Past Artwork and a Fun Girls Only Tree House.

Even though I didn't sign up for Pink Saturday this week, this was just too fun not to share. A neighbor down the road from us put up this pink 'Girls Only' tree house. It makes me smile every time I drive by. They keep adding to it. There is a swing hanging below, a black purse hanging under the flower box, and of course the flower box. Having three granddaughters, I can just imagine how they would love something like this. Kids have such wonderful imaginations! I will ask if I can take some better photos when I get a chance some time.

I wanted to get a quick post up before we leave on vacation, so I pulled some images of items I have made previously. Below is some jean jewelry. This has a nice size lobster closure that you can easily clip to your belt loop or even to a purse or bag. I love turquoise and had a few spare beads to use up. I like just the little splash of red with it too.

This is a necklace I made a couple of years ago. It is made of Cinnabar hearts, black crystals and silver pieces. As I said previously, I learn as I go. I love the way it fits, the way it hangs and how nicely it lays. I do not like the stiff wire I used to make it though. It has a small clasp that is difficult to manipulate to open and close, especially with the inflexible wire. This one is in line for a redo. The bracelet is just created using spare beads and a stretch thread.

I used to do a lot of embroidery. I had hung on to this pattern for such a long time and finally decided to make the piece. It doesn't show in this photo, but there are beads in the flower centers that give it that extra pizazz. Every once in awhile I get the itch to embroider or do some sort of needlework again.

Below is a composition piece from one of my favorite college classes - paper making. I could easily get carried away with this craft. For those of you familiar with the craft you will see a variety of techniques here. I love the lace look of the paper on the top right side. The mask is made of paper also and then painted. The feathers and beads were added last.

If there were more hours in the day (and more room) I would have so many various crafts going on at once it would make your head spin. The only medium I haven't fully enjoyed is sculpting with some of the packaged clays. For some reason I can't get it soft enough to create anything. I have a friend that makes amazing dolls out of clay. I don't mind the paper clay and love the ceramics clay that you fire in a kiln, but can't get the detail my friend gets no matter how hard I try.

Finally, I want to thank all those new to my site for signing up as followers. I hope I won't disappoint. I also want to wish you all a great week. I will be off on vacation, so I won't be posting for a few days. Hope you all stay well!

Designed and Handmade Just for Fun

I decided today I would share a couple of my handmade items and another of my product designs with you. I took a short break from designing jewelry and put together these suncatchers using both new and recycled crystal beads, spacers and other miscellaneous beads. Crystals from old light fixtures were used as the drops. The crystals show wear and have slight imperfections and these suncatchers seem to breath new life into the crystals. I love these hanging in my window on a sunny day. It is just so uplifting to see the rainbows dancing throughout my room.

Below is one of my red hat inspired ideas that I designed for the company I worked for. This piece would work equally as well in any of your favorite colors. Most of it is wood, so it could easily be repainted. She was made to sit on the table or hang on the wall or a door. Her purse closure is a clip that could hold notes, reminders or even a postcard or a photo or two. In my studio she is currently hanging on to my safety glasses for me.

This last one may not be the fairest of them all, but she keeps me company. I made her in one of my all time favorite art classes--paper making. Her name is Minnie. She is very prim and proper and she never leaves the house without her makeup and jewelry. However, her eyesight isn't so great anymore, so she goes a little heavy on the blush, lipstick and eyeshadow. She loves wearing hats and this is her favorite. She wears it all the time...literally! She never says a negative word and always looks pleased to see me (although, between you and me, sometimes I think she isn't really listening when I try to talk to her). I hope one day you will get to meet her. Her boyfriend's name is Cecil. One day I hope he will become a better person and come spend more time with her. Right now he is just all wet and into himself, if you know what I mean.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Altered Book

I am going to step away from jewelry for this post and share another item I created. Let me start off by saying I really admire many of the altered books and other scrap art being created these days by some very talented and gifted artists. I have some awesome creative friends that do amazing work and I enjoy seeing what they come up with on a continual basis. I decided to do my own version of an altered book. As is the norm, I started out with an old book. I used an X-acto blade to cut out the center of the inside pages. Next I glued the pages together. I 'upholstered' the book using some leftover fabric and batting I had on hand from a previous project. I had cross-stitched the rose that I used on the cover, gluing it down and framing it with scraps of gimp and fancy trim I also had in my stash. On the inside back cover (center area) is more of the fabric used to cover the outside of the book. The glued pages were then glued to the back cover. I covered the inside front cover and the 'frame' section around the opening of the glued pages with some paper I made in a paper making class. As you can see, the edges of the pages were left natural, showing the wear and tear of an old book. Ribbon is sandwiched in the front and back covers to tie the book closed. I have begun using this book as a prop when photographing my jewelry. I find it compliments my jewelry style nicely, partly because it also incorporates recycled, repurposed and found elements. This book box was fun to create and could be done in a number of styles. I hope it inspires you to create your own version.