Get Ready for 8

Pin It Now!

Hello.
I just wanted to put the word out that sometime in January I will be working on issue 8 of Free Box the Magazine.  The theme will be "Fabulous" so if you have any fabulous free box finds or stories please e-mail me at:  freeboxthezine@gmail.com
I have included this photo of a fabulous and unbelievable free box find found by Cory.  Lucky.

I am also going to start posting the Ask Saint Cobber section of the zine to inspire some questions for St. Cobber out in free box land.  You can also e-mail those questions to:  freeboxthezine@gmail.com.
Here is Saint Cobber from issue 1:  (scroll down, there is quite a bit of white space)

Happy Free Boxing!

Smoky Smelling Free Box Items

Pin It Now!

Hey there.  I found a pretty awesome free box just five days before x-mas, which was pretty surprising since I haven't found or seen any really good ones for months.  I grabbed quite a few pretty sweet items the only catch was that they reeked of cigarette smoke.  Some of the items were hand wash only so I attempted to wash the smell out, but I had no such luck.
Well, just today I was reading in The Garden of Vegan cookbook, 45 things to do with baking soda, it turns out that you can remove smoke odors from clothes with baking soda.  All you need to do is soak them in water and baking soda (it doesn't say how much).  I also noticed you can remove gasoline and oil odors from clothes by placing clothes in a trash bag with one cup of baking soda, let it sit for two days before washing.  Interesting.  Guess what I will be doing today, along with blogging, of course.
Hearts, Bece

Free Store Robbery

Pin It Now!

Brandon found this article on the internets and I thought I would post the link for all of you to enjoy.
Happy Holidays and don't laugh too hard.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/12/12/edm-free-store-robbery.html

Free Item of the Month (November)

Pin It Now!

Well, like I said I haven't been getting out much, but this last weekend I had a lot of spare time and so I was able to get out there and see what was going on the free box world, at least the free box world of SE Portland.  What I did find were quite a few soggy free boxes, but this free item wins for the month of November.

As you know I am a huge fan of free box signage and this one is Awesome!  Notice how the sign is in a ziplock bag to keep it protected from the rain.  Now, that is taking the extra step.  I love it.

Hearts,
Bece

Cold Weather

Pin It Now!

Wow, is it cold.  With my job keeping me busy and the weather the way it's been I haven't found any free box scores of late, but today I was able to pull out an item that I found this past spring:  Cambell's soup mugs.  Yes, today was the perfect day for a grilled faux cheese sammie and some hot, hot tomato soup.  Yum~

Halloween!

Pin It Now!

So I spotted this item on my way to a Halloween party on the eve of said celebration.  Super cool~

Free Box Photo of the Day, 10-20

Pin It Now!

Here you go.  Enjoy~

Free Box Finds 10/16

Pin It Now!

What a beautiful day for free boxes, and large ones at that.
First I came upon this beauty:

I did not take it.  It is on the corner of NE 11th and Hancock for anyone who is interested.

Then I stumbled up this free pile:

The brown cabinet is actually a sewing table.  I grabbed that, of course, although it proved to pretty tricky putting it in the trunk of my Volvo by myself.  However, as the saying goes:  where there's a will, there's a way, and I got 'er done.
I did need some help getting it in my house when I got home and my friend, Jennifer, came over to help out.
Here she is displaying some of the contents of the sewing table, Vanna style.

We then topped off this beautiful day with a seriously fun hula hooping session.

Free Box photo of the week and other interesting finds

Pin It Now!

I would like to present to all those free boxers out there the free "box" photo of the week:

After I took this photo, I biked ten blocks down the road and had to make a u-turn to check this out:

Yes, it is a broken chair, but notice the bird attached to it?  Well, I decided I needed this bird for my potential Halloween costume, and I also decided I needed to add it to my bicycle basket right then and there.  As I approached the fake bird I was taken aback a bit because it kind of looked real.  I mean the eyes were definitely not real, but I think the feathers are actually from a real bird; they appear to be glued onto some sort of Styrofoam body.  When I saw the Styrofoam I knew that the bird itself was fake, so I disrupted the few bugs that were checking out its feathers and snatched it up for my bicycle.  I then rewired it to my bicycle.

Now everyone I meet can enjoy this bird so lovingly nestled amongst the fake orchids that adorn my basket.  I think it breaks up the cuteness of my bike a bit by adding a touch of creepiness, and don't worry the bugs are gone.  They weren't permanent inhabitants, just enjoying its feathers on a warm, sunny afternoon.

I was out kind of late last night and riding home in the rain.  I had brought rain gear because I knew the rain was inevitable so the ride was actually pretty enjoyable.  When I was about 12 blocks from home I found this bouquet of flowers up for grabs.  They were resting on a lamp post just waiting for someone to take them home.  The coolest part is they pretty nearly match the fake flowers that I have on my basket.

I have to say that yesterday was a pretty good free box day, and all of these free box events occurred on SE Yamhill.  Strange.

Happy October 1st.

Pin It Now!

