Gifted, Thrifted and Found.

Some time ago I posted about a piece I was making for an exhibition and at the time I only had a fairly blurry picture to show. Well, the piece has gone off to a new home and I made sure to take some close up shots because I had a few requests to see what the thing was really made of!

This is it in its entirety - yep it is pretty massive - and weighs a tonne!

Allsorts - from old keys to a charm bracelet from Germany.

Odd earrings and a broken bit of bracelet ...

Some Swarovski crystals, a cameo and a brass heart team up with some broken necklaces.

I think this little enameled bird is probably circa 1975!

The bat was one of a very cool pair of sterling silver earrings - where do odd earrings go do you s'pose? I think they are hanging out with the odd socks that mysteriously disappear from the washing machine.

I got this dear little bluebird brooch in a local thrift store. It is made of some kind of softish metal - the sort of thing you used to win at sideshows.

A wee owl nestled amongst the pearls.

Another brooch and my favourite component - a rhinestone earring. This was my Mums, and I have kept it despite it having no partner for years and years and years. I finally decided it was time to let it go and the act of putting it in this piece was actually quite cathartic. Who would have guessed? The new owner is delighted with the piece - no real plans to wear it - except for a special birthday coming up - so it will be displayed as an artpiece in her home.

Flea Market Finds

Great to see Sophie back on deck! Head over there for a peek at all the treasures people have thrifted up this week! I found some odd bits and pieces. I fell in love with this old bowls case but it is in pretty bad shape and will take a bit of revamping I think!

I also found this odd looking bunny with a glint in his eye. I will give him a good scrub and possibly a repaint before handing him over to my daughter.

And just to prove that it was a week for critters, I found this pair of squirrel salt and pepper shakers! Love 'em! I believe they have shrine possibilities ...

Hope the thrifty vibe was with you all this week!

Farwelling the Jewels.

I am in the final stages of putting the last exhibition to bed. I have made some boxes and fished out some old dressmaking patterns to use as tissue paper and have spent the morning packaging the jewellery ready to be shipped off or delivered to its new homes!

These are the boxes I made to pack the gear up in. I stamped some cardboard with hand cut stamps and the folded and stuck like mad. The job was made a whole lot easier because I have a bone folder - the must have tool for papercrafters I reckon, if you don't have one you should get one! I made this particular stamp earlier this year in a class run by the lovely Ro.

Getting it all packed up with accompanying letters with some words about the pieces purchased.

Looks like I will be at the Post office for a while tomorrow getting those parcels posted. I will be so happy to send these pieces off as I feel I have taken longer than usual to get sorted this year. In the foreground you can see the little earring folders I made - I got sick of the boxes and I think these are cute - they open like a card and are tied with cord on the side.
Bye-bye Babies!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Well, maybe I guess - hope so given that I have neglected my poor blog for a while now! SALA has wound up for another year and I am happy to report that it was a really successful exhibition for me. On top of that I got to see quite a few shows around the place which was especially good 'cos I got to go with my friends! After some not-so-gentle encouragement (read for that pushing) from aforementioned pals, I have finally decided to start selling my work online. Now, I am just dipping my toe at this point with a little ( ok - teeny) madeit shop. For a novice this is an ideal solution as it is so easy to set up and navigate. I had a go at listing a couple of things a little while ago, just to see if it would work and since it has, I have really truly  listed some stuff! I would love some feedback so if you feel like heading over there for a visit and letting me know what you think, I would be delighted! You can find me here http://www.madeit.com.au/divajools  This is the sort of stuff you will find there ...

Flea Market Finds.

Will this cold weather ever end? It is putting a serious dampner on my foraging - I just want to stay indoors and keep warm. However, like everyone I am forced outside to hunter/gather as it seems the family require feeding more than once a week, so I combined the dreaded supermarket run with a little recreational retail therapy and this is what I found.

A pretty spiffy reproduction Arnotts tin - with hinge intact - probably won't cut that one up as it will be useful for storage. Also a couple of dotty tins and a cute one from the USA that looks like a cross-stitch. Wonder of wonders I found that bag-o-buttons for a mere 99 cents - practically unheard of these days! My favourite thing though is the bright red necklace - double stranded and made of glass - I am guessing circa mid-50's. I love vintage beads - I imagine these were worn with a very spiffy "frock"!

Flea Market Finds.

The weather wasn't really conducive to getting out and about this week - far too cold for me! I did get a phone call from my favourite op-shop though because they are having a clean out and had some stuff they thought I would like. It struck me as kinda funny but they were really adamant about not accepting any money - not even a donation - guess I am a good customer! So here is the box of silverware that they thought I might use to make some jewellery.

