Another Engagement! Map paper Roses and Vintage sheet music roses

This has been an exiting summer in our house. Our daughter got engaged last month, and this weekend our son proposed to his girlfriend! I guess next summer/fall will be even more exciting as there will be 2 weddings! Our future daughter-in-law is from Hawaii originally and they want to go there to exchange vows as her Gramma, who is very special to her, lives there and is in her 90's. Sooooo.. looks like after 31 years I may be getting a second honeymoon! When I mentioned that to my husband he said, "WHAT? Driving around the great state of Minnesota for a few days WASN'T a romantic vacation?!" lol Well, it was romantic because we were newlyweds, but in the greater scheme of honeymoons?  Hmmm..not so much! My husband's father passed away when my husband was 13 and my MIL passed away a couple years ago. We had her wedding ring and when our son asked if he could use it, I told him yes! He was close with his Gramma too and I know both she and my FIL would have approved! I told him the ring has good karma. Our other daughter and her BF graduate from college this spring. She already has a promise ring so I am waiting for THAT shoe to drop too!

I have been working on more vintage paper flowers for my handmade Etsy shop. I've made these before and just hadn't made any for awhile. They are not finished yet, I need to add longer stems and some leaves.

These are made from vintage Bach sheet music.

I also made more vintage map paper roses. I like how they look together.

I love using vintage things in a new way. I don't usually like to do special orders, but I figured I'd list a couple dozen in my shop and see what happens. Special orders are ok, but usually stress me out a bit! Plus I have been busy as heck lately and don't have much extra time.

Hmmm..wonder if I can talk my daughter into paper flowers?  Actually I am sure some will make an appearance at least in the decor! I have been burning up Pinterest lately looking for inspiration for weddings. We will have a smallish budget but I know I can make it pretty! May everything be coming up roses for you too this week! 'Til next time! Julia

Morning glories and Swallowtails

Hi guys! A couple quick pics from this morning. Oh yes..first..we have water again! The well guys showed up and at 10:30 Friday night (and $900 later) we had a new well pump installed and we had water! It makes you think about all those who DON'T have water or have to haul it a distance. A good reminder of how blessed we are. A good time to visit www.foodforthepoor.org  and donate some money. It is easy to get caught up in your daily life and forget that no matter how bad your day is, there is always someone whose day is a lot worse! If you are interested, please visit that site. They are very good.

This morning after taking my son to school (on time!) I noticed the morning glories were "awake".

I'm not much of a morning person, so I don't always get out to greet them. It has been such a wet summer. I swear the grass is always wet..either dew or rain with "sauna" in between. We need to mow again and the grass is just going to be wet when we do it.

These are an annual vine. You plant the seeds in the spring and that is it..easy! They actually will take over and choke out other things if you are not careful. They also tend to reseed themselves and come back the next year.

These old aqua glass electric pole insulators are what I capped my fence posts off with. I just plopped them on top. It jazzes them up a bit..a pretty blue finial! I sold tons of these in my old store for $2 a piece. I saved a few to use in my garden and I also made votive candle chandeliers out of some. I need to clean a couple up and do that again!

One of my favorite old metal chairs. Time for a new coat of paint, but I do like them rusty and shabby. It is full of needles that the pesky cedar tree that overhangs this likes to drop.

This is one of the wild morning glories that grows in the trees next to our house..bigger than the ones I planted! Isn't that how it usually works?

I caught a couple more butterflies yesterday afternoon. These are yellow swallowtails.

I see a lot of these in my yard. I also saw the tattered butterfly that I rescued from the spiderweb the other day. He wouldn't let me get a pic, but he was back to sipping nectar. I hope your morning is full of glory! Until next time! Julia

Brown and Blue Spicebush butterflies, mannequin head and Oh man it's Friday..

Hi guys! I got these butterfly photos last night. I took the grand dog out for a walk and saw a bunch of butterflies fluttering on the buddleia  or.. aptly nicknamed.. butterfly bush. I got my camera and snapped a few dozen photos..only having one or 2 turn out of course! They were fluttering like mad. There were yellow swallowtails and these butterflies which Google image tells me are Brown and Blue Spicebush butterflies. (Thank heavens for Google!)

(this photo courtesy finegardening.com) This is what a buddleia bush looks like. I started mine from a 3" plant a few years back. It quickly got huge and my husband got disgruntled and whacked it off at the roots..and I was then also disgruntled! It did come back and is once again up to roof line height. It is nicknamed butterfly bush for a reason..it really pulls them in! It looks a bit like a lilac bush and it comes in other colors, but I think purple is the most common.

