One of my favorite things in the whole world is collage! I love making them with canvas, papers, paints, stamps, ink, and whatever strikes my fancy. I also love creating various photo collages. It’s much less messy!
Collage started with various papers and photos.
Paint & Paper
Ghost in Garden
Fabric Collage
Fabric Collage 2
Created by layering individual flowers with various effects on the computer.
Creating a WordPress gallery collage with macro shots of old family jewelry.
Please enjoy an over view of some of the various crafts I have fooled around with. I plan on doing a separate post with an over-view of fabric art projects.
Wreath of pine cones & accented with tiny cones & nuts.
Wreath of baby’s breath spray painted black with figure.
Fabric mask used in mixed media collage.
Gauze fabric mask created with white glue over plastic mask mold.
Fabric and yarn bowl trimmed in buttons.
Closer view of the fuzzy yarn trimmed bowl edge.
Hand made art pin of woods from fabric transfer and painted lace for the frame.
Mixed media art jewelry from an old postage stamp & bottle cap.
Fish started by accident using piece of machine stitched lace sewn on shaped wire, stitched over painted twig coral on organza amid bead bubbles.
Created a doll of one of my sons without a pattern and dressed in cloth from his recycled clothes.
Handcrafted tree top angel.
Fabric art & crafted mother in garden of children.
Girl skull pin from air clay & dolls hair.
Decorated fabric cuff.
Altered photograph in a wood frame with glue gun scrolling and gold paint.
Painted glue gun winter artscape.
Experimenting with air clay by Crayola.
How I used to use natural dyes & watered down acrylics to color some used fabric softener sheets for later collage use.
painted fabric flowers attached to branches.
I used to watch those Quilting Arts programs on PBS for years which gave me so many ideas to play with. Working in mixed media was making me such a pack rat because there are so many ways to repurpose items and just another way to recycle. Since I’ve temporarily moved to an apartment I had to downsize but decided to start selling more of my art or finished pieces because I created but then didn’t want to part with most of my creations unless they were gifts. I would rather make space for more things to create with than to keep holding on to that which is finished, done, over, unless I’m really in love with it.
God bless!
As stated in my previous post, the last number of years have all been a blur.
I have never been so disorganized and out of touch and this is such a bad time to be this way. I am now in the process of cleaning everything out and packing as I go along, expecting to be moving before the end of the year. Certainly before winter sets in again.
I wanted to share some of the projects I have been working on sporadically since sometime last year as well as other odds and ends. This blog may be a blur as well.
I’ll miss my vintage hardware. So many replace these after purchasing older homes.
The doors are rather narrow and I refuse to take them off everytime I have to move furniture.
I have been working on multiple projects on canvas with various mediums, sewing with fabrics, actually made some bead jewelry with supplies purchased years ago and tried my hand with polymer clay.
Parts of collage I started right after my sister passed early in 2014
Using photo transfers of various kinds.
Using modeling paste on some of the tombstones surrounding
words tapped in thin metal.
Click on thumbnails for full size.
An Oil I need to finish from the 1970’s.
Transfers, paint and glue completed in 2013.
Simply stamps and metallic paint
on a black canvas
Large collage in progress.
Textured papers, some mulbury and ink.
Love working with textured papers and transfers.
Stamped metalic rose leaves with red rose transfer.
The following are various sewing projects.
Valance with tea stained mulsin, transfers, paint and stitching.
Another nature inspired valance.
Pillow free hand with paint and stitching on muslin.
Pillow with transfer of historic Plymouth home, since destroyed.
Old kimono deconstructed for damaged lining. Cleaned and ready to be restitched.
Blouse repurposed from 1980’s skirt.
Scarf repurposed from sweater.
One of many aprons.
See if you can spot the error on this apron.
Working on various cuffs.
1980’s silk pants being upcycled to scarf. Love the images on them!
Very pleased with my second attempt at polymer clay jewelry! This was after I burnt a batch in an old toaster oven with messed up thermostat.
A couple of craft type projects.
Hardest part of Santa doll was the hair!
Old World Santa.
Upcycled oak table someone threw away with layers of paint.
Tried to add an oriental flavor, but was not happy with the results.
Covered it over with tissue and acrylic lacquer to protect.
Not going to miss frost on my windows, no matter how beautiful it is.
I’m going to end this blur of a post with a question.
Sorry that I have been so lazy about posting anything of substance for a while now. The very reason for this blog was to share things I have learned living on the cheap all of my life.
Christmas was great this year, had some family and friends over for Christmas Eve this year and went to one of my son’s homes on Christmas Day for “Dinner with the Cratchits” complete with plum pudding from England and some kind of “Hot Gin Punch a la Cratchit” which I blame for the enormous group hug before I left for the night. I didn’t try any but brought some with me to try when I got home. I never drink and drive.
Lighting of the Plum Pudding!
I lost one of my cousins a few days before Christmas this year. I am posting a picture with her from Christmas of 1957.