I will definitely put them to good use at some stage!

I admired this lino that was gracing the top of a dresser type cupboard and before I knew it, it was in the boot of my car! It is pretty grubby but I am sure I will be able to clean it up and use it somehow.

These tins I actually purchased - all of 50 cents each! I am planning to use them to make some brooches.
head on over to Sophie's for a look at all the goodies that people have hunted up this week.

Decor 101 ( not! )

Ever have those days when you need to revamp a room TODAY - no matter what - it just can't wait? Yes, yes of course you do, so you will have no problem understanding that the revamp bug bit me today and well, there is just no going back once you start is there? My real dilemma was that I needed a lampshade. There is nowhere near me that sells lampshades that I can afford or like enough to put in my home so naturally I turned to the oppie. Always a good alternative I think but it was soooo cold today - I really wasn't keen to go out - but you know the bug had bit and I had an itch to scratch so off I went. I jumped in the trusty vehicle, cranked the heater and set forth. When I got to the store, the wind was obviously blowing in from the Arctic as my teeth nearly fell out of my head when I breathed in - truly - I am not exaggerating here! (maybe a little). So the only lampshade available was for a kids room but I was undeterred - I just couldn't face going on a hunt so I quickly parted with my two bucks and scurried home before I froze. I figured I would just work a little lampshade alchemy - how hard can it be I thought? Well, it is trickier than it looks so I thought I would share my adventure with you ...

Cute as Winnie is, this wasn't quite the look I was going for.

A quick coat of white paint (I only had some ceiling white so we will see how that goes!)

Big tip - wait for the paint to dry before you wrap the baking paper around the shade to make a pattern - so impatient! It took more than one go to get the right shape - and I had to join the baking paper which does in fact REPEL sticky tape - it got a little messy.

The fabric I chose out of the cupboard still had its label - love the idea of "no iron" but I ironed anyway - it had a 25 year old crease in it - boy it was stubborn!

A proper sewer might even have pinned the pattern to the fabric when they were cutting it out - meh!

Ok, so if I had pinned and cut accurately the edges would have been neater ... I fired up the hot-glue gun and stuck the fabric to the shade around the edges and hoped for the best.

Next, a bit of a rummage in the ribbon/braid department .

Hot glue again - braid and ric-rac covering up the unsewn, dodgy edges. Y'know hot-glue guns are great tools but what is the deal with all that stringy crap that seems to get on everything?

 Ta-Da!! Here 'tis on its rather dull base ( maybe I should paint it red?) - looking quite spiffy.

And in situ. It doesn't sit as snugly over the shade as it should and sadly Winnie is still a visible silhouette when the lamp is on but I satisfied the urge to redecorate, it cost me $2 and no doubt I will be better at it next time! Fortunately I have acres of that fabric if I want to make a better one but for the time being I am pretty satisfied - besides, I have run out of glue sticks!

Brag Alert!

Just a note of warning - this is a "proud Mum" post so if you are feeling at all nauseous, it might be best to skip this one! My daughter is also taking part in the SALA Festival and yesterday the winery hosting her (and several mosaic artists) held an opening. It was really well attended and my girl even gave a little speech that she didn't know she had to give! It takes so much courage to expose yourself  in an exhibition so I am really proud of her for that and I am also proud of the work she has produced for the show - it is really great and I am seeing her develop not just her skills, but her style right before my eyes. She handled the opening very well, she was articulate and clever when she spoke to people about her art and really owned it if you know what I mean. The people who came were really excited to meet this young artist and treated her with respect and kindness. Also the other exhibitors were truly lovely and so very happy to embrace both Ellen and her work even though it is not the most widely recognised of artforms. I feel so happy for her that she has taken this leap and that it went so well - she has already sold some pieces and accepted a commission! Putting yourself out there can be kinda hard and she is just 19 years old so as you can imagine, I am just busting with pride. We are a family of grinners this week-end!

These are pictures from both ends so you can get a sense of the space. The window gives a lovely light but makes taking pics a bit tricky.

This is a lovely lamp - it is so pretty with the light on - again not the best pic but it gives some indication of the detail in the work.

The whole series is about love, romance and whimsy - how cute is this piece?

This is a new area that my daughter is beginning to explore and I think she is now pretty hooked on the 3-D idea. It presents quite a few more technical challenges but I can see her playing around with this more in the future. Anyway, that is enough boasting for now - hey, I am the Mum - if anyone is gonna get bragging rights it is certainly gonna be me!