Friday, September 28, 2012

Glitter Halloween Mix Media Houses

Previously, I made several post of my mix media Halloween Houses here,  here and here.  I found more paper mache houses at Michaels and purchased a few more on-line.  The paper mache houses I found on-line are different dimensions that the original houses I found about a month ago at Michaels.  Some are taller and some are the same design, just smaller.  I wanted to experiment with covering the roof and chimney of these houses with black and silver glitter rather than paper like I did previously.

Although it did take a little less time to complete, the clean up time was much more than just adding glitter as an accent.  For two days, when I picked up my son Alex from school I literally sparkled!  I tried to clean up before I left the house to get Alex but the glitter was just on me...everywhere....including my hair.  Cleaning up my workspace was quit an ordeal so although I love the results of having glittered Halloween houses, not sure about the mess.

Although, there is one house where I really liked the experiment of letting the paper design take over.  In this case it's a vampire paper from the Martha Stewart paper line.  I loved how the tree just keeps going onto the rooftop and how I got the entire vampire on the side front of the house.  I added black and green glitter just as an accent and on the roof.   I carefully cut the paper so the illusion would not be destroyed so the lid lined up with the bottom portion of the house:




I plan on doing the same style houses with Christmas theme papers.  I will probably make most of them with paper on the roofs and then a few with glitter.  Although I will also experiment on creating some vintage looking houses with the silver/white glitter and vintage mica snow (no paper at all).  But first, next week I plan on playing with bleaching little bottle brush Christmas Trees.  I may try dyeing a few, not sure but will definitely add silver German glass glitter and vintage mica snow.  Hopefully, I will have those ready (the trees and maybe a handful of Christmas Theme Houses) for the Friends of Littleton Craft show on October 6, 2012.

But, my newest Halloween Houses will be available tomorrow at Sweet Williams Market:









love how the tree wraps itself around the house...
Mostly all Glitter!


I found these little unfinished wooden birdhouses at JoAnn's.  I covered up the birdhouse holes so they would just be little houses.  These all all glitter with a few decorative elements ...another experiment. 
 And, finally while at Michaels I found these little paper mache halloween coffins.  I added glitter to the sides and paper to the top.  These were easy, quick and fun.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Vintage Embroidery Linen Pin Cushions...in glass bowls

Recently I found some small glass bowls at estate sales I decided to buy for two reasons...they were really inexpensive and I just liked them.  Soon after I realized, they would make great vintage linen pin cushions.  These are heavier and more fragile than the pin cushions I normally make with vintage Jell-O molds or tart tins but still, variety is always good.

I also experimented with covering the inside of the scallop glass bowls with silver German glass glitter but only added the glitter to the edge of the other style glass since it has a pretty cut glass design. I will have these available for upcoming shows, including Sweet Williams this Saturday, September 29th at Stapleton.

Here are the pictures:


I will have one to sell and one I will be keeping...love this one.



Love cats despite the fact I am very allergic to them...will keep one of these as well.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

A Year Ago...

Today is a sad day for my family and me.  I have mix feelings about posting about today but in the end, I decided I needed to acknowledge why I am just so sad.  The sadness returned about a week ago in waves.  A year ago today, around 8:20 in the morning I received the call that my brother in law, Robert had died in his sleep.  He went to bed and just never woke up.  I have had dear friends, grandparents, an aunt, uncles, and a cousin pass away.  My dad always told me death is a natural cycle of life, one we will all experience.  My faith tells me it is also something we have no control over and we just need to accept it.  God calls us one day and we go.  This past year, I have struggled with acceptance.  I continue to grieve, as does my family.  I grieve for my sister and two teenage nephews who lost their dad when they needed him the most. I grieve because I will never be able to talk to Robert...my brother of the heart.

When I was 4 years old, my sweet uncle, Antonio, who was just 18 years old drowned.  I can't remember his face but I remember him.  He lived with us at the time so he really was more like a big brother to me.  That was my first memory of losing someone I loved deeply.  Growing up, I believed he was my guardian angel and yes, I would talk to him when no one was around... and I believed he could hear me.  Then, as you grow older things change.  In my twenties, I lost my grandmother (Maria Valeria) and grandfather (Antonio)...I adored both of them.  They were both at my wedding and how I wish some-body had taken more pictures of them because I lost them soon after.

