More Handmade goodies for the show

 Hi guys! Well, I have survived my weekend of moving our daughter Hope to Indiana U for Optometry school. Her new apartment is really cute. She has curtains hung and everything co-ordinates..unlike my house! It did touch me that she wanted vintage painted pieces that we worked on together. Her coral painted record cabinet turned tv stand is really cute! She also left with one of my tables and 4 aqua mid century bentwood and vinyl chairs..some mirrors, dresser, night stands, end tables, coffee table, washer and dryer and her sofa and loveseat and a new bed , TV, and all her new apartment "goodies". She asked for some pieces from my pottery collection and I filled a box with McCoy, Haeger and other vintage vases and planters in cream, aqua and yellow..you can't even tell any are missing! They will look great in her apartment though. She went to college just 70 miles down the road and even though I might have not seen her for a couple weeks at a time, I always knew I could hop in the car and be there in an hour! Now she is 6 hours away. She is following her dream and she will do great I am sure. There will be a lot more phone calls and Facebookings and texts though! I think the only one who didn't boo-hoo was her daddy.  *SIGH* Now I have 2 of my babies in 2 other states :( . We shall survive. I remember reading a story years back about a mom taking her son to kindergarten and crying and the teacher telling her that he was fine..that he would just be "on about his busy day"... and when he went away to college how she had to get "on about her busy day" too. I am sure my mom has had similar feelings with me living 18 hours away..I was just too dense to understand! OK..on about my busy day...

 I have been getting things ready for an upcoming show. It is such a juggling act trying to decide what goes in my booth, what goes in my Etsy shops or on Ebay and what stays for the upcoming shows! I guess what doesn't sell one place will go another! This little compostion baby doll was an upcycle. She was naked w/ a torso crack when I got her. I re-glued and pulled her back together. I added a dress I made from vintage linen and lace. It has some age foxing on it which I think adds to the look..she would look "off" with a new fabric dress! Her pink headband bow finishes her off. I have a few more compo baby dolls that have found me that I am in the process of redressing and a couple cool larger compo doll heads that are going to the show too.

 I made some upcycled flower pins. These are made from vintage scarves. This one has a hand dyed paper rosette center w/ a cool vintage button w/ peridot rhinestones an vintage lace.

 Same scarf, vintage French text, organza and a vintage rhinestone button.

 Same scarf again ( I liked this scarf!) organza and a fab vintage button. although these all atarted in the same place, they all ended up different!

 This one reminds me of a Union Jack. With organza and stacked vintage buttons and pearly bead.

 A vibrant vintage scarf, organza and stacked vintage buttons.

Vintage scarf with pink sheer fabric and vintage pearly beads.

 Same scarf with white sheer fabric and some pink vintage beads.

 Vintage scarf, sheer fabric and vintage beads.

 This one is new fabrics and vintage beads. Singed flowers are nothing new, but I like to give them my own spin, As these are mostly bright, I want to do some paler ones. I was inspired by Carol from The Polka Dot Closet (.blogspot) as she was making some of these for her son's wedding. I like to use vintage fabric where I can..and I have a TON of vintage fabric!

 I did some papered clothespins as I needed some to use for display (I have a bunch of vintage baby christening dresses). These were fun. I used new and old papers.

Vintage text, Pride and Prejudice (which I have a bad habit of reading while I snip and glue) French text, antique sheet music, antique ledger papers, vintage maps..

I ran out of clothespins before I ran out of pretty papers I wanted to use!

 I used my antique signage stamps to stamp vintage wooden hangers.

 I will never pass up a vintage wooden hanger at an estate sale again!

 I got into my vintage fabric stash and made some pillows. These are made with vintage ticking and antique quilt stars..all old but they have a modern look!

 On some I added vintage crocheted pieces and vintage mother of pearl buttons. I love vintage crochet. My Gramma did it but all I can crochet is a string!

 This is filet lace and vintage buttons.

