Artist Heaven

Today was my lucky day. I've died and gone to artist heaven!

Not only did I win Jen's Pick on The CSI Project, I met a new friend when I stumbled across a fantastic craft/yard sale! I was very excited, so I called my sis to tell her the news of all my finds, and she made me go back and get more for her!! 

Now, this wasn't vintage stuff, mind you. It was a plethora of craft and art supplies from cool twine and ribbons to Tim Holtz distressed inks and artsy stamps. I overspent my limit, but considering what I got, I may never have to step foot in a Michael's Craft store again (so, don't buy their stock cause it's goin' down - ha!). 

So thank you, Jan, for the fun morning (and afternoon) of digging through all your wonderful treasures! By the way, Jan was the new friend I met...a very inspiring woman who went from a size 12 to a size 2 in two years .. unbelievable. She looks fantastic! She is also extremely talented and very nice. And, best of all, (just kidding) she's from Pittsburgh, too!

Anyway, won't be able to go "yard saling" tomorrow because I have a photo shoot (for a magazine article that I'm writing), but I think I've got my fix for the weekend at least.

Rain, Floods and Jewel Boxes

To say it’s raining in Annapolis is an understatement. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen this much rain in one morning – ever. My basement is again flooded. My husband had to take off work this morning to mop it up and move all the water sodden trash – I guess that’s one way to get rid of things. This time the water was high enough to get into the finished part of the basement.

On a much happier note, I've been having so much fun creating these little trinket and jewel boxes! I happened upon a garage sale where a former crafter sold tons of her leftovers. The prices weren't great, but they were reasonable so I loaded up my cart (figure of speech) and purchased a nice grouping of wood boxes, banks and other unfinished wood items.

I painted some with black gesso and some with white (which gives it a nice whitewashed touch). Then I just played!!

I used my handmade paper to create the one above. I made the paper ahead of time from paper scraps; glitter and gold leaf, and stashed it away just waiting for an opportunity. Once I used gesso on the box, I used Mod Podge to secure the handmade paper and then coated it with matte Mod Podge once again.  I used a vintage earring to create the little knob.

For the next box, which I call my “friendship” box, I painted it white and then stamped it and distressed it with three colors of Tim Holtz distressed inks. I then used Mod Podge once again to secure and finish this pretty scrap of paper to the lid. Two metal embellishments adorn the lid – the Japanese symbol for friendship and the word “friendship.” A pretty vintage earring piece serves as the knob.  Inside, I covered the bottom with mulberry paper and a definition of the word “friend” decorates the top. Pictures didn’t turn out too well for the inside… rain isn’t helping.

I LOOOVE This Frame

I've had this beautiful antique frame forever. Have no idea where it came from and I stashed away intending to do something with it sooner or later. Well, sooner became later. About one month ago, our basement flooded. Fortunately, we caught the flood before any major damage was done. Almost everything was off the floor.

Almost everything, except my frame.

It was a little water damaged when I picked it out of the trash pile that my husband had started.

"What do you want with that?" he asked.

"I love this frame; I can't just throw it out," I implored and added emphatically, "it's an antique!"

"It's ruined," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"I can fix it," I said as I cringed at the water spots and sodden back.

To prove my point, I sprinted up the stairs, cleaned it up and sanded it lightly. I scanned my paint...ahh, turquoise would do. After two coats of paint it looked good, but not great. I needed something else.

Carrying my precious frame up to my closet (er, um, craft room), I grabbed some black antique glaze medium and lightly sponged it on. I took special care to apply a heavier coat to the detail around the inside of the frame and ta da!

I love it and my husband probably still thinks that I threw it out.

You may notice a trend in turquoise on this blog and that's because I'm linking to

Whirlwind Weekend; Let Me Catch my Breath

Only got to one project this weekend (read below to find out why). However, I did finish it! I had this old antique frame sitting in my garage for quite a while. I painted it a great shade of turquoise, but still couldn't figure out what to do with it. After seeing a few bulletin boards at flea markets this weekend, I finally figured it out! Why not make a shabby chic bulletin board? I love the result. Now, I've got to find an empty wall...not easy in this house!

On to the reasons why I didn't get much done this weekend ... my wonderful mother and father-law and two of Greg's brothers came down this Friday. We celebrated Kellen's 10th birthday with yummy crabs! Saturday was crazy. Got up; went to some yard and estate sales (didn't find much) and then went on to the Annapolis Home & Garden Show for my part-time job (I'm Home & Garden Editor for a local magazine). As soon as I got home, we packed the car and headed to Philadelphia to watch my nephew play soccer against the Philadelphia Union team. He plays professional soccer for Chivas USA. Unfortunately, Ben didn't get to play (the first time he wasn't put in the game). They lost (and we think they could of won if Ben was in the game, but hey, what do you think?). 

