Antique Mosiac Vase.....so cute!

I found this cute mosaic "vase" on Ebay.

I really like this vase, the craftmanship is so good,

the dish shards used are amazing,

the golfer adds a touch of whimsy,

and there are NO pieces missing.

HOWEVER........

all this sweetness is built on a metal cylinder...

with NO bottom .

Yup! you can see all the way thru........

At first my head went to my trusty soldering iron, it is metal after all, I thought  

I'd solder on a bottom. But I could see some potential problems there. Then I thought maybe I'd just keep an eye out for a glass jar or something to fit inside.

But that could take forever.

Then I remembered that a month or so ago I had won a package of Fixit (made by Aves)

on Mud Hut Studio blog.

I had never used this or even heard of it until I entered the drawing.

I am looking forward to experimenting with it in jewelry making and other art.

In fact I just bought Kerin Gales' book Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams.....

a book on using epoxy clay in mixed-media projects.

The Fixit Sculpt packaging says...."adhesive, waterproof, weatherproof, SAFE,

water cleanup, paintable.......can be drilled, sanded , painted."

Heck, they use it to fix cars......

So why not make a bottom for a vase???

Fixit Sculpt is a two part medium, you mix together in equal parts.

(wear gloves)

One nice thing is that each part is a different  color,

that makes it easy to tell when you have it well mixed.

For this project I used half of each part.

I cut a piece of thin metal  and placed it over the hole. (I needed something to support the Fixit.)

But only over the hole and a bit past, I wanted the Fixit over most of the bottom

to make a solid seal.

Then I just worked and smoothed it out to completely cover the bottom

of the vase.

It is really easy to work with. You actually have a 2-3 hour window where

you can smooth it, texture it, whatever your needs are.

When I had it all done I couldn't help myself,

I ran and got a bracelet and rolled it on the Fixit .....

just to get a "taste" of what it will be like to work with it in that way.

(you do NOT want me around your wet concrete!!)

You can see that it makes a very clean imprint......

It is fully cured in 24 hours, but I only waited about 6 hours before I painted it

.

I can't wait to use this in jewelry making!!

  So far so good!!!

I am SO happy that I won this drawing....

Thank you so much Lisa!!

(Mud Hut Studio)

  

                                                                           

BUTTERFLIES and LADYBUGS

The Butterflies...........................

Today my grandson Matthew and I made our butterflies

to send to The Holocaust Museum in Houston.

If you haven't heard of it, The Butterfly Project is  an

effort underway by the museum to collect 1,500,000

 handmade  butterflies

for a special exhibit to represent and honor the 1,500,000 

innocent children that perished in the Holocaust.

Matthews .......

Mine.....

Although we had fun cutting and pasting , and we are looking forward 

to sending our butterflies and being a part of this project,

we also had some very important conversation. 

Some of it was very hard. How do you tell this history to a child?

But more importantly.......how can you not?

If you would like to send a butterfly, and want more information,

you can get it here

or, if you want to click on the butterfly button on the right 

sidebar, you can read about another way you can send your butterfly and take

part in some extra fun doing it. 

The Project is named after a poem written by Pavel Friedman.

Pavel was born in Prague Jan. 7,1921....

deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26,1942

died in Aushchwitz on Sept 29, 1944.

He was 23.

(please read the poem)

  

                                                            
 The Ladybugs...............................

Then it was out to the garden ........................

                                                                            

We had gone to the garden center earlier in the day

and Matt saw the LADYBUGS!!

I couldn't say no, ......

 I wanted them too!!

I wish these ladies could eat whatever is nibbling on my beans!!!

Ladybug...............Ladybug............................

                                                                                       
  

In The Garden...

RECYCLING..............

The last of the free wood we picked up along the road, and

some pieces of old fencing and bits we found at a garage sale.

I was just at the lumber yard buying wood for the fence around the garden.

I appreciate that free wood quite a bit more now!

( I am not sure blue tarp covered objects qualify as good focal points..???) 

I just bought a clematis to grow over this arch,

maybe I should have bought one to grow over the tarp!!

                                                                

ON MY BENCH.....

A Little Playing Going On Here...............
                                               

A silver "dinner" ring

A sterling salt shaker wrapped with a bit of tiny sterling chain

that still has part of it's closure.

The holes in the shaker offer lots of opportunities for embellishment,

but in this case I chose to keep it simple and let the tiny closure take center stage.

