Repurposed.

I do a lot of vintage shopping. I buy things from Goodwill, Flea Markets, the DAV, and various other thrift and used clothing stores. Generally, I want my clothes to be cute and comfortable, but also practical for an art room. I don't buy many items that are white....or that need to be ironed. And its nice that I can buy something cheaper than I would if it were new, so if it does get a stain or spot on it, I haven't invested much.

Sometimes I find clothing that I can't walk away from. I have to evaluate if it is likely that I will ever wear it....and I have to decide if I am just buying it because I found it. Not because I would ever actually buy it from a retail store. Often, I will find polyester shirts like this one:

And even though I don't think I will wear it, I went ahead and brought it home....And then when I found similar shirt with two owls on it....I had to have it. So now I have two shirts that are very similar, but they are hot, itchy polyester so I won't wear either one very often, if ever. But I could not leave them behind. I found them. Now they are mine.

I decided to transform the owl shirt into a bag. I've been working on this project for quite a while, so I am glad to finally have it finished so I can show you!!

I cut off the bottom of the shirt, with the pretty design on it. Luckily, it was printed on the front and back. I sewed across the bottom, and made a liner for the inside. The liner is pretty rough...I've never lined a bag before, but whatever, it works. Since the shirt is a strong material, it will make a great bag, but the white is a little bit sheer so I think the liner was a good idea. Also, I'm notorious for spilling things in bags...

I cut up the top of the shirt and made sort of a quilted design for the handles of the bag. I just happened to have the perfect shade of blue fabric to line the handles. Also, I added some interfacing to reinforce the handles.

This was a fun repurpose project! Thanks for reading!!

Circle Journal: Fall 2010

Yesterday, I mentioned my circle journal. A circle journal is a journal that gets passed between friends.

Here are my first few pages.

 

Finally pulling myself out of my creative slump. And it feels good. 

New Stuff Around My House

 I thought it would be fun to show you some of the new stuff around my house. I have sort of a dark home so it is hard to get really good pictures of anything once it is on the walls.

Anyway, here is a set of thrifted portraits I got in Oklahoma this winter. I just love these old Woolworths pictures, gorgeous! The blue perfectly matches my turquoise blue hallway.

 I recently acquired the most perfect little vanity accessory....I am using a desert stand to hold my polish, perfume, lotions and the like...the top is the perfect place for some of my vintage broaches. (Don't mind the brush full of hair in the background--eeep---gross, just noticed that!)

 I have a hard time keeping all of my jewelry organized. This little plant hook will definitely come in handy--and my necklaces look lovely hanging on it.

 This photo frame wall is a work in progress. I've been collecting little goodies for months...and I finally made time to hang them up together. I don't have pictures in all the frames yet, but I think it will be awesome once it is done!

 This new-to-me-deer-paint-by-number is hanging above my vanity lighting and I just love it!!

Anyway, sorry for the weird lighting...I just really wanted to show my new stuff off!! Hope you have a fun weekend planned!!

Guest Blogger: Maria Ontiveros

I was so excited when Rinda emailed me about being a guest blogger. She is a true artist in every sense of the word. I hope you love her post as much as I do!! Be sure to check out her blog, Gallo Organico! ~xoxo NellieMae

"I have observed a number of works which actually lead one to assume that certain people's eyes show them things differently from the way they really are . . . who perceive - or as they would doubtless say 'experience' - the meadows as blue, the sky as green, the clouds as sulphurous yellow, and so on . . . I wish to prohibit such unfortunates, who clearly suffer from defective vision, from trying to foist the products of their faulty observation on to their fellow men as though they were realities, or indeed from dishing them up as 'art'."

Adolf Hitler, 1937

Don't you just hate people who want to ban art? I much prefer this thought about color:

"The craving for colour is a natural necessity just as for water and fire. Colour is a raw material indispensable to life. At every era of his existence and his history, the human being has associated colour with his joys, his actions and his pleasures."

