Time Has Wings

I know...long time no see. Don't get me started! The title of this post refers to an infamous family game of Pictionary some years ago. I drew for my sister a clock with wings, thinking, "this is an easy one - we've got it sewn up!", fully expecting her to quickly say, "TIME FLIES!!" Somehow, she was stumped, and said hesitantly, "Time has wings??" That may have been when she swore off ever being my partner again, claiming I was too competitive. Her answer has since become a family saying that we still laugh about.

Anyhow, I recently discovered a weekly Zentangle challenge hosted by I Am The Diva, here http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/ So here is my first submission. This challenge was for everyone to tangle the same string design. I experimented a little with my tangles and had fun with it. I'm looking forward to the next challenge!

I will soon post some more tangles, and a special little project that I can't talk about until it is in the mail!

Fabulous Halloween Wreath!

So after making my moon rag wreath, I still had quite a pile of fabric pieces left over. I started another wreath, thinking I would give it to my sister. However, I wasn't sure what to do with it, and it laid around forlornly for a few days. Then, glorious inspiration came from Kit James and her Fine Fettle blog, which I found while perusing The Graphics Fairy's blog and her wonderful Brag Monday posts. Kit explained how she created her devilishly delightful Blackbird & Bones Wreath using a vintage frame image from TGF. I downloaded the same, along with a bird and spider. For the first time, I was able to successfully use Windows Paint to add text to the frame image (admittedly after several tries to get placement and sizing right). I mounted all on heavy cardboard, added a demonic red eye to the bird, and attached everything to the wreath. I ripped strips of cloth to tie on in a slovenly manner. Then came some cobwebs, a rubber rat and dangling spider, a bit of harlequin ribbon, and voila! One of my favorite projects, probably because I just followed my creative urges, had so much fun with it, and it turned out better than I anticipated. Kim loved it as well, and it hung ominously on her door, a decadently ghoulish Halloween treat!

Halloween Rag Moon Wreath

I decided I wanted to make some type of Halloween decoration with really neat fabric I got from my sister. After looking for wreath ideas, the rag wreath looked like a simple, inexpensive choice, since I had the fabric and a hanger already on hand! It couldn't be just a typical wreath, of course, so I shaped the hanger into a crescent moon. I added the witch with invisible thread, and there it is. Trick or treat!

Silk Flower Pin

Finally! A chance to post a few new things. This is a pin I made with some gorgeous silk from a kit I ordered from CamCreations, here: http://www.silkribbon.com/category_45/Shibori-Silk-Ribbon.htm
It was very easy to do, and is just beautiful! You can see Glennis demonstrate making a leaf and flower on youtube. She dyes this fantastic silk ribbon, and no two are alike. I love my flower pin, and looking forward to making one in a different color soon!

French Theatre Box

This is something new I've recently finished (I think - LOL). I first need to give a big THANK YOU to The Graphics Fairy, where most of the images came from, and to The Vintage Moth as well. Couldn't have done it without you!

I had actually stopped in at a nearby tobacco shop to inquire about cigar boxes because I wanted to store some craft tools, papers and such in them. Sara, the manager, graciously gave me several, at no charge! Sweet! One was this one, which immediately started to give me ideas, leading me to spend hours hovering over the computer, locating images that gave me more ideas, and voila!

I have more photos, but haven't figured out how to use Picasa or ?? to be able to show them elsewhere.

I know this type of thing has a name (exposing my ignorance now). Is it a diorama? Nothing religious about it, so it's not a reliquary, right? Please enlighten me if you can!

I combined three images on this side of the box, the clown figure, the dog and the woman; I used some of the iridescent water color on the clown.

I wanted to give the entire piece a kind of surrealistic feel, but this side sort of goes all the way, don't you think? I just loved the various pieces, and this is how it came together. I think it adds to the humorous aspect.

This is the chorus line, on the back of the box. I added some iridescent paint here too.

This is the inside; you can see the "ceiling" here, where I put black paper and added the posters. If you look at the enlarged version, you can see better the back wall. I first found the graphic of the stage, and I cut out the blank center. I was so excited to find a great graphic the right size and image to represent the movie screen, and put the two together - I thought it turned out pretty neat!

The wall behind Madame.

Clay Vase

For my sister's birthday, I made a vase to go in her newly redecorated kitchen, which is mostly red, with some black and white accents. I started with a plain glass vase and covered it with a relatively thin layer of red polymer clay, which had been run through my pasta machine (strictly for clay, of course!). This took some time, since bubbles tend to form between the glass and clay. I used a straight pin to poke the bubbles and continued to flatten and smooth the clay around the vase, trying to keep it the same thickness all over. I took black clay and white clay and made a sort of zebra pattern with it, as well as a cross-hatch pattern. One of the things I love about working with clay is being able to make different sizes of my design! You can see in the middle of the vase are some of the cross-hatch squares, and around the lip are the same, only smaller. Around the shoulder are some even smaller. I put a glaze on it, baked it, and voila! I found some flowers to continue the theme, added some greenery and some pebbles for stability, and wrapped it up! It is sitting in her kitchen garden window, hopefully reminding her each day how much she means to me.

No End To The Tangles!

My ever-supportive sweetheart, Paul, loves the tangles I've done. He decided that I needed to create some on his motorcycle helmet! He gave me free reign, promising he would love anything I came up with. So.....ta-da! Here it is. He, as promised, loves it! (sigh of relief here) I wiped the area down with alcohol before I began. He bought a paint pen for me, but I felt it was too thick. I wound up using the ZIG Millenium pens that I use on paper. When I finished, I sprayed it with a couple of coats of clear acrylic sealer. (The pinstriping was already on there - he's got a creative streak himself!) He's already coming up with new places I need to tangle on.......