Welcome....

"...at its core....art is simply the language of the soul" -Robert Redford

Thanks for stopping by. Please enjoy your stay here. Have some Sweet Tea, grab a chair and sit a spell. Rekindle your SOUL, Embrace the ART and Believe your DREAMS. Stay as long as you like and come back soon. Friends are always welcome here.

Thursday, March 25

Everything's coming up Totems this Spring....

....I think I have "Totem Fever"!! LOL
I have finished up a few more Totems to share!! Enjoy!!









Monday, March 22

Glass Garden Totems and more....

I have been working all weekend on making some new Glass Garden Totems and Garden ART. I have 13 totems finished, or nearly finished and I made 2 bird feeders and 2 mushrooms. Thought I would share a few of them here today and the rest later. All totems are made from glass purchased at yard sales and thrift stores or given to me. Hope you enjoy them!! :)





Close up of one of my faves.....love the gold rimmed bowl!!


Mushrooms



Bird Feeder - I made 2 of these.

Wednesday, March 17

Signs of Spring in the Deep South

Last year, our neighborhood lost all of our Magnolia blossoms due to a freeze. It was awful....the whole tree turned black!! Ugh!! This year, we have been rewarded with an above average showing.....it is just spectacular, really. Here are a few pics of 2 of my fave trees.





















Monday, March 15

Alice in Wonderland charm swap

I was so excited to find this wonderful Alice in Wonderland charm swap. I was the lucky last participant to get signed up. So, I played with a few ideas in my rambling mind and decided on my plan. I had these awesome Alice graphics from one of my fave Etsy suppliers. Because I do not have a Laser Printer (yet!!) I needed a way to print them so that they were stable. I found some printable shrink plastic and went to town. The first graphics I chose are great Alice images in brown jug/bottles. Yep, printed them, cut them out, punched the holes and shrunk them. They were darker than I would have liked but otherwise looked awesome. Well, not so much really. The little handles kept breaking off. The glaze I put on top made them blurry. They were a total bust!! Ugh!! Okay, try #2. Printed some different Alice graphics on the shrink plastic. These were lighter from the beginning. I used a Paper Shapers Oval punch for them. I added some beads and a wire wrapped loop to finished them off. These I am happy with. To package them up in a fun way I used mini playing cards and tiny blue bows. I cannot wait to see the 24 charms I will be getting back. I will definitely be making myself a unique piece of jewelery with these!! Anywho....just sharing!!




Easter Egg and Bunny Garland

So, I just rec'd back my part of an Easter Rabbit swap. We each made 6 bunnies that spelled out "EASTER" and they were swapped back out to us. I was debating on how to best make them into a banner/garland. I loved the bunnies, but they needed "something." So, I set them aside for awhile. I was searching through the studio and found my Easter Eggs from last year's banner swap. They didn't come in time to use for Easter then, but I figured they should see the light of day this year. So I grabbed 3 skeins of soft, floofy feathery yarn in lavender, pink and multi-pastels. I crocheted a simple rope with the three. I used mini clothes pins and strung the eggs AND the bunnies together to make one cool Easter Garland. Ta-Da......it's fun and lovely all at the same time!! :::smiles:::
















Sunday, March 14

A shopping we will go....

A shopping we will go. High-Ho the Derrio.....a shopping we will go. LOOKIE what I found the last few days. Aren't these blue birds and gold finches the cutest. I have 2 different bird cages I will be putting them in, along with 2 nests I found at a yard sale and hopefully some eggs and maybe plants.


Okay, NOW that you think they are sooo cute....betcha can't guess where I found them?? Well, did you guess Dollar Tree?? Nope....didn't think so. Gosh I LOVE that store!!

These little lovlies will be used as toppers for my Garden Totems.....and yes, they too were from Dollar Tree. I can only get them once a year so I have to stock up!! :)


One of my 2 fave purchases from Michael's: black velvet jewelry stands. I bought both the necklace and bracelet version. I think it will really help with displaying, photographing and selling my jewelry.



This is what happens when Shelly goes glass shopping.....holy cow. we went to the flea market, a funky antique/junk store, a thrift store (Which had half price glass today), 2 yard sales, an estate sale, and another junk store. Yes, I bought glass at ALL of them. I needed to resupply so I could make more totems. Well, let's just say I should be able to make a "few" more now. The pics are from today only. It took me 20 minutes to unwrap them all. I still have to de-label them and wash them LOL Good thing we seldom use our dining room table. But, we guesstimate we spent less than $50 dollars and we acquired approximately 90 pieces of glass. I was thrilled!!

The cool news is DH had met a lady who owns a nifty boutique/junk store in a town not too far from here. She was interested in us making some ART for her shop on consignment. :::smiles::: We are making Totems and garden ART but she also REALLY wants funky and repurposed jewelry (like my bamboo tiles and scrabble tiles). So, you know what I'll be doing now! I am excited!!



Saturday, March 13

Yes, I am a Yo-Yo....

....well yo-yo maker that is. If you have never seen the wonderful yo-yo makers made by Clover you simply MUST check them out. They come in circles, hearts, flowers, butterflies, shamrocks and my new fave that I intend to add to my collection: an oval. They make creating yo-yo's easy peasy!!




Anywho.....I have found some new patterns to make. I found this one online that makes the cutest monkey ever? Is he not adorable? I bought this awesome purple fabric for him for an friend's upcoming baby.

The second one, ironically has a monkey but no where near as cute as my other one. But the lion and hippo and super cute, don't you think?? I especially LOVE the hippo.

The 3rd pattern is a very cool collection of brooch, belt, necklace, headband, scarf and bags. Pretty funky!! Oh, and by the way....WHEN did sewing patterns become $15.95?? Holy Cow Batman!! I nearly passed out!! Good thing one was on sale for $1.99 and I had a coupon for the other. I nearly needed oxygen....geesh!!

I have one other pattern on my wish list by Indygo Junction for these pincushions......just LOVE them. I think they might be great for Mother's Day gifts.

I LOVE making yo-yo's because it is portable and quick. It is very travel and "waiting" friendly.

On my bucket list is making a yo-yo quilt.....but hey.....that's not starting today.

That's my yo-yo story and I'm sticking to it!! :)