Saturday, March 1, 2008

My latest set of jewelry.


This is my latest set of jewelry. The pendent is a river shell & the beads are cherry quartz. I made the long necklace and then made a double row necklace that is a choker with another row longer. That way you can wear all three or just one or the other. Also made earrings and a bracelet.

I need to make a scrapbook called “Where in Our World is Snowball?”

Don came into the craft room and said—“Do you have your camera? You need to come take
a picture if it won’t make you mad.” So I knew the cat was someplace she wasn’t supposed to
be. She has been caught on this bed many times and usually she curls up on this dolls skirt. I guess the other day she was up between the pillows but this day she was laying there just as you see her with a paw either side of the doll. She shuts her eyes like she’s asleep or just bats them as if she’s saying “I belong here” Makes me wonder if she knocked this doll on her face because if you do she cries so maybe she thinks she’s a mommy? LOL

Saturday, February 23, 2008

A new hobby - Bead jewelry making.

Well I now have a new hobby. I decided I wanted to try making jewelry. The above pic shows my first set done in pink Crystal squares, silver covered pink crystals, silver corrugated beads & pink tube beads and two teapots with black beads with pink flowers & a silver cross charm with a swarovski crystal all strung and then added to a silver chain. The clasp is also a teapot and a spoon.
This pic is the bracelet & the earrings. The bracelet has a teapot with a silver bead for the body & tea bag charm and a cup & saucer charm & then I added a cloisonne butterfly with swarovski crystals. The earrings are made with s black bead with pink flowers, and a square pink bead and two silver beads added to wires.
The whole set together. Close up of the bottom of the necklace on the set below.

This set is made with Leopardskin Jasper hearts & corrugated silver beads & the graduated set of leopardskin jasper with tiny jasper beads between them & the bracelet has a few black onyx nuggets. The bracelet is strung on a stretchy stringing thread. The set up a little closer. These heart beads are what started all this. I wanted something made out of them.
This set is made with black onxy nuggets & silver beads and faceted black beads hook the leopardskin jasper donut to the necklace and two little circles of sead beads are between the two.
This pic just shows how long the necklace really is. This set is made with three different brown & clear mix glass beads. One is heart shaped, one is kind of fluted or like a nugget and the third is a flat rhondelle spacer bead. I made the earrings with one of the nuggets and 4 spacer beads handing from a gold teardrop frame.
A closer look at the earrings
A closer look at the bracelet.

Another bracelet and matching earrings. They are a real light weight copper filligree and I glued copper colored sead beads in the center. and used two copper spacers on the bracelet and a copper lobster clasp.

This set is another one made with leopardskin jasper but it is a lighter more tan colored shade. There are also some peace jasper green beads on the necklace. The graduated set at the bottom of the necklace I have had a long time. I bought them at Ebersoles who are still going out of business. I bought the little round jasper beads from Rocky Mountain Gems. I used them in the earrings also. I've described the beads as best I could just from memory so may have some of the names wrong & its 1:30 in the A.M. so probably not so bright. I want to do some bead weaving too. Stay tuned.





A picture I took today of Sammy sitting on Don's lap. Kind of a boney place to sit. She has been moving awfully slow lately and she has this awful croupy sounding cough which the vet says is from liquid around her heart. She's taking pills to that are like water pills but it doesn't seem to help the cough any. She is old and we are probably getting near losing her. Don hopes she goes in her sleep as he doesn't want to have to decide to put her to sleep. She tries to play ball for a little bit but then has to stop and cough. Its such a deep awful sound and it shakes her whole body. She eats good and doesn't seem to hurt but she looks so sad just laying around. She has always been so active.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

4 Vanity spoon mirrors

The backs of my 4 vanity mirrors made out of spoons. After the spoons are painted I glue a mirror on the back and then beads or trim around the mirrors. The oval mirrors are called shaped and so have a pretty edge around them. The round I can't find that way.
Front of the vanity mirrors.
This picture didn't take very well. This spoon had cutouts in the bowl of the spoon and so I painted the back of the mirror with a gold leafing pen. All the spoons were colored with alcohol inks. Pictures were glued on and then sprayed with fixative. Glued on a charm and tied on a ribbon.
On this spoon I did the mixed colors as on the others but I used the ink and a tiny applicator to paint the iris and the leaves. I also used the iris colors on the hummingbird charm. I mixed some pearl on the background of this one.
This spoon was a gorgeous spoon but had a very deep bowl and so when Don flattened it it split in about 5 or six places on the edges where the fancy stuff was. So he went to the hardware store and found some stuff that he put on it and filled all the cracks. It dried really hard and he was wishing he hadn't used so much because it was a bugger to sand it down. It dried kind of a charcoal color. So I used the alcohol inks and then matched up a metalic russet lumiere paint and put it over all the places that were charcoal. I thought it ended up blending really well & I'm so glad it worked because the handle on this spoon is also my favorite. I also painted the silver rose charm gold for this one.



