abby try again

sponsor spotlight: Trampoline Vintage

 

 

 

 

(My blog sponsors  are paid advertisers who help me pay for all my film and developing-basically-they make this blog possible. A huge thanks to all of them! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor in April, I am now booking spots- please email me at abbytryagain@gmail(dot)com. I'm gonna change it up a bit and offer a few different rates-so if you've inquired in the past-the rates have changed a bit.  The ad spots are there on the sidebar and are available for indie businesses. Thanks!)

I am of the strong belief that people are born with gifts. Kim Ludy, the owner of Trampoline Vintage, possesses the gift of having "an eye". More specifically, Kim has "an eye" for good vintage things.

Every time I check out her etsy site, I am literally in awe of all the great stuff that's packed in their. She has a way of picking treasures-some obvious vintage greats and others more quirky. At the moment I am loving the old wedding things she's been adding to her shop and this category will always make my hear pitter patter.

You can read a great interview with Kim here and follow her flickr over here.

Thanks, Kim!

found memories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you grow up as number eight of nine children, your memory develops a little bit differently.

Your older siblings' tales of fun and adventure start to blur into your own; photo album pages looked at time and time again suddenly start to feel like a past you lived and oral fables of fishing trips you never went on begin to invade your brain as real truths you once experienced.

Imagine this; California in the 1970's, beautiful weather, the Sierra Nevada mountains all around you, your brightly colored Jansport pack is strapped to your back and you are almost to your campsite. Can you see it? I can. Problem is, I was born in 1982 and those memories-no matter how many times I can imagine them in my head-belong to my Dad and my older sisters.

Growing up I was told my Dad was a backpacking legend. 

I remember hearing stories from my sisters, older kids at church and from my Mom. He'd go for days-they'd say-all over the park; fishing and hiking and having adventures. He'd hike down into the steepest canyon to find a secret fishing spot. He'd scale a large rocky area just for a great viewpoint. Sometimes he would drag all of the older sisters along; each one with their own candy colored pack-for miles and miles into the woods. They would set up camp-take funny polaroids, swim, fish, rest-you know-the usual backpacking shenanigans. One time there was even a medical emergency involved and he grew a crazy long beard...I forget all of the details-but I remember it was very impressive.

By the time I was at the ripe old age of eight; My Dad's adventures were few and far between. I do remember the occasional day hike on the Ladybug trail. We were so lucky to be able to stop first at the Noisy Water Cafe where pancakes were the size of large diner plates and three of us girls would barely finish one. The three mile hike always felt like an epic pioneer trek (hey-I grew up Mormon with a big imagination). Somehow I remember always coming home with some sort of crazy rash and sun burns...

But a backpacking adventure? Nope, never really went on one.

* * * * * *

On my most recent trip home I got to do something I don't think I've ever done before in all of my 27 years of living. I got to spend time alone with my Dad.

We drove up into the hills, stopped at places that held old memories and for the first time in my life-I got to hear some of those old backpacking legends from the source himself.

And you know what?

They were all true.

five senses friday

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

For those of you who are new readers (or maybe never understood what I was blabbing about) five senses friday was started years ago by my friend, Shari Altman. I use it weekly as way to sit down and reflect on what the past days have been like for me.

I would love it if you played along-you can leave your own version in the comments or on your blog.

Hearing:

this old Bob Dylan song

Tasting:

a woodsy,  mushroom soup

Smelling:

a citrusy candle from Amber

Seeing:

signs of spring everywhere

Feeling:

slight soreness in my feet from roller skating more in the past two weeks than in the past 15 years

****

I hope you all have a love day!

some Portland Projects

 

 

 

Good Morning!

I hope you are all well.

I feel a bit joyous after the copious amounts of sunshine I received yesterday. It was quite a pleasant surprise.

So I've been working on three separate "Portland Projects" that are slowly coming to fruition and though it's not time to completely spill all of the beans-maybe I can just share a little?

