Don't Throw Away That Box!!

That's right, I have developed quite the reputation for saying "Don't throw that away...I can make something out of it!" After sharing this delicious peppermint bark with my husband I knew I wanted to make something special out of this cute little box.


Sadly, my Grandfather passed away last year at the age of 84 and as the first year anniversary of his death is approaching I knew I wanted to do something special for his wife whom he married later in life but loved so dearly. This peppermint bark box was the perfect size for the gift I wanted to give her.

Using my favorite medium of beeswax, I covered the entire box and added an image into the still hot wax. After adding a few coats of wax I stamped into the edges all around with an acryllic stamp and then added and embellishment and rub-ons to personalize the box.



Next, I printed out a lovely poem of remembrance and adhered it to the inside of the box and placed a layer of vellum over top of it. To read the poem enlarge the photo.

Then I took some gold shimmer card stock, trimmed it to size and added it to the base. Next, I added a gold locket I found at LuckyFeather.com which sells wonderful charm jewelry that you can personalize with a photo. They also have a great "photo shrinker" tool which allows you to shrink any photo to fit the size of jewelry piece that you have purchased.

I then added a sprig of paper flowers with a velvet ribbon tied at the base and sprinkled a few extra loose flowers into the box. I think she will really enjoy wearing this little keepsake of the man she shared her life with in her later years. I liked the fact that the necklace also has a privacy panel that fits loosely or securely (whichever is preferred) over the photo depending on h0w the recipient would like for it to be viewed.

I miss my Grandfather, I know we all do in my family but I hope this heartfelt little gift brings some comfort to the wonderful woman that he loved so dearly.

I'm In Love!!!

That's right! I am in love with my new bread machine! I have been looking for weeks to find the best bread machine on the market. After doing lots of research and reading tons of reviews for every machine imaginable, I decided to buy the Zojirushi BBCC-X20 Home Bakery System and hope for the best. Wow, did I make a great choice! This thing is wonderful! Better than any bread machine I have ever owned. Just 3 hours after opening the box my husband and I were enjoying fresh baked olive, onion and herb bread!


It was so incredibly easy to use. I love the fact that it has a digital display that is easily navigated. There are lots of options to choose from when deciding what kind of bread to make but to make sure you are not overwhelmed they include a DVD as well as a manual and an idea cookbook.


Most of the other bread machines I had considered before purchasing this one made these funny looking tall loaves instead of the traditional long loaves you would expect a loaf of bread to look like. This machine turned out a beautiful and normal looking long loaf that I considered superior to the less expensive bread machines. It does however take up a bit more counter space than I expected but I thought it was an easy trade off.

Another advantage it has over other machines is that it has dual kneading blades. Most of the other machines I considered only had a single blade and when reading their reviews everyone complained of the same problem of under kneaded and lop sided finished loaves!

So with the cold weather of winter approaching I highly recommend the Zojirushi bread machine if you would like to have fresh baked bread that does not take all day long to make and that will spare your wrists and your nerves! It is also good to know that it is also the machine preferred by professional bakers. It may cost a bit more than the standard store bought machine but with all that it does, how sturdy it is and the perfect bread it turns out; I think it well worth the price.

Finally Some Projects!

It sure seems like forever since I have been able to get down to the business of creating something. Life gets busy and things just tend to get pushed to the back burner at times. I've been busy working a few more hours a week than usual and have found myself too exhausted to get into the mood to create.

Finally this week I have found my mojo to create a few pieces just for me! I even created a few pieces to give as gifts as well. I have always wanted to try the simple technique used to create a domino pendant. I used an image from my Flikr pool that was applied with a touch of Mod Podge. Next I added a layer of Diamond Glaze and edged it out in copper foil. Finally I added a few flourishes using a Stazon permanent ink pad to prevent smudging. I topped it off with a few coordinating beads and a satin ribbon.


Here are a few hair accessories made to go in my hair. The hair sticks were made using an extra pair of chopsticks from my last Chinese take out order! These were fun to make and even more fun to wear tucked into a bun or french roll. The hair fork was created using the same scrap booking paper adhered to a raw brass base with a little Mod Podge and bling.

Finally here are some itsy bitsy pendants made using recycled vintage jewelry pieces. The bases were mini cabochons I found on Etsy.com but the center focal pieces were made from broken pieces of vintage jewelry from other pieces. I simply glued them into the centers using a little bit of Diamond Glaze. They are no bigger than a nickel but they are so dainty and feminine and now I am looking for the perfect chains to go with each one.