One of my favorite memories of Robert is at my wedding, over 20 years ago.  My sister started dating him around the time of our engagement.  On our wedding day, I was told a white limousine was waiting just outside my parents house.  I thought there had been a mistake because David and I had not rented a limo.  It was Robert.  That was his wedding gift to David and me.  The Limousine was stocked with champagne which led to helping us feel really relaxed by the time we arrived at the reception.

Robert, my sister Gaby, Tony and Santos visited us several times in recent years, during a Spring Break and Thanksgiving.   He truly was the life of the party.  He was silly and sweet.  We shared a love of music.  He loved Frank Sinatra, but also enjoyed listening to many current groups.  We both loved listening to Linkin Park and yes, I have been listening to many of those songs.  One song in particular, Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park makes me think of him.

I have created many scrapbooks of our family times over the years.  The tradition had been that every summer, I take lots and lots of pictures of our time in El Paso.  Those two weeks the kids and I have spent in El Paso every summer (except this one 2012) have been the best type of family bonding I have known.   Laura, Alex and I stayed with my sister Gaby, Robert, Tony and Santos for the past 6 years.  After my parents adopted a cat (who they love like he was their kid) I could no longer stay at my parents home due to my extreme allergy to cats.  I tried it and after one night, despite double doses of my allergy medicine the doctor declared I could not stay at my parents house...so, we had to pack up to go stay with my sister.  Although I miss staying at my parents house, I loved staying with my sister and spending all that time with her and her family.  Since my sister is a teacher and Robert was a teacher as well, that allowed for our families to spend lots of quality time together since we were all on "vacation."

For my sister Gaby's birthday (June) I create a scrapbook of all the pictures from the prior summer.  I have been doing this for years.  I still owe my sister the birthday scrapbook for 2012 with the pictures from our summer in El Paso during 2011.  I have tried....but I have not been able to do it.  Looking through those pictures of our time in Albuquerque  where we all spent a day together  then we all drove to El Paso is still too painful.  The last time we were in El Paso was a year ago.  We had plans to spend the same two weeks in El Paso this past summer but my father-in law's terminal illness changed all of our plans.  This summer we were sad because we lost my father-in-law and we could not go to El Paso.  We also realized we had felt some anxiety about going to El Paso.  My son Alex (8 years old) told me it would be strange to go to El Paso, stay with my sister and know that uncle Robert would not be there.  I am not sure if we were ready for that.  Alex and I talk about Robert and he smiles when I tell him his grandpa and Robert loved to play golf.  I told Alex several years ago Robert went to Austin, he called his grandpa and they played golf together.  Alex liked that story so he and I have concluded they surely they have met up in heaven for a round of golf.


Time should make this better but in some ways it has not.  Over the years, Robert became my brother, not just a brother in law.  He became my brother in his own right, not because he married my sister.  I think one of the reasons I mourn his passing so much is because I did not realize this until the day I was told he was gone.  I wish I could of told him how much he meant to me and my kids.   I wish I could of told him that I loved him like a brother...a real brother.   I wish I could of thanked him for being a friend and supportive brother to me and a loving uncle to my kids.   He was a brother I could laugh with ...and cry with. 

A mass will be take place in El Paso this morning, in his memory.  My sister will visit the cemetery later this morning.  I asked her to relay a message from me to him....I miss you.

There are few pictures of both Robert and me together since most of the time I am behind the camera and whenever I was in the picture, he was the one usually behind the camera.  




Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Rose Pins - Felted Wool

I just finished a new batch of my large felted wool Rose Pins.  Another example of up-cycling old discarded wool sweaters into something new.  Each petal on these rose pins is hand-stitched.  I attach a pin and clip on the back so you can either pin it to a jacket, coat, tote or clip it onto a scarf or hair.  My inventory was completely depleted; so, naturally, I needed to make more.

