The Brass Paperclip Project

Vintage Volkswagen Weekend

Friday night, my husband came home from work and suggested we go to Burgermaster for dinner.  This seemed like an odd request from a man who is on a strict no-cholesterol diet, but we hadn't been there in ages, so I was totally game. Who doesn't love Burgermaster??  Turned out, he had spotted the Cascade Kombis Vintage VW Meet going on in the parking lot.  A-ha!

We piled into our own VW wagon and headed to Burgermaster.  I couldn't have been more surprised or pleased at what awaited us.  It was like we had walked into a "Cars" movie...

There were more VW Bugs and vans in one place than I had ever seen before and each one was cooler than the next.  Growing up, I lusted after my next door neighbor's vintage black convertible VW bug, so seeing all these vintage bugs in one place was making my heart sing!  Not to mention all the buses.  I really like this wind-up model...

Can you just imagine hitting the open road with your luggage stacked up on the back, top down, wind in your hair...

Suicide door...notice which direction it opens...

Hippies use backdoor...no exceptions!

Had to laugh at this one...came from one of my old stomping grounds on the east coast...it's been a long time since I partied at Fell's Point.

After chowing down on lower-cholesterol Chickenmaster sandwiches we noticed a sign on the way out that said there was going to be an even bigger VW show and swap meet on Saturday...apparently, this was just the pre-show "Burger Meat."  And the Saturday show was being held at the same time and place as the NW Solar Fest...serendipity!  We were so there!  (I'll talk solar in another post.)

Pics from Saturday's show...check out my dream bus...

and dream camper set-up...

My 5-year-old gazing appreciatively at the engine of her dream bug...the pink and white Tinkerbug...

Bad-ass bug...

Artsy bugs...

Love bug...

And last, but not least...spotted on the way out...gotta love it when Etsy earns a spot at a car show!  I don't even know what this bumper sticker means, but it made me laugh to see it there anyway.

Sunday brings VW drag racing at Bremerton Speedway, so I'm sure that will be a hoot.  If we end up going, I'll be sure to share more pics.  That's all for now.  Hope you enjoyed the pics!  XOXO, Cindi

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shop Local: Wedgwood Arts Festival

One of the great things about Seattle in the summertime is the abundance of outdoor activities.  Usually that means hiking, camping, boating, etc.  But many times it involves a festival.   Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon hanging out with friends and neighbors at the 6th Annual Wedgwood Arts Festival.  If there's one thing I love, it's a good outdoor festival.  This one, in particular, was special because it was held in my neighborhood.  All of the artists were neighbors from my community, so I enjoyed getting to meet and support some really talented locals.

The first vendor I met was Katie Galbraith of KG Crafts.  She had a gorgeous booth chock full of vintage inspired goodies from her line Hazel's Vintage Pretties. I purchased two of her adorable bibs as gifts.  Unfortunately, my photo of her booth did not turn out well, so you will just have to imagine how shabby fabulous it really was!

Katie's partner, Paul Kidder, also had a rack of gorgeous block-print cards available...all hand-printed and signed.  Each card was literally a work of art.  I am particularly smitten with his Seattle landscape prints.  You can find his cards online at  KG Crafts on Etsy or on his website, Kidder Graphics.  I'm seriously thinking I may need to start a collection...check out this gorgeous print of my most favorite Seattle beach, Golden Gardens.  (For more scoop about Golden Gardens, check out my post about the chicken coop tour!)

I also really enjoyed talking with artist Emily Burnette, who as it turns out, lives just a few blocks from me. We laughed over our shared obsession with Pinterest.  Emily has a gorgeous blog, so definitely check that out.  She is an amazing illustrator and also had the most adorable felt flower hair clips...if I wasn't already a "flower clip designer", I surely would have stock edup.  Alas, it's so hard to justify buying things when I have a studio full of supplies all waiting to be put to use.  Sorry Emily!!  ;)

Next up was face painting.  After a looooong wait, my little one happily sat still while artist Lynn Brevig painted a very cool fish on her tiny little cheek...complete with bubbles bubbling across her nose. 

When we weren't shopping, we were eating.  There were plenty of tasty options to choose from including two of my favorite Seattle street food vendors, Patty Pan Grill and Viraci Pizza. 

I'm pretty nearly addicted to Patty Pan's homemade vegetarian tamales.  I usually gobble a 3-pack a week...so good. One of these days I'll have to resist the urge for tamales and try out their quesadillas which look and smell insanely good, as well.  If you aren't able to catch up with them at one of the many outdoor markets they do each summer, you should definitely try out one of their Humble Feasts...local, sustainable, farm-fresh food presented in rotating seasonal menus.

Photo Credit: Did not snap a pic of Patty Pan, so this one is from Flickr.

Viraci Pizza is an old favorite from my days of hitting the Freemont Market on a nearly weekly basis.  They are a traveling wood-fired pizza company...yes, they cook your pizza in just under two minutes in a nearly 1000 degree oven...outside!  Heaven. Huge slices of ultra thin crispy crust pizza loaded with the most  delicious locally produced toppings...mmmm!  (Insider tip: They cater!  If you have a wedding or big event coming up, be sure to check out their website for all the info.  Imagine having a wood-fired oven roll up all hot and fiery at the end of the night to feed your hungry friends...you would be a hero for all time!) 

