Behind the Garden Gate

Just soldering away over here. Today I'm sharing another "house" ornament I made. This one is for my own Mother's birthday which we celebrated (just a few days late) this week. My mom is an amazing gardener and has a love and affinity for all animals, including birds. Her postage stamp size garden is filled (and I do mean literally) with blooms and birds, every surface. So when you open the gate to her garden it is a wonderful surprise. So here it is:

This is scan of the collage before I soldered the ornament. The gate is actually printed on gold paper and has adds a little toned down glitz. I had to digitally add perspective to the door so it would look like it was opening. I have Corel Painter rather than Photoshop, and I have to say it is not an intuitive program. Also, since most people seem to have Photoshop, there's not a lot of tutorials around for it. Anyway, it eventually does what I need it to do.

Still struggling with photography in general, not to mention shiny objects that reflect back at me. This is my outdoor attempt. You can see the silver, soldered areas a little better but not the collage so well. Notice I added a little jewel at the top. Yup, another goodie from the throw-away jewelry haul. I think this was part of an old clip on earring that was falling apart.

OK, indoor attempt. The collage and glass are better here. You can even see the bevels on the glass, but the silver and jewel on top don't do a thing for me. Those ribbon colors are funny too. The dark one is actually a coral color, but whenever I use it and photograph it, it turns red. Pesky things. 

Well this was good practice using birdies because next I worked on my Birdsong Tag Swap. Birdies on the brain (hopefully different from being bird-brained). I'm finishing those up and hopefully sharing those soon. I'm never sure of the swap ettiquette, when it's OK to share on your own blog. I think a big swap like this is OK, it's the one to one swap you don't want to spoil the surprise. If you have any input on that, please share it with me. I do like to follow the rules.

The kids and I are hitting the skies this coming Tuesday, and spending a week in Missouri. I'd love to go hit the antique stores there, but I'm not sure what the kids will tolerate. My daughter will be fine, but the boys may sooner inflict harm on themselves than scour a store for paper ephemeral. We'll play it by ear.

Mary Greene was nice enough to answer my email and give me some tips to bring my collaging along with me. Maybe I can share that from the road.

Have a marvelous weekend. I think we're all in the throws of summer now!!

Decided to link this to  Pink Saturday here:



Sabrina

Horse Charm

Made this 2 sided horse charm for my daughter. She commissioned it for her birthday. I don't usually buy the off the rack charms, but the silver horse was just too perfect for my "client".

Side 1

Side 2

I believe both the horse images are from Graphics Fairy, and the second one is simply on a stamp background. I edited out all the background but the shadows beneath the horse, and I really like how they overlap the stamp image.

Now I just need to find a chain that works well. I bought one at the craft store, and it didn't even last an hour before it broke. I found some really expensive ones, but that definitely not my style either. I need something in-between. I'll find it sooner or later.


Sabrina

Soldered Stix

Well first let me say "yeah!". Karen at Graphics Fairy shared my Gypsy Soul House over on her craft blog today. I feel warm and fuzzy. Here it 'tis: http://www.graphicsfairy-crafts.com/

And I have some new solder charms to share today. Let me start by excusing the poor color on these pictures. Nothing mechanical has liked me today. My car, computer, and camera have all been pesky with me. The other thing I noticed when I tried to edit them was all the little "peculiars" on them. That is, the soldering looks a little sloppy when I see it up close on the photos. They really look rather nice in person. I am working to improve my skills, but clearly I'm still on novice mode here.  Not that I ever want them perfect. I figure that there is plenty of machine-made doo-dads for those looking for that.

Except for the Under the Sea stix, each has a little something on the backside. Picking out the text was the most fun. I'm hoping to mix these guys in with some other charms for gifts. Hopefully, I'll be able to show you something along those lines soon.

 

 

I could use a little more Clarity myself. Might need to keep this one. 

Sabrina

Target Gift Bags

Had to post about these little bags I got at Target. They are heavyweight, brown paper bags with eyelets and nice ribbon handles. For $.50 each I need to go back and stock up. In a jiffy I stamped up a few to use for the favors for my daughter's party guests.

A little stamping and a handwritten name and you're good to go!

Loved the pink but they also came in green and blue handles if you so desire.

 

 

For my MIL I added a little vintage shoe ad (Graphics Fairy - don't you know) in lieu of the name. 

I just love schtuff where you get a little handmade goodness out of something quick, easy, and cheap!

Sabrina

Vintage Treasure Trove

I wanted to share my delight in sifting through my treasure trove of goodies from my Mother-In-Law's shop.

She manages a non-profit resale shop, so all her items are donated. Many times people are "dumping" their old things and many of items are not worthy of being sold. Honestly, most of the items are not worthy of an existence outside a trash bin at this point.

Things were getting pitched in the trash until I asked if I could be the end station for these lost goods. Many, if not most, of the items are broken or just really cheap and undesirable. But the closer I looked the more spare parts I found. Although the majority of the lode still made it into the trash.

 

Here's a lonely, single earring. That's got to find it's way into some trinket or mixed media piece.

I'm loving the beads, or any pretty, dangled shape. Lots of clasps and connectors are very re-usable too.

I have no idea where these guys will end up, but I'm starting my collection now, and I know I'll find the right home for them eventually.

I'm hoping these will bring a unique touch to future projects. Do you have a fav local thrift store? Maybe they want to toss their rejects your way. It couldn't hurt to ask, and the hunt is 95% of the fun!!! (The other 5% is the free price aspect).

Sabrina

Gypsy Soul House

Gypsy Soul House, 4" x 6" (pretend you see a watermark on it!)

Oh my gosh!! How great it feels to get something done, and actually love doing it, and love the end result. I'm so happy right now. This is a soldered "house" ornament for my Mother In Law whose birthday is today. (You know I can't seem to work on anything ahead of time). Graphics Fairy provided the gypsy girl, and every since I downloaded her I know I wanted to do something with it. I've got a bit of ephemeral paper, paint,  a digital layout printed over it, and some added paper elements to complete the collage. I cut the copper tape with wavy scissors, and the soldering actually went pretty smoothly this time! I added a piece of vintage jewelry in the corner. My mother in law has been supplying me with jewelry rejects from the resale shop she manages. I only get the stuff that's on it's way to the trash bin, but there's some goodies mixed in for a nosy tinkerer like me. The french book page is a random book I grabbed for $1 when I was first starting to collage. I was so lucky. It has beautifully aged pages and there are actually tiny golden flecks woven into the paper.

Got to run. If I could only repeat this a few times a week I would feel so successful. Here's hoping you are finding success in all your crafty endeavors today!!

Sabrina