The hands of Time

On this wall in my bathroom (redo) I have been looking for "something" that I could use this old clock face and hands for.  Today I went to a local garage sale and look what I found....YIPEE.  It must be a family as each of the names are written on the back of the photos...and yes, they were in these delightful wooden frames with glass coverings, a couple of which are beveled and the backs have brown paper tape to secure the photo.  What better way to incorporate the hands of time?  The cost?  A whopping $2.50 for all 6 of them.  I was so excited I could hardly wait to get home and put them up.  The wall they are on is just the
size you are seeing.....very narrow so it needed something just like what I found. One of their little girls looks exactly like my sister
when she was young....and about this same age; so I was meant to have them...lol...

Things I love to hear / Envelope Book / Altered Art

Another swap has come to an end....  When I decided or should I say when it was decided I would do this swap I really had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach but halfway through it was a WOW.  I don't have a lot of "things" to work with, or fancy machines, so I just had to do it my way..   The book is the
"KEY" to where I live, what I love, how important nature is to me, and with the help of hearing aids being able to re- hear what I didn't know was right in my back yard, around the corner, down the road,  as the hearing loss was gradual so what one can't hear, we sometimes don't know we have.

I chose yellow and brown with a throw in of blue as I worked on the book portion...and with the way the envelopes are "put together" this little book opens several different ways and I just love it.  I used a punch I had of Martha Stewarts that is lacey and pretty, scrapbooking paper that I had, and some sheets of cork which were fantastic along with some letters that are mismatched, yellow ribbon, a key, train ticket,  etc. 

I have ALWAYS lived near enough to train tracks to hear the clatter of the wheels on the rail, the whistle as it goes throught the town and it is a reassuring sound to me at night as is Wind, thunder, rain, the tinkle of wind
chimes, the chirping of birds, a stream of moving water, and my great love of
waterfalls. 

One requirement I had for our porch on the house was a tin roof so I could really hear the rain.  The porch is lined with different sizes and types of windchimes right outside the bedroom window so I hear a variance of high and low pitches when the wind blows.    Adjacent to the porch is a pond where the birds frolic in the top of the waterfall, and there is a minature grist mill that adds even more water sounds.   We have approximately 58 large trees on our land so I can hear the movement of the wind within the trees from a gentle breeze to a fierce storm....all sounds I love.   And the train, yes, the train.  It runs  behind our house a street over and up the hill just close enough for me to know it is there.

Waterfalls, rivers and streams are abundant here in Oregon and readily accessible for rafting, walking the path along the stream, and getting behind and in front of huge waterfalls.
 
Back to the book.  In each of the envelope compartments is a manila tag which is tied with a ribbon and I found photos that pertained to the sounds I love.  I printed them onto transparency sheets and then adhered  a photo to the front and back of each of the tags with descriptive words beneath.  I like the way I was able to layer using the transparency. 

I will use a goodly amount of yellow ribbon with lampwork beads and charms attached to wind around and around this book before it is mailed off to my partner.  The book is part of me.  It is going to be hard to part with so I just may have to make another for myself.









Words can be conveyed through writing them onto a piece of paper but sounds are sounds and nature is God.

SEW SPECIAL ATC's

Sometimes I wonder "what was I thinking of" when I sign myself up for some of the swaps on Art for the Creative Mind....or the ones I get "tricked" in to.....humrh....... BUT, once I get started and get channeled through to the "inner child" she takes over and I have a "BLAST"...  I try to be as artistic as possible, and sometimes create on the edge of our theme, (that is the "rebellious" side of me coming through...)   My ATC
is a real thin wood which enabled me to "GLUE ON" (see I told you I was rebellious) my material and then go from there.  I am learning to "use" and be brave with color....and to NOT think what the moderator wants us to do but what "I" want to do....

The theme was simply "Sew Special"


Another one DOWN, DONE and ON ITS WAY......Hope my partner enjoys them.  If they were mine I would use some small suction cups with the hooks on them and stick to my window in front of my computer.

Our Yearly Guests

We have a small pond, with waterfall, and minature grist mill which is adjacent to our side patio porch.  For the past 3 years we have had a male and female mallard fly in,  leisurely eat a little, bathe, swim a little and enjoy our hospitality while bringing us some of the simpler joys of life.... and then  after about 3 hours  yesterday they flew away until next year.  It is as if they have a "reservation"..... however;  I have NO idea if they are the same ones each year.
My husband has about 6 duck decoys in the pond so I really chuckled as I got a shot of the male craning his neck as if to say..."what the heck are these"....





Mini Encaustic Domino Charms


These are mini dominoes.  They measure 1" x 1/2" and are for a bracelet charm exchange on Art for the Creative Mind.  This set will not be the one
I send.....  I love doing the encaustic waxes  and have made larger domino focals so wanted to try encaustic on the smaller ones.  It is harder to "see something" with the smaller ones...but they are still abstract.  I used my husbands' drill press and drilled tiny little holes so that I could insert jump rings.  Each one done is a one of a kind....even trying I cannot duplicate.


