What a Differance A Frame Makes

This is a piece that my maternal Grandmother made and my Grandfather gave to me a few years ago.  I wanted to put it in one of our bathrooms but the frame and mat just felt a little too '80's.

(I always forget to take before pics so after I got it re-framed
 I had to lay the old mat and frame on top for the "before" picture.)

 I found this old barn wood looking frame and switched them out. It gives it a much more rustic look than the clean modern look it had before.

I love it!

 It now has a prominent place in one of our bathrooms.

I love having things that belonged to or were made by my family around me, it makes our house feel more like a home!

What's the Date?

 I took a class back in December from

Shirley aka The Artsy Fartsy Fairy.

It was her Kitchy Kitchen Perpetual Calendar class, above is a picture how the calendar was supposed to turn out.  I knew when I signed up for the class that I wanted one for my studio and I ended up changing a lot of things from the calendar that Shirley taught in class!  But really that's nothing new for me, I can never seem to take a class and just make the project how the teacher is teaching it, I'm probably a teachers nightmare!!!  The calendar was on a cookie sheet (which I still used just not how it was supposed to be), the outside of the cookie sheet is where the current month and days are displayed and the inside of the cookie sheet holds the other months and left over days.  Each little box is decorated and gets a magnet so that you can easily move them around for each month.

Mine turned out a little (okay a LOT) different....but it turned out just perfect for me and for my studio. I had an old tray, I know I got it when I was shopping with Amanda but I can remember where, a thrift store probably, that I used instead of the cookie sheet. I used the inside to display the days because I loved the scallop edges and wanted them to be visible.  I took an old necklace and attached it to the tray so that I could use it as a hanger and topped it off with a pretty ribbon tied into a bow.  I hung it on the side of my bookcase so I can easily see it.  Since I used the inside of the tray for my calendar I didn't have an empty back to hold the extra months so I kept the cookie sheet to store the extra months on and keep it tucked behind the bookcase.

Here it is in my studio, I adore how it turned out!

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has sprung in my studio!

I spent a few days making some spring decorations.  I love the way real eggs look when they are dyed, but I don't ever want to display them because I'm afraid they will go bad and start to stink!  This year I finally took the plunge and "blew out" a bunch of eggs so I could decorate and display the shells.  It took a while but it was worth it!

I had these egg cups in my Easter decorations but I've never found anything I liked to put inside them.  While dying the other shells I thought that I would try to dye some with tea!  I finally found something I like in these cups!  The one in the center is my favorite, I love how dark it got.  I could not get the other ones to turn that dark no mater how long I left them in the tea, it must of come from a different chicken.

The other day a friend sent me a photo that reminded me of these old tin chocolate molds.  I've had them for the longest time but have never done anything with them.  So I decided to make faux chocolates!  I just love how they turned out!  If I didn't know better I'd think that they were actually chocolates, and the best part is they have ZERO calories and I can use them as Easter decorations year after year!

Hope your having a Happy Spring!

Lacy Nests and Glittered Eggs

I love birds and everything there is to do with them.  I love their nests, eggs, cages, bird houses, their chirpy music, I just love anything to do with a little birdy!

I played around last week making some birdy projects and I came up with these yummy lacy glittery treasures!



Some of the eggs are covered with vintage book pages and others were painted.  Then of course they needed a little bling so they got a dusting of glitter, some with vintage German glass glitter.  I wrapped them with my favorite "ribbon", seam binding and added some pretty little flowers, Forget Me Nots and Roses.  The nests I made out of lacy doilys and moss.

 

 

I have a few of these up for sale in my Etsy store, I can custom make these with your choice of colors, just email or convo me and I'll get them started right away!

Learning New Techniques

I love using chain in my jewelry design,
but I can't always find the style I want,
in metal I want, or it's just simply way too expensive.

So this morning I am starting a ten week class
at the Mesa Arts Center.
I will be learning how to make hand-made chains and findings from silver wire and sheet metal using soldering, piercing, forging and texturing techniques.  I've wanted to take a class here every since we moved to AZ and I'm super excited that it's finally happening today!

 

Drumrolll....

...and the winner is
Carrie Aquino!

A huge Thank You to everyone who played!

Don't forget to go to my Etsy Store and check out all the other necklaces there! I'm working on some more designs and will have them up in a week or two. Don't forget to watch for special discounts for all my followers and fans!

~♥Love to You All♥~

One More Day

I guess there was a little confusion; so in order to make it fair for everyone I am extending the deadline to enter to win the necklace for one day. You will have until midnight (PST) AZ, tonight, March 1st to enter. Being a friend on my personal Facebook page is not the same as being a fan of my business page. In order to be eligible for the drawing you must be a fan of The Whimsical Flea Market's page. Below is a link directly to that page, all you have to do is press the like button at the top of the page and you will become a fan.

A Whimsical Flea Market on Facebook

And of course if you’re not on Facebook, you will still be eligible if you are a Follower of this Blog. I will announce the winner first thing in the morning.
Thank you for your patience.