I cannot believe it's been six months since I've been here - my, how life gets in the way!  It certainly has not been for lack of crafting. 
I have been consumed by Pinterest - there are so many great ideas there!

In February I started gearing up for our church's annual garden tea.  We decided to add a craft show and I wanted to be ready!  Here are some pictures of my booth and you can see some of the things that I've added to my inventory. 

It was an exciting and fun day for sure!  This is a wide view of the whole display.

 Reversible headbands with matching flowers and bookmarks (with flowers, of course!)  The display is a repurposed picture frame painted with glitter and chicken wire stapled to the back.  Great for hanging stuff!

 "Gumball machines" made from clay flower pots and saucers.

My cards and the display rack that my wonderful and handy husband made.

Saturday I went to the Original Rubber Stamp Convention at the Carson Community Center.  There were so many great ideas to absorb - my head is still spinning!  I took a class in how to use Copic Markers. It was taught by the folks at Krazy Kreations. It was a great class and I can't wait to get some projects finished to post here so you can see how fabulous these markers are!
Of course, I headed over to see Tim Holtz, my guru!  I just love the stuff that he creates.  
Stay tuned for some great copic marker projects!
 

Complete, At Last

Some detail of the what lies within:
the door knobs are two lamp work beads with antiqued brads.
Some seashells and coral from a friend's trip to Florida for a Judo competition and the crucified Christ is made from floral wire, wrapped in twill tape that was inked with terra cotta chalk ink. The face is Fimo clay, also inked . The nails are crimp beads and the cross is layered in handmade paper from China, newspaper and twill tape that was stamped with more Lumiere paints. The Christ and Sun were sprayed with Smooch Spray in Gold and Vanilla.




The last photo is the completed piece. After it was finished, I really wanted to keep it, rather than auction it off. It pleased me, not only because it was complete, but because I had faced the challenge ... stepped way, way out of my comfort zone.
I was completely fascinated by the process of building, assembling and finding the objects for the shrine. Each piece of the process was a true joy for me and I'm looking forward to creating similar pieces.

The shrine comes together - at last

Poor shrine! It sat, in pieces, unattended for more than a month. I dislike that life gets in the way of art, but it happens.
Here are some photos of the piece coming together:

Have art, will travel

more painting today - adding some dimension to the pieces - flat paint is about the most boring thing on earth.

I've been working on my lunch hours, in the break room, so I have to carry my supplies to and from work. I prefer my studio, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

BTW - I've been working with LUMIERe PAINTS by Jacquard to add that special touch. I found this paint a few years ago when I was working on some stoles for our clergy at church.
The paints are so easy to work with and though they are primarily for fabric, they are awesome in other applications as well. I have rubber stamped with them, used them on paper and wood and metal. Great stuff, that!
You can check them out here:lumiere

Now the painting has begun - I have a vision of what I want it to look like and yet, until it comes out of my hands, I will only know if this is it or not. I wonder just how many times I could repaint it before it completely fell apart.

As I try to achieve my vision, I am already thinking ahead to the actual building. I am thinking that some brass nails would add a great deal to the interest of the actual piece - think of a piece of upholstered furniture with studded accents.

The Building of a shrine - part deux

The shrine and I continue on our creative journey - through the papering process, as seen above. It was indeed a sort of peaceful thing to do - the papering. It was quiet, contemplative time as I thought about where each piece would go and what treasures the niches might hold.