Poor Neglected Blog

Good Morning to my patiently waiting blog spot..

I only have lame excuses for not writing, so I will just beg forgiveness and move on. I have been working and making jewelry. This week, I have had a welcome, natural break in the schedule; so I have been sorting the gifts of discarded items that my friends have bestowed to me.

I am truly blessed in that I think I will need additional storage to accommodate all of the lovely things I have acquired. So very cool.

Here is a little sample of the things I have been working on lately...

Here is another one!

Buttons and copper and pearls-oh my!!!

Where have I been?

Mostly nibbling on the bumper of my big truck when no one is looking. Just kidding! I have been playing in buttons and having so much fun, I cant believe it. I scored pristine vintage table cloths last weekend, sending one to granma for a fab apron (purple watering cans and pink garden glove motif) and the rest I am making yoga bags or handbags out of. Spring has finally sprung in Southern Indiana, I have my very first daffodil, which is always a happy sign. Entered the USI Art Show yesterday, looking forward to the opening on the 5th of April. Off to see the wizard....

Button Jewelry

Here we go....I am showing off my new favorite thing to do!

Old buttons, vintage re purposed glass beads and a old chandelier bauble. Who knew it could be so much fun!!!

Time Change Monday!

I have a love hate relationship with the time change. My body wants the time to be the same all the time, but I love that we have light later in the day. I have gone completely off the reservation this past week, I made a button and vintage glass bead necklace; I have to do something with all of those buttons. The girls at "Busy Beads",;have been extremely patient as well as gracious. I always have ideas but not sure about how to make them happen-I just know it when I see it. Thanks to them for letting me have so much fun in their fabulous shop. Making a piece of jewelry is much more of an instant gratification. Oil paint takes forever to dry and my boxes sometimes take months before the perfect part arrives. Needless to say, Busy Beads is a treat I am keeping

Christmas Cards

Here are some of the belated photos of the hanging cards I made for Friends. Naturally they haven't received them yet (leaning toward a "Christmas Month-kinda like "Birthday Month"). Good news or bad, not sure, but these three girls aren't blog followers, so posting them is a OK! I went to a yard sale several years ago and bought this great plywood boxes, they sold the whole group to me. I think there were 25 or 30 in all. The boxes had lids and sometimes my boxes don't need lids and naturally I couldn't just throw them out. So I made these little hanging plaques-I actually like them. There are vintage buttons, old lace pieces, velvet ribbon remnants, pieces from vintage cards, old sheet music and lots of gold and silver paint! Funny enough, I thought that a two dimensional piece would be easier or should I say faster to make. Silly me, I still had to find parts....LOL! Have a Creative Day!! S

Proof of Clean Studio

Here is proof of my ever so clean and has been for three weeks-happy art making studio spot! Every little thing in its very own home. Labels galore and projects in process that I can actually find. I am using scrape booking paper storage boxes for future art box pieces that don't have all of their individual parts yet. I just labeled the storage boxes with the name of the future art box and stacked them on the same shelf for easy finding.

Here is the abalone shell with a new use...scraps of things that aren't where they need to be yet. Currently holding a picture from a sewing instruction book, Venus of Wilendorf and a button card that has had the middle cut out for a future photo as yet to be found, there is also a scrap of a music book that is so old I just couldn't bare to throw it a way. When the abalone shell is full, I have to stop whatever I'm doing and find permanent homes for everyone in the abalone shell...really, its working so far.

This is a hand painted purse that holds brushes. Another little thing that I couldn't part with. I have the purse hanging on the wall so I don't have to take up any flat work spaces

Here is a collection of cups from various auctions. The little creamer that looks like a house; belonged to my great grandmother. I just love that I can look at the little creamer whenever I want, I don't think it will ever be used for an art box.



Finally, all of my buttons!! One place, all separated-color, size, material, good buttons, not so good buttons, vintage buttons, buttons for garments, buttons for art and buttons I will never part with. I cant believe I never got around to sorting them all out sooner, they are all so beautiful and now that they are so tidy I can show them off!

A friend of mine, gave me the sign "Goddesses Gather Here". I have been making a point of starting and ending my day here in my little spot where I create. I didn't realize that you could "nest" in your creative space, but that is indeed what I am doing.

Back To Work Monday

My weekend was really productive! This photo is from my scientific method of object placement. Box needs a shelf so this is how I determined where the shelf should go. I used balsa wood for the trim and the shelf, I only needed something lightweight so the balsa wood was a great fit. I added a base to help balance the weight of the eight ball. I used square cubes for the legs and wooden beads for embellishments. I painted the whole thing flat black. It took several coats of paint, the wood was really quite dry. While waiting for the paint to dry I went through or at least made a valiant attempt to go through; all of my buttons. I have collected buttons with no real reason with the exception that I just really like them. I have horded buttons for years. I made a significant dent, I separated the shank buttons from the flat buttons and the metal buttons from the plastic, wood and rhinestone buttons. Now that I am separating the buttons, I am going to have to find a way to keep them separated. There are some really cool buttons that will just have to be applied to a box, it would be great if I could just put my hands on them, without having to hunt them down. Right now the buttons are in little piles on a large plastic lid, one bump and they are back to a messy pile. The paint is still not dry, the air is much to humid. The base of the wedding couple needs a bit of a lift and a much more decorative base. I used a child's alphabet block to give the couple a bit more height. The alphabet block is something I have been saving the alphabet blocks for the letters, but this block had a nasty hole right thru the letter so I felt ok about using the block where it wouldnt be seen. I rummaged through my art papers and found plenty of black and white papers to work with, enough that the papers should have their own compartment (another thing for the "to do" list". I think the best choice for the papers are graphic designs adding to the whimsy of the piece; I am going to go with diamonds and polka dots. I am going to use the graphic paper on the top half and white feathers for the background on the bottom half. I am sure that in a perfect world a "magic" eight ball would have wings. To add to my list of things we take chances on: driving through the construction zones, petting a strange cat, having fabric cut without knowing the price and walking out the door everyday.