Yesterday, I told you the beginning of my suitcase story. Today, I’ll show you how we turned this girly craft store item into a “manly retro vintage” suitcase containing a book for (and featuring) Eddie Vedder.

Jennette, my Card Box Fairy, started work on the case and a few days later, I received two photos of its new look. I was floored! It looked even more amazing than I anticipated it would. I still can’t even fathom how she did this without removing the hardware.

Jennette couldn’t get the hardware off, so she covered around them…can you tell? I can’t! She even covered the inside lip of the case…

Covering the inside was going to require something a little more unique. So, we tracked down some completely awesome shiny reptilian-like patterned paper in black. It looks like snakeskin, except it’s made of paper! So awesome…

Looking much more masculine in snakeskin!

Then, it was my turn. Jennette did the hard part. I had the easy job…I got to fill it up.

Every suitcase should have its owner’s initials somewhere. I must have done about 10 different versions of this with “Ed”, “Eddie”, “Eddie Vedder”, “Mr. Vedder”…finally, I remembered that Jennifer always referred to him as E.V. I liked just using the initials. That way, it didn’t seem like I was presuming to know what name he preferred to be called.

My first idea was to decorate the lid, so that when the case was opened there was a little “clothesline” going across with some photos, hanging by miniature clothespins. I asked Jennifer for some photos that might be appropriate and she sent me some adorable pics of her son as he discovered his mother’s trunk full of “Picture in a Frame” balloons the morning after the book’s launch party in Australia. The trinkets took me forever to do! I had no idea where to put them all until my sister suggested I string them up with the photos and create a chain of dangly things. So, I rounded up various pieces of chain and bought a bunch of jump rings, found my jewelry-making pliers and whipped up my chain of trinkets.

I wanted the book to have something special around it, so I got a bunch more chain and wired on a bunch of vintage medallions bearing words that, I thought, best summarized Ed’s “vibe”.

I attached the medallions to a black leather strap I found and punched the holes into myself . It’s amazing how resourceful I can be with tools in the middle of the night when my husband isn’t around to rummage through the garage and hammer nails through leather. It’s also amazing how sharp tweezers can be! That’s what I made the holes with!

Now would be a good time to point out my fill. See all that paper shred the book is sitting upon? Of all the ideas I had, this one is my favorite. I made the paper shred by typing up the lyrics to about 15 songs and then running them through the paper shredder. I printed them on various earthtone colors so that even the fill had vintage-hues.

Jennifer told me I had to give myself some kind of credit. But, since it wasn’t just me working on this thing, I dragged Jennette’s name on there with me. She thought it was pretty cool that Ed might glance upon her name for a few seconds. I had to concur.

Another trinket to note: Ed also digs old typewriters. I found this metal typewriter in a bargain bin and picked it up, figuring it might come in handy some day. Glad I did! It was perfect for this suitcase! The only problem is that, while it looked fab in this display, I forgot that the suitcase would have to be picked up! It was just loose in there! I really hope it didn’t fall out and break someone’s toe or something…
You might also note my super-awesome paper shred in this photo

And so, you’ve seen all the pieces. Now, here’s the whole thing…Behold!

Picture in a Frame enclosed in a suitcase, wrapped in leather, surrounded by trinkets, sitting on a bed of words

And that, my friends, is the most important thing I ever made in my entire life. But, it’s nothing compared to the beauty, talent, and creativity displayed upon each of the 98 pages in Jennifer’s book. Just being involved on the coattails of her journey was one of the most rewarding, insightful experiences I’ve ever had.

The thing that inspired me most about Jennifer’s quest to take Ed’s portrait was the way in which she did it. So many people line up at the back door of concert arenas or case the lobby of whatever hotel is hosting the band. They do that so they can get that 15 or 20 seconds of undivided attention: an autograph, a photo, maybe even a hug. But, that sort of thing never appealed to me. It didn’t to Jennifer either.

I read an article, once, in which a very young Eddie Vedder was talking to an interviewer about getting to meet his idols and the interviewer was asking him if being a music fan gave him a better understanding of the insatiable interest of his own fans (for those of you that don’t know, he was kind of a big deal in the early 90s). He said,

“If you really want to meet your heroes, go and work as hard as you can so they can respect you at their level, then you can have a conversation.”

And that’s just what Jennifer did. She used her own talent and her own creativity and not only met her hero, but worked with him. And that has made her one of my heroes.

