Happenstance on 7th

Happenstance on 7th ✔️ CURIOUS?
… in the alley @ 1244 7th Avenue
Marion Iowa

🧡 HAPPENSTANCE
art•vintage•more
studio.

gallery•store

Located in Uptown Marion
👀 Since 2010

ARTIST: gae sharp richardson
hunter&gatherer Hi… my name is: GAE sharp RICHARDSON. For the past forty years... I have made and promoted and marketed myself and my creations. I’m going to take a break and just create to create. I see “gift giving” in my future. In “another life” I was a teddy bear artist = I am the origi

nal creator of the jointed bean bag bear (copyright 1985) �

My entire life revolves around: recreate / reinvent / reconstruct / recycle / reuse... if it’s old... I love it... if it’s broken... I “fix” it. I love gathering materials for my THINK boxes and mixed media dolls and balls (I love balls!)

I create found object art and jewelry. I’m currently working with beads and fiber and fabric. I consider myself a mixed media fiber artist = one day “this” the next day “that”. Currently, I love working with vintage fabrics harvested from worn out rag rugs. I entertain myself with assemblages involving vintage photographs and jewelry. I don’t know what I will do tomorrow. Find me on Instagram: and and

i hope - without the responsibility of running a chocolate shop for the past 17 years ---- i will have time and energy to create again. I hope - with time on my hands - I’ll use my hands more. I’m retired = I look forward to this new adventure.

Today, I finished an insert on the back of a denim jacket that my friend, Joan gave me at our Art Garment meeting last w...
05/31/2026

Today, I finished an insert on the back of a denim jacket that my friend, Joan gave me at our Art Garment meeting last week. As luck would have it? The denim in this jacket coordinates wonderfully with the GO BIG jeans finished a couple days ago.

I used some of the scraps of Sarah Benesh FACE FABRIC from the jeans I reworked as patches that I used to zig zag layers onto the original fabric.

G*e Sharp-Richardson

I’ll teaching denim workshops this winter in my Happenstance STUDIO.

Yesterday we went back to the estate sale to pick up the functional set of vintage lockers we bought on Friday (and deci...
05/31/2026

Yesterday we went back to the estate sale to pick up the functional set of vintage lockers we bought on Friday (and decided to get the second set for the garage).

AND then I did a little hunting and gathering for a few more treasures to bring back for my Happenstance STORE - chuckling to myself the whole time … because we’re suppose to be downsizing my collections.

Oh well. Once a maximalist… always a maximalist. 😁 I only buy what I want myself. I can gather it and enjoy it at Happenstance STORE until it sells. My hunt is your gathering win.

I also took a few more photos of the apartment upstairs. And I’m starting to wonder about the possibility of having THE artist “live/studio/gallery/store” space in a Historic Shopping District that I dreamed about a couple years ago…

G*e Sharp-Richardson

I worked on this pair of jeans for a couple days and finished them last night with the addition of some unexpected lace ...
05/30/2026

I worked on this pair of jeans for a couple days and finished them last night with the addition of some unexpected lace I handstitched to the back of one of the pant legs.

I originally wanted these jeans to be an ankle length skirt. But… after fiddling with the back seams for an entire afternoon, I decided to sew them back up and turn the skirt into a shorter version of my GO BIG jeans.

FYI: when making skirts from jeans… start with a pair of jeans that are a couple sizes too big because the hip of the skirt gets smaller when it is reconstructed from the jeans.

Sometimes… it’s the fit of the jeans that determine the end result. Skirt? One flare? Short? Long? GO BIG?

I wanted to use my friend Sarah Benesh FACES FABRIC on these jeans. 😃 I finally decided on the bluer (bigger) faces as patches and I’ll use the browner (smaller) faces as flares on another pair of jeans I plan on making with zippers.

Oh my goodness… it was worth all the time it took to rip out the inside double stitched seams and take apart my donor jeans and resew seams and arrange and rearrange and arrange my patches on the legs.

The donor jeans that I used for the four flares are sewn in - waist band down. I stitched a small back pocket onto the front of the jeans. I might still add another bigger pocket to the front of the other leg. Because: you can never have too many pockets.

I used green vintage Kantha fabric for a couple of the patches and a scrap of flowered leftover denim from another pair of GO Big jeans I made for my runway collection. What’s next? I think I’ll use the same FACE FABRIC on the back of a denim jacket.

This winter I will be offering Flare&Repair workshops at my Happenstance studio in Uptown Marion G*e Sharp-Richardson

P.S. Cat helped me photograph the jeans this morning… 🤣

A few of the things I got at the estate sale today. We are going back tomorrow to pick up a set of lockers and to do so...
05/29/2026

A few of the things I got at the estate sale today. We are going back tomorrow to pick up a set of lockers and to do some 50% off shopping. The handwritten numbers are (maybe) shuffle board scores … it felt personal.

