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| Jerry holding the adding machine "bones" |
Let me tell you about this suitcase first...
A couple of months ago, we were at the Des Moines Flea Market at the fair grounds ( which BTW is a excellent flea market.. if you haven't made it down there, be sure to do so, it's pretty much the first weekend of the month except for August, when the fair is on. That means this weekend if you really want to go.. we are going tomorrow) Jerry and I missed it the first go around; fortunately, we had the kid and her friend with us.. her friend is the one who spotted a large, clunky ( probably 1950's) adding machine in it's own, sturdy, beat up travel case. A haggle and a ten spot later, we were the proud owners of a Clary adding machine, and with research it indeed looks like a 1950's model.
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| The outside has rough charm, the inside was butt ugly!! |
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| I love the well used grungy look of the outside! |
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| Side view.. didn't do anything to the outside |
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| The finished trunk display, done in faux-suede and distressed faux-leather |
It's a fun piece that makes my imagination run wild... it had stickers on the machine that indicated it was a rental... it boggles my mind that someone would rent this out to small businesses.. how many companies rented it over the years? It had to weight 15+ pounds, and now, assuming it's not just a computer program, a machine like this might weight 6 oz, it's all plastic and circuit board.
Jerry is still ripping it up, and it's got some juicy mechanical parts on it... but I fell in love with the case. It's such a interesting size and shape, it's only 10 inches wide, but almost twice that in length.
I knew I wanted to Incorporated it somehow in the booth set up. I did some researching online and ran across a picture of someone using fabric covered paint rollers as bracelet bumps, and that is when I knew exactly how to pull this off. Regular sized paint rollers are just 9 inches, fitting in the case perfectly!! The hooks are just brass from the hardware store that I rough up and painted to make them look older.
Jerry and I bought some great fabric to redo the insides... fake leather in a rich, dark distress brown, and fake faux-suede in a complimentary lighter beige shade. I bought off Etsy vintage 1950's upholstery tacks that worked great.
I'm guessing the case cost around $45.00 start to finish. I think it's a deal at that price, it's feels so good that Jerry and I made it, and it compliments our Mechanical romance line beautifully!
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| My conceptual drawing, done on my new IPAD!! woot! |
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| chock-full of goodies !! |
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