The Tiniest Teacups

A friend gifted me a collection of tiny tea cups and saucers. In my dimly lit studio, late into the night, I set to work filling them with little flowers, mossy cottages and handmade toadstools.

They measure between  2.25" and 2.75". They are quite tiny and rather precious.

Now, available in the etsy shop.

A pretty pouty something

This month's kit at Alpha Stamps is all about feminine, frills and corsets. I've gussied up a plain wooden plaque with the March kit supplies and few extra bobs and made something perfectly suited for a quiet corner of a boudoir.

Did you know that the word boudoir come from the French verb bouder, meaning "to be sulky"? You can hardly blame those poor gals for being a little pouty... having to wear corsets all day and afforded so few bubble baths. Sulking would be completely understandable! Still, there is something so very pretty about the blasted things ;)

Materials
March French Corset Kit 
Embossed Paper Oak Leaves
Purple Iris Paper Flowers*
Antique Brass Wreath
Vintage button
5 x 7" plaque

Peace, Love and Art

When Graphic 45 asked if we might make a little something in the name of peace I hoed and hummed and thought about how busy I am... and then I shook my head and slapped myself silly. Of course I'd be honored to craft in the name of peace and spread a little love!

And so I created this small altered canvas to hang as a hopeful token for peace for our friends in the Ukraine (sending loads of love to fellow design team member Olga!) and all areas affected by war and strife. What a beautiful world it would be if all people lived with dignity and respect and without fear of war or retribution.

More pictures and more fabulous peace projects by Annette Green and Rhea Freitag on the Graphic 45 blog today.

And here's the supply list... you know... if you want to spread some love too xoxo

12 Days of Christmas > 12 Days of Christmas
Sweet Sentiments > Perfect Petals
Sweet Sentiments > Sweet Sentiments
Sweet Sentiments > Heart Song
Botanical Tea > Sweet Chamomile
Shabby Chic Ornate Metal BradsCanvas Corp 3” and 2” canvas
Petaloo Botanica Mini’s
Petaloo Trinket Accessories
May Arts white and pink ribbons
Self adheisive pearls
Small Bent-Wing Dragonflies

Adventures and abandonments

First thing's first.

My friend is moving away to become the event coordinator for a polar bear habitat. I know. Isn't that the craziest dream job title ever? Anyway, I made her this little brooch to send her off with a sweet 'goodbye and good luck!' as she embarks on her new adventure.

The supplies come from Alpha Stamps... go... look at all the pretty things... make stuff!

The quote is her favourite, from a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. Here is the full text:

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

Now on to the abandonments. If you aren't familiar with art abandonment, the nitty gritty is this: make something then leave it for a stranger to find. It can be a lot of fun and a very freeing experience. The group I belong to is HERE on facebook.

I haven't participated in a while but I picked up this bunch of frames from the thrift shop, gussied them up and filled them with little collages. This weekend they'll be hidden here and there with a tag, waiting for lovely curious people to pick them up and take them home. Here's the finished pieces...

Hopefully they'll each find a nice home.

Wishes, Moons and Miles

I was thinking about someone far away the other night and it made me just a little sad. I'm one of those strange souls who prefers solitude, but my heart ached just a little bit from the distance nonetheless.

When I stepped outside and looked to the moon and stars above... well, it was a comfort to know that we share them.

So I set to work on finding some sweet words to convey that sentiment and created this little collage to bridge the miles.

Vintage papers collaged on chunky canvas. The piece measures 4" x 12" and is listed HERE.

The Owl and the Pussycat

Once again I am sitting on a pile of projects that cannot be shown. Again, I am showing off a swap item before it's proper peeking time.

This little piece is based on the nonsense poem, The Owl and the Pussycat written by Edward Lear. I seem to have misplaced all of my 27 rulers so I'm estimating that the piece measures 3". And once again I had a fight with the E6000 adhesive in which there was much swearing. I think the moon may have blushed from the blue streak of my foul mouth ;)

Materials:
Graphic 45 By the Sea > Splash
Layer Cake Paper Mache Box Set
Bag of Shells
White Plastic Pearls
Jute twine
Blue glitter
Vintage owl and cat images from The Graphics Fairy
Handmade polymer clay moon
Glue, paint and all that stuff...

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

So we bought this wardrobe from an online auction. Our winning bid was $10. When we arrived at the auction site to pick it up we were asked if we were sure that we wanted the items we won. We assured them that, 'Um. Yes' Yes, we would gladly pay $13 for a wardrobe and working chest freezer.

This is that wardrobe.

It sat like this in my studio for a few days. The more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of a passage to Narnia. That was it! I was determined to transform this into some sort of gateway to a magical wonderland. Then my husband reminded me that the kid was without a closet in in his room and needed a place to hang his fancy clothes. Poof, just like that my Narnia dreams went up in smoke.

"Boy, what colour do you want your wardrobe?"

"Purple!"

Ug. Not a fan of purple so I wait a few days and ask again because I KNOW the answer will be different. Sure enough, by the time we visit the paint section of the hardware shop he's changed his mind and to blue.

And as I'm painting the wardrobe whispers in my ear.... "I'm not a passage to Narnia you ninny, I'm a time and relative dimension in space." It's a TARDIS! I grab the boy and explain the situation to him. He's not entirely a Whovian but can certainly appreciate the situation that has presented itself.

"Cool!"

Excellent! We have lift off. Permission to create a geek closet has been granted! And so we end up here... it's not completely done but its well on the way and I thought I'd share the progress.

The mirror and wood insert doors will be replaced over the next couple of weeks, as will the hardware. The kid is most excited about finding a light for the top. But what really matters is that the kid is happy and finally has a place to hang his suits (and hide his junk when I tell him to clean his room).

ETA: Here's a Tom Baker doctor portrait that I painted EONs ago. It's still floating around here somewhere.