with the onset of more sickness…zoey and i are hanging by two slightly thin old tea stained pieces of string. i say this because zoey just got over an ear infection…not to be followed quickly by another series of fevers and one big puke! yes…past midnight last night….and all over a pretty, rose patterned shirt that i had to toss in the trash. zoey was more concerned that i threw my shirt away than she was that she got sick. poor thing. she looks happy above….red candy stained hand…happy before the onset of her fever. she is carrying vaseline because we all have chapped lips from this windy, dry weather here! sore throats, fevers, chapped lips…oh my….
sounds like PROJECT TIME…a fun antidote indeed. i have been producing projects VERY slowly lately, but i have some good ideas to use when i get time to complete what i’ve started. i have been busy carrying zoey around for 2 days now and reading barbie books to her about mermaids and whales. she calls the whales, sharps. she says she wants a baby one for a pet, but when i asked her where we could put the baby sharp, she said her little bitty bird cage in her room. i told her that wouldn’t work. i asked her where sharps live and she said the ocean. i asked her again where we could put the baby sharp if it needs water and she said…”my little bitty bird cage in my room”. nevermind zoey. we will stick with a beta fish. no go put on more lipstick.
okay…onto my weak attempt at projects lately. i have ideas, but i’ve been so strapped for time. seems like there is always an obstacle or responsibility that pops up when i want to junk. darn. between sick zoey, arek’s big amounts of homework and studies and my sore throat (i think it’s strep. nice. did i spell strep right?) and the reading that i seem to be into lately, loads of laundry, housework, car maintenance, and general grooming….i have been doing a hopeless job at juggling all the junk. oh well. there are more sharps in the sea and there will always be more junk in the shops….it’s okay.
here are a few goodies from G.W. i love the candleabera (i can’t spell….i’m sorry) and little silver cups. i found quite a few linens and started tea staining again. i’m on a kick with the staining. i am loving the contrast between stark whites, creams, pink and dark stained lace and linens. i have some pieces set aside to make a couple of pillows for the booth too. i find those big, white colored tablecloths quiet often. they are cute, but they aren’t old, cotton ones. they are a poly blend, so the look old and tattered when i stain them. they instantly age 50 years and look like the old, lace ones from france….but of course for like $1 instead of $100. i found this pillow for a couple of bucks and covered it with one of those huge german pillow cases. i wrapped one of those tea stained tablecloths around…voila…instant time-worn elegance for less than $4.
i found one of those dick and jane like workbooks for a song not too long ago. i can’t stop using the pages to decoupage on stuff. instant charm. super cute easy as pie projects…
how cute would these old book pages look on a big frame and then in the center painted with chalkboard paint!
i foujd a new junk haunt not too far from the cove. it’s a trading post out towards florence, texas. it is the same one i found the pretty costume jewels in. i found two of these heavy, cut glass sugar bowls above. i love to use these as tea lite holders. easy…..easy…project. you just need wire and beads and prisms. instant candle chandie. it is booth bound soon.
i have also decided to get back to my collage roots some. i used to use beeswax with my friend marnee to make collages. she got me interested in the waxing for a very old, tarnished look to your altered art. the wax can be used on almost anything to instantly age and patina an object or art. i am sure beeswax has been around for several centuries for crafting…like the wax headbands they have in france. i write about it like i’ve studied wax art history or something. i have no idea. anyway……the wax comes in thin sheets like this….
then i break small pieces off and put them in a pan and heat on low until just melted……
then i apply to collage….
marta gave me these china oval disks (like the one above that the lady is glued to) that look like big cameo pieces. i will use them and make some more of these collages. i found this big, chunky primitive frame for $1.50. i painted it out white. i added tea stained old dress pieces and old book pages…..instant collage that looks like it’s been around for a million years…almost as long as i have.
found this vase above for 50 cents at g.w. it was a nasty brown, but i loved the details of the vase so much, so i got my quarter out and took her home. i white washed it and now i think it’s fabulous. it would look stunning with white feathers or big, paper flowers or tree branches sprayed white with little craft birds…or just a big bouquet of fake white roses….
i also found the wonderful rose painting below for $10 at the trading post. i fell in love with the peeling painting, but i didn’t like the wood frame, so i painted it out white. she is as pretty as a cottage. she was very dirty and dusty…..now she is a cinderella story.
these are two before pics of my latest chandie project and a cast off chair with no back. chair was road kill…. poor thing. she will make a great little garden table. i plan to plug her holes with painted costume jewelry pins and hang a few prisms from the front of her. she will look fabulous holding a garden statue or a pretty pot of baby roses. i need to take all the light fixtures of the chandie. pain in the butt that is. if i can’t get them off, i may turn this into a hat stand and cover the outlets with upside down glasses filled with lace or old rose fabric.
that is it for the projects for now. gotta go give zoey something for her fever. she is is starting to talk nonsense in her sleep. she just said something is blowing up in the sky???? probably hawks looking for ice (she thought i said ice and not mice) okay zoey. poor thing.
she is hot and tired. she has a limited appetite…so we stuck with the basics today….pizza, coke and PEEPS. thanks terry lee!!! can i stop???? i love peeps even better after they sit out all night and get stale. terry lee…zoey has been clutching her little makeup and those bracelets like a wad of cash. so sweet…..speaking of sweet….this is about all she ate today. she bit the head off of one and the stomach out of the other. poor peeps….
i will save them and glue them to this
then i will ask for a federal grant and make about 15 of them and put them in an art show and call it controversial. someone will get it.
okay…now zoey is saying something about a white dress. don’t get married yet, little girl…unless you can make enough to support us. now she is saying something about water on it. yikes. i need to get her fever down. she is pitiful, but she is still holding her make up and asking me to go shopping. that is my girl. oh wait…she said something about a chicken nugget store. that is not my idea of shopping, but okay.
i think arek driving to round top. i’m kidding. he is watching too much bad t.v. i see the brain cells floating across the room out of his head as i type. go read a book. go write on a slate. go darn socks or something. time to mike the goat. these kids have it easy these days……everything is at the touch of a button and the end of another big demand. go get it yourself and pick up your mess on the way already. geeze…OKAY. i sound like my mom….mom….i sound like you. this is the sweetest revenge, isn’t it mom. you can stop laughing now.
happy saturday treasure hunting……now where is that big box of barkcloth, old lace and pink prom dresses for a nickle???? oh…it’s never me that gets it. i get there too late and find the ubiquitous crutches, teleflora clear cheap vases for 10 cents and the macrame owl plant holder with those mondo wood beads. i’ll pass and that will give me lots of money leftover for more peeps.
lol
