The “My First Wallet” by Frank & Me:
I remember having a nylon Fisher-Price rainbow wallet with play money in and if I remember it, it was definitely one of my favorite toys. This is the *cutest,* and what a great idea.
I can imagine painting my future kitchen stark white and having little Woodmouse toys all over it! They are vibrant without being overly so, and they look pre-loved (which they are, because you can tell she loves making them!) which is a good look on toys.
I spend a lot of time combing Etsy Pounce Undiscovered.
My first find today was Pretty Penny Designs‘ Vintage Poppy Button necklace:
The delicate crocheted wire looks great with the beads in it, and I imagine it stretching out and returning to shape all day as you move around with it. I dig the red painted focal.
Red Pepper makes the Barbie clothes I used to dream of making. The Starshine dress would be perfect for any big Barbie occasion.
I predict very good things for the new Sad Crow Side Show. I am a sucker for folky art (mmm milk paint).
I can’t go to the central coast without hitting the antiques and bead stores hard. So even though we were a little short on time (we usually try to take a long weekend over there and this was a rushed overnight) I found plenty of things to get into.
I started off at Unique Bead in San Luis Obispo. They had findings and TONS of beads out by-piece. They had good prices on some of their semi-precious bead strands, I picked up a strand of small (6 or 8 mm) picasso jasper rounds labeled at $25 for $7 and change. The selection of higher-end semi-precious strands (on sale – 25% off) were behind the counter but I was readily invited back to peek. Unique Bead is much more than just a bead store – they had lots of unfinished stones and lapidary supplies, finished fine jewelry, and plenty of novelty jewelry items. Being in downtown SLO, which is a huge college town, I definitely understand the casual approach to the huge store area and the large selection of informal and body jewelry.
I couldn’t resist hitting up Beads Back on Main in Morro Bay for a brief visit. They carry the dichroic glass beads you see in the link but they also carry plenty of other beads, findings & chain as well. I love this store because it is completely organized – each set of strands of a specific type, size and color have their own hook on the wall and the price and material is clearly labeled. There is lots of light and plenty of space to move around even if there are other shoppers. I do like Beads By the Bay quite a bit but I only had time for one shop and Beads on Main is right next to the new/used bookstore which provides a diversion for my traveling partner.
I unearthed a wonderful bead-related surprise on this trip. Remember When in Cayucos has a TON of beautiful semi-precious strands. I did not buy even a tiny fraction of what I loved there, but I will say that I spent the whole ride home wishing I had bought a strand of big striped carnelian rounds only to find that I had and had just forgotten about it. It was something like finding $20 in an old pair of jeans, but better.
There was a soft yellow leather suitcase at Remember When Too (yes, they are related) that I was hoping would still be there from my last trip but someone else scored out on that one. I did get a yummy brown samsonite train case for a scandalously low price and a couple of old maps. It was a distinct challenge to leave Rich Man, Poor Man empty-handed that I met only because I practically ran through it as my traveling partner was awaiting me for our departure, browned butter sea salt cookies from the Little Market in hand.
I set up my light tent on Sunday thinking I would have a free afternoon to take pictures but of course, after I brought all my projects down and took up the entire kitchen bar with the thing, my battery was dead. I based my light tent on this post over at make, and it looks quite a bit like that but with fabric interfacing over the pvc to diffuse the light.
To build it I purchased several of the short lengths of 1/2″ pvc (the long ones wouldn’t fit in the car) and the appropriate connectors. I purchased these items at Lowe’s along with the industrial clip lamps (approximately $6 apiece if I remember correctly, I think the pvc & connectors were under $5 for all) and full-spectrum lightbulbs. I made the frame to fit a piece of 19 x 25 mi-tientes paper from JoAnn’s, primarily because I associate posterboard with decidedly un-fun school projects and I’ve wanted an excuse to buy some of that paper for a while. It has a wonderful texture. Also at JoAnn’s I picked up some fabric interfacing, the non-fusible kind (the clip lamps do get hot and although I’m careful to keep them from touching the interface or getting it too hot I don’t want to risk it sticking to the shade) that was a dollar or two a yard.
The pictures I took last night were lacking only in a little extra brightness and stability so I ordered the gorillapod tripod. I gave my sister the photographer one for Christmas and she is happy with it so I am sure it will more than meet my needs. I also used some accumulated geek points to get a powersquid so I can ramp up the focused lighting with more clip-ons. All in all, it was a very affordable project and I think once I get more lights up it will be well worth the small amount of money and effort.
Today, a light tent, tomorrow, etsy!