It  has just enough movement that it sometimes makes a faint  sound 

as it moves against the shaker. 

The ring bezel is from The Industrial Chic line. That line has a lot of fun

things in it.................and sometimes........ you just want to have fun!!!

(You can find The Industrial Chic Line by

Susan Lenart Kazmer

at Michaels.)

          

Next Up.....................................................

Still in the planning stages, I need new blades for my saw.

I am thinking 1900's British Empire...........................

                                                                         

Happy Fathers Day

Rudy

Harry

Two great Dads!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!

Death Dolls and other cool Stuff

I always enjoy it when others show their favorite antique stores and "hidden treasure spots".
So today I am going to tell you about mine......Bernie's Antiques. Nothing fancy, no "vignettes",
no "shabby chic", (definitely no foofoo smell) Just Bernie on his stool, coffee cup in hand,
lots of good conversation and STORIES, a willingness to search the back room for you,
and LOTS of good junk to dig thru. Actually it's very organized and he knows where everything is.

Bernie and I like the same things......so here's a peek................(you can enlarge photos)
   
                              I'll even show you the best first!
                                                          
                                                   DEATH DOLLS.....................

..........Probably made in memory of someone.....

This was my favorite thing in the store, the thing I can't stop thinking about.

According to Bernie they are very old.(?)

He thinks they were made from fabric, wrapping, weavings, whatever you want to call it

that had been uncovered from burial sites in the mountains somewhere in South America . Sites that were uncovered from being washed away by rain. 

(He mentioned mummies.) (?)

I know nothing of that culture, so can only go by what he told me, although now I am going to research it. 

If anyone knows anything about this I would LOVE to hear from you since I am still considering the dolls, just would like to research it a bit first. (They are a bit spendy, that's why I am being cautious . ) 

He said he had see them before made with two dolls, this was the first time he had seen four.

(they are fairly heavy for their size, maybe filled with sand?)

And then..............................

Mammoth ivory......

Over 10,000 years old.

ME: "Bernie.....this is so cool....where did you get it?"

BERNIE: "I bought it from a guy that used to live in a remote area

in Alaska. He would go up there and stay....every couple of weeks or so a plane 

would drop him some supplies.

He would walk along the creeks (it might have been rivers) and find these pieces

of tusks that the water uncovered"

So of course...I had to buy some..............

This is what I bought..........

Mammoth Ivory, a Tusk, some Nails.... Walrus or Sea Lion  

Box of Ivory

The color on those old teeth is amazing.

Bernie does have other cool stuff,

More photos than most.....................

Are you getting the picture??

This photo of The oriental Embalming School has been there

for a long time......Bernie bought the estate of the owners of

that business......but that's a story for another day.

Make no mistake, Bernie has lots of other stuff.....his business card says.....

Hard to find, interesting old stuff, movie and TV show props, Roseville, etc.

Something for everyone I would think.

I only bought one other thing...........................

A little book ..."Annals of old Angeline"

by Bertha Piper Venen

1903

Angeline "Mika Yahoos Delate Kloshe"

was the daughter of Chief Seattle,the leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish Tribes during the times of the first Seattle settlers. Angeline has always fascinated me,

Don't you love her face? A little Indian princess, lived in a

little shack along the Seattle waterfront, selling her baskets,

(and some say .....still does :)

But.....Bernie gave me something................

He bought the estate of a man called "Cowboy Bill". Cowboy Bill

lived in the Seattle area, drove a car with bull horns on the front,

the whole deal. These were part of the estate. I told him I would make something out of these.

They are from the 70's, but smell like yesterday!

Any ideas??

Bernies Antiques

8826 NE Bothell Way

Bothell, WA. 98011

  

                          

Garden Cloche

This morning when I went out to the garden to take the cloches

off, I found myself wishing I had a couple more, to give those 

new seedlings the little boost that makes a bit of difference.

I went down to the garage to see  if I had anything I could use

and came up with this.....................

OH............. this cracks me up!

Anyway you know those picture things that every thrift store

is full of?  I married it with this old mixing bowl that I have been

meaning to get rid of FOREVER.

I did it like this..... It might have taken me 30 seconds,no more.

That wire is seriously strong, once you get it bent it isn't going anywhere,

and those "loops" make it easy to move.

I think a person could have a lot of fun with these,

The possibilities are endless.........................

( ya know ya want one!)

  DISCLAIMER:

It was against my better judgment that I posted this,

please don't hold it against me.      

