Isn’t it Romantic .··-.¸.-··.¸.··-.¸.-·

Same bracelet, same earrings but I did a different necklace to go with them for when I feel in a more romantic mood. It is made from a vintage chandelier crystal also. I did a transfer by dampening a laser print with nail polish and then I used an iron to press it against the crystal. I repeated the nail polish and iron a few times to make sure the transfer was made. Then I soaked it in water and rubbed off the paper. I now had a semi-translucent image. When it was dry I sealed it with diamond glaze and a touch of gold leaf pen around the edge. Most of the parts are vintage brass that has been flame treated to look older.

Timeless Words II

I made a similar one of these for a friend a while back. I had expressed some should have and could haves to her and she encouraged me to give it another go or I would never have made one so similar again. I am so glad I did though because now I have one to wear too :)) I called it “Timeless Words” because of the antique shredded text between the watch lenses and then the tiny bottle has old watch parts inside. I also made a little bracelet and earrings to match. I wore it to the post office today and the lady behind the counter loved it… made my day :))

Confessions of a BLURKER : /

After yesterdays post I discovered that they have a word just for me! :] I am a BLURKER! Yes I am the one who reads there blogs from a reader and rarely post. Yep, so many blogs that I am lucky to curl up with a glass of wine and buzz through the list every evening. With a business to run and a family that always seem to need my attention, time for myself and my art are extremely limited. However I do glean so much enjoyment and inspiration from all the blog I watch. Many of them I have found by checking out those that post here. I guess I could cut down on the amount of blogs I watch but I would be missing out on so much beautiful art and tons of inspiration. Now isn’t that why we blog after all… so others can enjoy our art too? I know I have a lot of great artist that watch my blog too but have little time to post. Having that problem myself, I totally understand. I am just happy that they stop by and see what I am working on and are able to enjoy my art.

Tricked out :)

 

I had made several of these pendants last week. I offered one as blog candy and sent several to friends too. My first thought was just to put them on a black neck cord so I called them finished but when I went to put mine together I jazzed it up a little. I had second thoughts about posting this because I worried that the people I sent them to would feel that I sent them an unfinished piece. After thinking about it though, I decided that everyone I sent to were very creative people in there own right. They might even decide to trick out there little pendant better than I have done. It can be like a creative challenge :)) anyway this is what I ended up with for mine :)

Amazing Mail!

I was so surprised when I opened the mailbox today. Inside was a package from Lynn Stevens. She is an amazing artist and your really should visit her blog. Anyway, she had asked for my mailing address the other day but I really was expecting a card. I can’t tell you how astonished I was when I opened the box to find this amazing bracelet. It is a Fairy them … hmmm wonder why she chose that for me …lol. It was just too special so I had to share :)

Picturesque Soldered Charm

I called this a charm but it is really more of a pendant. It measures about 1 1/2 inches by 1 inch wide. It is made from my new “Picturesque” collage sheet. The sheet comes in ATC size but if you want to make charms all of my collage sheets are available in special sizes. This is not two charms, the picture just shows the front and the back :)

I got waxed!

This week my newest design team member Cynthia Powell is teaching a wax workshop in her online club The latest trends in mixed media art. I had to play and this is my Encaustic Wax canvas. I work on a glass table so I did not worry about laying down paper to catch the excess wax. So after I had put my first coat on, I used my razor blade scraper to clean up the wax. The wax curled as I scraped it off the table and it looked like roses to me so I used it on the finished piece.

