Vintage Hot Spot – Cut-It-Up in Colfax California by Gina Smith

Our lovely and talented contributing editor Gina Smith has been on the road this summer. She's back and with a feature on a dreamy store in Colfax California! Be sure to check out Gina's shop link at the end of this article. (Be sure to click on the images to make larger)

       

It might be located in a somewhat deserted gold rush town, but that only means fewer crowds for you to fight off in order to strike it rich at Miss Vicky’s Cut-It-Up in Colfax, California.

      Located in a late 1800s former apothecary at 30 North Main Street, the shop windows alone make you want to break in if you can’t get in. But don’t do that. Just call the inimitable Miss Vicky at 530-220-4103 as she is open by appointment, or usually in the a.m., except Mondays and some weekends.

      

Miss Vicky is a familiar face to long-time scrap bookers, having published the widely-acclaimed series of how-to books with Lindsay Ostrom, including LMNOP More Creative Lettering, Rule-It-Up, Rule-It-Up Again, The 1-2-3s of Creative Doodling, XYZ Still More Creative Lettering and many more. Count Vicky Breslin among the scrap booking stars of the late 1990s as her books could be found everywhere. I bought mine at Target.

So, I was already a fan when she showed me her shop, but I was completely star-struck and thunderstruck when I got inside. Her store goes for miles, as does her paper aisle. Many, if not most, of the paper designs are her original designs.

Like many of us, Vicky has joined the altered arts bandwagon, and everything you could ever want to alter can be found in her store. There is a gorgeous display of altered books already done plus old books to alter, along with all the new supplies you’ll need, such as Golden products, Shiva paint sticks, Twinkling H2Os, Pentel pens and much more.

      Her artist trading card carousel is like a colorful spinning top. Again, you can buy those or buy the stuff to make your own. Vicky will gladly do demos and make-and-takes, and she regularly offers classes.

Her shadowboxes are to die for, with unique ideas using both antiques and new miniatures. And speaking of miniatures, she sells those also, by Re-Ment and Puchi/MegaHouse for use in shadow boxes, jewelry-making and of course, to set up any proper doll house- especially Blythe and Pullip which Vicky is also in to.

The store is also a veritable museum with the original pharmacy flooring and shelving, which her carpenter/husband Tom worked lovingly to restore. If Tom is there, he’ll give you the colorful gold rush history of the area. The National Road (US 40) runs through the area, which is in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It’s a glorious spot to find a B & B so you can stay a few nights and hit all the many antiques shops in town.

      A short drive takes you to Dutch Flat, CA, where Tom and Vicky live in a beautiful house in the foothills. There’s not much to do in town (a mini mart), but there’s everything to see. To keep the gold rush period alive, Vicky and her family have purchased several buildings, and they are historic landmarks, including the “Hearse House” (as in undertaker) and the former Bakery. Check out the Dutch Flat Hotel-surely it was used for a scene in some cheesy Western.

      

In her shop, Vicky open-heartedly displays the work of other artists throughout the shop. I spotted work by Lennea Truesdell of Sheltering Tree Studio.com and Karyn Gartel of The Altered Diva. I think if you look hard enough, there might be something by me in there somewhere! But Vicky has so many goodies it’s hard to tell!

Want to alter silverware? She’s done it, but she can sell you some to do yourself. Altered shoes? Yep, same story. Old furniture? No problem. Like the jewelry she’s wearing? Be careful what you wish for, because she’ll probably take it off.

What I love about Vicky and her shop is that she has everything in massive quantities. There are shelves and shelves full of bins and bins of buttons, corks, keys, ruler bits, charms, glass baubles, beads, metal findings. The list just goes on. Her display of vintage scales doesn’t just have one or two; there are at least a dozen.

One of my favorite spots to ogle is the jewelry cases. There’s vintage jewelry-dozens of drawers of rhinestone brooches, old earrings, bracelets and more. Then there’s newer, inexpensive jewelry you don’t mind cutting up (hence, Cut-It-Up) to alter. But tops on my list are Vicky’s enormous eye candy-full bracelets in every shade and theme imaginable, including Hello Kitty, Blythe, Bingo, Poker, Monopoly, Cakes, Tea and much more. It’s her unique combination of buttons that sets these apart from anything else you’ll see. I was lucky enough to be gifted with a white-theme bracelet.

      

There’s also tons of paper ephemera. You can find German scrap, Dresden foil, collage sheets, vintage labels, postcards. If it’s paper, it’s at Cut-It-Up. If you can Cut-It-Up to re-purpose into something else, it’s there, too! Well worth the trip from just about anywhere, but definitely call first!

You can also go on-line at Cut-It-Up. And, you can see a couple of her Day-of-the-Dead necklaces on display until Sept. 22 at Worthington Gallery West in Pleasanton, CA, as part of the ZNE Mixed Media installation.

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– Contributing Editor Gina Smith aka Lilly*s of London*ish,
started making jewelry about six years ago and has since tied this in
with a love of vintage finds, Blythe, crochet and altered art in her
etsy shop.
Growing up in an antiquing family gives her a background and
appreciation for all things vintage, especially dinnerware, jewelry and
Americana advertising prints and products

{All contributed content Gina Smith © Lilly*s of London*ish}