1920's Vintage Cabinet Card.

Enjoy this vintage freebie. It is a 1920's vintage cabinet card. Many of these have been colorized for art purposes but it is nice to come across one that still has the original coloring and patina. I plan to use this for a 5x7 canvas collage. I'd love to see what you do with it. Email it to me!

*Free to use in your Art only, not for Sale on a Collage Sheet or image CD.

E6000 Whew!

Can anyone recommend another industrial strength art adhesive other than E6000? Working with this stuff has got to be somewhat toxic don't you think? The fumes are highly noxious and I suspect maybe even a little dangerous. I am working on some commissioned glass tile pendant pieces and need an industrial strength adhesive with a little more bite. Diamond glaze has been my resin adhesive of choice as of late but with large glass tiles this is not a good option. Let me hear your thoughts.

Paper Flowers.

Remember those crepe paper flowers you used to make in school? I had forgotten all about them until I stumbled across a wonderful artist on Youtube. Her name is Natalie Bramasole and she resides in Belgium where she creates the most beautiful art books and pieces. In this particular tutorial she showed how to make these beautiful paper flowers to add to your cards and art projects. I immediately set to work and created some fun pieces to add to the stack of cards I have been trying to finish and send out.

In the tutorial she shows you how to color your finished flower with Glimmer Mist and Perfect Pearls mica powder which is what I did with this gorgeous sea blue flower. After drying the glimmer mist with a heat gun the flowers become crispy and very manageable. You can then shape the petals in whatever fashion you wish to.

Here is an unsprayed white flower I decided to leave white to go with the toille paper behind it.

A brown sepia colored flower to add to a card featuring vintage sheet music. The pearl in the center is a bit large but hey, you use what you have right?

Here is some glimmer paper I created using two sheets of coordinating card stock to go with the blue flower. I wet the sheets of card stock, wrung them out and dried them with the heat gun. Next I added a misting of glimmer mist and then dried that with a heat gun. The photo does not do justice to the true sparkle and shine that the paper really has in person.

Please be sure to watch Natalie's video tutorial below and then stop by her neat blog for a visit. She has many other video tutorials that I am sure any art lover will find inspiring.

*Don't forget to pause the music below before enjoying the video.

Cats And Keyboards?

What is it about Cats and Keyboards? They love nothing more than to stretch out right across your desk and smush the keyboard of your computer. Maybe it is because they like to see the asterisk or the letter M dance across the screen in a never ending fashion until they are promptly whisked aside. Whatever the reason I am convinced that they are aware of the precise moment you begin to read something important. They wait for just the right moment to pounce onto your desk and then PLOP! There they are laying right across the keys.

My little Spanky Doodle has gotten quite good at this little routine and I have given up the fight and I fly my white flag. Nowadays I consider his interruptions as a hint to take a break and enjoy some kitty and me time.

Annoying as it may be, I try and remember how fortunate I am to have such a loving little kitty as my Spanky. He is so affectionate and I owe it to the fact that I nurtured him just as a mother cat would from the age of 5 weeks old. I would cradle him on my chest and simulate a mother's licking routine by rubbing my chin across his face and head. To this day he jumps up on my chest, curls up and ALWAYS throws his little arms around my neck to be loved by his momma.

This horrendous photo (of me) was taken yesterday after I threw my back out as I lay somewhat helpless on the couch. My little Spanky immediately jumped up and threw his arms around me and lovingly comforted his ailing momma. Aaaah to be loved.

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!