Thursday, February 7, 2013

FEB 6th!


Photo from our 25th Anniversary party in 2010

Phillip and I rarely celebrate Valentine's Day with the normal gusto. We decided long ago that we wouldn't put that much stock in one day a year. That's not to say that we've NEVER celebrated V-Day. Phillip surprised me with beautiful diamond earrings one year, that I cannot find....I've looked everywhere!!! Either they were stolen, vacuumed up, or the diamond fairy took them back in the middle of the night. Who knows...

All I know, is that every time I think about it, I get mixed emotions of bummed and pissed off. What wife LOSES diamonds?!!! He is bummed too, but doesn't show any outward signs of pissed off. He even trusted me with
another set for my birthday last year....What a guy!
THIS is an excerpt from my blog post from Feb 6, 2010.

You see, I lost my 2002 Valentine's earrings. My gorgeous, brilliant cut diamonds set in white gold. I still feel HORRIBLE!!!

Well, after all these years, I still mope that I cannot find them. The only thing I recall is when we were in Maui, I took them off, linked them together and put them in a "bag" before we went snorkeling. My coin purse? My toiletry bag? I just don't remember!!!

Fast-forward to last night...Feb 6, 2013. I was feeling a bit of a scratchy throat and went to the hallway cabinet to see if we had any throat lozenges. I rifled through the baskets and in the very back of the cabinet, there was a gallon sized Ziplock bag. I grabbed it and held it up to the light to see what was in it. It had Q-tips, a travel razor, some other misc things...and in one of the corners, down at the VERY bottom...

I spied my DIAMOND EARRINGS!!!!

SERIOUSLY!!!! There they were!!! They've been in there since 2007!!! In a freaking ZIP LOCK BAG!!!

I feel silly...but I'm still doing the HAPPY DANCE!

Cheers....



Monday, February 4, 2013

A Little Ditty....

Janice, Kathy, and I road-tripped up to Portland this last weekend. We met up with Christina Kuntz of Art Circus/Mack & Momma.  (she has an awesome studio, btw! Thanks, Christina for a fun night of flower making and treasure hunting!)


The weather was gorgeous. A bit brisk, but sunny. We walked around a little to a few of the boutiques in the area. Christina knows EVERY ONE!!!
Christina, Kathy, Janice

We ended up back at the cars at the McMennamin's Kennedy School (SO MUCH FUN!). She had "assigned" us each a seat with doll heads! (inside joke of Kathy not liking dolls - and Christina and I joking on Facebook, pre-trip, about finding and fighting over them! Parts is parts, right?)

Janice's mascot had red hair. Kathy's blonde. And mine brunette.
She drove us all around, introduced us to a ton of vendors and boutique owners, gifted us with AWESOME gift bags chock-full of bottled water, energy bars, candy, Mardi Gras masks, bead necklaces, stamps, and a bit of other sweet findings.

Christina introduced Kathy, Janice and I to the Goodwill Outlet Store "bins".
Can I just say? The "bins" have ruined the three of us for regular thrift store shopping!

It's like an ever-replenishing yard sale in one location!

There apparently are THREE in the Portland area. We went to TWO of them...I don't think we could have fit a THIRD visit into Janice's "toaster"... her Scion.

blurry photo of the 3/4 back seat...Kathy was squeezed into the other 1/4 side behind Janice driving
 
The "bins" are sold by the pound. Can you imagine? We all went a little crazy for the fabric.
 
I found an awesome rag rug.
 
21 pounds @ .89/lb. Yeah, do the math!
 
SCORE!
 
It will be perfect in the studio.
 
It was SO big and heavy, but folded up nicely under my feet on the floorboard.
I can't stop thinking about the "bins"... I think it's a good idea they are 5 hours away!!!
I would be ADDICTED!!! So much so, I've made up a little ditty in their honor....
I'm a little goofy that way...guess you had to be there! lol

CHEERS!

***
(to the tune of Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love)

You see the signs, and you re-read

It's by the pound, how can that be?

