Please pardon the “back in the day” introduction here. I’ve been blogging since 2001, although my dad bought me the domain name as a college graduation present a few years before then. Illusionaire.com started out as a professional portfolio, morphed into photo storage, went blog circa 2001 when few people knew what the hell a blog was, was dormant for quite some time, came back to life to showcase my crafty wares for sale, and has settled down as a little corner of the web where I share my adventures in cooking, crafting, and gardening.
I still keep in touch with a number of people I met during my early days of blogging, and the metamorphosis of technology is continually surprising me. My smartphone has more RAM and storage space than my desktop PC did in college. No waiting for dial-up, either! The earliest memory of my love affair with technology is when my dad handed me a Tandy 102 TRS-80 and a programming manual to keep me occupied during road trips. At rest stops, he would ask me to show him what I had put together. I still own that TRS-80, and it is sitting to my left as I type this. I haven’t turned it on it ages, though.
My geekiness and love of gadgets has persisted, although in recent years it has been balanced out by my love of handicraft and domesticity. My craftiness doesn’t really have a focus, so I have dabbled in sewing, knitting, crochet, paper mache, beadwork, sketching, and whatever else I can get my hands on. From 2001 to 2003 I renovated a hundred year old house in NE Portland. Let me put it this way… between the yard and the home repair work, the TV folks make it look really easy. The walls were lathe, plaster, and lacking insulation. The dining room had no less than 4 layers of wallpaper. The attic could only be accessed through a door in the bathroom, and the bathroom could only be accessed through a door in the back bedroom. The shower was lined with flimsy plastic tiles backed with tar paper and linoleum. Pretty sure the place was haunted, too. Ask me about it sometime. When I discovered in late 2003 that the sewage pipe going to the street had been broken since before I purchased the home and the inspection hadn’t brought it to light, I was done with house renovating. All of my home projects are much less ambitious now.
I spent several years working out of a studio in Old Town Chinatown using recycled materials to produce jewelry, clothing, and accessories. I still love working with recycled materials, but I am not currently selling any of my pieces. I have hosted craft nights, knitting nights, and workshops on re-inventing clothing.
I am currently a volunteer at SCRAP (School and Community Action Project), which has been an incredible opportunity for me to connect with other local artists and get lots of “upcycling” inspiration. I am married to Aaron “Geek in the City” Duran (which means life is never dull!) and we share our home with a charming greyhound named Picard. Aaron and I are currently working together on a comic book, and we hope to have it published soon. When I am not unraveling thrift store sweaters and re-winding the resulting yarn with a hand mixer to make OOAK skeins or curating my Flickr account, I am also part of the geek collective at a local software company.
-Jenn
Press clipping: PDX Profile of me at DIY Alert