Playing with acetate

This past Friday was our local stamp club meeting. After admiring My friend Joanne’s acetate cards I decided that would be my project. I got the whole card ready to put together when I discovered that I had ran out of xyron adhesive. First I tried velum tape and that really looked ugly from the backside. Then I tried spray craft glue. I could not even tell there was any glue. It looked great. However I did find that you need to start spraying the glue and move your image into the spray so you don’t get a glop. You need a smooth even coat because the glop will show. I also discovered another little trick. You know how when your going to stick an image down that has spray glue or xyron adhesive on the back, you have one chance to get it in the right place because once it is stuck … it is stuck. No sooooooo :)) if you put a little “Un Du” on the acetate before you stick it, you can slide the image around until you get it in the position you like. Un-DU is a scrapbookers solution used to remove stickers and you can get it just about anywhere you can buy scrapbooking supplies. I am not affiliated in any way with this product, I just like it :)

Charms, charms and more charms :)

These are a few sets of charms that I did for a charm swap in one of the yahoo groups I belong to. My categories were fabric, metal and found objects. The fabric ones are sewn houses that I stamped with newsprint. Then I did a fabric transfer of a little fairy and cut her out and the jewel flowers are fingernail charms. I used the Omni Gel medium for the first time and I have to say it came out clearer than any other transfer medium I have tired. Sometimes I want the tattered look but sometimes I do want it clear as for this project. The little house charms measure about an inch high.

I tried to do metal etching for the metals category but it was an dismal failure : / I will have to have more practice for that. I ended up using store bought blanks that I put embossed foil on one side. The other side has vintage text from an old book and a metal letter on top of that. The text I used is a foreign language to me, I used it because the text was small and I liked the look of it. I have been told that it is not offensive and I sure hope so. It was used as an artistic element and not intend to imply anything :)

For my found objects charms I used tiny hinges and made a tablet from the same book that the text for the metal charms came from so again... I don't know what they say :)) They measure also not quite an inch high.

Peek-A-Boo Eggs!

Click on the picture to see all 4 eggs! The tutorial for these are now included in my free online workshops. Just click on the link in the left hand sidebar.

Photographic

 

 

 

My friend Joanne Wardel sent me a blank matchbook book she had made to decorate. If you click on her name it will take you to her blog where she has a great tutorial on how to make them …she ingeniously hides the staples so be sure to check it out.

Anyway it is quite a bit bigger than a real matchbook. The pages were just the right height for the ATC size frames on my new collage sheet but it was too wide…. being the butcher that I am, I got out my xacto knife and cut it a little narrower. Thank goodness she had left the staples in from the edge just enough. I am still getting this ageing thing down so I tried a bit of everything …lol.


I started by stippling the entire thing, then I drizzled ink on it. It still did not look to old so I took the sandpaper to it and roughed it up with the edge of a serrated knife. Better but not quite so next I used some gray, brown and black chalk. Once I had that done I cut the little frames out and placed an acetate window in each. Then came the fun stuff, I added cut out collage images, stamped and embellished to my hearts content :))

Theme Thursday ...Labels :)

When I saw the theme over at Theme Thursday this week, I was itching to play. Here is my entry.

ATC’s 4 Trade :)

I was looking at my ATC book the other day with a friend and I realized that it has been way to long since I have made any ATC’s to trade. So tonight I was playing around ..inspired by another friends art and did these two little ATC’s. If you have an ATC you would like to trade for them…or any of the others on my “trading page" , just drop me an email :)

Eat Crow

Braunlick Bear

Timeless Words

 

 

 I have been waiting to post this because it was a little thank you gift for a friend. There have been too many times, I have let a friends words of encouragement slip by without acknowledging the effect they had on my art and me. I wanted to make her a piece that represented her words of encouragement. Although I loved salvaged art, I was so intimidated by it. I doubt I would have started this new avenue in my art with out her. Anyway …the necklace has now arrived so I can share :)) I call it “Timeless Words” because the focal point of the necklace is the crinkled text that is sandwiched between two watch crystals and also the little bottle holds watch parts.

PARTAY ...or er Party... Perfume Labe Bottle Light

Valentines Blog Party

...and have I got a romantic giveaway!

...and the winner is....Altered Route

 

 This is one of my perfume bottle night lights. There is even a switch on the cord that turns It off and on.

 

To make one yourself. First you will need to print your label. I have many to choose from in my little etsy store. I feel they look much more authentic printed on brochure paper and edged with a gold paint pen.