So many bins, you can't be saved

All those piles, of things you crave.

 
Now you're movin', at top speed

Get it quick, before it leaves.

Another pile, another heap.

There's no doubt, you're in deep.

 
Oh, there's a smell

But what the hell.

Your cart is full

You tip the scale.

 
Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah

It's such an awful truth to say you can't get enough

You're gonna have to face it your addicted to BINS!

You might as well face it, your addicted to BINS!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

One Step at a Time.


Ever have those days?

When SO many ideas are bouncing around in your head?

Like a Fisher-Price popper push toy? 

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Where do I stop?
Where do I start?

One step at a time....

No matter what, life is dang good!!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Folly...a parasol assemblage step-by-step

Recently, I've had a couple of people comment "I wish I was in your head!"..."How did you come up with THAT?"... "I would have never thought of THAT!"

Well, join me for a few moments and I'll show you what inspired me to create Folly...my mixed media parasol assemblage.

But first...let me just say, that I'm not a morning person, per se. I do my best thinking either while I'm in the shower...with my eyes closed, while I'm washing my hair...It's something that I started doing when the three boys were little...If you're a mom, you know that shower-time, locked in the bathroom is PEACE ON EARTH and the best time to be with your OWN thoughts!!!

or

At night, while I'm trying to fall asleep... When that "good idea" strikes, I can stay awake for hours...then be exhausted when it's time to wake up...probably why I'm not a morning person...!

So, with this particular creation, I was trying to think "Explore Beyond" - Spellbinders' trademark.

I thought of several things.... I won't bore you, but then I fixated on a chandelier idea...then I thought, what if I turned it upside-down...then...then...then... It was past 2 a.m!

Well, I happened to have two mis-matched light fixtures collecting dust in my studio. One with a wooden finial and another with a glass finial. After a bit of contemplation, I decided to disassemble BOTH and create a NEW object d'art.

I began the process on Friday night and spent a full Saturday - between Friday's wedding and Sunday's baby shower...getting it done! WHEW!!! Love my mochas! LOL

***

So, here we go...

wood finial chandelier - I used the arms, ceiling medallion, lower wooden finial and various hardware pieces

glass finial chandelier - I used the scallop cups, center glass finial and the hanger hardware
 
 
the disassembly process ... sorting and deciding

the assembly process begins...remove the lacy cups and add the scalloped cups ...
different shape...different direction...different effect
 
final top finial stack selection
 
finial stack test fit for design aesthetic

pattern-making for player piano, resin-paper section
  arm spacing traced, pattern cut, and test fit to arms

vintage Rythmodik player-piano music roll


test layout
 after cutting the music paper, a Fancy Tags Two die was positioned to be used as a stamp

using a Fancy Tags Two die and an Art Bin magnetic storage plate as a stamp positioner .. and the leaf seam/edge of my dining room table as a T-square, the die was inked with black Staz-On ink
 
Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist was spritzed over the sheet music


using the Grand Calibur, Pendants Lattice die, and clear shrink plastic,
numerous pieces were cut and shrunk for the clear jewels section

after shrinking

initial jewel layout that did not become part of the final design -
 a horizontal pattern was a better design between the arms

assembly of the jewels with chain and jump rings...and the wire wrapping process...
NOTE TO SELF: don't remove the card from the wire....it makes a mess!

rusted chicken wire - test fit and layout
 
 chicken wire cut to fit and wired to arms

using Fancy Tags Two die and laminated vintage sheet music, cut two tags...
one for the top of the wire section and one for the underside

laminated tags, vintage key and glass bead added to chicken wire section...
dried sheet music section positioned and ready for Ice Resin
  
prior to adding resin, a bit of black Staz-On was "scuffed" onto the sheet music in areas
to add some aging - scalloped cups were temporarily secured to assist with propping up the
framework while the resin cured over-night...bedtime!


