Vintage Inspired Easter Baskets

On Tuesday, I planned on going over to the Checkered Corner house on downtown Littleton to paint the bedroom upstairs...future home of Isa Creations for the next year.  The weather forecast, light snow...expect very little.  Ha!  If you live in Colorado, you learn the weather forecast is not as dependable as one would like.

As I was gathering all my painting supplies, the ladder....  well, I asked myself  why?  Why deal with the snow when I really don't have to.  The snowfall was  much heavier and lasted most of the day.  I am so glad I switched plans.  I stayed home and finished my Vintage Inspired Easter Baskets.

It was a messy project, glitter and paper shred everywhere!  I printed lots of vintage Easter graphic cards, several  different sizes.

I  decoupaged paper mache and some plastic eggs using a French Dictionary paper with German Glass Glitter on one end of the egg.  I folded sewing pattern paper and gift wrap tissue then created a shredded edge with scissors.  I created  ruffled crepe paper using my sewing machine.  On some of the peat pots, I decoupaged French Dictionary paper.   I added glitter to little clothespins.

This project was similar to a recipe.  Create key ingredients, then mix them all in to create unique little Easter baskets.   I will have these available at Sugar Plum Bazaar on March 9th and 10 and also at the grand opening of Checkered Corner on March 15, 16 & 17, 2013. For more information on Sugar Plum Bazaar go here and Checkered Corner here.

Decoupaged with French Dictionary Paper -Egg and Peat Pot

Small little peat pots with little glittered eggs and chicks.

Added a little bling to these little peat pot baskets with vintage inspired postcard

   

Checkered Corner in Downtown Littleton, CO

I have great news to share.

A few weeks ago I received a wonderful invitation to become one of the vendors at a new shop in historic downtown Littleton, Checkered Corner.

Some of you may recall I briefly was a part of Alamo Antiques, also in historic downtown Littleton  (November & December 2012).  Sadly, Alamo Antiques closed it's doors at the end of December.

One of the other vendors at Alamo Antiques was Patrice.  Now, Patrice along with Anita are leasing a historic home in downtown Littleton.  I am so excited to embark on this new venture.

For the next year, you can find Isa Creations in an upstairs bedroom inside this lovely historic home which is now home to Checkered Corner.

You can visit Checkered Corner's blog here.

I have included information from the blog here as well:

Here is a picture of the House (before)

Anita and Patrice have been working on the house to get it ready for it's grand opening on March 15, 2013.
I plan on going next week to paint the bedroom upstairs where you will find my handcrafted items, Isa Creations.

Here is a picture of the upstairs bedroom....future home to Isa Creations.

 

Checkered Corner will be open on the following dates:

I

Save the dates, especially March 15 and come visit us at Checkered Corner!

More Lined Zippered Bags...

Photos of my latest creations...lined zippered bags:

A perfect fit for my Nook reader/tablet

Vintage Lace tablecloth

This is one of my favorite...

Each bag is unique, just like every girl.

Lined Zippered Bags -- Perfect for Nook and iPad

This last week has been another productive week.  I have created many more one of a kind lined zippered bags.  I love the versatility of these little bags.  They can be used for

cosmetics
art supplies

and

smaller tablets like Nook, Kindle Fire and iPad mini.

I have also created larger size lined zippered bags for the iPad.

The bags have a layer of fusible fleece for added layer of protection.  The next few days, I hope to post pictures of my new bags.


These are the right size for the Nook, Kindle Fire, iPad mini or similar:

These bags were created using vintage lace tablecloth and black wool (both purchased at Estate Sales -- I wash everything I purchase at estate sales then it becomes part of my materials stash to create).  I love ruffles and lace, these lined zippered bags reflect that:

The top portion of the dress is lace from a vintage tablecloth.  Little rhinestone on the hair bun is also an estate sale find.

This larger size lined zippered bag is large enough to accommodate an iPad:

I look forward to having my new lined zippered bags at Sugar Plum Bazaar at the Parkside Mansion on March 9th and 10th. Here is the info...hope you can come to this event where many great vendors can be found.

Nook Reader Lined Zippered Bags - Girls

It has been a really productive week.  I love creating my new lined zippered bags.  I have several in various stages.

I have several stacks  of these one of  a kind lined zippered bags in various stages.  Many  are cut, ready to fuse the images together.  Others where the image is fused together and ready for  free hand stitching.  Others where I just need to sew the lining and zipper.