I have so many other projects to start as well as others waiting to be finished that I just need to buckle down and find the time, energy and mojo to finish!

Sooo Cold!!

Can you say FA-REEEZING? The hubby and I decided to throw on our coats and head up the mountain to Big Bear Lake here in California. We live just at the foothills of the awesome San Bernardino National Forest so the drive was relatively short for us. The temps at our house were in the comfortable 70's but when we got up the mountain they were in the low 50's!

We were sooo cold. I managed to stuff all of my hair (and man do I have a ton of it!) up under my hat and that warmed me up a bit. My husband had only grabbed a light hoodie jacket on the way out the door since we had planned on bumming around all day long. Boy was he sorry once we got up the mountain.

We enjoyed a great lunch at Boo Bears Den where the food was delicious and extremely affordable. After lunch we drove all around town checking out the shops and antique stores. We pulled over at the lake and checked out the ducks as they fiendishly dabbled in the shallows for something to eat with butts bobbing on the surface.

It was nice to get away and just spend the day together with nowhere to HAVE to go and nothing to HAVE to do. Don't we all deserve to do that once in awhile?

I've been a just a wee bit out of the loop the last week or so. You may have noticed my posts' becoming fewer and fewer and even a little dull. No, I am not tiring of my little bloggy...it just so happens that my computer...CRASHED!!! If you have ever had the misfortune of this experience then you know what a horrible and inconveniencing drag it can be.

Things, however, are looking up as my smart, handsome, intelligent and sexy husband also happens to know how to switch out the bad stuff in my computer for the good. Now that it is all bandaged and fixed up I can get back down to the business of blogging and creating. Yay!

Look Out Marlon Brando...You're Next!

I stumbled across this technique while cruising Youtube for art inspiration and this technique just amazed me. You could really use any photo for this but a repeated image photo like the one used in the video really seems to make a statement.

I happen to love photos (and film) featuring a young Marlon Brando. Not that I am opposed to the work of his later years but it just seems to me that the huge body of work he did before "The Godfather" (which I refuse to watch because of the violence) goes under appreciated. Marlon took a huge amount of studio head shots during his career and I can't wait to get my hands on a few of them to try out this technique on.

There is an antique mall that I love to spend time in that has an entire section dedicated to nicely arranged and well preserved, classic film, head shots. They are all taken on glossy 8x10's and are just perfect for this project. The video is a little over six minutes but well worth waiting to see how she arrives at the finished piece. Enjoy.

Be Afraid!....Be Very Afraid...Then Get Out That Credit Card!

The wonderful world of Etsy can be a fabulous resource for the mixed media artist to fulfill their commissioned art needs. However, sometimes it is nice to find other resources that rely on a bit more of a stable business premise. This is especially true when purchasing large orders of supplies to fulfill commissioned art pieces where a single checkout procedure would make far more sense. This is especially true when you have projects that must be completed and delivered under a pre-designated time frame.

Recently I stumbled across an awesome supplier called Ornamentea! They specialize in just about everything for the mixed media artist be it collage, Steampunk, or bits and baubles. The only area that they seem to be a bit lacking in is the vintage ephemera department but one can always go to Flikr or one of the other copyright-free vintage image resources out there for that.

I recently purchased several of the filigree items and cabochons for personal imagery jewelry pieces and WOW! was I impressed with the quality! Even the raw brass pieces needed only minor polishing before beginning to work with them. They had a variety of cabochons, cameo settings and bases as well as that darn 10oz bottle of Diamond Glaze that I have been searching all over the world for!

They also had a variety of other resin setting agents but I have always preferred the Diamond Glaze as it is far less toxic than some of the other resin products on the market and should I someday decide to have children I certainly wouldn't want them to be born with a third eye or something simply because I used copious amounts of toxic resin products in my artwork...LOL.

Bead Caps! Can I just tell you about the HUGE variety of bead caps I found there! You know how much I love creating vintage inspired hatpins...I was doing a happy dance all the way to the check out page after finding these babies. They have everything from raw brass to sterling silver findings in this category. Especially when you are making vintage reproduction hatpins do you need authentically aged looking hardware such as these.

This place was also a STEAMPUNK artist's dream! If Steampunk is your specialty then you will be thrilled to find that you can purchase your components in bulk! For a set price you will get everything you could possibly need to create collaged canvases, mixed media jewelry and everything in between. For all that you get I found the prices to be extremely reasonable.