At a second hand store yesterday: I found these lovely (albeit dirty) little hinged lid boxes. Yes… I’ll clean them up...
05/28/2026

At a second hand store yesterday: I found these lovely (albeit dirty) little hinged lid boxes. Yes… I’ll clean them up before I put them out at my Happenstance Store. That’s a lot of dust. 😳

I also found three small gold frames for my
“Be.jeweled” series of embellished photographs. This winter… I plan on offering a couple of “Bringing Your Own Photographs”(BE.jeweled) WORKSHOPS. I’ll teach you how to embellish, assemble and frame YOUR family photographs. 😃 Your mother will look fabulous wearing a vintage clip on pearl earring hat!

But the VERY BEST thing I found? A pair of denim striped jeans that fit me perfectly. Including the short length I like to wear in the summer! I have been searching for a pair of denim striped jeans for a year. Why? Because I had a pair in junior high in the early 70’s. Oh my! I loved those jeans!

It gets better. All women’s jeans were marked down to $5.00 AND… I got an additional 25% off senior discount. GET OUT!

I wore them this morning to take a walk… (FYi: I’m not in Iowa). Also: I don’t DO athletic wear. It’s not my style… even when I’m walking.

Ummmm. 😃 Should I go to this estate sale on Friday??? Plus more upstairs. 😁
05/28/2026

Ummmm. 😃 Should I go to this estate sale on Friday??? Plus more upstairs. 😁

Today - I completed my second 70’s inspired sewing project using my 70’s sewing machine ZIG ZAG! I decided to use doubl...
05/26/2026

Today - I completed my second 70’s inspired sewing project using my 70’s sewing machine ZIG ZAG!

I decided to use double sided light weight fusible wonderunder to secure my sister Lia Dielschneider Buursma 1970’s embroidery to my new blue work shirt. I cut the back of the original shirt into a square and ironed the wonderunder to the back.

This turned the rainbow and sun into a giant adhesive patch. I ironed it to my new blue work shirt.

Originally… I was going to keep the patch as a square shape but I decided to cut around the shape of the embroidery & shirt - outlining the design. I’m glad I did. I was able to trim away a lot of the damaged material.

Most importantly, the wonder under secured the original fragile - very thin and torn - blue work shirt to my new blue work shirt so that it would stabilize the vintage fabric.

I used a variegated denim thread for the zig zag outline around the rainbow and sun design. I feel that the thread compliments and doesn’t distract from the original embroidery.

There are more machine and hand embroidery sections on the original shirt that I cut out and will turn into patches for future mending projects.

G*e Sharp-Richardson

The first two projects I have for my 1970 Singer Sewing Machine I got at the auction Saturday. Appropriately: 1970’s in...
05/25/2026

The first two projects I have for my 1970 Singer Sewing Machine I got at the auction Saturday. Appropriately: 1970’s inspired projects. Shirt Repair & Jean Flare.

My husband is oiling the machine as I type.

My sister, Lia Dielschneider Buursma did a lot of embroidery and macramé in the 70’s. I did tapestry and embroidery. However: I could never figure out how to do a French Knot so my sister, Lia would do them for me.

I have since learned how to do French Knots. I wonder if my sister has any of her macrame. Lia, FYI: there was a macrame owl at the auction that sold for $45.

I digress.

FIRST: I am going to transplant my sisters 1970’s embroidery that is currently on a torn blue work shirt… onto a new blue work shirt. I will be using the zigzag on this machine to do this.

Second: I am going to lengthen a pair of too short jeans with vintage blanket fringe and add a vintage flower pot patch.

In the 70’s, we made ELEPHANT PANTS from scratch and made our straight legged jeans flared. I am adding a small denim striped flare to these jeans.

FYI: I will be teaching Flare & Repair workshops at Happenstsnce this winter.

G*e Sharp-Richardson

At an auction in Colorado. This is how we spend our days… some of the things I’ve won bids on. And three things I’m wa...
05/23/2026

At an auction in Colorado. This is how we spend our days… some of the things I’ve won bids on. And three things I’m waiting for.

What you do when you are thirty miles from your destination and traffic is stopped because of an accident on the mountai...
05/22/2026

What you do when you are thirty miles from your destination and traffic is stopped because of an accident on the mountain. You get comfortable. The good news. I mended my jeans and ate potato chips and listened to a podcast.

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1244 7th Avenue Alley
Marion, IA
52302

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