A Giveaway at Yaya Chique

I just stumbled upon this wonderful giveaway of Vintage treasures at Yaya Chique.   It ends today.   Check it out and enter.  

Prima Giveaway.......

I just heard about this from Eileen's blog and thought I would also join in on the fun too.     

Prima is having a wonderful giveaway of creative goodness.  Click on Prima and it will take you to their site where all the rules are for joining in on the fun.   You never know, it just might be you.

Treasure Chest of Lace, Trimmings, etc.........

I guess one can never have enough trimmings, lace, mesh, doilies, straw trim, you name it, it is in this chest.  I love picking through it and deciding which will work best for whatever project I am working on.   And, of course, it goes without saying that the majority of this was picked up while I was thrift store and flea market shopping.   Another thing I like to do with things like this is give them as little gifts to people when the opportunity arises.   In fact that is one of the things that make me so happy is to be able to share with people who aren't able to find stuff like this. 

Just Another Necklace..........

This is a pretty simple necklace I made with a polymer clay pendant.  I made a mold out of polymer clay of one of my metal findings I have. I like the colors a lot in this piece.    When I made that pendant, I made several others in different styles so I guess I had better get busy making some more pieces.   Maybe I will make some of them in embellishments for other things. 

Check out this blog Robin Egg's Blue, for a great giveaway of Vintage items which are really great.

Soldered Charm Bracelet and Pendants

This is a soldered bracelet I did sometime ago of my family when we were all young...........   It's not the best soldering job but it works for me.   As you can see I am in the center here......that way they could control me  as I was the "wild" one.    You just never knew what I was going to do next.  

My Grandma and Grandpa On The Farm.   Grandpa always wore bib overalls and carried a pocket watch so this is a favorite picture of mine. 

Luscious Fibers........Yum Yum

I love just touching these fibers and having them in this big locker chest so that i can look at them when I am in my studio. The majority of them are in skeins except for the few that are on top that haven't been wound yet. I use a lot of these fancy yarns to make my little knitted purses and necklaces which I have shown in earlier posts. On either side of the chest is some more of my cigar boxes. They are everywhere which is fine with me.

Red Wagons Anyone??????

It's all about the RED WAGONS for me. Please read below how they all came about........Thank You Cis and Goodwill.





The above wagon is full of puzzle pieces that are in the shape of the States. I really like having these available as I personalize some things for people.





I have a lot of vintage buttons but these buttons were purchased in Oregon when Joann's had a big sale.........I got five cards of buttons for $1. So of course I proceeded to buy a lot of them. This is only about half of what I actually have. Shame on me.






This wagon is full of miscellaneous alphabets in all different shapes and sizes. You just never know what size you will need.





This little wagon is full of hardware of all sizes and shapes....... It is so much fun to search through and find just the right item.


And, of course, the majority of the items were found at a thrift store or flea market.


Two days ago, a new Goodwill store opened about one-quarter of a mile from me. So dangerous I must say. And it is really close to the grocery store where I shop so you know what that means. Believe it or not, I don't always find something but more often than not, I do. Sometimes their prices are way too high for me and then sometimes, I can't grab it fast enough. And no, I won't push someone out of the way to get to it but the thought has crossed my mind only for a fleeting moment.........that is.

Well I went to said Goodwill at 7:45 am. And yes, there was a line already.

There were many things that I saw but didn't buy. Shock of all shocks. I am running out of room. Found a basket of yarn and fibers for next to nothing. If the price is right, I always buy it although I probably have enough to last for my entire life and the one thereafter. Here is a picture of it.........and the basket is deep so there is a lot more below it.






Found a huge roll of fabric for a mere 99cents. This will be so perfect in art pieces because it is only about 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches wide. And what was interesting is that I have a bigger piece of this same fabric already that I have been hoarding because I like it so much.

And I found a ream of sticker paper. Think I will age some pieces with instant coffee and print vintage furniture, clothing, people, etc. on it and apply it to matboard to make faux cabinet cards. Never seen it in that big a package before for a mere 99cents. Wow. This is why I love shopping at thrift stores as you find unusual quanities, items, etc.

And I found something not art related but I was tickled because I had been looking for a certain piece of Corning Ware with a handle that I use all the time....there it was....the same exact piece as mind for a mere 99cents and it looked brand new.

So looking was the easy part...........now the challenge was to pay for it. The line was the length of the store.........not kidding. I saw a couple people get mad and walk away but not me. No sirree........how could I part with my treasures.

Well, I went on my way and picked up some groceries, etc., got home and did some things but in the back of my mind, I was always wondering if they had added more stuff at the Goodwill Store. You guessed it...........I went back in the afternoon and went to the Children Section first this time to see if they had any Scrabble games. Oh dear me, they did. I picked it up and it seemed really heavy so I peeled the tape back and they had combined two games in one. Jackpot!!! Then I turned around and saw the Little Red Wagons...........I don't know why but I love them. I have one that I posted about before that my sister got me but I couldn't resist these either. Now I have three and they all have things in them. I have never seen these in thrift stores before but I have my eye out now.

Found Object Necklace.........

This is a necklace I made sometime ago using a bottle cap and tin can. The beautiful lady is my Mom. The body part of this piece is part of a tin can. It reminded me of her when she dressed up for church. The tin can was dated in the 50's. I added a picture of her on the bottle cap. Then of course she had to have a purse and some high heels because back in those days you dressed up for church.

AND THE WINNER OF MY OWOH IS.........

