yay for RED

How awesome, my retro red and white shoe clips were featured in a lovely red themed treasury on Etsy.

I made them with the fabric from a vintage blouse and added a little white tulle ;)

These are listed here in my Etsy shop but I'll have to make my own pair. I got some awesome vintage flats at Goodwill yesterday that these will look fantastic on. They also look great on these vintage heels!

I'm so glad shoe clips are part of my life now. As of this moment I'm declaring them the greatest accessory. So there! Whats your favorite accessory?

Sentimental Stitches

I made this hair clip for my little sister's birthday. Her birthday was on the 7th but shhh whatever.

I was trying out new techniques- which by the way this weekend I got crazy with some new carnation style fabric flowers- photos to come soon!

I love the colors in this piece!

Not only will this be a gift of fashion for my sis it will also be a gift of sentiment. My nephew Oliver picked the flower I used in the center piece when they were out for a visit last summer so it will be extra special for his mommy ;)

Happy (late) birthday sister!

Is it only Wednesday? Hmm.

I got off of work a little early today so to take advantage of the extra time I decided to work on some product photos. A few that had not yet been photographed and some that needed some serious re-photographing.

I just worked on these the other night- they will probably be used as center pieces for more of my brooches mentioned here. I absolutely LOVE working with the pressed flowers/leaves again. I'm almost out so I picked some more flowers and leaves to press yesterday while out on a walk :)

I had actually forgotten about this pendant I made earlier this spring I believe. Its an earth made with white, blue, and green polymer clay attached to a circular glass tile. I didn't have my new camera at the time I made it so the photos needed an upgrade!

I made this wood burning semi recently and originally attached a hair comb to the back to wear in your hair but it just didn't quite work out the way I had hoped so I removed it and experimented around a bit and ended up taking a small strip of fabric and drilling tiny screws to secure it. Quite fun actually!

Anyway now it can be more versatile:

(click this one to see it enlarged for better detail!)

And around the neck:

Goodnight!

-Julie

materializing an idea

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I often have ideas that come to me that I forget about before I get a chance to create them- but when I thought of this one last night I didn't wait to put it into action.

I wanted to incorporate my earth theme by bringing back some of my pressed flowers/leaves that I originally started out working with last year. For example, this piece.

 So I had the idea to put a pressed flower behind a circular glass tile to use as the center piece of the new line of brooches I've been working on.

A close up view of the pressed flower:

I got the creme colored embroidered fabric yesterday at Joanns. I love the vintage style of it. It reminded me of the fabric that I wore as a little girl.

Me :)

It also looked great on the waist line of the interesting vintage romper I got a few months ago and finally decided to wear today!

What do ya think about the pressed flower center piece?

Cheers,

Julie

productivity

Well, it's back to work tomorrow after having 4 days off. I can't say I accomplished as much as I wanted to but I did get a few things done :)

I finally got my first batch packaged up and it's now en route to Texas to my mother in law's Boutique, The Fashion Shop.

Me displaying how one could also use one of the brooches- by pinning it to a ribbon/headband/etc.

Yesterday I worked on dissecting some of the old jewelry Matt's mom sent me recently. Really fun. Tedious but so worth it. Note the essentials. (Tissues and Iced Espresso)

This ring almost looks like it was made from the fabric of the top I was wearing.

My version of modeling rings- I hate my hands. Or my "Creepy E.T. fingers" As my little sister affectionately calls them.

One of the many brooches :)

And last but not least- me having a genuine sneeze- I was planning to just take a shot of me looking pathetic from my "allergy day" and then I sneezed. Perfectly suites the day I had yesterday. It was MISERABLE. I probably sneezed 1000 times. The reward my body gives me for cleaning and organizing the house.

Ta daaaa.

Project Time

As my craft area is becoming increasingly out of control- a serious organization is in order!

Luckily I have the next 4 days off of work while my employers are in Aspen.

Also luckily I had the idea to reuse an empty formula canister from work (I'm a nanny) to aid in my organization :)

Simple project supplies:

*1 empty canister (formula, coffee, etc...)
*scissors
*mod podge
*paint brush
*spray gloss sealer (optional)
*an old magazine, book, etc...

Steps:

*wash and remove canister label
*cut out several images and/or text
*using brush, apply mod podge to back side of images and place
them on the empty canister and canister lid
*after the mod podge has dried apply another coat of mod podge over the images or simply bring
out doors and evenly spray the canister and lid with gloss sealer
*allow to dry and then fill with whatever you please :)

Finished Project:

Oh the inspiration...

So today I received a package from my mother in law with TONS and I mean TONSSS of old jewelry for me to use!

Seriously it's like digging through a treasure chest. So many ideas floating around in my brain about how to utilize them. I've been putting things in the center of the new fabric flowers I've been working on to sell in her shop and the other day she told me she would go through her jewelry.

 A while later she texted me to say don't buy anything else and that she was sending me 10 pounds of jewels.

It's more than I could have even imagined. So many interesting old brooches and what not. Needless to say, I'm inspired. I will try to photograph it with the pieces all spread about.

It's going to take me forever to sort through it all...

Another current obsession are shoe clips.

