A Trip to Treasure Island

" The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart."

Maryanne Williamson

Nice saying I love great treasures. I know that nothing in this world is comparable to having God in my life that is my greatest treasure. But he gave me this thing that is overwhelming at times to take things and make them into things that hopefully others will enjoy. It can't be all bad right? Sometimes I wonder why I am the way I am, it seems I am always thinking about the next thing I am going to work on. I have come to the conclusion it is my calling and try not to feel guilty how much joy I get from doing what I love.

I got a chance yesterday to treasure hunt and found some great stuff. I really like vintage that is a given but especially if it has anything to do with Paris. I don't know why but I do maybe because I am under the impression that if I collect enough Paris themed goods, I will mysteriously be swept away and land somewhere near the Eiffel Tower...... it could happen.......

Anyways I found this great glass with a Paris theme, it's about 7" high. I can imagine it filled to the brim with ice and my favorite Diet Vernor's. I know it was initially meant for mixed drinks but that was then and this is now. Found a nice scarf too marked "Paris, France" it has a really cute 60's type Frenchy design. I remember the day we used to wear these as a head coverings when we went out. How times change.

If I thought I could look as elegant as Audrey I would keep it and wear it everyday while of course standing near the Eiffel Tower!

  I also found another colonial couple I am a real sucker for these. I have several and I really know better than to buy glass figurines because I tend to be accident prone but what the heck for 2.00 (my magic number) I couldn't resist.  The wooden box is something I intend to paint and pretty up later on and the shell I have already given a coat of white and is waiting for the amaretto glaze and some of my handmade flowers.  The Statue of Liberty is destined to go into a shadow box collage I am working on and the mirror into my personal stash ( I don't know how many I have gone though so far but here is another victum I mean contestant).  The 2 white wooden pieces will adorn something in the near future, I have a screen door that I have been waiting for just the right amount of inspiration to tackle.  Who knows this might be it!

I found this little pink metal lady in a 50 cent box and she too is going in the shadow box collage too.  I just love a Southern Belle.  The rabbit has a tiny chip but so much personality that I couldn't pass him up.  He too will be in a collage so the chip won't even matter it is so small.  The little dog I don't know what I will do with him yet.  He is nice just to look at and makes me smile so time will tell.

 I found this little metal chair that was painted gold, it looked so forlorn all by itself with a 2.99 price tag.  I went ahead and gave it a coat of primer and light pink spray paint, my way of saying "I love you!."  Then I made a cushion out of 2 toile napkins I "just happened" to have.  The miracle was that I could find them amongst my stuff.
                                                      
The next picture is just a preview of my latest project. I already have a coat of winter white painted on it and I have the design that will replace the grapes all planned out. So keep watch for the finished project, I will post it as soon as it is completed.

I almost forgot about this SWEET umbrella caddy I picked up at a thrift store that will be closing soon.  I got it half price so it was 10.00. I know that is 5 times what I am used to paying but you have to admit it is wonderful.  I plan on giving it a makeover so I will post the outcome when it is finished.

So tomorrow I will go to work and see what I can accomplish.  I am full of anticipation so I think it will be a good day.  You know any day is a good day if you get to spend it with a paint brush or a sewing machine. Oh yeah, I am working on a purse too, remember the denim skirt with the neckties? I mentioned I was thinking about using the leftovers to make a purse. Well  I almost have it finished!  I am letting it settle a bit while I make the final decision to its embellishments.  It is looking good so far. I have about 3 hours into it, I love detail and hand sewing.   Until we meet again blessings to you all. Thank your for your generosity and sharing your time with me! 

All Tied Up!

I was supposed to go to a festival today but we had a thunder storm and I had to stay home. So what better to do than get at one of those projects that have been sitting around for oh... a year or so!  So many to choose  from, a hard decision to make.  Went into my closet and saw a bag of neckties that I bought  at a resale shop a long time ago and thought there it is! This is the project that will make me forget about  aebleskivers. I looked on the rack and found the perfect candidate to complete my project a long blue jean skirt I never wear.

After I fearlessly cut the bottom off from the skirt and pinned on one neck tie that determined the length I wanted it to be.  Then I cut all the ties to the same length and started pinning the sides together so I could stitch them into one skirt piece.  I just overlapped them and top stitched them in black thread until I had the skirt completed. 

After I got the ties pinned to the bottom of the jean skirt I stitched it onto skirt and serged the seam. Over all I like the outcome, the ties I used were definitely vintage and  really fun.  I may add some trim to the skirt in a day or two and if I do I will definitely update this post.  I can't believe I took a picture of the backside of the skirt with me in it I don't usually show my backside -oh well I wanted you to be able to see the neat combination of old neck ties so it was worth it.