Frenand Leger, "On Monumentality and Color" 1943.

I'm guest blogger Maria Ontiveros, but I go my my childhood nickname "Rinda" in the blogosphere. One of the things I love about Nellie's blog is her use of color. It's so fresh and saturated. Her approach to color inspired me to create the art journal page above. I hope you like it. The background is gesso, textured with drains and paper rolls, and painted with a variety of acrylic paint. I stenciled the owl, "dream" and swirls with stencils from Ed Roth and Club Scrap. If you want to read more about using stencils in art, check out my blog post here. The broken circle stamp is also from Club Scrap. The quote is one of my favorites - it comes from the
mind of the brilliant A.A. Milne.

Feel free to come visit my blog, Gallo Organico, which features my art including art journal pages, mixed media collage, photography, scrapbook pages, and cards. You might just find an owl of a different color there.

I'm Sew glad...

I am 'sew' glad that I signed up for this online class....I am learning so much and I am making the cutest stuff that I probably wouldn't be inclined to do otherwise. I just finished the cutest little cosmetic bag...normally I would take a photo during the daytime (not with photobooth)...but I am just so excited to show it off!! Enjoy!


I lined the inside with fabric so that I could add the lace around the edges and also cover up the hand stitching on the back of the main flap....



Isn't he soooo cute! :-)

Looking for some inspiration with felt or paper?? One of my favorite bloggers ever {LollyChops} just created her first video tutorial!! Go check out the inspiring*cute*awesome*funny tutorial on how to make a flower...using felt or paper...it is AWESOME!!!.

A few sweet cards for you!

I really fell in love with that corduroy fabric that I used on my apron...I had some scraps left over so I decided to sew it onto some cards...a few are Valentine cards and the rest are jut for fun. Enjoy!!

Christmas Cards 2009

I've been very, very busy.....and still more to make! I love Christmas!!


Stamped images (c) Close to My Heart.

Halloween Bucket Tree

You can check out yesterday's post to see my Christmas bucket tree. The whole idea started when I realized that a bucket would work perfectly for the cool Halloween Decoration on page 36 of the new Fall/Winter Close to My Heart Idea Book (my open house is Saturday September 12th and 7:00 if you want to stop by and pick up a copy!).

I actually made 3 of these. On one of them I just HAD to use Halloween stickers...but on the other 2, I stamped all the images of fall leaves and owls. Super cute!

And its {back} to school

Although I have already been back to school for two weeks, it was so nice to have a little 3-day weekend to recover. I love having a spiral notebook for making lists and writing down information in a safe place. I go through one notebook every few months. I decided to make a note book for my friend Sherah who just signed up to be a Close to My Heart consultant so that she could keep track of new customers and make her own lists. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was inspired by Jen @ Jen's Scrappy Pages.

I made this notebook using the CTMH Stamp sets: Classmate Alphabet, You're A Hoot and some Hambly screeenprint paper. The cover of the notebook was attached with eyelets, it is a transparent overlay...I thought it would help protect the stamped images. In the second photo, you can see the elastic cord I used to secure the notebook closed....that is one of my favorite new techniques. I love to attach the elastic with eyelets on the back cover and then stretch it around the cover to keep papers and loose notes from getting lost. I picked up this notebook at the drugstore and the cover is a little thicker than cardstock so it was perfect for recovering! Enjoy!!

Small Works

On Saturday the 5th--I was feeling super creative! It was a fantastic holiday weekend so I was inspired to get a lot of creative things done.

In my small town, there is but one art center. Spiva Center for the Arts is a gallery that has grown over the past few years and I just love the director Jo and many of the people affiliated with Spiva have become dear friends to me. As an active member on the Education Committee, I have felt especially connected to the art center lately.