Photo Credit: I didn't get a good pizza picture, so I borrowed this one from the Wedgwood Festival Facebook Page.

For dessert, I could not pass up a mojito sorbet cone from Half Pint Ice Cream.  I fancy myself a bit of a mojito fiend in the summer, so this was a splurge-worthy treat!  Half Pint is another great local vendor striving to make use of the best, freshest local ingredients whenever possible. And check out the adorable RECYCLED green striped ice cream carts below!  (P.S. Half Pint also does events...ice cream after that Viraci pizza anyone???)

We enjoyed music by YAAMBA while we ate.  The band has been together since the 80's and you can tell they enjoy what they're doing.  The music was so lively they had lots of kiddos out of their seats dancing.  They do have a CD, which you can preview here.  Heck, why not hire them for that pizza and ice cream party you're throwing?  ;)

Two other artists I enjoyed talking to were Ian Henderson and Jennifer Carroll.  Ian was sitting at his booth painting the tiniest, most detailed little landscapes.  They were so detailed, they almost looked like photos. And come to find out, Ian is one of those people who hit the artistic jackpot in life, so in addition to being a talented painter, he is also an amazing pianist.  I love that he is able to convey similar feelings through his paintings and his music.   You can see more of his work and hear his music on his website, Painted Water.

By contrast, Jennifer had some of the larger pieces at the festival.  Her American flag piece caught my eye...made of hand-painted ballet pointe shoes.  She also had quite a few mosaic pieces that were interesting...cue the Niagra Falls mosaic toilet seat cover...

Turns out Jennifer has been a dancer all her life, so she has a personal connection to those shoes... not sure about the toilet seat...LOL.   You can find out more about Jennifer and her art on her website, Apogiatura.

So, that's my post.  If you enjoy outdoor markets, you may also enjoy the posts I did last summer about the Seattle Square market... here's Part 1 and Part 2.    Until next time...  XOXO, Cindi

 

 

2011 Seattle Tilth Chicken Coop Tour

Sometime last spring, I got the idea in my head that it would be awesome to raise chickens.  For the life of me, I can't remember what prompted the idea, but I haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since.  I went to a Chicken 101 class to see if it was something I would enjoy.  Still wasn't sold after the class, so I decided to go on Seattle Tilth's Chicken Coop and Urban Farm tour. 

What a fun day!  When you buy your ticket, you get a map to all of the participating homes and then you just choose the ones to visit that sound best to you.  We visited several coops last year and were fully sold on setting up our coop.  Flash forward a year...we still don't have a coop and I still have a hankering for chickens. 

I'll share some photos from last year's tour and some more information on my own coop dilemma in another post, but in the meantime, here are some photos from this year's tour....

I had the best coop touring buddy in the world...my 5 year old daughter.  We donned our most farmer-like hats set off for an afternoon of urban farming adventure. 

The first coop we went to see was modeled after a New Orleans French Quarter home.  Having been to NOLA many times and been seduced by her many charms, I was eager to see how she would translate to backyard chicken keeping.  I was not disappointed...the coop was darling with a great run covered in jasmine-like vines.  Black shutters, gingerbread trim and wrought iron accents added lots of "curb appeal."  All of the hens also had NOLA related names...the one that sticks out is the yellow one, named Beignet. 

The thing that I liked most about this coop though wasn't the architecture, it was the bedding.  When I opened the coop, I couldn't help but notice how GOOD it smelled.  I later found out the owner uses compostable cocoa shells from Theo Chocolates...what could be better??  Cocoa mulch bags are available at Theo's factory store in Fremont.  Ten dollars will get you 30-40 lbs. of mulch.  Score! (For those of you outside Seattle, Theo is the only organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US.  Yes, we are sooo lucky to live here!)

The next coop on the tour was huge.  It had been built recently and was gorgeous.  There was a stained glass window, french doors and an attached potting shed.  Sigh...my own house should have so much charm!  This coop was home to eight gorgeous hens who were surprisingly quiet, but perhaps that was because they were gorging themselves on raspberries the whole time. 

Coop number three was a quirky little coop that the owners had adopted along with their first hen.  They added the shingles themselves and an automatic door opener.  Sweet!  In addition to the chickens the owners were avid gardeners and beekeepers.  (The bee thing intrigues me, yet scares me.  I eat honey like it's going out of style, but have historically been terrified of bees...will ponder this conundrum in another post.)  The mirror in the run was hilarious...the chickens were all gathered around it when we got there...primping for visitors maybe? 

Didn't get the scoop on the toilet bowl planter...honestly, I hope it was just filled with ornamentals...not sure I could bring myself to eat plants grown in it, but I do give them props for creative reuse.

