Stash Studios

Texas Skies

Not sure which fireworks I enjoyed more...

Enjoy your weekend,
Cheryl

Tiny - Texas

photo: Stash

Tiny and Texas. For a state with more than 250,000 square miles to cover, these are not two words we often use in the same sentence.

For another stop on our Texas road trip, I would like to introduce you to salvage expert Brad Kittel, who has brought the two words together quite effectively and formed a little business known around here as Tiny Texas Houses.

this photoset courtesy This Old House

Brad is the owner of Discovery Architectural Antiques in Gonzales, Texas. For those who have been reading Stash Studios for a while, you might remember that this is where we went to get the 100 year old reclaimed barn wood hickory we used for our entertainment center.

I love salvage. We have been designing our next home around found salvage with great zeal. Perhaps growing up in a lumber yard contributed to this affection. There is something about long leaf pine and reclaimed cypress that really gets my design wheels turning. I have many pieces built from such woods which are becoming harder and harder to find.

Since Brad's business at Discovery is basically stockpiling vintage materials, his venture into Tiny Texas Houses is a great fit. His diminutive, one-of-a-kind houses are built nearly exclusively out of reclaimed materials with exception, of course, for interior plumbing, electrical and insulation.

Get bLeu

caroLina bLeu
the first stop on our virtual Texas road trip

photos courtesy of carolina bleu

Texas jewelry designer and entrepreneur extraordinaire, Chris Parker serves up beautiful one-of-a-kind jewelry and vintage-inspired clothing via her etsy shops. Based in the Texas hill country, Chris AKA caroLina bLeu and old school vintage has a well-established reputation as a high quality retailer. She spent seven + years owning her own shop and art space - MoonShine - in the Austin area. There she offered high quality goods from an eclectic group of Texas artisans.

Right now Chris is focused on her booming jewelry business which sells in austin.brooklyn.los angeles.san francisco.london and etsy. However, she has a diverse set of interests and will introduce herself as an artist, designer, collector, and walking contradiction. She works in many mediums but finds that but jewelry and fashion design are her bread and butter.

Chris puts thought into the jewelry she designs by using stones and metals that she feels confident were procured via fair trade practices. Thus her pieces are not only beautiful, they each have an innate conscientiousness which embraces the spirit of creation. You will also find a sprinkling of vintage materials in her collection. 

Chris has what she considers to be a healthy obsession with all things vintage. To provide an outlet for good finds, she opened an etsy venue called old school vintage which serves as a resource for unique vintage must-haves from the 20th century.  Since she shares Stash Studios' love of good junk, I see a junking adventure through the Texas hill country in our near future. Can hardly wait.

Stained

Down here in Texas, traces of wild blackberry season can be found on fingers and faces, stained sweet with an unexpected roadside surprise.

Walk Between the Raindrops

As anyone who has spent any amount of time in Texas can tell you, the weather can be somewhat unpredictable. This week has been no exception.

Eighty is starting to feel like 99 in the dust and heat then a 30 second shower cools you momentarily. I'd love to tell you that junking is all glamorous but the truth - it is hard work!

Time to pull out the big guns for tomorrow. The heat is inspiring a switch of libations so if you are drinking along with me, time to give the tequila a rest and pull out the rum. We need some refreshment around here. Time for some Mojitos and Nelly Furtado - Te Busqué and expect that we'll be playing All Good Things Come to an End this weekend as the show comes to a close.

But its not over yet and Thursday is the famous junk prom featuring local talent - John Evans Band. Festivities are ongoing but the music should start up around twilight. See you there.

Cheers,
Cheryl

Welcome to Texas

You may wake up and drive past horses in the Lowes parking lot on your way to work. But in case you don't, welcome to Texas. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has officially kicked off. This week Houston traffic snarled slightly more with the many trail rides coming into downtown Houston.

Wherever we've lived in and around Houston, we were just minutes from a trail ride campsite. Thursday morning I had to run home and grab my camera. Despite living in Texas, I don't usually find horses grazing at a major intersection in "town".

I set a course through the cowboy camp to the Lowes sign where two horses were grazing. To my fantastic surprise I ran into a high school classmate, Rodney, who happened to be out on the trail. We chatted then I told him where I was headed and lo and behold if those weren't his horses. What are the odds?

So thank you Rodney trotting out Riggo and Buck for some photos. Enjoy your day, I've got to go dust off my britches and boots.

Cheers,
Cheryl