For the past 3 years I have attempted to create a painting for the 'Small Works' membership show. And for 3 years, I have either never finished what I started...or I never turned it in. Well, this year I decided to make it happen. In fact, the polyurethane was still wet when I dropped it off just 15 minutes shy of the 5:00 deadline...but it was on my TO DO LIST so I made sure that it got done this year.


(It looks better in person, I snapped this photo really quick. It is a collage with acrylic paint!)


As part of my 'One Little Word' for the year, my goal is to inspire others to make art and express their creative side. So I painted this little owl. It will be auctioned off via silent auction over the next 6 weeks and the proceeds will go to the gallery. I hope that it goes to a great home!


A lot of really talented artists create artwork for this auction. You can view the past entries here. Check back on that link in a few weeks to bid on any of the 12X12 artworks created for this year's auction.

A birthday gift

Okay, when it comes to birthdays, sometimes I like to go all out and make a card, a gift bag and a gift that match!

My cousin's daughter had a birthday this month and she is actually one of my students too! It is a fact that she loves owls as much as I do so I decided to make her an owl necklace.



I thought it would be cool if we both had matching necklaces so I made us both the same one.



I also made myself some earrings (her ears are not pierced!).


Here is the matching card and gift box for the present!

Finally, some play time!

Wow! My blog candy prize arrived on Friday and I am just now getting to play around with it. Lisa sent me the most wonderful package of ribbon and an awesome stamp set. I remember seeing a great tutorial using the stamp set featuring embossing and a brayer...I will have to look around for it...hopefully I can find it and make something equally as beautiful. My favorite part of the prize is the ribbon! A girl can never have enough. This wonderful stash found a home in this cute little jar!



Lisa also sent me this great card!! I love it, the layers are beautiful!!




Tonight was one of my first nights in my craft room in almost 2 weeks so I made a sweet little card using some of the ribbon. I also spent some time getting ready for my swap club on Thursday. I will be posting my cards and projects for that soon.




I decided to post a couple of fun little butterfly cards and make this one ginormous post with tons of goodies. These are great because I stamped on some watercolor paper.


HEADS UP ABOUT A PHOTO TUTORIAL

And by the way....seriously check out this tutorial on white balance. I figured out that I can do the same maneuvers in my iPhoto program....it is super easy and I don't even have to open Photoshop! It has made a huge difference in my photos already!!

I hope that you notice the difference and it will improve the quality of my blog overall. All of the photos in this post have been altered...because they were almost all taken tonight!

This is a pair of my favorite spring/summer shoes. I used it as a practice picture. The one on the bottom is the one that has the white balance adjusted...the one on the top is a normal photo that I probably would've used on my blog.



OOh!! And before I forget, I am a winner over at Simply Creating! Krista chose my card for the May challenge!! I just love the Treetops stamp set and I used it on this card for the challenge.

Okay, that is enough for tonight. I have been feeling pretty inspired lately. I think we are going camping this weekend so I will have to try to get some crafting in this week!

I may not have said this lately, but thank you for all the sweet comments on my blog. Every time I get a compliment it pushes me to work harder and do more. My 'one little word' for this year is INSPIRE. You inspire me with your comments, thank you...I hope that I can inspire you with my ideas and information. Also, I haven't forgotten about the blog awards....just been busy! Thanks for the sweet awards girls!!

Owl card gift set

I made a couple of cute cards last night, but my camera batteries died this morning before I could upload them!!! Ugh!

All well. Here is a card I made at a crop a couple of weeks ago.

I decided to make a card with an oval, something I rarely do. I didn't use a cutting system, just sort of sketched it around my owl and then cut it out. I used tulip cardstock with scallop-edge scissors. The argyle stamp is from Close to My Heart. I actually used it to make argyle instead of a diamond background. I used tulip, blush and desert sand on colonial white textured cardstock.


I actually made 2 of these and 2 flower cards and put them together as a little gift set in this cloth bag from Hobby Lobby.


I stamped the cloth bag with StazOn. Enjoy!