 I noticed one butterfly stuck in a large spiderweb by the rain gutter drain spout.It took me a bit to free him as he was justifiably freaking out, battering his wings about. I got him loose and he flew off..a bit worse for wear, but not a spider's supper!

 Change of topic..I got one of my mannequin heads painted. This one was a custom order. I still need to antique and seal him and add a base. It has been like a sauna here lately and not conducive to applying spray sealer outdoors. When I went out last night, my glasses fogged over!

 Now for the Oh Man it's Friday part.. I was awoken this morning with my daughter freaking out that there was no water and HOW was she to get ready for work?! I got up and went downstairs to the electrical box to throw circuit breakers for the well pump but no good. Then I noticed her dog had taken a poo on the floor  by the front door sometime in the night about the same time I realized it was 10 after 8 and my alarm had not gone off and my son was late for his first day of school! Aakk! Let the fun morning begin! I called a couple plumbing guys..one just had a voice mail and the other said he'd be over. Since that was 7 hours ago and he never showed up, I don't think he'll be getting the job! My husband is now down there banging about, so hopefully he can figure it out. *sigh* So here is hoping you are having a better day than me! Overall, I have to step back and look and see how blessed we actually are, take a breath, and carry on! 'Til next time! Julia

Mercury glass, enamelware, felt roses and new vintage finds

Hi guys! I am procrastinating this morning so I thought I'd share what I have been up to this week. I decorated some enamelware candlestick holders for my shop. I made cream felt rolled roses.I added cream leaves to which I sewed antique French book pages..Victor Hugo here. (He wrote Les Miserables and The hunchback of Notre Dame among other things) I went to the movie Les Miserables this spring (winter?) and FYI..getting a large drink at the beginning was a bad idea! Good movie though waaaay too much fuss over stealing a loaf  of bread!

I attached the rose to vintage ribbon and tied it on. I added an LED candle that I jazzed up with some of the vintage mica flakes from my stash.

I also did mercury glass candleholders and LED votives.

I added elastic backed "candle scrunchies" I made with some of my vintage and antique lace and mother of pearl buttons.

I always squeak a bit when I snip into old lace..but better used than lying in a bag in a closet!

I also made decorated mercury glass decanters. I made the stoppers and added all the vintage bits.The small ones have acrylic chandelier prisms but the larger bottles have vintage glass and leaded crystal prisms.The stopper bit is polymer clay.

I used antique and vintage lace and vintage grey taffeta ribbon. I made number tags with tinted watercolor paper and stamped them with my antique signage stamps. Of COURSE I couldn't find my paper punch that I KNOW I have, so I just traced around a big button and cut them out by hand.

The large bottles have glorious ping pong ball sized leaded crystal chandelier spheres..so sparkly!

I also made dangles of vintage chandelier prism "buttons" and a vintage pearly bead from an old necklace.

I listed a antique or vintage doll slip. So sweet! I have a soft spot for old doll clothes! Both my Grammas and my mom made home sewn doll clothes for us girls. I learned to sew making doll clothes when I was 6.

I listed 2 enamelware pitchers that I decorated with waterslide decals that I made with old French graphics.

I found this shabby Art Deco era Whiting and Davis metal mesh bag this weekend. It has corrosion on the back, but is still pretty to hang on the wall. I can't quite decide if those are bows or butterflies..I think butterflies. That reminds me..the Grand-dog has been chasing butterflies in the yard these week..such a ferocious pitbull! LOL (He never gets them) There is one that flies in front of the patio doors when he is inside.... just to taunt him I swear.

I found this set of vintage bakelite handled flatware too. It was all dusty in a jar in a basement and I got a good price on it. It cleaned up great..one fork short of a 6 piece set. This was probably a picnic set  originally. It is on Ebay. One way to tell if old plastic is Bakelite is to rub it briskly with your fingers until the friction warms it up. Bakelite releases an odor of camphor which it is made with.Once you smell it, you will recognize it! There are also bakelite buttons and jewelry. It was used for handles, game pieces and also some smaller household items like radios.

I found this wonderful little hand carved bear and also a little hillbilly man by the same carver (they were marked EC) The hillbilly is more rustically whittled but this bear is very finely finished and nicely proportioned. I'm not sure if the owner of the estate made him or if he bought him. Knoxville is in  East Tennessee and very close to the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. There were/are many local carvers there. This estate has quite a bit of Pigeon Forge Pottery too, so I am guessing that is where this may have come from too. There are also plenty of real black bears there. This summer there was a black bear that actually climbed the fence and broke INTO the Knoxville zoo. He wandered a couple days while they decided he wasn't one of their's and then climbed back out!

