Home of the BRAVE!

'Home of the Brave' because in this case it is true!

I am in the original 'green' generation and remember the first ever 'Earth Day' quite well!

I mention that because it's always a good thing to use and re-use 'good ol' things'. This time the lid to a 12" x 7" Vintage wine box on which I painted & stenciled 'Home of the Brave'. That wine box had been in use in the garage for decades and eventually, due to the humid climate, the lid no longer slid onto the box itself.  

Clarification:  the box is vintage; the wine loooooooooong gone! I like that the new sign has a  reverse side which will be hidden, a memory of the spirits it once held!

Not sure how many different ways I will use it and I hope you are inspired to re-use something warm and willing and unexpected!

Valentine Birdy

This little bird in a gilded cage was created from a single piece of craft paper, some glitter, gold cord, glue and a single bird off a sheet of pretty stickers.

  

You can make this for your sweetheart in about an hour with items in your stash!  

INSTRUCTIONS:
Start by cutting strips and building a cage. I used a 12x12 card stock craft paper (coordinated print on both sides) and just eyeballed how deep I wanted the cage bottom and how wide I wanted the cage wire. 

The bird sticker has been in my stash a while and there is no identifying logo on it anywhere as packaging was tossed a long time ago (originally purchased at Joann Fabrics Superstore but, you could use a magazine picture of a bird)

Before assembling the cage use paper punches (heart and a lacie edger) around the strips and glue a bit of lace trim at the bottom.  Glue the base and when that is set use paper clips to mark where the cage strips will be and glue when it looks good to you.

To make the birdy-valentine simply free-hand cut out two hearts (larger than the sticker); I used an embossed coral colored paper and glued a strip of crumpled coffee filter paper around the edge of one of the hearts.  Attach the bird with a dot sponge sticker and then sandwich one long end of the gold cord with a heavy dose of glue, thread it through a punched hole at the top of the cage and loop it at the top to suspend the swinging bird valentine and there you have it! 

It is sweet don't you think?  Make your own and share it with us here!

Rainy Daze: Birds Nest Teapots

Rainy Daze: Birds Nest Teapots: I have a rather large collection of vintage linen 'calendar tea towels'.  They are always showing up in one place or another around my home....

Holly Hobby Calendar Pillow

So, I collect calendar towels...lots of calendar towels.

I generally use them for seasonal table display.   The large stack of tucked away linens wait to be rotated in.  I have so many that (even the ones from the late 60's) the faded ones have been lovingly used and abused drying our dishes and the ones I stashed away are now out becoming Home Decor.

After a little pinspiration, I put my sewing skills and vast project room into full gear. ...this is fun and while I plan to list these and more on Etsy I may change my mind a keep a few.

Each one has an external, colorful zipper and some have stenciled messages...

Enjoy this nostalgic peek :)

Cork seedling identifiers

Is it SPRING yet?  The yard beckons!  Not that drinking all that wine was a chore!

Rainy Daze: Man's Shirt, now my skirt!

Rainy Daze: Man's Shirt, now my skirt!: Recently, I got inspired by a few PINS of skirts people were making from men's shirts and came up with my own cute rendition. 

Put an Owl on it...

Ok, Ok...I am an artist.  It took me a very long time to utter those words with comfort just to hear 'what do you do?' Answer is that simply depends on the passion of the day/week/month.

Lately, the subtitle is a 'deconstructor/reconstructor'.  It fits the multiple media I work in.  Peek in my studio and notice a collection of items from people's past waiting for future use (and the bins are loaded!) and sometimes end up re-purposed to good looking, whimsical or even functionally satisfying.

The fabric for this little skirt awaited an idea to bring it to a hanger as a finished fashion item.  In my town you can't help but notice the 'put a bird on it' theme in many of the boutiques, so I jumped on board with an old favorite, a spotted owl.

I decided to send this one out for sale and if you like it please consider shopping at Frock, on NE Alberta St.  The kind shop keeper is a sweetheart and has a very pleasing eye for cool trends and I'm sure there's a more up to date name for it but I'll call it 'urban casual' style.

I had fun creating this (size 6) skirt and pretty sure my owl design will show up on more garments soon!