 These were some of my favs..can you tell I was watching the Olympics? Vintage ticking, burlap webbing, vintage measuring tape and some newer fabric. These were a bit trickier to line up correctly..Union Jack bars are not supposed to be perfectly centered (the measuring tape bits).

 Then I got off on a tangent on totes. This is actually made of large toile cloth napkins. I have the matching tablecloth but figured I would probably never use the  matching napkins.

 This one is vintage ticking w/ a burlap webbing handle. The interior is navy denim. I have more to make if I can get them done in time!

I figured not everyone wants complete pillows so I made a couple ticking and vintage lace pillowcases too. I like using the pretty (lace) with the practical (ticking). I have actually made more things than these, but as usual I have things in several stages of "doneness". I think those pins lurked around for a month before I trouble shooted..(shot?) a problem I was having with them. Those are the things I solve when I am trying to go to sleep at night! So back I go to being "about my busy day"..trying not to worry about my baby Hope and hoping she gets in her own groove soon. Love you Hopie! Til next time! Julia

Altered vintage shoe forms cobbler's lasts

 Hi guys! I wanted to share a few things I have been working on. I have more things to show you, but I am trying to not cram them all into one post! These altered vintage wooden shoe forms or cobbler's lasts are my latest. I really like how these turned out. I have a couple milk crates full of vintage wooden shoe forms left over from my antique store days. We literally bought 2 steamer trunks full at an auction one night. I sold tons. I was surprised how much these have gone up in price over the last 4 years. I guess the "industrial" decor thing has hit hard! I wanted to jazz some up a bit for a show I am supposed to be doing at the end of this month in Knoxville.

 I painted some in shades of palest pink, palest blue, pale grey and cream and distressed them.

Then I decided some needed to be converted to a useful item. I pondered quite a while and then thought Shoes! I added a vintage wooden spool covered in French text and a handmade wire heart photo holder.

     I love the "Marie" flavor of these! I think besides a photo, they would be great for a fancy menu holder.

  I added a chandelier prism to the heart for a bit of bling and sparkle (and some glitter of course)

                        These could also prop a small book or framed piece

I wanted to go further and add a paper rosette with a rhinestone middle or vintage buckle but my hubs gave me the old "HOW much are you planning to sell these for?" ...... I still may.... don't tell... sssshhhhhhhh... 'Til next time! Julia

Latest Upcycled Dress Form Mannequin and Vintage Lace Cuffs

 Hi guys! I have been so busy this week! This is a vintage dress form mannequin of mine that I upcycled  to have a more romantic vibe! Again..no before pic..she was skin toned (eww) peachy moire taffeta. I decided to give her a more vintage, Frenchy look.

 She got a couple coats of gesso and then I painted her grey-ish taupe..thinking that was the color I wanted her. It was NOT! LOL. So I painted her cream over that and when dry sanded back so there was some of the grey showing through.

 I added a vintage lamp part that resembled a crown and some French-y antique ad graphics from the Graphics Fairy. I gave it a bit of antique-ing (the paper)

 Glued the paper to cardboard cut to the size of the "crown" center and glued the whole 9 yards on with E6000.

 I may still add some tissue paper decals..maybe a peacock tattoo or text..

 I am supposed to be doing a show next month and she will be there displaying my stuff.

 Such a pretty back!

RANDOM PICTURE!!  Alas..sad news today..my grandson's fish Bubbles went belly up. I made him a stamped spoon headstone. My stamping was a bit wonky but I did it in 2 minutes while the "service" was going on. I was hammering on the back step and it was about 100 degrees and the hot concrete was scorching my tooshie through my skirt! A def. rush job! He flushed his last fish and thought that one "woke up" after being flushed..Dang Disney! He just turned 4 and we had to have the talk about death today. We put him in charge of deciding on the "arrangements" bury..or flush. There were a few tears but once the service was over, he was fine. I wanted to bury this until just the top showed like an old style headstone, but I was afraid my husband would step on it while mowing and I'd never hear the end of it..I am still hearing about the needle in the arm of the couch he sat on YEARS ago! I sort of put it under the lilac bush and warned him about it so he doesn't mow it over. I shall have to remind him!