So my sad little Portland Places blog hasn't been updated in awhile-but guess what? I have five post scheduled for this weekend, starting tomorrow. So if you are planning a trip to Portland or just dreaming of one-be sure to check it :)

Another project I've been working on with my friend, Summer. Do you read her amazing design blog? The girl's got great taste! If I'm lucky-the project will be in print(!) this fall...but I'm still crossing my fingers :)

With the third project I'll be working with a so many awesome, talented ladies to put on something very special during the first weekend in November. Can't say what just yet-but if you are anywhere near Portland-I hope to see you there!

* * * * *

What are you working on right now? I'd love to hear about it! Hope you are having a lovely Thursday, friends.

absolutely cuckoo

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning!

I think it would be safe to say that I feel "absolutely cuckoo" today-so I figured-hey, what a great day to share these photos :)

These, of course, belong to my Mother. And, of course, she has many more. I try to photograph them in situ, but the lighting and angles just never work out quite right (see a failed Polaroid attempt here).

I have one tiny clock to myself, I always forget to wind it and sometimes wonder how different the world must've been without clocks...and so many other things, for that matter.

Time is always relative anyway, right?

* * * * * * *

Today over at this is not my work I will be introducing my first guest blogger. I'm so excited that she will be posting weekly crafty inspirations. The post should be up around 10 am PST.

* * * * * * *

And some of you have emailed me lately, wondering if the custom prints in my shop were available for photos you see on my blog-but that aren't listed in my shop. Yes! Yes they are-just order the size of print you'd like and I will get back to you via email and figure out exactly what print it is you'd like. No problem at all :)

* * * * * * *

Thanks for reading and Happy St. Patrick's Day! (And here's one more photo of clocks for you)

mists and tides

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Oregon Coast is a funny thing to me.

The beaches I grew up traveling to were calm, boring sandy strips of Southern California Coast. Not that there's anything wrong with a large area of sand that is predictably sunny and a nice place to take children on a summer's day. Nope, nothing wrong with it at all.

But the Oregon coast is wild; unpredictable, really. One moment you are standing on the sunny shore with what seems like miles of sand in front of you-and the next, you are ankle deep in ocean water and dark clouds are rolling in. I love it.

Recently we had the good fortune of being able to borrow a car (we sold our's when James went back to school) and had a few days off-so we headed out to Manzanita Beach. While there we saw a hand written sign for a rummage sale in the nearby town of Wheeler.

We jumped at the idea of a rummage sale held in a town that boasts 391 residents. And while the rummage sale was a bit frightening, we found the town of Wheeler quite charming.

We had breakfast in a funny little cafe downstairs from the old Wheeler Hotel. We ate our bacon and eggs at a table near the window-where several of the town's old folk were gathered with binoculars. A heard of Elk were stuck on an embankment on the other side of the nearby river. They were watching the Elk's every move and even offered us a look.

We wandered down the small main street and found junk shop after junk shop full of treasures. Sea glass and old Japanese floats abounded as well as driftwood and paintings of boats. It wasn't clear if these vendors actually wanted to sell these items or if they thought of their spaces as small museums to a fading way of life.

One thing was certain; I was happy to have stumbled upon that little town.

* * * * * * * *

I hope your Tuesday is going well. See you back here tomorrow.

sponsor spotlight: Inklore

 

(My blog sponsors  are paid advertisers who help me pay for all my film and developing-basically-they make this blog possible. A huge thanks to all of them! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor in April, I am now booking spots- please email me at abbytryagain@gmail(dot)com. I'm gonna change it up a bit and offer a few different rates-so if you've inquired in the past-the rates have changed a bit.  The ad spots are there on the sidebar and are available for indie businesses. Thanks!)

Sam Hirst is the California based artisan behind Inklore. She makes hand sewn, hand printed home goods with simplicity and ease in mind. She uses strong natural fabric and water based inks and dyes.

Sam's been creating her modern eco friendly goods since 2008 and has recently started a design blog called good measure.  You can check out her process blog here and her web store here.

I especially love her idea of a simple grow chart-like a mobile version of those old marks on the wall!

Sam is so sweet and is offering a 20% discount to readers of this blog. Be sure to type "HELLO" at the checkout.