Sprightly Sprockets dies were used to cut and emboss sheet aluminum - not aluminum foil
 cut and embossed

test layout onto wide mesh ribbon

 layout progression with mesh ribbon and laminated sheet music strips


mesh ribbon sandwiched between sprockets (back to back) and glued into place -
laminated sheet music was then sewn along the edges to stabilize mesh

sprockets adhered and laminated sheet music sewn into place - yet untrimmed


additional texture, color, and dimension added to sprockets using alcohol inks (butterscotch & slate), Staz-On ink, and a crackle pattern stamp
 
 a section of a vintage, vinyl Twister mat proved the perfect medium to die cut
using a 12" Classic Lace die...



vinyl border was then alcohol inked with butterscotch and slate using a stencil brush

 texture and dimension was added using Staz-On and the same crackle stamp

a third table lamp in my collection was disassembled to obtain the lamp parts used
for the parasol handle...yep, I wearing sweats...gotta be comfy!

a few additional elements, such as an etched metal plate, tulle, mulberry paper, watch/clock parts, jewelry findings, beads, paper tape, etc. were added to the main parasol assembly...then the glass element from one of the chandeliers was added to the table lamp "handle" and secured into place with plumber's putty...the putty was then painted with Modern Masters metallic paint to blend
 
scallop cup inserts were cut from dictionary pages using Petite Scallop Circles
and lightly coated with resin
 
Folly title badge was die cut from shrink plastic using Fancy Tags Three die,
stamped with Staz-On, and then attached with a jump ring

 And Voila...Folly!

CHEERS!











Saturday, January 12, 2013

Folly Parasol...a 2nd place win...

...and SO much more!


I couldn't help but day dream about the "what if I win the Grand Prize?"

To be perfectly honest, $5000 worth of product from Spellbinders and all the listed sponsors would be A LOT of stuff! What would I ever do with that much crafting and paper products? A craft-stash as Ken Oliver, from Spellbinders called it.


Then I saw the Pay-It-Forward posts going around on FaceBook last week between all of my crafting and artist friends, and with the thought of the possibility of a 1-in-12 chance of winning, an idea started bouncing around in my noggin. I love the moment an idea pops into my head.



What if?

What if I used the winnings to Pay-It-Forward to make someone elses day? So, I would just keep my fingers crossed and try to sleep at night until today's announcement...I have to say, the closer it got, the harder it was to fall asleep!!!!



Well, today I won!

I won 2nd place!

ONE-THOUSAND DOLLARS PLUS of products. That's HUGE!

Tonight, I decided I would make this even bigger than me...like a tiny acorn (and $1000 + in prizes is no tiny acorn, believe me!) a mighty oak will grow.

So, on Monday, I will be researching a local children's hospital, a children's program, or a shelter; or at the suggestion of a FaceBook friend, whom I've never met in person, a long-term adult hospice ward, to share my love of crafting and art with. A few of my friends will join me on this quest to bring hope and happiness, with all the supplies and instruction, to those who could use some.

I'm SO excited to share and brighten someone else's day... Folly...a parasol of hope...that's my new little acorn's goal.

****

With all this excitement, I want to be sure to THANK my dear friend, Janice Martin...without her generosity of loaning me ALL 6 Spellbinders die sets I used to create Folly, this little project would never have come to fruition. It would have just been a little idea that popped into my head one night.

Thank You to Spellbinders for hosting such a creative opportunity and to all of your sponsors for such generous prize packages! Thank You to the judges for choosing my project out of the 12, that must have been a difficult decision! Congratulations to all the finalists and the 1st and 3rd place winners! Thank You to all the guys at E.B. Effects for your confidence and support and asking me every.single.day if I'd won yet! Thank you to all my friends and family on FaceBook and beyond for the kind comments and friendship.

Thank you to my boys, Ty, Kyle and A.J. You three motivate me daily to be a better mom and budding artist.

Finally, and MOST importantly...Thank you to my husband, Phillip, whom I have the privilege to share my life with; whom tolerates my excessive "collecting" addiction; whom supports my every whim; and truly is my everything!!! You my dear man, are my inspiration to become a better artist through your lifelong example! I love you!

Cheers!

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