Anji Gallanos
On Ruby's Hill
http://anjigallanos.blogspot.com

You are the winner of my bottle cap purse.

Thanks a lot everyone for visiting my blog and taking a look around. Please contact me Anji by email and give me your mailing address.

Layers and Hearts

These collages were done for a technique swap I did a couple of years ago but I thought I would share them now because they have hearts on them and we are fast approaching Valentine's Day. Of course you could use this for a tag, a card, altered art, etc. These were inspiration from a class I did with Traci Bautista at Art Unraveled, Phoenix, AZ. I applied each layer with molding paste. I always tear all my paper and I layer it here and there. And I just do pieces of each item. No straight lines for me. I try to do it so that a little of everything shows through at one point or another. 1. Painted the matboard/chipboard with acrylic paints on both sides. 2. Put a layer of my decorated papers on top. 3. A layer of a dictionary page that has been colored. 4. A layer of punchinella. 5 A layer of leftover paper towels. 6. The hearts were cut out of my decorated papers. They were then run through a Cuttlebug embossing folder through my Sizzix BigKick machine. I highlighted the raised areas with Distress Ink Pads. I then applied Nailheads to the top of the heart with my LongReach HomePro tool (which I wouldn't be without by the way). 7. The heart was then applied to the collage piece and I added an Idea-ology philosophy tag to the whole piece. It seems like I always have to have an embellishment of some kind to my art.

I Love Making Journals

I don't know what it is but I love making journals/books of all kinds. The construction of this book was inspired by a class I took with Kelly Kilmer, who teaches all over the United States and a really great person. This one was constructed with a book that had all the pages taken out of it and painted with acrylic paints. The canvas piece was also painted with acrylic paints and adhered to the book covers with gel medium. The inside of the book has two signatures of 140 pound Wassau papers. I loved learning about this paper because it really holds up well to a lot of paint layers, etc. I call it a cheaper alternative to watercolor paper and I use it a lot in making my decorated papers. You can buy this by the piece or ream at places like Kelly Paper, Paper Zone, etc.

I added some of my metal findings on the spine while I was sewing in the signatures. Some other metal pieces are hanging from just a skin of tar gel and acrylic paints. The acrylic skin was one of those things that I created when playing around with tar gel and acrylic paints. I liked how it looked and then had the idea of adding the metal pieces to it.






Here are a couple other books that have been made in the same style as the one above. On the first one I rubber stamped on the canvas spine and inside the book. On the green/blue one I used a crackle medium so the color underneath showed through.

A Great Giveaway on The Land of the Lost Luggage Blog

Julie Prichard and Chris Cozen are offering a great giveaway..........their online class, "Color--Beyond the Basics". I have Chris Cozen's books and they are wonderful but have not taken a class from her or Julie; however, I have heard wonderful things about them.

Click here for a chance to win.

It's All About The Junk Jewelry

While I was in Oregon a few years back, I had a couple thrift stores on the Oregon Coast that had a lot of neat old jewelry which I gathered while I was there. Just recently recovered it from my storage unit and it now has a new home.......a Radio Flyer wagon which was a retirement gift from my sister. Isn't this a great way to display the jewelry and you know it is all about the digging and seeing what lies beneath......

I will also have to confess here that this is not the only junk jewelry I have but the poor old wagon couldn't hold anymore. There are a few more drawers full.

Altered Lunch Box

This piece was done a few years ago at ArtFest in three separate classes taught by Ramona and Tom Ashman. It had an Ocean theme so I did this in memory of my Mom and Dad who lived by the ocean in their retirement years. One class was for the lunch box itself, one for the bracelet and one for the glass journal. The legs which you really can't see are made of copper tubing. By the way, the picture was probably taken in 1944 or 1945.

Another ROD Journal

This journal was made through the inspiration of Mary Ann Moss' Remains of the Day class. It is a wonderful class and I highly recommend you check this out if you have a sewing machine and can do the basic stitching and you like to make journals. You don't have to be an expert seamstress to do this........trust me on this one. I have posted some of the pictures of the other journals I made through this class in an older post.



This is the back of the journal where I hand stitched the chain to the back of the book.



This is the front of the inside of the journal.




This is the last page and inside of the journal.



Here are a few pages that I made for this book. There will be a lot more added to these pages as the actual "journaling" is not done yet. These are just background pages and there will be writing and pictures added and stuff put in the many pockets of this journal. It was fun using up all those scraps and bits and pieces of paper, trading cards, punchinella, flash cards, fabric, you name it, it is there.

A Wonderful Ebay Find A Few Years Ago

A few years back when I was cruising ebay, I noticed this wonderful lot of metal watch faces. It looked like a real good find and when I won and received it........all I could say was "WOW". All of the big ones and most of the smaller ones are metal and just wonderful to use in projects. Although I have used many of them myself, I have given a lot of them away as little gifts. Now that these kinds of things are so popular, I wouldn't want to guess what you would pay for them today.

Another Decorated Cigar Box

This cigar box was decorated with Graphic 45 Papers and an old sewing pattern I had. For the places where the Graphic 45 paper is, I put the paper on first and then put the sewing pattern on over it using Collage Pauge by Traci Bautista. In the inside of it, I just used the sewing pattern. I spelled the word Dream using Idea-ology Type Charms. The corners and center piece was an order gift from Bonnie's Best Online Store And the skeleton key is from my stash.

This is the outside of the lid.




Don't you just love all the goodies inside







This is the bottom of the box.





This is the inside of the box.