                                                                                  

ONCE A JUNKER...

This weekend I went to a small sale near my daughters house. We were supposed

to be painting, but had to run to the store and well.......................

I am thinking maybe the sale sign had a magnet in it.

(My daughter claims I gave her whiplash turning into the sale.)

(WHATEVER!!!)

Anyway, I love my prims...hardly ever find them at garage sales

HAD TO GET THEM!!!!

It was only when I was unloading the boxes to get a quick shot of

them that I realized that the Dye box was all there. When I put it on my pile at the sale I barely glanced at it and thought it was just the inset. I have another Putman Dye box but it is much heavier, in fact wood.

I have seen metal ones but this is the first time I have seen one where the graphics are on paper.

Does anybody know which are oldest?

Marilyn , if you want this box for Libby Dog  for her leashes, brushes

or whatever.....it's yours!!

I don't really know why I bought THESE BOXES

I don't need THESE BOXES

I just couldn't resist THESE BOXES 

I better think of something to do with THESE BOXES!!!!!

It's really hard after buying for resale to find something at a good price 

that you would have normally bought.......and walk away!!!

Maybe I have a little sale of my own in my future.........???????

Working around  the place  yesterday we did some "junking" too.

Gary found me this owl feather that one of our resident owls dropped.

It's the first one we have found.

We had been hearing him all morning calling to another owl, must have heard back something he liked and took off in a hurry.

The owls have been here for 3-4 years now.

Barred owls we think.

But they are slackin', for as many as I hear we shouldn't have ANY rabbits pestering us in the garden.

Other treasures from "yard junking" this weekend.

Hope you had a good one!!

                                                                              

INSPIRITU JEWELRY, by Marie French

SPEAKING OF TALISMANS...(ok, it was just me......)                                                                  
                           

Yesterday I decided to sit out the rain at my local Barnes and Noble book store.

Loaded up with all my favorite magazines, a few books and a cup of coffee,

I found a big ol' chair in a back corner and settled in. 

This is the one that caught my eye and had to come home with me...........................

Inspiritu Jewelry by Marie French.

Here's a brief quote from the book:

(when coming upon a home where a curandera, or healing woman

was once thought to have lived)

........."I came to an old adobe house that was quite dilapidated, but I could tell it had been 

loved long ago. I decided to go in and take a look through the cobwebs and dust. It was there that I spotted the old prescription book. Leather-bound, with the names of her patients, illnesses and the how-to information to make her healing jewelry"......................................  

NO, this isn't a novel, it is an actual book on making jewelry .

There is for example directions for......"believe-in-myself "bracelet, and French tells why she chose the components she did and what properties each is believed to possess.

It's a fun read as well as giving very detailed and complete directions for making 

the different jewelry projects. 

Frenchs' bio says she is a "curandera" (healing woman)

from a small Texas town. If you like a little folklore and herbs

mixed in with your jewelry making this might be a good book for you.

It's also available at Amazon, but I didn't want to wait..............

  

You can also find French at:

http://inspiritustudios.blogspot.com/

 

Junk in The Garden...

Our neighbors put up new fencing and set these 4x4s out at

the road in case anybody wanted them. So .....yeah for me....

some new raised beds!

We actually had enough to make these 2 raised beds, 

a lower strawberry bed, the frame for the new compost bin,

and a arbor.

I made markers from old silver plate from thrift stores.

It's coming along , but s.....l...o.....w.....l.....y.....

 These windows hinged together fit perfectly

to make little greenhouses over the basil.

I still needed a couple more beds for squash..................

so I made these temporary ones ...................

uh, I think they look like graves............

The Cryptkeeper??????

NO, we haven't had a single bite yet.... however.......rabbits, deer, and slugs.........

all seem to be eating well.

New compost bin..............still needs door,

Corgis LOVE compost piles!!

Junk in my planter, and I don't know if you can see,

but the blue creeper in my lawn is starting to bloom,

before long my whole lawn will be blue.

My Grandmother had a blue lawn,

I always loved it and mine is a tribute to her.

Junk chair planted with baby tears.............

surrounded with moss of course!

And lastly, a lovely old bird bath at a farm down the road.

Built about 50 years ago, it stands sturdily on

outside the big old barn covered and full of...................

moss.

Come on sun, 3 days of you is not enough!!!

Everything is up, but it is shivering and huddled,

can't grow without you!!!