To buy Jennifer’s extraordinary book, Picture in a Frame , click here to go to pictureinaframebook.com

To read more about Jennifer’s journey and see the photos she took during her campaign, go to iwanttotakeaportraitofeddievedder.com

Need a photographer for your wedding? Take a look at Jennifer’s wedding posts!

You can also find her updates and book reviews on Facebook

And, just to throw it out there, here’s a link to Eddie Vedder’s latest solo album, Ukulele Songs.

Have I linked everything now? I’m just full of endorsements today! Too bad I don’t get paid for these…Hmmm.

Editor’s note: the suitcase found its way to Pearl Jam Headquarters in Seattle. We know it was received, but we’ve not heard anything from them, yet. We’re hoping we do, but it’s probably not necessary. The experience was worth it for me.

This is the second time I’m writing this post. The first time I wrote it, and then I changed it and then I accidentally erased all my changes and couldn’t remember how to get back to the original (probably because I saved over the top of it) and I gave up. But, I’ve had a week to rid myself of the bad vibes associated with ruined posts and I’m trying again. If I end up erasing this one, so help me…!

Ok. So, this post isn’t really going to have much of anything to do with weddings except that, I suppose, the item I’m featuring could be done in a similar fashion for a wedding. It would probably make a pretty nifty card box or display case of some sort.

Naturally, Jennette, my Card Box Fairy, was the first person I thought of when I was commissioned to create the most important thing I have ever created in my whole entire life. You might think that’s an understatement, but it’s SO not! It might even eclipse (is this bad?) the necklace I beaded, by hand, twice, for my wedding and then promptly lost an hour before the whole shindig started. But that, my friends, is a story for another day because that is now the second-most important thing I ever created.

 So, perhaps I should tell you what it was and why it was the most important thing I have ever created in my whole entire life. I’ll try to do so without sounding pathetic (too late, right)?

Do you have a favorite type of music? How about a favorite band? Is there some person or entity out there that just seems to click with your whole entire self even though you don’t know them? If so, you probably know why this commission was so important to me because this guy, his band and their music have been part of me since I was 15 years old.

He made the sign, y’all
Photo by Jennifer Sando

About 2 years ago, I befriended a fabulous Australian photographer by the name of Jennifer Sando. She had started a campaign, of sorts, to capture her dream: she wanted to take a portrait of Eddie Vedder. She was doing it in a very unique and artistic way…not at all a “stalker fan” kind of way. Her talent was evident, to me, instantly. She was looking for people to help get her campaign noticed by Eddie’s “people”. So, I signed on to help and, in the process, we became very good friends.

To make a long story short, with the help of people around the world, Jennifer got her portrait session. And I was one of the very first people to see the photo I posted above.

Since then, Jennifer has come out with a book about the project, the beginning of which has a paragraph or two from me and the end of which contains many more photos from that photo session. The book is called Picture in a Frame. Not only is it a fitting title, but it is also the name of the Tom Waits song that Eddie sang and dedicated to her at the concert he performed shortly after their photo session.

Jennifer had several copies of the book to send to Ed’s “people” (i.e. Pearl Jam Headquarters) in Seattle. One of those copies was for Ed himself. It was supposed to be my job to take those copies up to Headquarters and deliver them myself. I got to go there once before for her and it was an amazing place to be, even if I was only in the stairwell and front lobby for a total of 45 glorious seconds. This time, however, we couldn’t get clearance to make a personal appearance at Headquarters so we had to ship them instead. Jen wanted to be sure that Ed’s copy looked special enough that it would find its way to him. This is where it pays to have a friend who makes cool stuff. I told her not to worry about it. I’d make sure it stood out.

It didn’t hit me until later that I had just volunteered to make something that, if I did my job right, might actually make it into the hands of Eddie Vedder. I felt a little sick, but it was a good kind of sick.

And so I thought long and hard. And then I went to the craft store and spent a few hours thinking longer and harder, trying to get ideas and inspiration and, finally, in the very last aisles, I found it: a suitcase. Whenever Ed travels, he has a vintage suitcase with him. He’s got dozens of these suitcases, so when I saw the case at the craft store, I knew it would be perfect!…once I got all the girliness off of it! So, I immediately texted Jennette and sent her a photo of my find, asking if it would be possible to cover it with something a little more “manly”:

The suitcase when it was all girly

Stay tuned for tomorrow when I show you what we did with it! And, in the meantime, hop on down and check out the contest we started last week! You still have time to enter!

And, while you’re at it, you can check out Jennifer’s project website or order her book, if you’re interested.

Until tomorrow…