I usually have a messy work table when I'm creating Of course, some items never get chosen for my shop The items that are listed in my shop are carefully chosen I match bits and pieces of the same color Oh the creamy whites Creating kits for you inspiring collections with a few created treasures by me I had better get busy in the studio for my next shop opening. Take care everyone!
znowu zawieszka...:) ostatnio produkuję więcej niż jestem w stanie pokazać...powstały trzy...i tak powstają na przemian z wisiorami(w tym tygodniu pięć)...bo nie mogę się oderwać od lutowania...a i płótno kusi, bo stale coś nowego, płóciennego do domu znoszę:) ta zawieszka powstała trochę przez przypadek, bo użyty podkład płócienny zrobiłam do całkiem innej, ale w efekcie końcowym mi nie odpowiadał, za to pasował idealnie do tej książki:) nazwałam ją portugalską, bo użyte wszystkie papiery pochodzą z tamtejszego targu staroci, który miałam szczęście odwiedzić w maju zeszłego roku:)... użyte zdjęcie jest wyjątkowe i długo nie mogłam zdecydować się go użyć:) z powodu takiej kaszty zapragnęłam nauczyć się lutować: wypełniona Ice Resin i "okute" kaboszony: jutro kolejna zawieszka z elementami lutowanymi:) miłej soboty:) buziaki:)*
Creating petite journals with antique tintypes All sold out last week but I am creating more for the shop *** Art Bundles You can expect m...
Thankfully, I can find wonderful antique French ephemera in a digital download (these pictured above are from Sam Poole's Etsy shop) This wonderful French Notaire document is from Heather's Ruby&Pearl Etsy shop My printer has been running nonstop So many beautiful digital images to print! *** Very hard to find the Tim Holtz Assemblage Locket *** Using authentic antique photos will always be my preference but sometimes, you just cannot part with them *** Gathering Collecting Creating Here's to another month of studio time! Thank you for stopping by!
August was a very busy time in the studio I was able to create a lot and use up scraps of images The ideas were flowing 2 petite junk journals ...and as always... I try to create kits to inspire you It's time to get going again in the studio I hope everyone is doing great and keeping those hands busy with creating Take care and thanks for stopping by!
With every class I create, I feel that I share bits and pieces of my life. I spend a great deal of time thinking about the lessons I want to create. Before I share them with you, they need to make sense to me - I want to feel compelled and inspired to create the art.
The count down is on for Art n Soul in Portland Oregon 2011,my first teaching gig in the states, Im excited and nervous and getting ready. I have been making jewelry to sell at the vendor’s night they have there on the Saturday night. The tins here are from my favourite antique shop its bad when they know your name there LOL.These are old fuse tins. It’s hard when I make things as I really love what I make and want to keep it, like the top blue necklace awaiting a chain. Cant wait to catch up with My sis Linda we are going to have a blast she is willing to be my lovely assistant, be afraid sis be very afraid.I have a few spots left in my class so if your interested click on this link Art n Soul.
With less than one month until I close my shop, rather than reducing the price of all the stock, I've been trying to revamp and repurpose some of the items... This lovely Art Nouveau tin sadly was damaged right across the decorative panel on the lid. I carefully cut a section of antique sheet music to fit inside it. I then decorated this with an image cut from a Victorian postcard. I gave it a net lace 'skirt' around the base... And lined the inside with more sheet music. To finish, I glued some vintage millinery flowers to the lid, to echo the colours in the paper image. *** With quite a few small tins in stock at the shop, and bead and diamante necklaces proving to be slow-sellers, I decided to combine the two to make gift sets. I used old papers to line them , with scraps of antique lace and stamped words to decorate. They were just large enough to hold these glass bead necklaces. An old pastilles tin for a diamante necklace, with cushioned pad in the base (I liked the inside of the lid far too much to cover it up :). At just over 1" diameter, these diddy French tins aren't large enough to hold very much... But were a perfect fit for a sparkly vintage brooch... And a pair of clip-on earrings. Finally, I lined this pretty box with more lace scraps to present another diamante necklace. *** Next was this dainty hand painted bottle. I part filled it with mica glitter and made a stopper from rolled-up paper. Added a label hand written with the words 'mermaid scales' and tied a glass bead and silk leaves around the neck. *** I can't tell you how long this little handmade box has sat on the shop shelves...Such a shame that no one appreciated the hand painting on it's lid, or the careful hand stitches which created it many years ago. I simply covered the top in antique fabric and added a vintage millinery flower, which I feel fits in with my stall's fairy look that I go for these days. *** Now for my favourite make; I have quite a few of these Victorian/Edwardian cardboard photo-album mounts, which are always so pretty. I have been wanting to use them for a long time. I decided to create box frames from some. It took a bit of doing, but I got there in the end... I then made a fairy dress from vintage millinery flowers... Which I hung from a twig inside the frame. * Frame number two with forget-me-nots. I love how these turned out...and intend to make some more, coordinating the dresses to the flowers on the front of the frame. I need to do it to the lovely velvet frame I bought from Belinda too! Lots of work, but hopefully the end result it worth the time and effort. *** The frames inspired my next collection of makes... Tiny fairy dresses stitched from antique lace fragments... Which I hung from twigs, then made a hanger from craft wire threaded with a glass bead and tiny vintage bell. Pretty for the Christmas tree with their touch of festive glitter. *** I have a fair few vintage and antique photos in a drawer of the shop as well. Some I decided were suitable for turning into angel decorations similar to the other one I made previously. This tiny one is dressed in antique lace, glitter and has woollen wings. This much larger portrait is dressed in a salvaged section from a baby's gown, which I tied with ribbons. I made wings embellished with paper, fabrics, lace and glitter. She also has a tinsel halo complete with bell. *** I have a large collection of antique sheet music, so set to work using these in my crafting too... Lots of large tag decorations trimmed with antique lace and shell buttons. Some I made using vintage wallpaper. *** I used the music to cover some gift boxes too, which were decorated with ribbons, antique-look tinsel and metal buttons. *** An assortment of vintage wooden spools became Christmas decorations. More sheet music, tinsel and tiny glass baubles were glued in place, with ribbon loops for hanging. I made a second batch in the same way, but using pages from an antique book. *** Three old French curtain rings were also turned into Christmas decs... Complete with lots of glitter! I am packing away all of these to take with me to the final two fairs of this year. (Details on my previous post.) And I've just started working on some new fairy dolls...with a twist ;-)) I'm finding it quite a release to be giving up my shop. I shall miss many of the people I have met over the past 5 years, but hope to see some of them coming to the vintage fairs instead. My mind has been buzzing with all sorts of items that I've wanted to create, but I have felt in the past I've needed to 'play it safe'. Selling to the general public via a shop, (I don't mean this disrespectfully), has meant sometimes I've had to make things a little ordinary and tame...There have been times I've wanted to be more off the wall! - But with constant bills to pay, my products needed to have a good chance of selling. I often had to explain that my things were handmade using vintage fabrics and materials and so my prices reflected that. (It's a shame I felt a need to justify.) Offering items for sale at the fairs can mean pushing the boundaries a little, because the audiences there understand and are often of a like-mind, who appreciate unique handmade pieces and quirky finds. I'm looking forward to a New Year and new beginnings... Niki x
