Isa Creative Musings: March 2012

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Spring Break in Austin, Texas

Our family trip has been mixed with family responsibilities and time to explore the city of Austin. My father-in law's sugery went very well on Monday and he is recovering nicely...we are all very grateful for that. In between hospital visits we have taken time to see parts of Austin we have never had the opportunity to see before.

We had a great time over the weekend spending time with family. We got to enjoy the Alamo Drafthouse cinema on two occasions. First time on Saturday night (10:45p.m. showing) when we went to see the Hunger Games and on Tuesday afternoon to see The Lorax. We spent a little time on ~~Capital~~ Congress Street to visit Uncommon Objects, among other antique shops. Alex found a vintage Star Wars Storm Trooper mask (it's fragile since it is a thin layer of plastic) on ~~Capital~~ Congress street...he just had to have it. He had birthday cash so he did not hesitate one bit!

We have also had a sampling of great food. The kids and I enjoyed our tacos at a food truck eatery...yum! Earlier today we had lunch at one of our favorites (from our time living in Texas)...Chuy's. I even got a t-shirt ...a spin off on the Hunger Games! Our visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower center has to be one of my favorites...flowers are just beautiful!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Happy 8th Birthday Alex!

Today is my baby boy's birthday. Don't tell him I referred to him as my baby boy because he is now 8 and does not like the word baby associated with him!

We had his birthday party with many of his 2nd grade friends at the Elvis Cinema last Saturday. On March 17th, St. Patty Day -- also known as Grandpa Wagner's birthday, Alex had his birthday party. Today, we travel to Austin Texas to spend time with the Wagner side of the family. This is our Spring Break vacation. Alex will get to spend part of his birthday with his grandparents and tomorrow, we will have a small family birthday party celebration in honor of Alex and his grandpa.

The birthday cake is one of our family traditions. I decorate a cake with a theme that reflects my child's favorite thing. This year, it's all about Star Wars and The Clone Wars for Alex. He loves Legos...or many who know him well will say he is obsessed with Lego's because that is all he seems to play with these days. So can you imagine the joy in my child when you combine Lego's and Star Wars! Priceless!

Using food colors and brushes I use exclusively for painting cakes, I painted one of Alex's favorite...R2D2. Alex would of like Darth Vader on the cake but I did not think I could paint Darth on the cake since it is hard to work with black on black on a canvas like a cake. Thankfully, Alex was very happy with R2D2!

When I saw the Star Wars fabric at JoAnn's, I knew I had to purchase it. Alex loved the idea of making little bags for his friends. The bags had many Star Wars theme birthday treats, including a candy light saber.

Keeping with tradition, along with a birthday cake, I also make special popcorn and Hershey chocolate wrappers for my kid's birthday parties. The birthday boy was very happy with these:

On another note, a movie Laura and I have eagerly been anticipating is out. Actually, midnight last night. Laura asked to go see the midnight release of the Hunger Games but I had to say no...it's a school night. You would think saying no to her would be easy but it was not! I wanted to go see it at midnight too! Laura and I have read the all the books...love them, as disturbing as they were, LOVED them. Maybe we will see it while we are in Austin.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Staci's Birthday!

Last week was Staci's birthday. Staci also loves all things vintage. As a matter of fact, it is Staci who introduced me to the world of felted wool and vintage. Staci has a natural ability to see an item in it's current condition (old, dirty, broken) and have a clear vision of what it can be...how it can be re-purposed! My friend truly has talent. Staci's favorite colors are turquoise/teal and browns/natural. With this color palette, I made several of her birthday gifts.

Usually, I make most of my birthday cards but I decided to give Staci a vintage card I found some time ago. The colors were just right and it just reminded me of her.

Gift wrapping is part of the gift. I used a large vintage plastic doilie, burlap ribbon and one of my felted wool butterfly pins.

I have found several vintage muffin tins in recent estate sales. I cleaned it up, added some silver alcohol ink then added vintage and new trinkets. Very similar to the one I made for Lisa's birthday, just a different color palette.

Instead of using knobs for the handles, I used unique vintage wooden bobbins. I found many of these bobbins at an estate sale. I debated purchasing so many because it added up quickly, but I decided to buy most of them since these were items I had never seen before...so glad that I purchased them.

I only had a small lampshade with bones. I found it on clearance at Hobby Lobby. These Chan-dies are fun and unique. I love combining vintage materials with new materials.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Isabel's Chandelier or is it Chandie?

I love creating these chandeliers. Maybe if I get lucky and find more of these lampshades with "bones" at estate sale or thrift shops I can make more and have them available at shows this summer. These are fun to make but take time to create. I love purple/lavender, silver and butterflies. This chandelier decorates my studio in the basement. I love my creative space!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Birthday Gifts - Lisa's Birthdy

I just realized I missed blogging about my friend Lisa's birthday last month. Her birthday was on February 22nd and on that day we got to spend a fun day together. We went to Park Meadows Mall, shopped at several of our favorite stores. Had a delicious leisurely lunch. It was so nice to spend the day with a friend...celebrating her birthday.

Lisa and I share many interest. We like many of the same books, movies and TV shows. She also loves vintage things, so some of her birthday gifts would include vintage materials. Creating birthday gifts for my friends is one of my favorite things to do. Like me, one of Lisa's favorite colors are purple/lavender and silver...so that became my color palette for many of her gifts.

Her birthday card:

It was fun to decorate the gifts with doilies, fabric strips and of course, butterflies and birds. I added one of my felted wool butterfly pins to her package.

This was fun to create. Old muffin tin I purchased at an estate sale along with some vintage and new trinkets to fill the muffin pan. I added knobs to each side of the tin.

Added one of my paper butterfly magnets and felted wool flower pin.

This is one of those projects I have been wanting to create for some time. This is one of the many projects taught my Margie Romney-Aslett's class Spark Your Christmas. An old lampshade with "bones." They are harder to find since most lampshades do not have the wires going vertically. Took off the fabric exposing the wires and just had fun adding vintage lace & trims, fabric strips, vintage rhinestone button. This one I made for Lisa. Tomorrow I will post the one I made for me...same color palette.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Spring Sugar Plum Bazaar - LOTS of Booth Photos!

Last Saturday and Sunday (March 10 & 11th), Staci and I had a successful weekend at the Spring Sugar Plum Bazaar. We worked very hard, before (adding new inventory) and during (setting up/sales) the Bazaar.

I used the square app for the first time! Getting a new smart phone in order to be able to use the square to accept credit card sales was a great investment. Inspired by Spring, both Staci and I added many new items to our inventory of handmade goods. Creating a banner with my business name is one goal I finally accomplished:

I took many pictures of our booth at the Spring Sugar Plum Bazaar. Most of the pictures on this blog posting are mine...Isa Creations. The last four photos are Staci's handmade items, including a closeup photo of one of my favorites (and favorites of many of our customers).

Sugar Plum Bazaar was a great experience! We continue to learn from our fellow vendors and loved meeting new customers. I kept going downstairs (we were in the carriage house) to see Amy from The Pink Attic to add treasures to my "bag." I can honestly say that a portion of my profits were spent at the Pink Attic booth! Love my vintage treasures.