Back to lighter news! These are some vintage fabric and lace cuff bracelets I am making for the show next month. If they don't sell there they may end up on Etsy. The "jewelry" market is just so saturated there that I thought they may have a better chance "in person". With the exception of the pale pink ruffle behind the button on this one, every scrap of what I used was antique or vintage!

 I have hoarded vintage lacy bits for years. It was fun actually getting to use them! I am not a jewelry maker per se, but I am a vintage repurposer with a lot of different ideas!

 I think this one may be my fav..hard to say though since they were all my fav when I was putting them together!

 These can be worn either direction. Chiffon and chandelier prisms and vintage cloth measure tape.

 Eyelet lace and rolled rosettes and more layered vintage lace.

 Overview..I still need to add snap closures to these.

 This one I added a hammered and stamped bit of brass hardware over eyelet. All vintage mother of pearl buttons from my jar(s).

 I realize these are not for everyone....

But hopefully they will be for someone! I have more "show goodies" to share later..stop back! Until then! Julia

French Style mannequin upcycle

Hi guys! I have been busy lately gathering things and making things for some upcoming shows. I have always wanted a "Frenchy" mannequin for display but I am both poor and cheap! I got this vintage adjustable mannequin at an estate auction last month. When will I learn to take a "before" photo?! Trust me she was sort of ugly. She had a faded navy blue knit fabric on her "bits". I considered peeling her..which would ultimately been easier I think..but decided instead to paint her.

It took 2-3 coats of gesso and I am glad I started w/ that because she would have taken many coats of paint otherwise..the fabric just soaked it up! I used a mix of acrylic craft paints in khaki and raw sienna and burnt umber and added more white gesso to the mix..I didn't want a solid color, but an aged look. I did cuss a bit when I realized I had to paint the inside of the pieces where the fabric wrapped around otherwise I was going to be seeing navy blue on the inside which would have bugged me! Next time I will peel then paint!

I added "decals" that I made with my old signage stamps. I stamped on white tissue paper with Staz-On ink and cut out as close as I could and applied the "decal" with Mod Podge. This works best on a white background so I did go back and paint over the edges with some of the background paint to blend it in a bit. Basically a free decal! This also works great with stamping because you don't have to worry about stamping on an uneven surface and having a "mis-stamp"..just stamp away on the tissue paper and pick your favorite! I also added the word Paris to her front. Now..I have to decide whether to sell her or keep her?? Sometimes having some cool display pieces draws people into your booth. I do have other styles I am working on "French-ing" up..maybe I will let some of those go! I will share their pics when I finish them.

I got some vintage frames Saturday morning while estate sale-ing w/ Ed. Not a lot of finds but a few goodies! This was a vintage gold painted frame w/ metal corner appliques. I added cream paint and a Graphics Fairy insert. I may go back and redo this printed on text or different paper..the white is pretty stark! Maybe I will spritz it w/ coffee..

This was also a gold frame and the vintage insert was in a different (plastic) frame so I swapped it into this one. I think Cotes is "coast"? I am loving this shade of gold with aqua lately!

This was a nasty plaster frame complete with rust stains! I added cream paint (and lots of scrubbing..these frames were filthy!) and I used French text with a cut out Graphics Fairy lady. After I got it all together I noticed a tiny gap on the bottom edge where I should have not trimmed it as close. It bugged me and I knew I could either redo or cover it. I picked cover it! I was thinking paper rolled rose but they were too clunky so I went with this!

A rosette made from yummy robin's egg blue vintage taffetta ribbon, a vintage pearly bead and paper leaves I made from the same text...I think I like this better!

I cut the leaves w/ my fancy edge scissors, crease the center and then add texture/leaf lines by adding creases. I use a long nose pliers and grasp the leaf at the correct "leaf line" angle and crease the paper against the pliers nose edge. I work my way up from base to tip spacing them accordingly and then so the other side. Easy peasy! I will have more things to share later..back to work! Til next time! Julia