Shiny Newness :)

Lately I've been trying to get back to the balance that all us Librans strive for. (I'm  not sure about the accuracy or reliability of the whole astrology thing, but a little balance never hurt anything, right?) & have been making some new things, trying to preserve bits of the past that aren't up to their former glory & deserve to be admired once again & for the future, their beauty preserved for others to see:

This is part of a vintage napkin made into a little wall hanging. The napkin had little  dark spots, that I was unable to wash out & so was really unusable for its original purpose. I cut about a fourth of it off & hand sewed it (not easy to do on a circular frame, but it gives everything a sweet gathered effect & a bit of movement) onto a steel hoop that was in a bag of vintage embroidery hoops. This was just a little too plain, though it framed the piece nicely & looked better than just putting the whole thing (spots & all) into a frame, so I added the fleur des lis pendant & a black seed bead, that gave a bit of French country charm to the piece & highlighted (without taking away from) the wonderful yellow & black embroidery & the beautiful crochet trim quite nicely. For hanging purposes & to go with the yellow & black scheme, I hand stitched on a lovely bit of black velvet ribbon. I could add something around the edge, but I think it would detract from the embroidery & emphasize the frame, rather than the fabric. I think it would be great among a display of photos, paintings &/or little embroideries...

Key Fob: I picked up this great chartreuse green with dark red dots fabric awhile back at the local  Goodwill, not really knowing what I'd do with it (I still have plenty left. Maybe a nice summer top?) & this mini key fob project came up. The D-ring is from the 70's (not sure what it originally came from, possibly a belt...). The buttons are from a couple of old blouses that are no longer wearable & the lace was in a bag of vintage trims & craft stuff, also from Goodwill. I like how the top became gathered & a bit more girly when I put the fabric through the D-ring. The lace & the side are machine stitched & then everything was hand stitched together. I added a few cross stitches in red to just add to the girly appeal. It contrasts nicely with the fabric. The key ring is new.

Wrap Bracelet: Hand crocheted in pink alpaca & silk/mohair (chartreuse). Antique keyhole (architectural salvage), vintage crystal beads (architectural salvage) & vintage carved bone beads (from an old bracelet)  Available samsstuff Etsy

More nerdy envelopes (so fun): Vintage Band book pages. These are a little more difficult to come by & the pages are of a different type of paper than those of the math book. Available shellseye Etsy

It helps to be able to create something new, even when all is not right with the world, even when they are only appreciated by you & even when spring still seems to be avoiding us, for now anyway. How about you? have you been creating anything new? Has spring arrived where you are? Is it distracting you with its shiny newness? SAM

More Spring Cleaning...

Spring is here & as I said in my "Spring Cleaning" feature on Handmade News, birds are chirping, flowers are blooming (well, some of them anyway), thoughts turn to love, new beginnings & ...spring cleaning? For me, this includes the April Stash Bust event, an opportunity to use up some of the supplies that I have lying about, traditional & non-traditional, to make new items from the old, without buying any new supplies for the month. Ok, so aside from the whole not buying supplies thing, I pretty much do this on a regular basis. I like to say that my items are made from the "lost, found, vintage & new." This is literally true. I have used items that I have found, things that belonged to a past time, things that others have lost or given away, saving them from oblivion & giving them a whole new life, a whole new story to tell, while paying tribute to the story that already existed. So, while I am 'destashing' this month, I kind of destash every month, every time I make something.

Project 1: Delft Necklace

1. Vintage Delft blue porcelain pendant with windmill design. This was something that my grandmother had, probably purchased in the sixties in Solvang, CA, a great little Dutch town that I loved visiting as a child.They had great little shops & bakeries. I got several Madame Alexander international dolls, in the doll & toys shops, great little mints (violet where my favorites), embroidery books, delicious cheeses & of course pastries, the many times that my parents & I visited this adorable town, scattered over the years that we lived in California. My grandmother would sometimes come with us. I'm not sure what this originally was, maybe a necklace or possibly a key chain. 

2. Copper color chain, something a bought, with no idea of exactly what I might use it for, but I liked the double loop design, the color & I couldn't leave it there on the clearance shelf. Who knows what might have happened to it.

3. Green seed beads. I bought these for my frog necklace, along with a number of other seed bead hanks. I love seed beads, they're so cute! My grandmother used to make peyote style project with them & taught me how. 

4. Round jade bead. Part of an old bracelet that came apart. I didn't want to put it back together, the way it was, so I use the beads for other things.

5. Blue wire. Bought to use for many things, but nothing in particular.

6. Copper clasp. Bought for something else but of course, you can't just buy one...

Project 2: Unicorn Locket necklace

1. Vintage Gold Unicorn Locket. This was something that I purchased, in the seventies. I loved the way the unicorn looked like it was part of an old tapestry & again, it was on clearance; I couldn't just let it sit on the shelf, without a home. It is gold plated.

2. Bone disks. Purchased, in bulk, for whatever project might call for them. 

3. Dark green glass bead. I loved the texture & the look of it. I thought I might make a necklace out of it, someday.

4. Dragon coin pendant. I liked the dragon & phoenix design, there's what looks like Chinese writing on the other side.

5. Shiny green ceramic bead. They where shiny. I liked the colors...

6. Black satin ribbon, knotted & crocheted. 

7. Pewter color chain. Another clearance item I liked the color & the shape of the links.

8. Gold color wire, copper & silver color findings.

Both pieces close in the front, for easy use & visual appeal. They are long enough, though that they can fit over your head.

