urbanminerkc

Ive been junking and salvaging since I was a little kid (1950s! Im mid-century!). My next-door neighbor in Dallas was seamtress for the dance troupe and her trash was often filled with old sequined and velvet costumes, ballet and tap shoes, tutus and more! Always a treasure hunt! We had the best dress-up collection in the neighborhood and I could whip up a Halloween costume or dress for a garage-stage play in a heart-beat...Being the oldest of three girls made it that much easier.

In high school, I made those long-fringed hippie vests for classmates, plus pouches and purses. Guess I should have known then that I needed to creatively work with my hands.

When I discovered junk shops and garage sales in college in Austin, I knew how I wanted to aspire to furnish my home and wardrobe and I seldom buy new to this day!

After a few wrong turns trying to get a real job (like getting a degree in Environmental Engineering and working for the EPA a while), I opened Urban Mining Homewares in a little store front in an antiques district in Kansas City right after I presto-changod some curb finds into unique but useful items (do what you love and the money will follow...?). So that was my goal; New is Over-Rated was my motto and the whole store front had re- words written all over it.

But I noticed being a shop-keeper kept me from my true loves of scavenging and junk shopping and assembling stuff so, after one year by myself, I opened the first one-weekend each-month venue in Kansas City and invited like-minded folks to participate. That was almost five years ago and the rest is busy, busy, busy.

I still get a thrill finding orphaned treasures. Nothing rocks my boat more than creating an original assemblage that satisfies the eye and the pocketbook.

Gender: Female

Member Since: 11/03/2008