 

This is a take off the popular wine bottle mood lights. I thought it was much more appropriate for a bedroom or bath. First you need to drill a hole in the back side of the bottle for your lights to go though. I used a dremel with a diamond bit. It takes some time and especially with this bottle as the glass at the base was almost ½ inch think : /
Once you have the hole though you can grind in a circular motion to make it as big as you like. Because of the time involved in making a hole large enough for a night light I opted for a 20 strand mini light set. I was able to get these even off season in the floral department of my local craft store.

Once you have your hole drilled clean the bottle well and drizzle alcohol inks in the color of choice. I kinda moved it around with my fingers until I got a marbled pattern. Once that is dry seal it with Matt finish clear acrylic spray. Let dry.

Once you have your label printed glue it to the bottle.  You can use either a xyron, mounting adhesive or craft spray glue because when the light comes on you don’t want glue streaks to show. Then just poke your lights through the hole.

 

For the topper, I used some stiff craft wire and secure it to a chandelier crystal leaving about 1 ½ inches of wire. Twist this into a corkscrew shape. Glue a washer to the top of the bottle cork and screw the crystal in place. Cover the rest of the cork with silver metal tape. You can stop there but I wound some more of the craft wire around a pencil to form a spring. Then I flattened out the rings like a petal, bent the ends of the petals down and wrapped around the base of the crystal.

 

OWOH ... who won!!!!!

The winner is

.··-.¸.-··. (`'·.¸(`'·.¸Her Art Nest¸.·'´)¸.·'´) .··-.¸.-··.

Now I did use the random number generator but the winning number is different from the post number because of some double posts. So rather than confuse people I am just posting the winners name :)

A Fairies Travel Kit

I call this "A Fairies Travel Kit" because this little tin holds all her necessities. Her magical fairy dust and her magic wand. If she has those two items she can use them for anything else her little fair heart might need :)

Click on the picture for a better view

And the winner is Kimberly Johnson

Please use the email link below my picture to send me your shipping address.

Please use the email link to send me your shipping information

Tiny Crowns Tip :0

 Did you notice how tiny the crown was on the little fairy sitting on top of that tin .... wonder where I got that tiny crown. Well pull down your Christmas decorations and check out the tops of them… yep tiny crowns. The itsy tiny bulbs have itsy tiny crowns but if you need some bigger ones check out the giant bulbs. This is wayyyy cheaper than buying those brass charm crowns and you can find a better variety too!

Let them eat cake :D

 

I could not sleep so what's a girl to do? ... MAKE CAKE :)) Not being a stingy type girl, I thought I would share :)) I admit it is not fancy … very quick and very easy but oh so yummy! It is called “Top of the morning” cake and is a recipe I found in one of my vintage cookbooks.


1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 eggs in a one cup measuring cup then fill to the one cup mark with milk

Topping:
¼ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease and flour a 8 x 8 glass pan. Mix the dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. Then put the two eggs into the measuring cup and fill to the one cup mark with milk. Combine with dry ingredients and poor into pre prepared glass pan. Put it into a 350 degree oven.

Then melt the butter. In a separate container mix the topping sugar and cinnamon. Once the cake starts to rise a little on the sides. Open the oven door and quickly drizzle the butter over the top and sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Continue baking until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean…. About 20 minutes. .

Enjoy!

One World ~ One Heart Giveaway!

The idea behind this event is for bloggers all over the world to connect with artists, share stories, creations and giveaways. Well you know how I love a giveaway :)) Just leave me a comment and you could be the winner of my tiny captured fairy in a bottle necklace. Be sure to leave your contact information for this one.

Then once you leave me a comment then click on the world badge above and go down the list of all the other participants

I will announce the winner of the little bottle fairy on Feb 12th a very special day for me as it is the birthday of my second born son who past away several years ago and I think this is a great way to honor his giving heart too!

I am trying to work my way down the caravan list. If you are also playing along leave your caravan post number so I can find your post