FUN.........

Bracelets

It is going to be real hard to post these bracelets up for sale on Etsy.   I have a few more "to go" before listing.  Note the neat clasp on the 3rd bracelet?  I love these.   (A pocket watch clasp).   They are Tierra Cast and can be purchased at:  http://www.dragynsfyre.etsy.com along with several other new steampunkery clasps.

The first design bead is Grims' Fairy Tales.





I love working each of them up co-ordinating everything.....and this is what makes them hard to sell......it is almost like a part of me. 

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Bracelets


These bracelets are a "take off" of the giraffe bracelet my daughter made for me for mothers day.  I have NO idea how to do lampworking (and my daughter says that is a good thing, as I am so accident prone) so I am making mine from a goodly handmade lampwork stash I have accumulated from different lampworkers as well as other beads new and vintage I have purchased as I have seen things that I like.

The top bracelet is a delightful prim bracelet and the bottom is a steampunk design that I love on which I have used 2 silvered ivory beads by my daughter and matching stash  beads of clear blue I had.

Both of these bracelets are mine but I will soon have some really pretty ones on
Etsy.

Tole Town Ezine Magazine

In this months issue of the Ezine Magazine at http://www.toletown.com I have a design published which is a Panda Bear and Bamboo design on a Bamboo tea bag organizer.....  The bamboo box is so GREAT that I just painted my design right on.

If you are not a member of Tole Town the cost of the magazine is $7.95 so take a peek.....it would make the neatest gift.

Giraffe Bracelet by Dragynsfyre

I just have to "show off" the bracelet my daughter made me for mothers day...
She knows I love giraffes' so this is a mother and baby giraffe she has applied to a wooden center bead....the dotted beads are handmade lampwork glass beads which she has done to accentuate and make a total giraffe bracelet.  The settings are all in copper and are by Tierra Cast which she sells.  (To see more of her beads and the Tierra Cast go to http://www.dragynsfyre.etsy.com or her website http://www.dragynsfyre.com).  Needless to say I absolutely LOVE IT, and always look forward to an unique piece of jewelry from her....  Thanks Michelle...    (Click on photo to enlarge).

CD Charms

Junes charms for our bracelets were simply (ha, ha, ha) to make them out of a CD....fragmented charms.  Hey, we are really going out of "my" box here... 

So anyway...mine are "simple".  They are crackled, cut into puzzle shapes, and I added a purple Swarovski crystal to each one which I wire wrapped and added to a jump ring.   

I had no blank cd so I used a DVD CD that I had.  When I heated it to make it a bit easier to cut I ended up with a top and a bottom....weird..
so I cut both as both pretty....the top part just had fragments of the reflective finish on a pearly white background.

The photo of the 3 is showing back, and front of the bottom of the CD and just the reflective side of the top white portion.  

I didn't think I was going to like these a bit and was afraid they would look "crafty" instead of "artsy"....but "me thinks me like them"....lol....
I am anxious to see what everyone else comes up with.  SOoooo mine are ready to go as soon as our AFTCM leader gives us our partners name.

FINISHED....HONEST.....STEAMPUNK FLOWERS

HONEST.......my steampunk flowers are DONE....completed......FINISHED.

The Welders glue did its' job once again and has secured the brass rods
(which my hubby cut at different, marked lengths)  to the back of the flower heads.  I am content...I love them.  Right now, and I just may keep them there, they are leaning up against the mirror on the washstand.

I actually like them there and it just may be their permanent home.  

In the meantime I will keep my eyes open for something that is sturdy and heavy enough to "act as" a vase.

Thanks to those who have watched the progression from purchase to completion...each stage was exciting for me.



Cinderellas Slipper

I painted this ceramic shoe to put on Etsy.

These have so many uses but mine are used for qtips in my studio, rings on my ledge above my kitchen sink, loose change in the entry way, and in my bedroom it holds my hearing aids at night....I love them as they are so pretty.

I slipslapped this one a real light green and white for the foliage background which I like much better than the stark white.

Steampunk Flowers


The steampunk flowers are done....I have the stems (brass rods) clamped and drying so tomorrow I should be able to unclamp and enjoy....  The insides of the flowers are  photos of the "eyes" from different butterfly wings.   Now I just have to find something to use as a vase...hmmmmmm.  (See below for how these looked as I purchased them).  I glued vintage bottlecaps to the centers of each piece, added the photo, used my resin, and I added a little glitter to the mixture  I am thrilled with the way they have turned out.  Would LOVE to make some more.

I LOVE FREEZIN' FOG DAYS

I LOVE FREEZIN' FOG DAYS
Freezing fog on a pine tree bough.