These will be available this Saturday, September 29, 2012 at Sweet Williams Market in Stapleton and  at the 41st Annual Friends of the Library and Museum Craft Fair  scheduled for Saturday, October 6th, 2012 in Ketring Park, next to the Littleton Historical Museum, 6028 South Gallup Street and will take place regardless of weather from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Keep your fingers crossed for good weather for both events!

I also up-cycled cake pans by adding a touch of silver glitter and paint to create cake stands .  I stacked these up-cycled cake stands to create a 3 cake tier effect.  I added many of my new felted wool Rose Pins.  






Monday, September 24, 2012

Felted Wool Poinsettia Pins

In the past, I created red felted wool poinsettia pins.  This year, I thought of expanding my seasonal inventory to include white and light pink felted wool poinsettia pins.  As usual, I love to incorporate vintage findings into most of my inventory items.  Adding these vintage elements always helps create items that are one of a kind.  As you can see, these felted wool poinsettia pins are similar but not exactly the same.





Sunday, September 23, 2012

More Snow Couples from Vintage Tablecloth

These snow-people are a little lighter than the felted wool snow-people.  Most of these have a clip on the base so they can be clipped directly to a Christmas Tree.  Since I had a limited amount of these clips, I have 2 sets of snow-people that don't have the clips, but with a little piece of clear thread, they can quickly become ornaments.  I also decided to create a more simple version.







Saturday, September 22, 2012

Vintage Linen Buttons...more

Recently I completed a new batch of vintage linen birds and pin cushions.  Whenever, I create these items, I have tiny pieces of embroidered linens left over.  In an effort to use every little bit of these vintage embroidered linens, I like to create buttons with them.  My inventory of these buttons was also running low, so in an effort to keep my inventory at good levels, I needed to create more vintage linen buttons.  Here are my newest vintage linen buttons:




Friday, September 21, 2012

Felted Wool Happy Snow-People Couples

I create items that I love.  In my home, snowmen have always been a favorite.  In fact, during Christmas time, our home is decorated with many Christmas Trees (if I told you how many, you would not believe it).  Anyway, we have two trees that stand side by side...decorated in nothing but snowmen.  Snowmen from our travels, craft shows, gifts from friends and of course, a few I have created over the years.  It is quit a collection.  The base of these tress are covered in layers of stuffed snowmen.  So, when I tell you our home loves Snowmen, it's really true.

I wanted to create felted wool snowmen with a vintage feel to them.  I thought of simple embellishments like German glass glitter, vintage buttons and a Martha Stewart yarn with the feel of tinsel.  On my post from August 9, 2012, you can see I had created my little prototype snowmen.  As usual, I was sidetrack by other projects, like creating more vintage linen pin cushions since my inventory had dwindled pretty much to nothing.   And, the inspiration struck to create my mix media Halloween Houses and origami style paper dresses (including Halloween theme).

So my little snowmen project was on hold for over a month.  During that time, I realized I wanted to create Snow-women.  How do I do that while maintaining the vintage feel?  I wanted these Snow people to become a happy couple.  The inspiration came from my studio where I have a wide variety of vintage doilies.  I found doilies small enough to create little aprons.  It still needed something else.  Vintage paper flowers....vintage crochet doilies!  It all came together in a way that made me happy.

These snow-people took more time that I anticipated, mostly because they are all slightly different.  I really want to sell these in upcoming show/markets as couples.  I guess if someone only wants to buy one or the other, I should do that....but to be honest, I don't know if I will.  I know it's silly,but, I really want them to  stay together...as a happy couple. 

So here are my little sweet Snow-people couples:



A little experiment, I started by adding a touch of German Glass glitter to the snowmen.  I decided I liked them more without the glitter, so only a few of them have the glitter.  The vintage mother of pearl buttons have a side covered with German Glass Glitter...so, only the buttons have the German glass glitter.


Created a few snowmen with ear muffs using German glass glitter. 




Thursday, September 20, 2012

Halloween Potion Bottles

I have been thinking about the upcoming Holiday season...Halloween and even Christmas.  As you may have seen in recent posts, I created many one of a kind Mix Media Halloween Houses.  These houses have inspired me to think about creating houses for Christmas and even year round theme houses.  I love mix media and recently found wonderful papers I am looking forwarding to using on future mix media houses.  However, in an effort to stay focused...a challenge for my creative mind, I need to work on completing in progress creations for upcoming shows/markets.

