Wednesday, October 16, 2013

All the Little Elves are Busy!

As you can see, all the little elves are busy: creating
wonderful new items for our bazaar!





This Deer wreath, just might appeal to the man 
in the house.  it has a bit of the forest look.
 The theme is taken from the ribbon.  There 
are deer, tree's, pine cones and snow!
Pure Gold!
This little beauty is all gold.

The wreath is wrapped in gold ribbon,
 It is covered with gold berries, 
gold glass balls are added and it is 
topped with a lovely gold ribbon!



Oh So Sweet!
This is a red clear glass container, covered  
with candy canes, (not real)., adorned with a ribbon
 and bow.  It is filled with holly,etc., and a red cardinal.



We made 3 Winter windows.
This one and 2 other slightly larger.
 They were not finished, when I took
the picture of this smaller one.

They are old window frames painted and screened,
 and bedecked.  The candles are battery.
 They will look great on an inside  or outside
wall.  Very original!
(Sorry, this one is SOLD!)
But we have 2 others that are just as lovely!




We love our little reindeer soaps!
They are perfect for the kitchen and bathroom!
And a perfect little hostess gift!
These will go fast!




This is a child's wooden rocker.  It is solid and in good shape.
It was donated to us.  The girls were going to sell it on our
 Attic Treasures table for $3.00!
I saw it and knew what I was going to create.
I cleaned it up good and gave it a
fresh coat of green paint.  It is adorned with
Ivy, berries, and minerature white lights, and
finished with a Christmas bow!

It is just lovely lit or unlit and will look sweet anywhere.
The greens and lights can be removed after the holidays
and it will make a perfect rocking chair for
a toddler, making it a great gift for a new baby!
_______________________________________

Now, before I show you the last grouping of pictures,
I thought I'd give you a lesson in creating a 
craft.  Many times we are asked "How did
you do that?"  or "Where  did you ever 
come up with that idea?"

I love creating new things and my answer has always
been "It's a gift God gave me."  I simply "see"
ideas in my head and start from there.

For this craft, the idea came from another craft show.
I saw a large frame with a green velvet background and 
it was outlined and shaped into a Christmas tree
with pieces of jewelry.  I thought about doing this for 2 years.
We asked our members for old jewelry pieces.  

This year,  I decided to attempt it...
but the longer I thought, the less I wanted to do a 
Christmas tree.  To do all that work, for it only to be displayed
during the holidays, did not interest me, and I didn't think 
it would sell because of that.

So with much thought, and divine guidance, it came to me...

make a HEART!

The pictures will show the steps that I took
in creating this wonderful
one of a kind piece of Jewelry Art!

First, I took a beautiful new frame, donated to
 me by my dear friends, Joyce and Karl Rosengrant.
The frame measures 20" x 24", and it is gold.

This picture shows the back of the frame.  I placed it on 
the floor and gathered together the jewelry pieces that were donated 
and also pieces that are mine.  I did a "lay out" to see how 
they would fit within the frame.  Then...





Next, I turned the frame over, and
placed an overlay of lace, and got an idea of how 
I wanted the gold beading to lay.
I wanted a romantic look.

I was now ready to proceed.


I pressed the underlay of material and stapled
it to poster board.  I pressed the lace and overlay-ed it onto
 the material  and taped it to the back.  Then I thinned tacky
 glue with water and used a sponge and saturated the material.
  I left it to dry overnight.  When dry the material was stiff.




I decided to do the outside of the heart in themes.
On the bottom left, I grouped
all the butterflies.



On the bottom right, I grouped
the pearl jewelry.

Not individually shown, is bow jewelry
at the top corners


Then I placed all my heart jewelry down the
 center of the heart.



On the outside center of the heart,
I placed 2 cameo's.

I finished by placing the remaining jewelry
inside the heart.  Arranging it , until I was satisfied with the look.
All the gold beading and jewelry is adhered
with Crazy glue.


Jewelry Art
The finished piece!

This project took me 3 days.  
Approximately halve of this jewelry was mine.
I went to my jewelry boxes twice, looking for more pieces.
  The hardest part of this project for me,
was removing all the clasps on the back 
of all the jewelry, rendering it useless as wearable 
jewelry.... As many of the  pieces are Vintage.

I could not have completed this project without
your donations of jewelry pieces...Thank you!

This framed jewelry art piece turned out lovelier
then I ever imagined.  It will look beautiful on any
wall.  I envision it on a bedroom
wall,  above one of those tall jewelry chests.

This is a lesson on how I create
what starts as an idea in my brain.
and I give the Glory to my Lord.

Hope you enjoyed "the lesson."