Sewing Necklace

i made another necklace out of vintage "fixins and findins" that is "supposed" to be for sale.

i should have never added the CEW charm to it.

i "suppose" it's mine to keep now....

when will i ever be able to let these things go?!

note to self: stop attaching personal items to treasures you want to be able to let go of and sell...

the "sewing necklace" is all you need to do your mending on the run!

do you remember this sweet little needle/pin case i found at cargo in pdx?

the one that doesn't have a loop for attaching...

well i found another!

lucky me!

with a loop!

this one, which is more square, and less rectangular, was scored from my friends Dan and Cindy when they had a space in the antique mall next to Smashing Rubbish.

and it was on sale! 

this lovely little CEW charm is added in fun and really has no useful purpose other than to remind me i love my husband, CEW!

the vintage velvety baby strawberry is the dangle from an old pin cushion and is quite useful as i can sharpen my needles/pins in it!

yes, the awesome scissors are sharp and pointy.

and that extra bit of vintage chain/necklace goodness is also just for the heck of it.

always be prepared.

it will be one of the foremost tenets of the society i am founding, likely to be named: The Not So Secret Society Of Exposed Rough Edges.

or tnsssoere, for short (!)

ha!

more on the not secret society soon,

xoxox

jennette

Green Cart

this is one of my favorite things in my house, this green cart or trolley, as i just discovered it is called in the UK.

my dad gave me this cart/trolley for my birthday a few years ago.

he knows me well.

and yes, in this photo it is a mess, but normally it is used as our "nature table" (as if the whole house hasn't already become our "nature table"!)

it's that boho naturalist styling thing i go for...

my dearest friend Suze just lent me her copy of the UK Country Living magazine, Country Home.

it is a gorgeous magazine filled with inspiring images and ideas.

and on page 113, in the decorate your kitchen section, look what i found:

my cart!

the trolley my dad gave me was found at a gardening center in eastern washington. 

i wonder where the UK twin was discovered?

quelle coincidence!

in other news, smashing rubbish news, today is the last thursday that the shop is officially open until fall!

i will have the shop open EVERY Friday and Saturday, unless otherwise posted, but i won't be open other days unless i get a wild hair, a spontaneous burst of shop opening energy, or some random urging to open it up.

if you see lots of cool loot out on the sidewalk in front of the shop, that means i have given into the random, wild, spontaneous urge and opened the doors for the day!

otherwise, you can expect to find us open EVERY Friday and Saturday thru the summer, noon to 6pm.

come see us when we are open and plan ahead if you need Smashing Rubbish merch for a gift or event.

my phone number and email are posted on the shop window so you are welcome to call for a viewing appointment as well, any time, and i will do my best to accommodate you!

thank you for your continued support and kindness friends!

i am going to take time this summer to get my balance, play with my kids, and be creative in ways i have not had time for this past year.  thanks for hanging in here with me, checking in , and leaving your sweet comments.  i will be continuing to blog and document all my finds, projects and experiences here so stick with me a little longer as we return to our regularly scheduled programming!

heading to the ocean for the weekend while kathy tends shop,

xoxoxo

jennette



Floral Geometric Velvet Bag

i made myself another bag from a vintage skirt

i used an unused belt for the straps

i lined it with material from a skirt i used to wear

i like the shape of bags made from skirts.

and i like the "bigness"

here is the skirt layed out, unaltered.

the skirt came with a matching fitted jacket that i kept

i love the floral and geometric goodness/combo going on here

another, in different light.

love it!

i sew, i sew, it's off to work i go,

xoxoxo

jennette

Birch Bark Phone Case

my iphone case is clear.

cheap.

and clear.

i had an "a-ha" moment and decided to give it a go.

you see the kind of "clear" i'm talkin bout?

hello gorgeous-pressed-flat-birch-bark "paper"

remember this?

yes.

i'm a dork.

and i wasted bark by tracing the wrong way the first time.

oh well.

here is my authentic and one of a kind birch bark iphone case.

yahooie!

i love it!

eating more shortcake,

xoxox

jennette

Velvet Cuff

made myself a vintage velvet cuff.

i had this old gorgeous faded blue velvet from the lining of an old silverware box.

and i had this old silver cuff that used to have a string of sequins glued to it, (but i ripped those off!).

so i traced the size of the cuff, rolling it from one side to the other, to make a pattern for the velvet before cutting it out.

then i got some elmers glue out and used a paint brush to glue the velvet to the cuff, one inch at a time.

when i got to the other side and there was a bit of fabric left. i just trimmed of the excess.

then i set it near the heater to dry so i could wear it the same night for going to a show in ballard.

now i am working on adding some vintage bias edged, vintage velvet panels, to some awesome vintage boots i just scored at the thrift.  yes, i will show you when i am done!

always and forever loving me some vintage velvet,

xoxoxox

jennette

Victorian Amethyst Tassel Necklace

i made this victorian amethyst tassel necklace from a victorian tassel and a chunk of pointy amethyst!

the tassel was hallow in the upper middle part, like a small woven cup or basket.

and i had this beautiful piece of amethyst that used to be on my alter.  but it fit so snug and perfect into this little tassel cup that it got super glued in!

here you can see it just sitting in there and this is before i ironed the tassel ends.

i figured once i got the mineral set, i would add jump rings to the sides and just attach a simple vintage chain.

and so i did.  and i am really loving letting the hardware show on the sides lately.  so when i put it on i just swing the chain around and attach it on the side there.

this is definitely not the shirt i would normally wear it with but i wanted to see how it looked on.

so i do love it.

and when i can come to terms with letting it go, it will be for sale in the shop.

we all know i have a hard time with this...

but for now i think i will wear it like it's my new favorite necklace!

off to see Breathe Owl Breathe and hang with my buddies,

xoxoxox

jennette

Paper Mache Bee

i did some paper mache recently and thought i would share a nice way to give new life to old plastic crap!

like this plastic crap!  i found this at the thrift.  and as i am attracted to all things honey bee, i had to nab it.  but alas, i hate the plastic-ness of it!  so i figured i'd use it as a base and paper mache over it! 

smarty party much?!

just joking!

(kinda!)

since i have been "going gluten free" i have all this wheat flour in my kitchen i need to use up somehow.  so why not mache paste?  It turned out a bit bumpy and clumpy but it ended up ok with this extra texture.

working away

gettin somewhere

completely covered and starting to dry

after it dried i gave it a coat of thinned out white acrylic paint.  i wanted some of the print from the newspaper to show through like you see on Ann Wood's boats

a view from beneath

so the semi-opaque white honey bee is just hanging out in the shop.

not sure if i will try to add color or detail.

but i am happy to not being looking at the plastic-ness of it anymore!  it's been transformed, upcycled, and repurposed!

what are you all crafting lately?

gifts?

me too!

going home soon to play with boxes, wrapping paper and ribbon!

xoxox

jennette

p.s.

don't forget the shop will close at 4pm on Saturday December 24th and will reopen Wednesday January 4th at noon.

Thanks for all your support!