For instance, in the works for several weeks have been my little felted wool snowmen/snow-women...more on that later.

Frequently, part of the reason for my difficulty in staying focused is my weekly estate sale shopping.  I find vintage treasures that inspire me.  I want to create these items while I am inspired, frequently sometimes resulting in in-progress items to remain in-progress.  So, this past week I decided it was time to finish some of my in-progress inventory which I can now say I have completed....

  •  Felted Wool Snowmen/Snow-women with Vintage Doilies/Lace/Buttons
  • Vintage Tablecloth Snowmen/Snowmen
  • Vintage Linen Buttons
  • Felted Wool Poinsettia Pins with Vintage Button/Jewelry Centers
 
It's a good thing most of my in-progress inventory is complete because I  am very inspired by my recent vintage finds.  Last week's estate sale were extremely productive...maybe too productive!  I came across a sale where I found 60 vintage hankies (at a bargain price).  I found vintage crochet doilies like never before (again at a bargain).  I even found several wonderful cross stitch panels which are just asking to be transformed into the focal point of new tote bags.  I have so many ideas in my head now, it's a bit overwhelming.  

One of the finds from last week was a brand new spice rack with 24 empty bottles.  When I saw this I immediately thought....Halloween potion bottles.  That same night I found scrapbook paper by K & Company with the perfect sized potion labels.  A little Mod-podge, paint, glimmer mist and this is the result:

These will be available for sale at Sweet William Market on September 29, 2012




A preview of poinsettia pins:



Sunday, September 9, 2012

Isa Creations Vintage ...My Etsy Shop

Although it has taken some time, I think I finally got my Etsy shop,  Isa Creations Vintage updated.  My goal is to have a sample of all the items I have available for sale at local markets and craft shows.  It is impossible to list everything I have available to sell on my Etsy site but I am happy with the sampling I have listed on Etsy.

I have updated my Facebook page, Isa Creations Vintage as well.

Here is a view of a portion of my main page on my Etsy shop, Isa Creations Vintage.


Monday, September 3, 2012

A Paris Street Market

A Paris Street Market this past Saturday was a good show.  The weather was hot but not windy...that is until 2:30 p.m.(30 minutes before the show ended at 3:00).  The clouds came and a brisk wind set in.  Laura and I scrabbled to  move many items from the tables down to the floor since many of the items I sell are lightweight.  Then, around 2:45 the wind suddenly stopped and the sun came back...yeah, if you live in Colorado this crazy weather would not surprise you. 

Staci had her booth next to mine so we had a good time chatting in between sales.  My friend Carla came by and stayed a while to visit with Laura and me.  Lisa, Sophie and her aunt came by in the afternoon and as usual, we had a nice visit.  Lisa's mom visited the booth in the morning.  So it really was a nice day and Laura was a great helper.

The big seller items were the new batch of pin cushions.  Last week I worked on creating many new Halloween Mix Media Houses...they were just fun.  However, these houses took longer -- everything always take longer than I estimate.  Anyway, that meant I started on my new batch of vintage linen pin cushions on Thursday.  So, it's Friday ...actually Saturday at 1:00 a.m. and I am still working on the final assembly of these pin cushions.  Crazy, I know but I had next to nothing left of my vintage linen pin cushions and felt I needed to just finish that batch.

Turns out, it's good I did because these were selling like hotcakes.  I did not even have time to take proper photos of my pin cushions because I just wanted to go to bed.

I have been working really hard today to update my Etsy store.  It had been somewhat neglected and decided it was time to give it some attention.  My goal is to have a sample of everything I sell at my booths.  I am almost there, I did post more tote bags, dress-forms, Halloween Houses and even some vintage linen birds.  I don't have proper photos to list new pin cushions but I will work on that during the next few days.  My workspace is a real mess so I better tackle that then photos of new items... then listings on Etsy.

Anyway, here are the only pictures I have of my newest vintage linen pin cushions:


Extra Large French Tart Tins...sold many of these

More of the extra large vintage linen pin cushions