Oh The Places I Go!!

Time for another art trip to Portland, Or. And I am having fun driving myself crazy...er...I mean, getting ready....
Of course I have to make things. Much more fun than figuring out the clothes to pack.

I need a travel journal....
This will do. I like green and I am going to the Uptown Stamp Show to forage through  postage stamps. But, it is kind of plain, don't you think?
SEE the last trip to Uptown Stamp Show here

Hummmmmm
This is better and Portland IS The City of Roses....

I really want this Cavallini paper to line the inside covers but no one in San Francisco seems to have it, And online shipping costs as much as the sheet of paper so I hope I will find it in Portland.

A little stamp action on the cover....

Altered Book From Previous PDX Trip here

And, I needed a tin to carry some art supplies. I am going to a letter writing social at
NOUN.
You can check it out right here

So, here is my book, ready to toss in my carry-on and work on  in PDX. I am hoping I can talk my PDX pals to work on a page to add to my book too....

Isn't this fun? I was browsing the Back-to-School supplies (would you expect any less?) and spotted these cool pocket dividers and I thought I could do something with them....
I cut them down and added them to my book and I can tuck in business cards and ephemera inside.

I prepped a few pages...

I think I will add a photo to this page later on.

My newly made tin is all packed up and ready to go.  My
HAVING A GREAT TIME
WISH YOU WERE HERE
rubber stamp comes in handy at a time like this.

I really don't bring much -- my altered book and tin plus double stick tape, glue sticks, washi tape on a ring and postcard backs.
I am pretty sure my PDX pals will share their art supplies with me if I am good.

And my address book, of course!
You CAN put addresses on your cell phone but I'm analog. 

So, here you go -- all packed up and ready to go. But clothes? Not so much...
This is the fun part of packing.
So, Karen and JJ and Miss Polly and Michelle -- get ready because I am coming!
See you all very soon.
And, I'll see the rest of you in the mail or back here at the blog when I get back.
Don't forget to check my IG photos @PamelaArtsinSF in the meantime.

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PDX Altered Book

This post has A LOT of photos so grab an adult beverage, or any kind of beverage you want (Smith Tea in PDX is suggested as well) and settle down for a look at the finally complete Portland altered book.
Maybe I should have broken this up into two posts because there are a lot of photos but....I didn't.... and I am not showing all the pages in the book (nor are they in order)..

I took photos in PDX (of course!) and I'm not one to just leave photos on my  phone. And I picked up lots of paper ephemera while there thinking I'd use it in my altered book....The vellum above is from some large sheets I bought at ScrapPDX -- and it is maps of Portland. Love the pages I made with that...
I cut up various file folders from ScrapSF to make pages like the pink one. I love TABS, either on the side of the book or up top.

I like my altered books FAT and this one almost doesn't close. I will either punch a hole and add sari ribbon to close it or use a wide, arty rubber band I got at Daiso.

Background on this is a paper bag....

I just folded the Kachka menu in half and added it in....(highly recommended  if you visit PDX).

Happily I didn't need any Pickle Juice, either at Kachka or on my trip to Russia.

I also added some Portland travel ads from 1950's National Geographics. Gee, if I took that Domeliner from PDX back home to SF I could have bought more stuff.

Hotel deLuxe

I love room service!

I made several pages with little pockets......I love tucking things inside...

Another pocket with an Oregon postcard tucked inside....

Here I added a vellum envelope with some mail art from my PDX pal Karen...

Miss Polly!

Night out after the PDXCC meeting....

Another night out and another place I recommend...

PDXCC Mail Art Meeting
I added quite a bit of mail art inside the book from the Portland folks....

YOU BET I WILL!!!!!

Fabulous visit and it's nice to have this little book to pick up and look at and remember all the fun I had with the lovely people in PDX.
So, pick up an old book and tear off the covers. Punch holes -- add rings and you are good to go.
It is fun to figure out all the different things you can use to make pages-- maps, bags, file folders, vellum....You can make a book from a weekend away or a longer trip....it is fun.

Are you going to do it?
Sorry this was so long but I wanted to show you some pages.....Is that drink gone yet?
The better get busy making...

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Why My Suitcase Weighed 51 Pounds

My first stop in Portland (after lunch and before even checking in to my hotel) was SCRAP PDX. I went with my pal Karen (Sewmanyinterests on IG) and we were so entranced we forgot all about the parking meter -- for two hours! Luck being with us, no ticket.

The PDX Scrap was three blocks from my hotel, did I mention that?
And -- I went back the NEXT day with Miss Polly & JJAlltheWay.....

I could have taken this guy home for $85.....he may have been handy for the Fast Trac carpool lanes but I passed. I would have had to buy another plane ticket for him.

Karen knew exactly where the boxes -- and boxes -- of rubber stamps were......

It kills me to say this but they had way more stamps I've ever seen here in Scrap SF.
These are only some of the bins...

And more stamps here....you can see why it took us so long to go through all of these...we didn't want to miss anything good.

My basket didn't look too bad -- at first. I forgot to take a photo of it at the check-out but it was considerably fuller.
Rubber stamps, two sizes of Rolo cards, blueprints of PDX, vintage magazines, some old photos, red letter stickers, large vintage index cards with tabs, a cigar box.....

I found the little WISH YOU WERE HERE stamp-- perfect for my PDX postcards (which I barely had time to write).

Postal themed stamps...

I wanted that file cabinet but it would have been a bit tricky to get home on the plane...

I loved the vintage office supply section....

They had loads of Rolodex files in need of some altered rolodex card love......I wanted to buy them all and give them good homes...but....the plane....

Maybe I should...

My SCRAP PDX cigar box with some of my rubber stamps....I was a very happy re-purposer.....
And I went back the next day with JJ and Polly and got in some more trouble.
All I can say is, paper weighs A LOT.

Google "center for creative re-use" and you might find a Scrap near you!

AND THE POUCH WINNERS ARE ---
Michele C (airmail pouch)
&
Bleubeard....I mean Elizabeth for the KITTY pouch....

LEAVE YOUR ADDRESS in a comment (I will NOT publish it) OR send me a message using the Blogger Contact Form on the top right of the blog and I will mail those off asap.
And, everybody else, thanks for reading and commenting and stay tuned...
there may be more giveaways...

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