From far left, Aunt Ruth, sister Gail, cousin Thelma, Bro Bryan, Me, cousin Brenda, Front Bros Bob & Don
Some of my family now live in the Upper Peninsula. My cousin Thelma passed this year after suffering for many years with Alzheimer’s and my sister Gail passed right after Christmas last year from esophageal cancer. Christmas 1957 was the last Christmas for my Aunt Ruth who passed approximately six months later from Colon Cancer. Moral: Enjoy every Christmas like it’s your last.
I saw this idea at a diner in Marshall Mi before the holidays. They had placed a loved ones picture in one of the wreaths to honor them and so I placed a picture of my sister to honor her because she always loved Christmas so much and this was our first Christmas without her.
Wanted to add more to the usual lights and garland I place in my flower boxes each year so I found these gift boxes at the dollar store and inserted some wire to attach them. The soil was not yet frozen, so this was possible. The following is a little walk through of what I did to achieve this:
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Finally broke down and made a Santa doll with the pattern I purchased many years ago. Also used some of my odds & ends to make some “baby” crafts.
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I will not post actual pictures of the parties out of respect for others privacy. A few shots of some of the cookies that I and others made this year. One of my sons went all out this year and for the first time made cookies. All kinds of them. I think the Ninja sugar cookies got him started, but we really loved the melt in your mouth eggnog cookies! I have to say I have eaten so many of these I have actually felt very sick so that’s it for me.
Many years ago I used to love creating warp weave, yarn wrapped baskets, bowls, vases, etc. My best-selling were the ones I trimmed in feathers. They were really popular back in the 70’s, early 80’s at school bazaars or local craft shows. I always worked in earth tones or fall like colors that were popular at the time. They are still the colors I like to work with the best in all mediums.
Right after my divorce I worked a lot of hours and most all of any art or crafting I once did fell by the wayside to the pure exhaustion that became my daily life. On weekends, or Sunday, I caught up with my children, people and chores that I didn’t get to during my work week. Many of my work weeks were 6 days so on my Sundays off I tried to take my kids somewhere, run my errands, etc.
My actual lost art was that of living like a human being was created to live, so other than the fact that I can’t afford my balloon mortgage payments due in a few months and will be losing my home, I may actually begin to begin again now that I am finally retired by forces too numerous to mention. Cleaning out my only sister’s apartment after she recently passed, I found a number of baskets I had given her years ago. I still have yarns and basket supplies boxed up. I pulled a dish out that I had been working on probably 30 years ago. I just may finish it with some feathers when I done.
This gives me the inspiration to finish it so I can not only post the finished basket, but I will also post some how-to information on the instructables.com website when I start my next one.
Painted gold paint on small branches/twigs found in the yard.
Inserted them with some 1/2 price Christmas sprigs from the home deco store into a vase.
Wapped the branches with battery operated string of 35 lights.
Placed the smaller gifts around the Christmas arrangement to finish the scene.
You don’t have to purchase special Christmas decor for the mantle or buffet. I usually try to set up a centerpiece of some kind so I can place some of the smaller gifts around it in a decorative fashion. Looks all Christmassy until the gifts are given out, then who cares? This is great to do if you don’t want to go to the trouble, expense or have the room for a full size tree.
Decided to use the leftover top of my old jeans that were left over from my garden jean cap that I previously made and posted the instructions on the instructables.com web site.
I was able to make a purse and a pillow. I posted the instructions on how these were made on the Instructables web site if you wish further information on how to make these items. Please feel free to play with any of the ideas on this site and be as creative as you wish.
I am also posting the pictures of an apron that I enhanced with leftover fabric that was purchased and a craft store on clearance for $1.75. I was also able to make a matching wine sack and plan on using it for a gift after adding a bottle of wine from a local winery.
Just wanted to post some of my recent projects. I hope to have an etsy shop very soon and have included various states of some of my projects.
The first one is a slide show of a pot holders sewing project that matches an apron previously made.
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The last coat of acrylic paint in a cream color has finally covered the cottage cheese label on this plastic container I plan to use as a hanging lamp. (more to come on that project on instructables.com.)
I used to only use transfer paper on my fabric, but this time just printed some of my photos on printer paper and adhered them to fabric and glass with acrylic matte medium so I can use them for natural jewelry pieces and embellishments using beads, eyelets, paint, threads, etc. I just like to play around and see where my imagination takes me sometimes.
I purchased some Crayola air dry clay in white to make odds & ends of pendents using molds and stamps to shape and alter for jewelry. I inserted wire to hang or attach. Update to come later after painting or decoupaging tissue to show how something so cheap and easy can look really good.
Just starting another instructable for a nightgown made from a Queen size bedsheet, flat. I tea stained the fabric first to give it a vintage look.
Decided to upcycle a thread-worn cream colored turtle neck sweater. Cut down the center to insert a zipper. I am in the process of sewing on strips of faux fur.
Po' Girl Shines 
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