Friday, October 14, 2011

Fun, fun day in the big city……

 

Today, the Art Chicks took Portland by storm, well, a part of Portland and it was more like a “squall”!

Shelia, Thea and I drove the 20 plus miles up I-5 to our Northeast Portland playground.  Not, without a hitch, of course….we drove right past our exit, so detour time took us into downtown Portland…..and right past the site of the “Occupy Portland” folks.

IMG_1462

If you are familiar with Portland, you know a “river runs through it”, specifically the Willamette River and when your not in the correct lane and you end up downtown….you are on the WRONG side of the river.  So, we were much more interested in finding the bridge, to cross said river, than downtown park encampments….so this is a passing photo taken as we waited for the light to turn green!

 

After our successful river crossing…..whoa…..pay dirt in the form of SCRAPS!  What a cool place, a place where businesses, organizations and individuals donate, for resale, amazing stuff like fabric scraps, wallpaper samples, calendars, magazines, hardware, floor samples, art supplies…...rubber bands……..

IMG_1463

and books…this is an altered art artist idea of heaven!

IMG_1464 My score for $4., two calendars, several blueprints, 2 magazines, a book, magnet tape, slide holders and a cigar box…garage sale prices, woo hoo!  Thea found an almost full container of a fixative she uses for silk screening for $5., an unopened bottle would cost $40.  Sorry, I did not get photos of their goodies, but Sheila and Thea agreed….it was worth the trip!

IMG_1478

From there, we headed north to Alberta Street and Collage….one of the coolest art supply stores around!  Sorry, I was so busy browsing and “drooling” I forgot to take pictures but here is what I bought…..

IMG_1475

fun stuff like….a new Somerset Apprentice magazine and some Transfer Artist Paper and….

 

 

 

 

IMG_1476

more Speedy Kut for carving stamps, four Jelly roll pens in fluorescent colors and a transfer pen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O.K. all that shopping works up an appetite, so…….off we go to the French bakery!

IMG_1467 Tho’ very, very tempting….we had lunch without dessert….didn’t even bring any treats home.

IMG_1468 And this is where we met our new BFF, Jordan Cohen, actor, author and volunteer and I’m pretty sure…..the life of every party!  This handsome 88 year old certainly brightened our day and posed, with Shelia, for this cute pic!

IMG_1470 

After lunch we took a stroll down Alberta and stopped at The Factory, Dig, Tumbleweed and several other unique shops and boutiques.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Alberta we headed over to Mississippi Avenue to visit the ReStore, which sadly was not open…..they had converted the place into a movie set for the day and were filming the new television series “Grimm” using the business interior for the location.  But, I did get some pictures of the building’s exterior and a $25. gift certificate for the inconvenience.  We’ll be back!

IMG_1473 This is the entrance and, below, the fence across the front of the building.

IMG_1474

What a fun day!  If, ever you are in Portland take some time to visit the Alberta/Mississippi area…..this north east corner of the city is currently going through a renaissance from run down to gentrification with new and wonderful shops, restaurants, food carts and galleries settling into the area.

6 comments:

Sheila said...

It was so cool! So, you ended up with stuff I never even saw... Apprentice Somerset Mag (where were they in Collage), cigar box?? Wow, it looks cool, let me know how you like the TAP and the transfer pen. I forgot to ask, have you tried Citrasolv? It works on wood too... (or so I hear... I haven't found any yet). Thanks for the great day and for lunch! OK, now I see you published the "evidence" of Jordan and I together. Yikes!

Sheila

elle said...

What a very fun day. Cool guy! Luved hearing/seeing about your day. Itis great to fuel creativity.

Karen said...

Wow, you had a marvelous time. All the neat things you were able to find for the altered books. Glad the detour didn't put a damper on the day. Great fun!

Julie said...

We have a place like the first place you talked about, but it is only open to schools to get supplies from. I have been in there, but only to look...such amazing things there left over from businesses. You guys had a day worth a million bucks!!! WOW.

Charmingdesigns said...

Looks like you had a great day!!
It was nice to "see" sheila!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I really LOVE that fence that was made using recycled materials. And the front of the building looks like trees. What fun that would be. What I REALLY want are some of those old blueprints. I've looked for some since forever. Too bad all the blueprints I had access to in the late 80s have been destroyed and replaced with computer models. Sounds like a perfect place for me, too. Love those prices.