Tag Archives: furniture

Jamie Lauren Upholstery Brings Furniture to Life with Artful Flair

Furniture from Jamie Lauren Upholstery Upcycle

Contemporary and upcycled furniture from Jamie Lauren Upholstery  awaited customers at Boulder’s Firefly Handmade Market in summer of 2014.

Last spring at an art festival in Boulder, a middle-aged couple wandered among the brightly upholstered antiques, ottomans, and benches at Jamie Solveson’s booth. “Jamie Lauren Upholstery” read the sign on the tent.

The couple slipped quietly away to the next booth, but Jamie received a call from them weeks later. They had an 80-year-old chair that had been brought outside for a patio party and had subsequently been rained on, they told Jamie. Because it was wet, it had remained outside. There was more rain, and more time passed for the chair on the patio. Squirrels took advantage of the situation and pulled out the stuffing until the back and seat were thoroughly tattered from one side to the other. Continue reading

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Kristin’s Clothes Line and The Pink Moose: Stories from Severance, Colorado

Kristin’s Clothes Line and the Pink Moose sounds like the title of an imaginative story for children. However, it’s really two stories of two resourceful young women in Severance, Colorado, whose businesses provide children and families with exceptional items made from upcycled materials.

Hanging Around Kristin’s Clothes Line

Heirloom linen upcycled to little girl dresses by Kristin McMahan

Kristin McMahan upcycles heirloom linen to create one-of-a-kind dresses for little girls

I met Kristin McMahan at The French Nest Market in Fort Collins this past summer. Handmade dresses for little girls hung from clothes lines strung around her booth. Embroidered flowers and birds adorned their skirts, which were frequently edged with crocheted scallops. Occasionally a small embroidered apron had been sewn into a dress’s waistline. The dresses epitomized the sweetness of little girls, so I couldn’t help stopping to admire them and to chat with Kristin. Continue reading

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Handmade Furniture Takes a Woman’s Touch at Anne Bossert’s Studio

Furniture by Anne Bossert

The same dye that colors Anne Bossert’s textiles brings stunning color to birch, maple, and other woods she uses. (Photo by A. Bossert)

When I started planning “Handmade on the Front Range,” I wondered what I would say about artisans who work with wood. That’s a “guy thing,” right? Bulky equipment, saws, sawdust . . . What would interest female readers?

One of the joys of meeting artisans and learning about their work is having my preconceived ideas blown away. That’s what happened when I met Anne Bossert, fiber artist and furniture maker, on the Fort Collins Studio Tour.

Anne’s studio lies on the northeast side of Fort Collins, in one of the practical, no-nonsense-looking buildings a few blocks north of Mulberry Street. Not exactly the place where I would expect someone with artistic sensibilities to hang out.

Any skepticism evaporated the moment I walked inside. At the far end of Anne’s meticulously cleaned workshop stood three tables that made me gasp. Let me show you why. Continue reading

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