My Rainy Day

Many had Monday off for Labor day, but not I. I never have, you see I do the payroll for a company and it has to be done and sent out Tuesday morning. Also it's month end and when a lot of reports are done and sales accounted for, so I work. No biggie because I get today off. Yeah and a good thing too. It's rainy and cool. Perfect for doing things at home, and making soup.

What else to do? How about working on my friends journal book? I am making two pages for hers, and she for mine. We started these last year and they are incomplete. She called me and asked if i would consider doing a couple pages. I chose Halloween. It's one of my favorites.I love the colors, and imagery. It's candy day for the kids, and "eye" candy day for me! I am using a couple digital sheets I bought from Seneca Pond Scraps, here is a picture of the work in process.

In a somewhat premature "ta-da" here is my dress-form the one I posted about below. She has her cage back. Yes, a little bent (it was much worse), but re-welded and re-attached. You see the new finial, and I decided to stained her. She had a lot of marks, and although I repaired the neck. replacing the material and cap, it just didn't look right. The staining pulls it together and makes it all look original. Yet it has worn and used feel to her I really like. Fits with her rusty, bent cage.

Here she is from the side. I still need to cut the pipe down, or adjust it, since she's a bit too tall. We are scouting for new wheels for the base, since two appear to be bent. For now though I am considering her done.

She is very cool, a thinner compliment to my other dress-form. I will bring her upstairs and use her to display my work. Steve also surprised me by making a finial for my other form with a brass doorknob, but I will share that another time.

More goodness

Sooooo, if your saw my post below you know I stumbled on a couple dress forms at a sale last weekend. I managed to repair the one (her neck was torn and the block, and batting gone from her neck) and let Terri have her, she was picked up Tuesday. I have to say I did a great job (Terri could not tell wear I had done the repairs, and I foolishly did not take any photos, duh!)

On Monday the lady I bought them from called me (I had given her my number when I wasn't sure I was going to buy the other dress form, which of course I finally did). She had another one!! Oh yeah with the cage. She was not in great shape but was I interested in her? Of course, so we arranged to meet and after hemming and hawing I decided to take her. She was in bad shape, her cage was bent and needed attention (Stevens friend welds and is repairing it for me,Thanks John!), and she had no neck, well she had most of the base but the material was gone and someone had mercilessly duct taped her neck and arms up. Have you ever tried to get duct tape sticky gooey gunk off? No fun.

I spent quite a lot of time online checking and calling trying to find replacement parts (she needs a new cap and finial), but she is old and most are not made in the U.S. anymore. I talked to a real nice guy named Joe at "Manne-King" and he explained how they come assembled. How the cages and arm covers are made to specifics for that model. Yeah you can possibly get someone to make theses pieces for me but the cost would be dear and to be honest you would be better off buying a new one. I suggested to him there may be a market for parts and he said he will definitely consider doing that. He did carry some neck blocks and finials though. However he did not have my size. I thanked him and continued looking.

So I was surprised to get a call from him Wednesday saying while cleaning in the back storage they found a cap and finial that had been damaged. They replaced it but if I wanted the damaged one (and if it fit) he would sell it to me at a discount. So I measured, and it looks like a fit! He is sending it to me. It should arrive this week (along with her repaired cage). I cannot wait to put her together.

Again I didn't take any before photos (duh, what's wrong with me?) to focused I guess to think about it. Anyway I cleaned her up as best I could fixed and recovered her neck. Even after staining the cloth, it was a bit too bright next to the older tape stained fabric, so I played with inks and stains. You really can't tell, well maybe if you studied her up close for a bit, but overall not bad.

Not too shabby a repair job. the hardest part was finding the right weight of muslin and matching the color. You can still see the tape on the cap. But that will be gone soon!

I was chatting with my friend yesterday and we are seriously thinking about doing a material collage, smash/vintage journal exchange. We had both bought the book "Layered, Tattered, and Stitches" (okay she says I am a bad influence. I bought the book and another and showed them to her. So she ordered them too) and were so admiring all the lovely collage pieces in it, and were getting inspired and fired up about trying some of the ideas, but with our own spin.