I found this lovely vintage rhinestone brooch and earrings set. It isn't marked but sometimes that is a way to get some pretty pieces at a lower price

These vintage welding goggles went  to Ebay. They have green and clear lenses. People use the clear lenses and use these to ride motorcycles or as costume for steampunk or live action role playing  (LARP) games. I actually took welding class in high school ...because that is where the boys were. I learned how to arc weld and torch weld..and actually liked it! I also used a torch when I was formerly in dental lab school and working in dental labs. You melted metal to make dental castings in a centrifuge. I liked that too. My parents always say no knowledge is wasted!

I found one of these mid century Danish Modern candlestick holders...wish there would have been a pair but oh well!

This was a cool 1960's Vogue dress pattern. It was uncut. I sort of shy away from buying old patterns to resell unless they are really cool. I despise unfolding them to check if all the parts are there, but feel like that is something that needs to be done. (I refold patterns like a monkey ..or worse) This was a cool one though. size TEN with a 31" bust and 33" hips!! WTH? my mom who is a size 1-3 always complains about how BIG everything is now "I'm a size TEN!" No mom..you were a size 10 in 1965..now you are a size one...I tell her,"Geez Mom..I am a size 12 NOW" to which she "tactfully" replies "Ooof!" Thanks Mom! LOL

 I got some vintage Scrabble sets. I sell the tiles to people who make jewelry and mixed media, assemblage projects. You can also make cute signs with them or use them for scrapbooking. I used to attach magnets to the backs and sell them in my old antique store..never enough J's! Well that is all for now..I am painting on my mannequin heads today. They are in that lovely white eyed zombie stage right now so maybe I can get some irises painted in! Hope you have a fruitful week! 'Til next time! Julia

Making Mannequin Heads or 8 Heads in a Duffle Bag

 Hi guys! It is a bit "8 Heads in a Duffle Bag" around my house lately...although they are not in a duffle bag..they are overtaking my studio..also known as my dining room! I have been working on a new batch of mannequin heads. I know some people get creeped out by dolls  (pediophobia..fear of dolls..who knew? I would have guessed that was a fear of pedophiles) There is also automatonophobia..fear of human like figures such as mannequins, wax figures and one that actually creeps me to type..ventriloquist dummies (EEEK!) There is also coulrophobia..fear of clowns.  I must admit while I don't have a fear of clowns per say..I do have an intense dislike. I do find some dolls to be creepy and while mannequins don't generally creep me, I would not want to find myself locked in a store room full of creepy ones!

So with all those fears, here I go making manni heads. They really do not creepy me out in the least..well..except when I have the whites of their eyes painted and not the irises yet..that is a bit zombie creepy! My kids have gotten used to them over the years...whether they liked it or not!

I had a request for some male mannequins heads so these will be a first for me.

The plasterwork is done except for a bit of sanding.

I prefer them to have a rustic, primitive ,vintage finish.

I am inspired by old mannequin heads like these..I want to experiment with more "antique" finishes on some of these new ones.

I like the serene faces...

I am also inspired by antique santos figures.. they were religious statues used in churches. They were usually painted gesso over carved wood.

I like antique store mannequin heads, ships figureheads, and folk art carvings too. There is so much inspiration out there if you look!

The santos have such peaceful faces  (ok..the glass eyes even creep me a bit!)

These were usually dressed with ornate gowns and their bottom halves were mostly wood "cages" as they were covered by the gowns and never seen.

This one is actually an antique doll..another beautiful inspiration..she reminds me a bit of my sister Jess.

These are a few that I have sold previously. This style was more like a antique store manni..she had a bun and minimal "make-up".

This one was a flapper era gal with heavy make-up.. and a beauty mark!

This one was a red head..

This one has an old fashioned swim cap. 

This girl was a fav of mine. I named her Josephine. She had a base of an old wooden lamp bottom.

 

I give them multi tonal, textural hair. I was surprised how long ago I sold these..I really need to get back to crackin'!

This one is one of my (sold)collaged mannequin heads. She was collaged with antique book pages, not plasterwork. The hat sold too to a fellow blogger Carol  from  www.thepolkadotcloset.blogspot.com. It was a pretty one! So my week looks to be spent painting heads..what an odd life I live..but never a dull moment! I'll post them when I get them painted. My your week be productive and your problems few! 'Til next time! Julia