I was lucky enough to go to Kauai with some friends not too long ago, and we accidentally stumbled upon this crazy art house which was up for sale (note the owner's phone number on the coconuts).
And do you recognize what they used to build this wall? Old metal cafeteria trays!
I actually really like the hanging vines and the branch, but the bird and especially its poor scrawny legs need some work. It looks like someone with really, really skinny legs is carrying a huge bird-shaped poster. One of my friends noted that's because BOTH legs appear to be BEHIND the body. I think that's part of the problem, but additional suggestions would be very welcome!
I altered this book by turning it into a nest for a vintage bird. First I carved out a niche through the cover and the first 75 pages or so. Then I carefully filled it with twisty paper-wrapped wire, crinkly ribbon and silvery velvet leaves. Lastly, I wrapped little red-tipped floral stamens onto the wire. A snippet from an old book review, sandwiched between 2 layers of mica, was then glued over the nest. The 2 strips of black ribbon hold the book closed.
Rather than replace the transparent but otherwise perfectly good window in the bathroom, I made a trip to the local home salvage warehouse, bought a bunch of chipped glass blocks in all sorts of sizes and patterns and created a little vignette to give me privacy and a focal point for the wall. The bathroom is actually the same blue as the stairwell, but you'd never know it by MY camera settings...
I refer to this as my "Shabby Chic" wall. I created a faux linen look using golden glaze and a stiff wallpaper brush, making horizontal and then vertical stripes. I took the glass out of this rescued window and hung old pearl necklaces, pages from botanical books, skeleton keys and a wreath I made out of odd little fake roses. I used a very old pale peach lace scarf as a backdrop.
The 5 boxes came from a little chest of drawers I picked up at the Mother of all Goodwills (MOAG) near downtown Seattle. Some child had scribbled all over the front with crayons, so I turned them around, screwed them together and created this fun little storage/wall display thingie. The starfish on the front are actually big push-pins so I just pressed them right into the backs (which are now the fronts) of the drawers. All of the treasures inside are found objects. The framed prints are actually more pages from a botanical book placed inside matching white wooden frames I also found at the MOAG.
Now is the time to stop relying on fortune cookies for answers.
To you life is a bold and dashing dog tag.
Take time today to thank the little rodents.
When I first heard 'linoleum' I immediately had flashes of avocado shag rugs, harvest gold appliances and badly paneled basement rec rooms. But in to the store I went (covered with paint) to check it out and my to my surprise, I LOVED IT. I couldn't belive how much it resembled actual wood. And it was less expensive than the laminate, so I could afford to have my laundry room covered, too. Woohoo!
My friend Marilee gave me this journal made from an old book. Isn't the title hysterical? Can you even IMAGINE what this book was about? With a title like that, it's a good thing the pages were discarded and new ones put in. Most of the new ones are blank, and a few are from a Guiness Book of World Records...like this:
The French Navy took over the world's largest nudist colony??? What must THAT have been like? That prompted me to spend a few moments speculating about "pageant day" in a nudist colony, which in turn reminded me of the naked cyclists who routinely participate in the Solstice Parade in Fremont (a neighborhood in Seattle).
This is a closeup of a necklace I made from repurposed baubles. I love the "Approved Commercial File"...good thing I wasn't trying to use a "rogue" or "unapproved" prop.
Here are two of the cards I made last evening for an upcoming card swap. (Note! If you're in said card swap, look away now so as not to spoil the surprise). I just bought the little bird punch and it was fun to find tiny text that showed up on the birds.
And...oh...my...goodness. I LOVED Maxine's. I was ridiculously happy as soon as I set foot in the place. Imagine an explosion of flowers and birds (real and handmade), Parisian frou-frou, vintage flea-market jewelry, delicate wire nests and wildly decorated 3-tiered faux gateaux.
Meanwhile, Maxine herself, looking EXACTLY as you would expect, was assembling a floral display behind the counter, her chartreuse parrot perched on her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. My very favorite touch was just inside the front door. Random clusters of silk flowers were glued onto the wall over abstract little paintings of leaves and petals. I've got a serious hankering to try something similar in my stairwell leading down from my kitchen.
And head vases! Is there anything cooler than head vases? I want to get one and make a Carmen-Miranda style tropical confection for her to sport.
I am going back to Maxine's soon. I would like to get to know the proprietress herself. I've seldom met someone who is so fully self-expressed in her artistic vision. I know I could use a little more of that...
Photos borrowed with permission from Maxine's web site.
Here's a fun, easy Ribbon Bracelet I made recently using twill ribbon that looks like a tape measure. I measured my wrist (about 6"), then doubled that (since the ribbon loops back on itself) and added about an extra 3" (to allow for hemming and the overlap of the loop).
To start, I folded the ribbon in half and zig-zagged all the way from the tails to within about 1/2" from the top of the loop. You want this opening to be big enough to snugly go around a button since this will be the bracelet's clasp. And don't be stingy with the zig-zagging up here...it should be good and sturdy.
I sewed on the buttons with regular old black thread, starting with the button furthest from the loop (in this case the round wooden one on the far right), dinking around with the placement to make sure that when it went through the loop, the bracelet would be snug but comfortable. I trimmed the tails so that I could turn under about 1/2" and zig-zagged the hem.
Then I sewed the rest of the buttons on, layering some of them (the spacing was a cinch given that I was essentially sewing on a fabric ruler) and Presto! I had a fun bracelet using only materials I already had on hand.
When we were kids, we thought it was SO clever and SO naughty to say, "Happy VD" on Valentine's Day. Of course, kids today have never heard the acryonym "VD" so it's only funny to us old folks. Dork that I am, it kind of IS still funny.
My friend, Salvage Sister Lisa, sent me a link to this video which I watched over and over because it made my heart so happy. Make sure you have the sound on so you can hear Louis Armstrong sing his classic.
Feeling the need for a little spring in my life, I crafted these little stitched paper collages. The background is a stack of pages from an old foreign book held together by sewing the bird image on top. The bird images came from a fabulous sheet of upscale Cavallini wrapping paper (with 25 images per sheet, it's just pennies per serving!)
So I checked out his site to see what he was up to these days and it turns out he has a new exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum which incorporates 1000 walnut blocks. Each block is identical, with a different pattern on each of its six sides. This allows for an infinite number of astoundingly beautiful patterns to be created, and visitors are encouraged to play with the blocks to create their own designs. Check out this slideshow of 100 designs:
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