I have two more pieces, a choker & a wallet, so I'll call this part one & publish a part 2. Since it's still fairly early in the month, maybe there'll be a part 3? I hope you enjoyed this look into my "destashing!" 

As for my stash, I'd like to quote a little bit of a Rage Against the Machine song "There'll be no shelter here, the front line is everywhere."

 

Seen in Seattle...

So, I actually went to Seattle the other day. Even though it's less than an hours drive away, I rarely go there. It's not that I don't like it there. If I could live there, I would. There are tons of great neighborhoods, filled with great art, design, people & yes, food. We went there to pick up a mannequin. No really, we went to Seattle to pick up a mannequin. (Somewhere, I think Lewis Black's head is about to explode). It was in a neighborhood near (or maybe in) Fremont, self proclaimed "Center of the Universe." You can easily spend the day wandering around to look at the great, the odd, the unusual statues & artwork, like the statue of Lenin, from the Soviet Union or the rocket ship. I've seen public knitting & the annual go-kart race, with all it's wild & strange go-karts. There's an annual naked bike event. No, I've never seen it & I'm not sure I'd want to, but it's a hugely popular event. There's a troll that "lives" under the bridge & speaking of bridges, there's a talking bridge. Oh yeah! There's a chocolate factory (Theo), but not a Hershey's chocolate kind of factory (or a Willy Wonka kind ether, sorry). It's a factory as unusual as it's location, filled with amazingly strange, but delicious flavors. It's an amazingly creative community & I'd love to live there (except, during the bicycle thing).
The bumper sticker is one that I saw all over Seattle. I'm not sure if it's advertising for something, like maybe a sporting goods company. I like the sentiment, but then I don't see it everywhere I go...It's kind of like "Don't Worry, Be Happy," sounds great, but after you've heard it a million times, a could be a bit annoying.
Have you ever been to any hotspots of creativity? Where'd you visit? What did you see? Where did you eat? It's always amazing & fun to happen upon one of these places, active & ever changing communities, candy for the eyes & food for thought...SAM

New Winter inspired contest

Hi all!

It's time for a new, winter inspired, creativity contest from the YCSI guild. I don't have the photos at this time. You can see the entries on the guild blog If I get these this time, I will post them here. You can come back & vote here or on the guild blog. I can't tell you which one is mine yet. I like the way it turned out. Like everything I have made, it's an unusual design, modern & uses disparate elements. I can't wait to show it to you! The other entries are lovely, as well. Have fun! See you again soon. SAM

PS- The voting widget has a little pop up ad. Close it so you can see all the entries & vote.

Unique Gifts...

First: Shop news
I have been busy re-shooting many of the of the product photos to make them clearer & less cluttered. The original idea was that of 'laundry,' to make the photos look like laundry, scattered about by a breeze, hanging or laying about the home & while a lot of the shots where nice, they where cluttered or didn't give a clear picture of the items in the shop. If you haven't stopped by in awhile, stop by & take a look. Let me know what you think. I've kept some of the other photos, just not as the first image.
New items:
Cool Turtles Bracelet
Cute Green Wallet/Make-up bag
A great little orange wallet/make-up bag
Hand crocheted orange tote
Vintage Leather Bracelet
Hand embroidered, reinvented vintage 70's tank top
Vintage late 70's punk stop preppies pin
Vintage 40's blue rhinestone cuff bracelet

I've finished moving household items from Etsy to ArtFire, so stop by the studio & take a look. There are a number of additions, as well.

So, now on to the main topic of this post, a phrase that I saw recently: unique gifts, something that I wanted to explore. It's a term that can have many different meanings & could be used in many different ways. For instance, as individuals & collective groups, we have unique gifts, things that we do well in some way. Some of us are artistic. Some create amazing works of art visually or aurally, things that make us think in new ways, lead us in new directions. Some create with the written word, taking to new worlds with their words. There are those that are gifted mathematically or who create with science. Some are gifted in business, advertising & marketing. There are sports figures who amaze us with their abilities. Some have the unique ability to help others. We each have unique gifts, some immediately obvious, some yet to be discovered.

The phrase unique gifts can also describe the physical, perfect items that we seek out to give each other, that one great gift that suits both giver & recipient, describing the relationship between the two perfectly. These can be difficult to find. Department stores & malls are filled with gifts, not unique or one of a kind, but mass produced items, carried in many places, easy to find. Some are high quality, some are low, but what most share is an absence of the unique. This is where the handmade movement comes in. Many handmade items are one of a kind, by their very definition, unique. Most others are made in small batches, individually designed & limited in production, artistically created, telling its own tale. Gifts can be hand made, by the giver, the ultimate expression of giving, giving of the self, from the heart. There are many great sites out there for finding unique gifts, gifts that display the unique talents of gifted individuals, most even have sellers who sell the supplies for creating your own perfect gifts. One that I would like to mention here is ArtFire. Check it out if you're looking for that perfect gift, want to create a perfect gift or even if you're looking to discover your own unique gift. SAM