Despite the loss, we all joined Ben after the game at a great Philadelphia pizza place. It was kind of surreal because as we sat at the table, the waiters and busboys were asking Ben for his autograph. It was so cool! 

Packed up the car and drove back to Annapolis (got home about 1 AM) and woke up early next morning to Kellen's sleepover friends. After breakfast, we scurried over to a nearby restaurant to watch the Steelers beat the TB Buccaneers (Yea!) and then bid our farewells to our house guests.

Other good news...I won some sweet Sugar Scrubs AND a Green Tea Lemongrass soap from Carmen at Beyond the Fringe Crafts in her giveaway! In case you haven't discovered Carmen and her blog, please visit it to see what this amazingly talented woman can do! Her cards are incredible and I expect that her soaps will be just as wonderful. Can't wait to try them!! Thanks Carmen.


I'm linking this to:

From Drab to Fab

About a month ago, I was at the Goodwill store and saw four of these great square frames for a mere $12. Not bad, I thought; I can do something with these! And I  did! If you recall previous posts, I revealed my "Pretty in Pink, Dragonfly" and "Frog" mirrors, however, I had one left and really wanted to use my new paints. After seeing the calendar for the CSI project, I got to work, painting it a lovely shade of this year's hottest color, turquoise! 


I then stamped it with French script. However, it needed more...ribbon? No. Vintage jewelry? Nah. Hmm, how about those three wood flowers that have been sitting in my wood scrap drawer? Yes, those would do! So after painting the flowers with black acrylic, I added some vintage white buttons and thensecured them with Gorilla Glue to the wood frame. The result? A pretty turquoise "Printemps" accent mirror. 

I'm linking to: 

Party Like it's 1999

1999: That was the about the year I had the most energy and creative spunk to make my kids' birthday parties awesome. But, I'm happy to say that it hasn't gone all downhill from that time...I did manage to create some pretty cool extravaganzas since then. Why the post? Well, I wanted to enter the CSI contest this week and it also happens to be Kellen's 10th birthday on Friday.

Unfortunately, this year we aren't doing a party. Instead, we are heading up to Philadelphia on Saturday to watch his cousin Ben play professional soccer against the Union. We are bringing two friends (a hard decision for him, but tickets ain't cheap).

I still want to do something special (and cheap), though on the drive up. Any ideas?


Meanwhile, I thought I'd share some party ideas I've done for my kids in the past. First, Kellen's third birthday. He loved Bob the Builder, but I wanted to go beyond the commercial stuff, so I managed to get some hardhats, home depot aprons, construction tape and other goodies. The cake? It was dirt cake in a dump truck, of course. Games were simple, instead of Duck, Duck, Goose. It was Hammer, Hammer, Nail. And workshops were set up all over with plastic tools to let the toddlers "build" to their hearts content. It was an early morning party (don't all construction guys start early) so food was done in a breakfast format. we had truckloads of fun.

Unfortunately, my scanner doesn't work and I can't share photos from my best party ever -- Nolan's 8th birthday Harry Potter party. I completely transformed my house into Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. The kids shopped for wands, owls and even made desposits at Gringotts. They got to go to HoneyDukes, take a potions class and get "sorted" into houses. We had a Quiddich game (they all brought their own brooms) in the backyard and the golden snitch was hidden. The cake was a replica of Hogwarts (after an earthquake) and we had "guest" appearances from all sorts of Harry Potter characters (my oldest son's friends).

Yes, I love planning kid's parties. I really hope Kellen will oblige me for a few more years!

Apropos

As I pulled out of the driveway at 5:30 AM yesterday to attend Fitness Boot Camp, AC DC blasted through my car speakers, “I’m on the Highway to Hell...”

“How apropos,” I thought.

I managed to drag my weary body to yet my fourth morning of hell, I mean boot camp, despite the crackle of joints and subsequent pain emanating from undiscovered muscles. I wish I could say that I’m getting used to it, but not yet.

To relax, I’m walking my dog, cleaning the house and working on some Christmas (yes, Christmas) products for an upcoming craft show I’m playing with stamps, gesso, wood blocks and glazing techniques and really having fun with it. Of course, with a mountain of broken vintage jewelry at my fingertips, I’ve been adding a little bead here and a little bling there. Stay tuned for more.