Blue Hearts & The End Of My Blog

Early on during the corona virus, I did this project.

When we put scalloped wood trim on the guest cottage door,

we had some of the trim leftover.  I had my husband cut it into hearts.

I painted it, distressed it. Wrote "HOPE" on the pop caps --

and promptly forgot about them.

I just came across these pics.

I don't even know what I did with the hearts!

Chalk it up to "corona brain".

I started this blog to document all the antique furniture that I fixed up and sold.

And other vintage items I worked on.  

(I should have started it way before 2014.)

Then I documented getting my NW Missouri home ready to sell.

Next fixing up the new Ozark home.

Getting through the corona virus.

And lastly building and decorating the guest cottage.

(By the way, we have had every weekend booked since

we launched on AirBNB the first weekend of November!)

I have decided if I need to "document" something else I will start another blog.

It's a bit bittersweet, but this one has ran it's course.

Industrial Cross

 I am always on the lookout for a wooden cross that I can

add some old hardware to. 

I bought this one for $3 at a flea market last weekend.

Christmas Sleds Stuffed With Stuff

My Christmas workshop in the cellar is running

out of "bits and bobs".  There were just a few misc

pieces left, and I decided to shove everything in these 

three little sleds.  

I bought all three sleds at a local antiques store,

for about what I would have paid at a yard sale.

Only one is old.   But I knew I had plenty of  Christmas 

"stuff" left to vintage them up.

The one above I entitled "Let Heaven and NATURE Sing".

So now my Christmas workshop in the cellar

is officially closed (and empty).

All three will be last minute additions to my

vintage booth at Camp Flea.

Halloween Book Art Assemblages 2016

I decided that to "eek" out my full enjoyment from an art project, I can handle doing about three.  Any more than that, and it seems like a job.  Which, is necessary sometimes.  But thankfully not for this project.

 

Like last year, I did include quite a few screws.

I really don't like my book assemblages to fall apart,

and this really keeps them solid.

(Clamp books together before attempting).

Again, a few screws.  (Another tip:

drill pilot hole first before adding the screw.)

  Check out my past book assemblages by clicking here and here.

Rusty Junk Yard Art Sculptures

 

This week I went on a spring junk buying trip to Lincoln.  My dad's neighborhood has sales and this guy was one of the garage sales.  He had some normal "junk" besides the sculptures, but I loved the rusty junk art sculptures.

I could have brought him some raw

materials if I had known ahead of time.

loved this fish yard sculpture

dragonfly made from butter knives

this is my favorite

paintbrush faces

  

More Junk Art Mosaic Hearts

A few days ago I did a tutorial on adding vintage junk to frames (click here to see the "how to".  I had included photos of frames that the ladies had made in the class that I taught.  This post is documenting some of the frames that I made myself.

This is the first frame where I attempted to use

wood filler as a surface for the "junk."

It was a little chunky and smelled bad.

But it gave me some good experience on the type of "junk"

that looked good on the frame.

I LOVE the back of watches where you

can see all the little gears.

The first finished frame.

After I perfected the right wood filler

I experimented with applying it to different surfaces.

Wood was a given.  But would it work on metal?

You betcha.

This frame started out as a Michael's 99 cent bare wood frame.

I enjoyed finding the right vintage Valentine to add to it.

  

Junk Mosaic Frame Class & Tutorial

I was asked to teach a class on making mosaic art frames.  I had given a few as gifts years ago, and these friends of mine must have a long memory.  I had glued and grouted different "junk" items on to a frame:  letters of a name, keys, broken bits of mirror, rusty hardware (these were gifts for guys).

Fast forward ten years: I don't like to work that hard anymore.  No grouting for me.  I wanted a substance I could just smear on a bare wood frame and stick objects in it.  I went to every major craft store and told them what I needed.  No, no and no.

So I experimented with wood filler.  The first brand I tried was "four times tougher than wood" so it stuck great (I had already known that it sticks great to fingers from previous projects.)  But it had a horrible odor, and I need to keep as many brain cells as I can.  Not to mention that it was chunky, and did not apply smoothly.