This one was a very tiny spoon in comparison to the others. The gal at the antique shop said that it would be cute as a baby spoon or toddler spoon mirror. So I bought it. Well the pattern on it was leaves and acorns so after painting them the spoon ended up kind of yellow gold and copper looking. Admitedly not very baby colors. The picture is one that I thinks looks so much like me at that age. Her cheek looked dirty and I brushed it lightly with my finger and now she has a crack on her cheek. Oh I was mad at myself. I painted a silver heart gold for this one. All of them have the best match in a ribbon I could find in my stash. I don't think I like the ribbon on this one either. I'm really tired of spoons and not in the mood to redo her right now anyway. I'm going to try doing some jewelry next.

Kat

Monday, January 28, 2008

My handpainted Nursery Rhyme Barn box

I've had this box base coated and the patterns transfered on for years. I decided I needed to paint it and get it out of my craft room. It also helped me clean up my acrylic paint rack. I threw away more than I kept. I haven't painted on wood in years so felt like a beginner. Its not great but its done. 8>). Still needs to be sprayed with a sealer coat which usually brings out the colors also. I told Don he could do that. The box from a corner angle. When all the pictures were painted, I put a pueblo red stripe down each corner and the ends of the roof. Then I dry brushed some white over it so it blended in better. I've been painting on this for a week and am so glad to have it finished.

It has 7 nursery rhymes on it. Now what do I do with it?

Mother Goose on the lid.
Three little kittens and Miss Muffit.
Little boy blue on the back.
Little old woman who lived in a shoe & Ride a cock horse.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

My pictures from an ABC get together at Elizabeth's.

The ABCers three.
Theresa dyed her hair burgandy.
Dana is talking. She talks fast and asks several questions at once.
Theresa has her hands on her hips. Is she going to hit me?
"E", "T" & Dana
Same 3 nuts.

Now E is talking. She talks real slow & deliberate so you have to egg
her on a little to get a quick answer.
I took my pictures just before Dana and I headed for home. So this is how they look after hours of shopping. Just to make E smile, I have to say that I went to Hobby Lobby in Hutchinson after I got home. Guess I didn't get enough shopping in Wichita.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

My Altered little girls ironing board

Shown at an angle sitting on the floor. It can be adjusted to 2 diff. heights.
From the side. I stained all the legs and bottom of the board with Raisin color wash. Instead of spraying it I used a brush and dipped it in the bottle. Then I used my wooden dabber that I use for alcohol inks and put 3 different colors of lumiere on the legs and sides, metalic russet, copper and brass.
Top of board lying on the floor.
Top of board sitting straight up on my craft table. I used two shiny cutouts (the big pictures) of victorian children and then a bunch of smaller ones. I put scrapbook paper and napkins down first with modge podge. I tore the paper and darkened the edges. Then I put modge-podge over the whole thing. Then I stained it all and did the lumieres and then I modge podged the pictures on. I took it outside and sprayed the whole top with fixative and then added a glaze to the whole top. I will probably finish it with an acrylic finishing coat.
Kat

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Monday, December 3, 2007

My antique lamp mirror

I bought an old lamp with a mirror at Bears Blessing Antique mall. I'm mad at myself for not taking a picture before I started. It was totally covered in an off white enamel paint which Don zip stripped off and then sanded and steel wooled and probably cussed until he got it all off. I almost hated to do anything to it. It really wasn't bad all silver. You can see that in one of these pics. I used alcohol inks and my dabber and I put on raisin and green. Then I used a gold leafing pen and the dobber and some makeup sponges and added gold to it. I painted the two fancier side pieces with the gold leaf pen. I used gel medium on the mirror to glue down some music scrapbook paper on the right and then the girl in the middle. Then I used some brick distress ink on the music and the girl and even on the mirror . The pictures show the tray by itself and the back. Then I took pics with the light on and off and different angles. It wanted to glare so this is the best I could do. It took Don several days to clean it and then just one day for me to cover it back up. LOL.









Sunday, December 2, 2007

Snowball

I thought the new pic in the heading kind of went with my Title. You never know what she will be into next. I've spent two days decorating my house for Christmas. Sure glad that jobs done. Now need to get my Christmas letter written.

Kat