And if all that wasn't enough, Ornamentea also features an external blog separate from their official website that features tutorials, ideas and tips from like minded mixed media artists to gain inspiration from. Remember, the prices are reasonable, the shipping fast and the overall experience much better than shopping Etsy for supplies from individual vendors. Be sure to check them out and give me some feedback about your experience with this awesome company.

* Post Script.

After re-reading this post I realized that I may have given the impression that Etsy.com is not a good place to shop for mixed media supplies and I now realize how that impression could ruffle a few feathers. This was certainly NOT the impression I was wanting to give.

Etsy is a wonderful place to acquire needed supplies indeed...heck, I even have my own Etsy shop! What I was trying to say in my own inarticulate fashion was that those looking to buy a variety of supplies all at once might likely prefer shopping at this new supplier.

Unfortunately with Etsy if you find 10 different supplies from 10 different vendors you will be required to make a separate checkout transaction with each vendor for thier individual store's products and that can be a time consuming hassle if you are on a time crunch.

Also, if you find that you have an issue with your purchase after receiving it then customer resolution is dependant upon your conversations with a single person's interpretation rather than a customer service department with predesignated policies and procedures. In the past these two issues have caused me a bit more stress and effort than I have wanted to deal with when purchasing larger quantities of supplies.

Hey! Didn't I used to create art and post it here on this blog? I have the faintest memory of doing just that sometime ago....LOL!

OK, now it is time for me to quit clowning around and finally get some projects done so stay tuned for some really cool things that I have got coming up soon.

In the meantime I will do as my Dad always used to say and

Quit -a- yackin and get -a- crackin!

My Heart Just Ached...

It was called Ladies In Lavender and it was a story that I don't think I will ever be able to forget. My heart still aches for its prominent character, Ursula. I watched this movie recently and was moved to tears by many of the heart wrenching moments of the film. It stars two absolute legends of English film, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench who happens to be my favorite female actress of all time.

The story takes place in Cornwall England in the pre-war era of the English sea coast. I will not go into all of the details of the film but I will give a brief overview so consider this your spoiler alert! if you wish not to hear the details.

Janet (Maggie Smith) and Ursula (Judi Dench) are two aged sisters living on the sea coast of picturesque Cornwall, England. Janet's husband was killed in the first war many years before and Ursula was never able to marry for one reason or another. One morning after a fierce storm a young man washes up on the shore after falling overboard his ship sailing to America. The sisters take him in and nurse him back to health where they learn that he is Polish and speaks almost no English.

Ladies in Lavender. (2004) Photos


Ladies in Lavender. (2004) Photos

This was the part of the film that just had me blubbering in tears. It took me a while to catch on but I began to realize what was happening. Ursula who was never married and has now grown old begins to awaken to feelings of love and romance that she has never experienced before, for this young man. You can imagine how carefully and sensitively this had to be portrayed in the film so as not to give an unsavory impression. It was beautifully presented and my heart just ached for poor Ursula who had begun to experience love for the first time in her life although it would never come to be as it only exists in her mind and heart. The young man has no idea of her developing feelings but Janet soon catches on and tries to reason with her very emotional sister to no avail.

Ladies in Lavender. (2004) Photos

Not only is the film a moving portrayal of unrequited love and raw human emotion but it is also a cinematographic pleasure to watch. Every scene is filled with coastal beauty as well as the indoor scenes that are filled with beautiful antiques, vintage millinery, teapots, china and cottage adornments. I ended up watching the film a second time just to savor the clothing and accoutrement's of the era that are very visible in the film.

Ladies in Lavender. (2004) Photos

The film is also filled with beautiful and emotion stirring scores and violin pieces which will bring you to tears from the shear beauty of them all by themselves! In the film Andrea (the young man) is an amazing violinist and this ties in wonderfully with the overall feeling of the movie.

Ladies in Lavender. (2004) Photos

So there you have it, ladies! The next time you are in the video store and need a good chick flick to help you get out those bottled up tears, be sure to look for this wonderful piece of movie mastery called Ladies In Lavender.

1940's Glamour Girl.

Isn't this the coolest painting! She is a 1940's Glamour Girl. I found her in my Flikr Collage Pool of images. It was designated as free to use in your art so go ahead and make something fabulous with it. :)