Today Steve and I decided to check out a couple garage sales and a local collector/flea market sale near our home. I found a very cool reproduction radio/stereo. It is very 40's and works, not bad for $4.00. Then I saw these below in a bag. They were all separately tagged, so I was looking through the bag when the vendor looked at me and said "you want the bag, take it all for $10.00". Well, hello, and yeah! They are great pieces and these buckles are sizable. I keep thinking how cool one would be, say on a vintage collage journal? Hmmmmmmm......

I will be hard pressed to use the others. I will have to put them aside for my own projects (my journal cover), but what a great find. It made my day!

***Guess what arrived today? Yep, the cap and finial, and they fit!!!! (4:55pm)

Lady Luck and "the Ladies"

This last weekend I was lucky (and I mean lucky) to be in the right place at the right time. My youngest was in town and wanted to hit a couple Flea Markets, perhaps a garage sale while she was down from College for the weekend watching her sisters pets. Steph and her husband Pat had to go to Ohio for a family wedding on Pat's side. Kim and her Boyfriend Mike came down to House/Dog sit for them. We arrived late as the one Flea Market, had changed their day and was not open. We stopped, had breakfast then went to another. Usually when you arrive late at these kind of things everything has been "picked" over and there isn't a lot left to see. However we arrived just as a vendor pulled up (she was late too). I was there as she took this (pic below) off her truck, and I was so excited! I just had to bring her home with me, meet Aunt "B" (that's what I am calling her for now, although I was calling her Bertha initially), Isn't she FABULOUS! She's a "full-figured gal" (ah-hem like Moi') and has all her original parts!

Here she is sporting on of my new necklaces, and "wish-bottle" charm in green.....

Here's a closer look at the charm...

Here my other lady, a smaller petite short form ( my sweet hubby mounted her on a pole and stand for me, as she was only the torso), she is sporting the teal charm and necklace I made...

Here's the charm up close, I experimented with looping wire (a pain in the butt!) to hang a plethora of yummy goodness from.......

Oh, and behind my new lady was this young gal picture below... I was sooo tempted to keep her too, but I am going to be generous and let Terri have her. (she has silently envied me my other gals upstairs, I have two short torso gals, and said she wanted one) She had some issues with her neck but between my sweet hubby and I we fixed her up good as new. LOVE, love the brass plates on her arms!

Better come get her soon Terri, or she may wind up staying! (heh heh)

Yeah, isn't it always the way? You go expecting nothing and come home with wonderful finds!!!

P.S. I also managed to find one of Stephs "Josef Birthday Girl statuettes" for her, and a pretty hand painted vase! Kim found some trims, a steamer, and a couple records.

More of my Creations!

I've been busy. Working, and "working". I have been making my coffin shadowbox charms and re-cycling old glass bead jewelry into charms necklaces. Each has a swivel clasp that allows you to swap out the charms.

I have been a bit hesitant to post them, wanting to keep a lid on them till I had stocked the local shop(s) I have been selling them at. I haven't had a chance to even list any in my blog shop. Each little "coffin" house a little body or some sweet paper roses. I have made these in three sizes and some have had a black patina on them.

No two chains are alike as I use old pieces that I take apart and put together. Normally I had ball chains for my smaller charms but these little shadowboxes looked to out of place on them. Now I can layer different charms and chains.

I have also made sweet house charms, but I will have to post those another time. Hopefully I will be able to stock my shop next week with some of these!

Where Bloggers Create

Not much has changed in my room. Just "more", which leads to think they need to start a new version for people like me called "Where Bloggers Horde" .....

Please check out all the wonderful places, these talented people have shared, there are some very creative people, and some fun and wonderful ideas!!

http://mydesertcottage.blogspot.com/

I want to point out that it is also "Pink Saturday" and with my "Pink" room it can't get much more pink than that!

New charms!!

Vintage mother-of-pearl buttons, bits of fabric, fragments from mirrors.......

Some soldered beading, a bit of black patina, singled out under beveled glass. These are my latest creations. Working on chains and necklaces to hang these lovelies from. They are my latest little shadowbox charms.....

Sweet Shabby card with Embellies I Made

Here is a card I made with one of the clay embellishments I made. Having a lot of fun. The paper is from paper paisley and so very shabby chic and I love , love, love the colors!

Here is another view, these are a very nice, not heavy and add a great dimensional touch.

I made some glassine bags to put the rest of them in. I plan to make a few more cards with these, and this lovely paper line.