Thanks so much Sam!

the ides of March

 

 

Hello and Happy Monday!

Can you believe the official start of spring is about a week away? I'm thrilled.

The weekend for me was a lot of work, family, roller skating, baked pasta and finally watching a bit of the Mad Men series...I must admit, today I am finding it hard to write:)

So how about a few exciting bits of news?

First off, I am participating in the Poppytalk Handmade Marketplace. It is a place featuring a selection of hand made items from all around the world. You should definitely go and browse-it's how I've found some of my favorite artists and blogs. Also, I will have several guest posts over at the main Poppytalk Blog featuring tutorials and one with a free little surprise. I will be sure to let you know when they are published.

Over at my inspiration blog, this is not my work, I will be introducing a new guest blogger this Wednesday along with a new daily format. The new blogger is an awesome, crafty gal and I'm so happy she'll be joining me in that space.

Also, I updated my main photo shop this weekend and am happy to be offering free U.S. shipping on any size of print! And I lowered some of the rates on the international shipping as well. It had been awhile since I went through  and "cleaned up shop" so to speak, so it feels nice to have checked each item and added new ones.

I hope your Monday is off to a good start. Oh and be sure to enter the hand spun yarn giveaway if you're interested-it ends tonight.

See you all tomorrow.

five senses friday and blue

 

 

Well, today marks the end of spring colors week. Thanks to Poppytalk Blog for such a fun little assignment! Today's color is blue, so I picked these shots I took with some Polaroid Id-Uv film last year at the beach. To see more of my photos from Cannon Beach, you can look here.

On to five senses friday...

For those of you who are new readers (or maybe never understood what I was blabbing about) five senses friday was started years ago by my friend, Shari Altman. I use it weekly as way to sit down and reflect on what the past days have been like for me.

I would love it if you played along-you can leave your own version in the comments or on your blog.

Tasting:

a brunch of yummy scandinavian meats and cheeses at Broder

Hearing:

the voice of a far off friend on the telephone

Seeing:

beautiful dresses at Xtabay Vintage

Smelling:

the sweet scent of blossoms all over the city

Touching:

some funny pussy willow branches we brought inside

* * * * * *

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! And if you are a knitter or crocheter (is that a word?) or if you know one, I hope you will enter the hand spun yarn giveaway in the previous post.

And I wanted to say thank you for the kind emails, comments, and tweets from you all lately. You know, I think in the "online world" it is easy to forget that we are all just real people, with real feelings trying to figure stuff out. This week has been a hard one for me (at least with some of this online junk I've been dealing with) and I really want to thank you for your support.

You guys rule.

I hope you have a great weekend and see you back here on Sunday!

sponsor spotlight and giveaway: The Spun Monkey

 

 

(My blog sponsors  are paid advertisers who help me pay for all my film and developing-basically-they make this blog possible. A huge thanks to all of them! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor in April, I am now booking spots- please email me at abbytryagain@gmail(dot)com. I'm gonna change it up a bit and offer a few different rates-so if you've inquired in the past-the rates have changed a bit.  The ad spots are there on the sidebar and are available for indie businesses. Thanks!)

I am thrilled to share this next sponsor spotlight with you and happy to announce that you have a chance to win something really awesome!

California based fiber artist, Shannon Herrick, is the woman behind The Spun Monkey Blog and Shop. She is a knitter, a yarn spinner, a pattern maker, and a felter. I love the care she puts into her handspun yarns; each one is like gorgeous candy!

Shannon describes her work as

"... a love affair with process, with creative collaboration, with a patch of grass. Wool from small family farms is lovingly crafted into artful supplies for knitting, weaving and crochet or wet-felted into joyful adornments to keep you cozy."

Doesn't that sound nice?

For the giveaway, she if offering something special. She will custom-spin a yarn for one of her Monkey Mitt Knit Kits in whatever colorway the winner fancies. The kit comes with a pattern and enough yardage to complete a pair of mitts.

Isn't that awesome? Okay, go visit Shannon's shop then leave a comment here by Monday, March 15 at midnight PST. We will pick a random winner the following day.