I love the picture above of the inside of the skirt, the ties are so cool I could make a project just using the labels.  I still  have the bottom of the jean skirt left and the remainder of the ties I used and I am thinking they would make a cool tote bag and hopefully they won't sit in my closet for another year waiting for a rainy day!
I love anything blue jean, especially skirts so be sure and stop by again to see if I have any new creations. Winter is coming and I know in Michigan I will probably be stuck indoors for most of it and looking for something to do. 

Pretty Poodles

I have never been fond of poodles (sorry if you are a poodle lover) but when I came across these two I couldn't resist them (especially since they were only 50 cents each! These chalk ware poodles are all chippy and shabby and look great sitting under my church bench.  In the picture you can see they are sitting on a nice little chair.  The chair is a vintage metal lawn chair I found for 10 bucks at a resale shop. I took it home and cleaned it up and gave it a fresh coat of red spray paint.  The chair I am selling at the shop where I consign at but the poodles I guess I am a poodle lover after all!

Worth The Wait

The Graphic Fairy is the best resource for vintage images, if you are on their mailing list you get daily emails with new graphics. I have used several and they always look fabulous. I painted this wooden watering can and it sat around the house just waiting for the perfect design to grace its front. Then it came one day in an email and I couldn't wait to print it out and Modge it on. I had this little Geranium plant just sitting in my stash and thought what a perfect match!

Shabby Chic Prims

I finished some projects this week and thought I'd post them so you can see them, I hope you enjoy seeing them. I love to share and hope you love to look. I know I love to see the things other people make I am always amazed and inspired.  The first project I worked on was a candle holder I found at a sale.  It had a stained finish so I thought I would paint it and use a design I found on The Graphic Fairy to give it a new look. 

http://www.graphicsfairy-diy.com/search/label/French%20Chic

In the backround you can also see a tray I painted shabby white too, it already had the cool Paris them going on all I had to do was update the paint job.
I found this cloche-her is some infor on the word "cloche" I never know how to say it! The definition really doesn't cover the idea of cloche like mine but it is what they call them.

[KLOHSH] French for a bell-shaped woman's hat, cloche refers culinarily to an unglazed stoneware, bell-shaped cover used in baking bread. This baking cloche is soaked in water, then placed over the bread dough prior to baking. When heated, the water-soaked clay produces steam, which coats the dough and gives the finished bread a crackling good crust. Cloches, which are about 10 inches tall, are available in gourmet shops. An unglazed earthenware casserole dish can be substituted.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/cloche#ixzz1VVR1SbQ4 at the G.W. Boutique for 3.00 and grabbed it up.  It was originally for cheese but I had other plans for it.  I found a nice chunky spindle piece and base and glued them all together with my favorite Gorilla Glue.  Then I did the shabby thing-black undercoat, white, and then a dark glaze.  I think it will be great with a vignette setting inside. 

Two Dollar Shelf-Million Dollar Make over

Well maybe I exaggerate, yeah I do but I take artistic license...I keep telling my husband that I don't think I have yet to convince him. Back to the shelf it really was only 2.00 I love the 2.00 range first the stool now the shelf.  It was in need of a make-over, the brown finish was worn and I knew that with a coat or two of paint it would be good as new!  I undercoated it with primer then flat black my favorite thing to do, then painted it with a white flat paint.  After all that dried I gave the shelf a coat of black-brown glaze and then a top coat of poly coat. I took it to the shop today I wonder if it will sell I hope so I have plans to make more stuff and will need the room! LOL!

Mon peu défraîchi français tabouret

I went to the shop to deliver some goods and there sitting out in the sun all by itself was this stool and the selling price was only 2.00, even I can afford that! Wow what a deal.  So I took it home and glued it back together and set to work on a design.  I decided to undercoat it in a flat black so I could take more time to deliberate and come up with a plan.  After the paint dried I knew that I wanted to paint it a shabby white and use a post mark design, I really like the Parisian influence on art world!  I had seen a project online (wish I could remember another thing I need to work on along with the before and after pictures!) and came up with a design that fit perfectly on the top of the stool.  I used a brush to sponge on the 2 circles and then stenciled the words and date.  After everything was dried I painted on a black-brown glaze and then sealed the stool with a poly-coat.  I love how it came out and sure hope to do more with the post mark design so keep watch I promise not to disappoint!