And the award for most playful coop goes to this double decker spotted at Red Star Urban Farms.  Not only was the coop stunning, but it had a treehouse on top!  It took all the restraint my little girl  I had not to climb up and see what was there.  ;)

Built by the owners, Michael and Troy, of almost 100% recycled materials, the "gentlemen farmers" as they call themselves set the bar very high for the rest of us wanna-be chickenistas.  Be sure to click on the link above to visit their Facebook page for more photos and information about how to contact them if you need help with your coop.

But perhaps, the star of the show wasn't really the chicken coop at all...this bunny killed me!

And last, but not least, Bees City Farm.  The property was quite large and most of it was set aside for animals, bees or vegetables.  There were two goats...one very pregnant!...lots of ducks and chickens, as well as several bee hives.  Loads of veggies were growing all around...urban farming at it's very organic best!  Their chicken coop was also very cute...my husband's favorite design. 

By the end of the tour we were hot and ready to eat, so we headed over to Golden Gardens for an impromptu picnic.  We picked up some treats at Little Coney in Shilshole Bay Marina...they have my absolute favorite chili-cheese fries...then planted ourselves on the beach to watch the sailboats go by. (If you are ever in Seattle, Golden Gardens is a great place to visit...the sunsets are amazing...on the three days of the year that the sun shines...LOL)

So that was our day.  Anyone else out there take the tour, have chickens or hope to build a coop anytime soon?  I'd love to hear your thougths and experiences, so feel free to leave comments and share links to photos.   If you want to keep up with my chicken adventures, you can follow this blog via e-mail or BlogLovin.    XOXO, Cindi

Kid in a Candy Store

Since deciding to change the scope of my blog to include a more diverse range of "green" topics, I've been feeling a bit like... 

Where to start?  There are many things I'd like to talk about, but maybe I should just start from the beginning and tell you how I got to this point. 

My earliest memories of being environmentally aware are from high school.  My family recycled.  It was the late 80's.  Recycling was a huge pain back then.  We had to separate everything...paper, plastic, green glass, clear glass, brown glass, etc....lots of bins in the garage.  Then we had to drive it all to a drop-off site to be deposited in huge bins.  

After high school, I worked for American Eagle Outfitters.  I loved that job.  But I used to get upset about the fact that every single article of clothing we received arrived in a plastic bag that we then dumped in the trash.  Often, there was a plastic hanger involved too.

In college, I created a fictional company called Visions for a fashion marketing class.  I used an icon of the earth for the "o" in the logo.  The concept behind Visons was that we were a visionary company selling earth friendly apparel made from organic cotton, tencel and other "new" earth-friendly textiles.  Wish I still had that project...would be fun to look back at it now. 

After college I worked for the now defunct Kids R Us.  I can remember being horrified about all the plastic waste we generated with each truckload of shipment we received.  Every single garmet arrived on a plastic hanger, wrapped in plastic bags...the bags went straight into the trash.  To their credit, KRU did have a large stash of collapsable reuseable totes that they used to ship smaller products to and from the distribution center.

Finally, in 1996 I opened my own boutique.  It was called Indigo.  I carried all kinds of vintage and recycled goods long before it was popular.  Some of my best sellers were recycled license plate and bottle cap products from Little Earth.  There was the bottle cap belt made from recycled bike tubes and bottle caps with a seatbelt buckle.  License plate photo albums and purses were also a hit.

Flash forward 15 years...my fascination with sustainable living has grown steadily, so I make it a priority to push the green envelope a little bit further each day.  I am constantly evaluating my lifestyle...looking at waste, trying to reduce and reuse as much as possible.

Being super green is not something I planned, nor did it happen over night.  It's taken years of baby steps to get to where I am now and I know there will be many more steps to take before I feel as if I'm doing everything humanly possible to leave this world a better place for my daughter and her children. I know that not everyone has the same level of dedication, but if I can leave you with one thought...every little bit counts.  If you start making small changes now, it eventually adds up and before you know it, you're having an impact.  Be inspired!  XOXO, Cindi

The Winds of Change

In a recent post, I hinted that the winds of change are blowing for The Brass Paperclip Project.  I've been having a hard time deciding what I want to be when I grow up, so I've decided to take some time away from my design business to focus on my family, work on new projects, reorganize my blog and hopefully start some conversations about what it means to be "green" in this day and age. (Photo via Pinterest)

Going forward, I'm excited to be broadening the scope of my posts to include, not just green weddings, but all facets of living green in the modern world.  Living a stylish, sustainable lifestyle is challenging, rewarding, and I'm finding...endlessly fascinating to most people.   I certainly get my share of eye rolls when I talk about my obsession with conservation and reducing waste, but more often than not, I find that people are really curious about what I'm doing and how I got to this point.

You can still expect some posts about weddings, but you can also look forward to more posts about earth-friendly food, parties, travel, gardening, fashion, crafts, art and anything else that catches my attention.   I hope that by sharing my stories and experiences that you will be inspired to try something new, delve further into a topic that interests you or share what you learn with others.  I hope you'll visit often to see what I'm up to and share your own thoughts about modern sustainability. 

In the meantime, here is a great video from Daily Candy featuring British singer Eliza Doolittle performing her song Moneybox...it's a cool little song about basically, doing more with less...a good motto to live by, don't you think?  XOXO, Cindi