 

The second brand (Elmer's Wood Filler) did not knock you into next Tuesday when you smelled it.  It was a little smoother, but I decided I didn't like the color.  So I mixed a bit of flat black enamel into it.   The  I applied it about as thick as you would apply cream cheese to a bagel.   WAA LA. 

It colored great, and made it a great consistency.  It also stuck like granite to the bare wood when dried (24-48 hours).

Next I gathered up jars of "junk" to take to the class. 

Smooth rocks.  Typewriter keys.  Rusty keys...

 

 Game pieces....

Bits of broken mirror.  Beads.  Hardware.  Dice...

 

Shells.  Jewelry with smooth backs.

 

A few people did mosaics on canvas and those turned out cool.

 

I think everyone had fun,

and as a special bonus my daughter-in-law attended!

  

Vintage Shell Mosaics From Ft Lauderdale

I was looking for inspiration (and shells) for my mixed media frame class that I am teaching soon.  We took a mid-winter trip to Ft Lauderdale (good timing - missed two snows and ice in just 5 short days).  We toured the Bonnet House which was interesting on many levels -- horticulturally, historically, artistically.  It had been built by artist Frederic Bartlett in 1920 and who continued to "embellish" the home until his death in 1953.  In 1983 it was deeded to the Florida Trust For Historic Preservation for all to enjoy. 

Frederic gathered seashells (he owned a good section of the beach,

lucky him) and pressed them in wet concrete to "frame" the doors, ceiling and niches

in the courtyard.  He also did the faux painting on the walls, and artwork on the ceiling.

 

But it is the eagle that I gleaned most of my inspiration from.

 

Just an "aside":

each of these bouquets is crafted from shells.

I think they hale from the Victorian era.

His wife had such a large shell collection that he

built her a special building in which to enjoy it.

That is an actual piece of coral in the center of the room!

Here is a similar mixed media arch gracing a section

of the office window at our hotel.

  I like the broken sections of mirror

that were incorporated (they may appear white here).

So, we did a little beach combing ourselves.

Looking for flattish shells, sand tumbled sea pieces

with soft corners and flattish coral pieces that could

be incorporated into mixed media frames.

(Love that aqua sink in our mid-century motel room).

Halloween Assemblage Art Books PART 2

I do not claim to be a great artist.  But I sometimes get consumed by a creative force.  I lose track of time.  I can't get enough.  Everything else (like time itself) not only comes to a standstill, it doesn't exist.  So this is part 2 (click  here  to see Part I) but know this still is not all of them, just all that I paused long enough to take photos of.

If you were able to decipher the note:

the Apron Club was kind of a chain letter but with aprons.

 

This book I gave more of a masculine vibe.

 

I used all the different bits from a hinged paper

skeleton - just on different books.

Can you find all of the different parts after looking at my PART I post?

An actual page from an old book.

I was inspired by the "face"

I saw in the rusty metal piece.

You don't have to yell at me.

After I took this photo, I replaced the

doorknob plate with a less attractive one.

This photo had 1888 written in two places on the bottom.

So, I decided to have it's theme be numbers.

My favorite Halloween decoration this year has been

plastic roaches from Dollar Tree.

I added a little glitter to these three.

Halloween Assemblage Art Books With Rusty Hardware PART I

I did a few altered Halloween books last year.  I wasn't terribly happy with the results, but with such a cheap blank canvas -- it was worth it to try, try again.

I spraypainted the covers a flat black (if you use a book with a dark cover this makes the process go even faster). 

I still am really into rusty old hardware, and it came to me how easily books could be drilled...screwed...bolted. 

So ... all of my bookish assemblages this year will feature old hardware.  The more hardware, the better.

And then everything that I could get my hands on starting appearing on the book covers.

 Including quite a bit of vintage stuff that I just had hanging around for awhile.

If you are interested in trying this, I do have one suggestion.  Use a couple clamps on the book while working, so that the book stays tightly closed and doesn't pull apart while drilling.  There will be more books coming in a future pot.