Vintage Shutters

I love shutters especially the old and worn ones that graced the front of old farm houses.  I had great fortune to receive some last summer from a friend.  She said the were going on the burn pile and thought that she would give me a chance to salvage them.  When I used to sell at our local flea market everyone knew me as the "salvage artist" or the "queen of junque" so they would bring me all their unwanteds and I would take them home and wait for inspiration and make whatever into something new and interesting. So here are they are all painted and grunged.  I thought one white and one aqua would be fun.  The look great just leaning up against a wall, they have such character.  I always prefer to decorate with vintage, how about you? I would love to hear what your favorite look is!

Lucky Dice

I bought a set of country painted blocks at a garage sale this summer and decided they would be very cool painted up to look like dice. I wish I had taken a before picture and certainly will on my next projects so you can see the transformation it really gave the blocks a new life. The country motif was very out dated and I just thought the dice theme was a hit out of the park.  I have another set I bought last year so if these sell I can make another set. Business has slowed down becaue of garage sale season and I am taking advantage of it and getting my booth stocked to the max.  I just have to be working on something I can't seem to stop! Keep watch for more of my handmade pieces I know I will have tons more to show you and even though I didn't do "before and after" pictures this week I promise I will next week.

A Good Week

I had a wonderful week and got so many projects finished and ready to take to the shop.  I even made a doll and I haven't done that in quite a while.  I had this vintage baby dress  and knew it would be so sweet on a doll. I make my own patterns so I made the body to fit the dress.  I had some wings I bought a long time ago and decided that she would look nice with them especially after I grunged them up.  I gave her some antennas too because she is part doll part butterfly....well now you know how my mind works I see things and I admit sometimes they are bizarre but I still like them.  I buy stuff because I see what they can become.

Random Remakes

Just thought I would post some of my projects from the last year, ramdom remakes that I so enjoyed creating.  Monday's are my day to paint the rest of the week I am in a stuffy office keeping the masses happy, no place for a kindred spirit girl like me.  Monday's I am so blessed especially in the summer, I move my projects outside and paint in the open environment of nature's beauty.  I am surrounded by famers plowing their fields, planes jitter bugging around dusting the crops, and Sand Hill Cranes squawking at me because I am crowding their territory.  I could go on and on it is so peaceful under the summer sun slapping on buckets of paint on things that most assuredly would have been taken to the land of the unwanted to rot and disintegrate. 

I surely am thankful that God gave me the ability to paint and to see potential in the things that just need a second chance. I not saying I am the best or accomplished just a willing student.   I am a product of second chances so I guess it just comes natural.

Simple as ABC

Pottery Barn Knock off's seem to be everywhere on the net.  I saw several using the giant type writer key theme and had to try my hand at it.  So I search through my stock pile to find something I could use for my project and found an old table top laying in the corner and a pedestal base without a top and knew they were destined to become as one!  I attached the two together with some screws and some Gorilla Glue which I use as often as I can because the stuff just works, (just wish I wouldn't always have to get some on my hands).  Oh well still worth it!

After the table was ready to paint I base coated it with a flat black and then started on the top.  I mixed up a special color of off white with browns and gold tones and painted the inside section of the top.  I took a tomato soup can and drew out all the circles.  I still don't have that fancy cutting machine so I have to do everything the hard way but I still do it with a smile on my face painting just makes me happy! While the circles were still damp I took a glass and placed it on each circle to lift some paint and give it a slight accent.
After the circles were dry I stenciled thd letters, numbers, and scrollwork.  I painted a dark brown glaze over the whole piece followed by a polycoat.  I used water base MinWax it is great in closed conditions no fumes and dries fast.  I hope to paint a design like this again the look of vintage is one I never get tired of. 

Pink Trike Love

I really am getting into this pink shabby movement that is sweeping the blog world.  I went to one of my favorite hangouts the GW Boutique and found a trike in very rough shape. It wasn't priced so asked the clerk how much it was.  A she took the sweet little trike to the back of the store to tag I thought to myself well there goes that dream!  I was sure my found treasure would come back with a 9.99 tag on it and that is out of my range totally.  To my delight the clerk brought the trike back with a 2.99 tag and I couldn't be happier.  You know they say diamonds are a girls best friend well I beg to differ give me a good piece of rusty junque any day and I am as monkey in a banana tree! ; ) 

 I took my little find home and sprayed it a cotton candy pink.  I found 2 boxes in my "stash" that I mounted in place of the seat and in the front for flowers.  Over all the color in the picture looks a bit brighter than it is. I used a ameretto color glaze over the whole piece to give it soft aged patina.  I think it will go well in my booth at the Peddler's Market and hopefully find a new owner that will love it as much as I do.