with plaster walls and pigments.  Sigh.  Another time and place in my future.

Went to a fabulous and wonderful comedy/variete show at Moisture Festival last night at Hale's Palladium in the Ballard/Freemont area.  What fun!  The Mositure Festival works to keep Comedy, Variete, Burlesque and Vaudeville alive.  We went with freinds and by the time we left we were holding our faces because our cheeks hurt and ached from laughing so much!  It was that fun!  So we are taking the kids next Sunday.  The day time and 7:30pm show are for kids too and the late night 10:30pm show is for adults only.  I already know my kids will LOVE this because it is funny, weird, and odd.  It's right up our alley!  There are clowns, jugglers, acrobats, comediens, musicians, rope acts, aerialists, dancers, fan twirlers, and burlesque in the late shows.  Check out their times and other shows if this at all appeals to you.  I think you will find it entertaining and enjoyable.