Okay.  So I thought I had found the free box item of the day --

-- a patchwork wolf, but then I found this:

and here is the loot --

Don't worry, I left some things.  If you want to check it out it is located at about SE 42nd and Yamhill.

Happy Freeboxing!

Zinesters Talking

Pin It Now!

Every fall the Multnomah County Library holds an event called Zinesters Talking.  This is where they find local zinesters to talk about their zines.  There's also a Q and A portion and there are zines for purchase.  I went to a couple last year and they were a lot of fun.  Tonight's Zinesters Talking sounds good.  I really want to check out the one called:  My Time at Fabric Depot, the highs and lows.
The following one looks interesting as well.  Here is the link so you can peruse them for yourself.  Enjoy~
http://www.multcolib.org/events/zinesters.html

Harvest Dinner

Pin It Now!

Last night I hosted a Harvest Dinner and, yes, there was quite a lot of food (most of it pretty delicious.)  The reason I really wanted to host this Harvest themed dinner was because last year my good friend, Liz, found this super cool 1960's evening wear in a free box and it just so happened to fit me perfectly.  Oh, yeah, and this dress has a cape!
Well, I had not yet had the occasion to wear the dress and so I made one.  Actually, I had thought of hosting this harvest dinner the year before right after I had received the awesome dress.  So last night was my Harvest Dinner dress debut, and I think it was a hit.  I guess you can be the judge.  One of my friends said that I looked like I should be greeting people at a couple's island.  I take that as a compliment.
I would like to add that the awesome giant poster is also a gift from my friend, Liz.  I totally love it.  It is a 1960 men's catalog ad for "activity wear."  She found it at a naked lady party she recently went to, so it was, shockingly, free as well.
For dessert of the dinner I had made a vegan cheesecake, which I love to make, only this time I could make a proper cheesecake because a month ago I found a spring-form pan! in a free box.  Anyway, this is a picture before I took it out of the pan.  It was a delicious cheesecake, but I am a bit biased.  I topped it with some blueberries - yum- that Brandon and myself picked in the North Cascades National Park this summer.

Thank you Portland free boxes!  I love you.

Issue 7 Correction

Pin It Now!

I would like to take a moment and make a correction on issue 7.  In the credits I mentioned that all the photos were taken by myself, that is not accurate, however.  The beautiful photo of the new free box on SE 16th and Salmon was taken by the lovely Ms. Cory McMahon.  It's a great photo and she did an amazing job on the the new free box.

Thanks, Cory, you are Awesome!

Free Box Issue 7

Pin It Now!

It's here.  It took me a couple days of hard work, but Free Box the Magazine issue 7 is finally done and out in a few free boxes everywhere.  So be on the lookout for a copy of your own and enjoy~

IPRC

Pin It Now!

I joined the IPRC today.  It was so awesome I don't know why I didn't join sooner.  Gabby, the volunteer there, was so helpful.  She showed me how to collate!  My zine assembly production went up 80% because of that.
If you want to check out the IPRC I put a link to it in this post.

http://www.iprc.org/

Catch ya...

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Pin It Now!

Hello fellow free boxers.  I just wanted to say fall is here and so Portland's free boxes are waning a bit.  As you all probably witnessed from the monsoon we just experienced in the recent past the free "box" or bag can get a wee bit soggy, so I recommend the permanent structure for you fellow free boxer to check out, it keeps things somewhat dry and keeps the free boxes flowing year round.  Just an idea.

sad, soggy free "box"

Catch you 'round the free box!

Free Boxed Dancing Shoes

Pin It Now!

So I found these shoes in a free box some months ago and could not believe it because they were a perfect fit and amazing:  Gold Disco Dancing Shoes!  As some of you may know I used to frequent the Good Foot every Friday night for DJ Aquaman's Soul Stew, but like the Zine that activity has been on hiatus as well.  However, last night I decided to get back in it and try out these free boxed shoes.  Needless to say these shoes were amazing.  They have a slight sexy heel, but are still very comfortable to dance and I danced for at least an hour and a half.  The music is just too good.
As for the crowd last night, they were pretty fun as well.  There was a crowd of at least 15 glow stick wielders, something that I have never seen at the Good Foot before, maybe they thought they were at a rave?  They were having a super fun time so who's to judge.  It got quite crowded later in the evening par usual, but all in all I had a great time and the shoes passed the test.
Yes, these shoes are a new staple to my various dancing ensembles, and I wish you all good luck in finding that perfect pair of dancing shoes!

If any of you have found some awesome shoes, please post it.  I would love to hear from the fellow free boxers out there.

Free Box Frank, the movie

Pin It Now!

Okay.  I am not sure if everyone is aware of Free Box Frank, the comic, which is Awesome, but they are coming out with a movie sometime.  I don't know when, but I am anxiously awaiting.  Here is the link to Free Box Frank and if you scroll down you can check out the trailer, which is great.

http://www.freeboxfrank.org/

Enjoy.

Hello fellow Free Boxers!

Pin It Now!

Free Box the Magazine has been on a slight hiatus this summer.  I am going to get back on it starting next week.  I will keep everyone posted.