Steampunk Necklace

I have been wanting to try my hand at making a steampunk necklace for some time now. From the examples I have seen other people make, I think this one I've made can be called "steampunk." I think it turned out pretty durn good~
I was inspired to make one when I came across this wire dragon fly in a bag of jewelry I had recently bought.

 This necklace had originally began as just the key dangling from the rhinestone pendant. I simply added the key to the backside of this steampunk pendant and made it the bezel for this piece.

I can see making a lot more steampunk necklaces in the future...

big hugs,
 

Industrial Art

I have been creating some industrial looking art while playing in my studio... This "LOVE" sign is one of my favorites~ The photo doesn't show a lot of the black distressing I did on this piece... but its there *wink*
Of course, I had to make one with my home town on it~
I had some chipboard keys and locks.... so those got tossed into some pieces too. 

 These ones are smaller than the previous ones. I distressed them with black ink and then rubbed some gold & green over some areas.

These are fun and relaxing to make while sitting and half-watching/listening to the television. I'll take these to the next "Artist's Market" I participate at... it is great to have an outlet to get rid of the things I make..lol.. I tend to make things in bulk. *wink*
big hugs,
 

Recent Treasures

This past weekend of treasure hunting was fabulous. I found this spinning 25 slot rack for only $7. The gal selling it talked herself down in price from $10. I love when that happens~

I managed to find a LOT of jewelry. This box full of jewelry was only $6 bucks. A lot of people were passing it by because of all the plastic junk on top. The good stuff always settles to the bottom~ I have a collection of little trays that I use in my studio, so when I spotted this set of 10 trays for sale, I had to play it cool.... $2.50 for all 10. Yes please. The odds and ends of jewelry in the trays probably totaled $5 all together~ I also found this fabulous plant stand for all of $5. Isn't it darling? The lanterns were $3 each. I love-love-love them!

 I scored on this lot of 41 small tins for only $3. Now what do make with them? eiy-eiy-eiy~
 

Of course I am always on the look out for pirate treasure. I found some things for the pirate store.

I also found some fabulous wooden pulleys. These four beauts were only $25 bucks... whats that? $6.25 each. Score!
I have decided that my backyard needs another pirate store. This one is going to be a "General Store" which is going to be fabulous to set up little vignettes of  pirate cuteness *wink* Once the weather gets a lot cooler, the construction will begin! *woot-woot*
big hugs,
 

Studio Tour

I've joined in on this years "Where Bloggers Create"  hosted by: Karen over at "My Desert Cottage"
I always have BIG plans of redoing my studio every year for this event... what can I say, I have visions of grandeur ... but in the end, I'm just happy my studio is clean enough to photograph!

I have a six foot long work space that I use in my studio. I have it set right in the middle of the room with rolling bins underneath it. On the backside of the rolling bins by the door is a huge posturepedic dog bed for my dog Buddy. Just keeping things real~

At the far end of the table, I have a vintage bookcase sitting on top of the table. This bookcase holds five spinning carousels of daily essentials... Scissors, razors, pens/pencils, paint brushes and odd and ends of tools I like to use.

I was needing a display piece to house some of the pretties I absolutely L.O.V.E. in my studio.... Like my collection of mother of pearl buttons~

 Vintage Christmas ornaments, bronzed baby shoes, tiaras...

Sooooo... I hauled this vintage cabinet into my studio. It is fabulous! It has a profile of only 11 1/2 inches! Having this in my studio meant I had to pull out the wall to wall, ceiling to floor bookcases that I had along this wall. Which meant, I had to get rid of a LOT of stuff....

The bottom portion of this cabinet holds 21 shoe boxes perfectly underneath.

I put some of the displaced bookcases in the studio closet. I didn't get rid of that much stuff... *wink* It is nice having floor to ceiling bookcases in the closet fully loaded. It is wonderful having such a large hoard stash to pull from.

 I am still needing to go through all of my books and magazines. Thats a daunting task as I'm sure your all aware... This is just a catch all area until I get another floor to ceiling piece in there to house some of this.

 Here is my "sitting craft area" This is facing the all important to any studio accessory....

The T.V! I hauled this vintage *wink* three piece entertainment unit into my studio and packed it full. I had to cut the center unit in half and bring in half at a time to get it into the room! The bottom part of this unit holds fabric, felt, paper, and various big items like my sewing machine etc...

Thanks for taking the tour of my studio space where I am forever creating something or another. Here is a video of some of the things I've created in the past:

Thanks again for taking the time to visit :-)

big hugs,

Mat Hatter Tea Party~

Welcome to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

The summer heat in California was taking its toll on sweet little Alice. She relished the shade of large leafy trees...
but the full mid day sun was making her peachy complexion a horrid shade of red. Which didn't suit Alice at all~

Alice decided she needed a hat to keep the sun off her and help keep her cool. Alice decided to ride her temperamental pony to the store to purchase a new hat. Sometimes her little pony didn't cooperate and would just stand still without budging.... and that is exactly what her pony did this particular day~

So, Alice decided to walk instead... but just then, along came a helpful guy that offered to guide her pony to the store. He pulled and pulled the pony~

 and pushed and pushed the pony~

But, the pony didn't budge~

"Time is of the essence," he said~

and with that, he just walked away~

So little Alice walked to the store to see what kind of selection they had in hats~

 Alice was shocked to find the store was completely sold out of hats. What are the odds of that~

Upon leaving the store Alice ran into that helpful guy she had met earlier... Alice had a plan~
 
Alice invited her new friend to go have a cup of tea at a nearby cafe~
They laughed and were having fun visiting over tea, all the while Alice was working out the details of her plan in her head~

After they both had finished their tea, Alice set her plan in motion....

 They would play a fun game of toss...

Just like she had planned, the Mad Hatter's enthusiasm to catch the ball sent his hat sailing...

 Little Alice snatched up the Mad Hatter's hat and claimed it as her own!

Obviously, she hadn't thought through all the details~

The End~

This blogging event is hosted by Vanessa over at "A Fanciful Twist"
big hugs,

Spoon Rings

I have been making more spoon rings lately. I always seem to want to make spoon rings when it is hot as blazes outside. Weird. My stash of spoon rings were running low. It wasn't that I didn't have any silverware to repurpose. I have five plastic shoe boxes filled with silverware... and another plastic bin filled with nothing but the silverware handles pre-cut and ready to be bent into spoons... So, no excuses, I thought it was high time to get to bending~
This time, I made most of the spoon rings much smaller than the last large batch I'd made. I noticed a lot of teenagers were trying them on and the rings were way to big for them. So I now have a smaller ring size selection to go along with the larger ones.
I really like finding silverware with initials on them. In the first photo there is the initial "S" on one ring. I have a lot of pieces from that set and I was thrilled that the handle bent so easily. I see a LOT of "S" rings in my near future. Here is one with an "A" on it. I really like the font used on this handle, I wish I had an engraving machine so I could engrave initials myself... Let me just put that out into the universe so its known *wink* Maybe I'll come across one!
 This ring has already been sold :-)
big hugs,