 I can't wait to go somewhere so I can wear them.

Vintage heels really aren't the ideal shoe for a nanny to wear to work. I'm thinking a weekend brunch. Hmmm.

I can't wait to get super duper crafty this weekend. Wish me luck!!!

Oooh ahhh.

Ok so I've been completely immersed in my latest project. I'm creating a slew of brooches/hairclips/rings/shoeclips/etc. for my mother in law's boutique back in Texas.

It's a fancy sort of boutique so I've sort of upped my fanciness level a bit. Ha! Fancy isn't really my thing but making these sure the hell is a lot of fun!

I LOVE singeing the fabric- it fulfillis my inner pyro. I think I will soon post a tutorial or video of me making a piece so I can share some of my tactics with you.

I love this one- All of the fabric is vintage/upcycled (except for the lace) including the flowers in the middle- I found a huge bag of fake vintage flowers at a thrift store this weekend for $4! I love finding inspiration that way.

and as a brooch....

Yay! More to come later :)

Tree Time!

See me up there? I was a young 27. A few days later I turned 28. Needless to say Big Sur was an amazing and much needed trip away from the city. Much too short though! I can't wait to finish up some things I've been working on. 

My husband Matt enjoying his new favorite rock. We found an awesome trail and in the midst of it found the tree to climb and the rock for sitting. Just lovely :)

Relax, You're in Big Sur...

I will soon be seeing this sign and I couldn't be more giddy about it! Its ok if you're jealous. Buuut, its for my birthday. I turn 28 next Wednesday so my husband and I are headed up to big ol' Sur (as I like to call it) this Friday and staying 2 nights at the Fernwood Motel. Hopefully one day I will be able to afford one of the high dollar places, like the Post Ranch Inn, until that day I will love my Fernwood. Afterall they have awesome live music (i.e. people watching) at the tavern on weekends :)

Here are some photos from a trip a few years back...

In other news, I've just listed my first wood burned piece in my Respect Your Mother shop :)

I'm not gonna lie, I'm obsessed with the smell of cedar. Ever since childhood, when I bought a cedar jewelry box (I wish I knew where that thing was now!!) from an Indian Reservation (I also had a small obsession with all things Native American). Anyway, this piece was made by burning the design into a slice of raw cedar. Below is another shot of this one along with another pendant I made with a tree design. I can't wait to make tons more!!

Cheers! Have a good weekend :)

Stitchy stitch...

I got my sewing machine working weekend before last (I think. Time has sort of been a blur lately!)

(yay!)

And since I have no current knowledge (you may remember me discussing this in a previous entry) and I am going off of some information in various books I am dying to take real lessons. I found out there is a place called Sew L.A literally on the bottom of the hill under my house along Silverlake Blvd. that offers lessons. I need to get that arranged!

                       

Until then I will continue practicing random stitches on random fabrics that I CAN'T STOP buying from Joanns. I am SO in love with textiles. Who knew?

I've pretty much been setting myself up a little factory little by little, ok I don't know if buying crap every other day is really little by little but whatever. I can't wait to really start sewing up some fun stuff!!

                 

And so I dont go through all of my fabric during my practice phase...

I started practicing on a few tissues the other day. It was actually quite fun! (I was playing with my pinking shears which is why the edges are cut that way)

                  

(my craft area becomes wrecked quite quickly)

For any of you readers who have basic sewing tutorials, please feel free to paste a link to them in the comments for me and everyone else ;)

paper and fabric and wood...OH MY!

I tried out wood burning over the weekend- 50% off coupon at Joanns and a $30 "Versa Tool" creative wood burner= a new hobby for $15. Well- then must acquire wood- but you can buy little pieces for super cheap. Although I am going to have my dad send me some slices of wood from back home. I purchased my dad a wood burner from Amazon for Father's Day because he has been a huge wood crafter lately. Apparently spending hours out in his shop using one of his (yes he has multiple) wood lathes crafting up all kinds of awesomeness.

He made this for me upon my request- an oak log candle holder :)

(oh and he actually said this to me "I know you are all Los Angeles..Respect Your Mother...blah blah so I made this from an oak tree that fell during hurricane Ike. HA! my dad is so Texas- but he tries to understand)

This is just a hobby of his, he is a full time business owner of a water well drilling company back home in Texas but I think he has potential to make this wood lathing a profitable hobby. He actually drove out for a "visit" to California last summer- but really for the sole purpose of buying another wood lathe from someone out here, visiting his daughter was just an added bonus. Haha.

My crafting has gotten out of control and if I thought I had a medium problem in my last entry I suppose it has only increased, I'm just learning to roll with it. Lately it's been paper crafting (cutting):

 that I just started experimenting with weekend before last, a little fabric fusing:

(thanks to Sister Diane over at CraftyPod for this fun idea!)

and now wood crafting (burning):

My first official wood burn I made last night. I'm still figuring out all of the strokes and which tip does what, etc... I think I will watch a few videos on the internet to learn some real techniques.

 Ahhh. Lots of fun. I can't wait to start making jewelry and all kinds of things with the wood. I have been wanting to do that for a while now- with just painting in mind, but now- combining that with burning is twice as exciting!

Cheers,

Julie