Here are some just completed and ready to ship to Susan:

My Nook Tablet inside lined zippered bag:

 

IN PROGRESS ....Fused image, next free-hand stitching...

Source of Inspiration

The lined zippered bags which can be used for cosmetics, art supplies and even electronic readers like Nook and Kindle Fire were inspired from various sources.

 Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, much of it came from on line classes I have taken from Christy Tomlinson.  Another source of inspiration is from Jeanne Oliver, whose on-line class I took last year.  I love to work with mix-media although I don't get to do play with it nearly as much as I would like (there just isn't enough hours in the day).

When  I have time to play with mix-media for my own personal gratification, I am always thinking about how I can incorporate that with my small business... Isa Creations.

Perhaps one of the greatest sources of inspiration comes from materials I find at estate sales.  I literally let the "materials" speak to me.  Having recently found slightly damaged/stained lace tablecloths, I knew I had to create something with them.  When I found a lovely cream vintage chenille bedspread (it still had a paper tag from the 50's inside the bag), I knew it had to be transformed.

Almost like a recipe, I  combine artistic inspiration from on-line classes, vintage materials gathered and some special illustrations and you have my most recent creations for Isa Creations.

 I come from a very creative family.  The artistic gene definitely runs strong in my family, both mother and father.  My mom is a self taught seam-stress who created wonderful wedding dress without a need for a pattern.  She only needed an illustration or drawing and then she would create beautiful gowns.  Sadly, my mom's diabetes has affected her eye sight....she no longer sews.

My dad is a welder....he created wonderful works or art with iron/metal.  My dad's arthritis prevents him from doing much welding these days.   My brother was lucky to receive the drawing gene.  Several of my dad's brothers had that drawing gene, as does my son Alex.  I however, was not blessed with the drawing gene.  I am artistic in my own way, but the ability to draw has always eluded me.

However, I have learned techniques which allow me to take an image, make adjustments and use it.  That is what I did for these lined zippered bags.   You can see the source of the inspiration for my designs .... I used old vintage pattern designs.  The Bride illustration is from an old tattered brides catalog from the 50's (an estate sale find). 

Zippered bags in progress... (Vintage lace tablecloth and black wool = estate sale finds)

Wedding dress illustration  from the 50's, adapted to create this...

New Inspriation

I love the on-line classes I have been taking from Christy Tomlinson.  I love her creative spirit and ease in which she teaches  various techniques in Mix Media.  I completed  the on line class, She had Three Hearts: Art  Journaling Workshop 
 a few weeks ago.  

Then I started another workshop, The art of Wild Abandonment by Junelle Jacobson and Christy Tomlinson.  I love it!

However, I am still on week 1 of the The art of Wild Abandonment workshop because much like my little boy Alex...I got sidetrack!!

I had to stop watching and needed to start a creative Art journal.  A re-purposed journal from a book.  I found the perfect book.  It's a sewing book.  I spent time preparing it by removing pages.  I decoupaged several pages together to create a thicker page, then added either clear or white gesso.  I applied some mix-media techniques I learned from these on line classes to decorate the cover of my new Art Journal.

I love chalkboard art.  The black on the cover is chalkboard paint.

 I painted the inside cover with chalkboard paint and just had fun with it.  I sealed the page with a fixative so the chalk will not smear. 

 I also created two more fabric art journals.  The inside pages have been primed with gesso and are ready to use.

 Now, this is where I got even more sidetrack.

 Several things came together.  Christy Tomlinson's on-line classes, Christy Tomlinson's new fabric line (I think it's called Bella), recent estate sale finds of lace tablecloth, a vintage cream chenille bedspread and even an old tattered quilt (tattered quilt projects still in early stages).  Combine all those elements and you get my newest creations.

 Rather than working on canvas (which I plan to do) I went straight to fabric.  This decision was made in preparation to bring new Spring items to Sugar Plum Bazaar on March 9th and 10th at the Parkside Mansion in Denver.

Lined Zippered bags. 

Originally, I thought they would make cute cosmetic bags and or art supply bags.  All the bags are lined.  This adds time but I think it's time well spent.  The finished product is more stable and finished.

When I travel, I can put various painting mediums inside.

Then I realized, quit by accident that my Nook e-reader and my daughter's Kindle Fire fit right in!    So I did some on-line research and learned that most of the reader's and the mini-i pad can be stored inside these zippered pouches. 

 A preview of what I have recently created.  I will add more photos in the the coming days.

To be honest, it has been a while since I have felt so motivated to create.  I am loving creating all of these new zippered pouches with vintage textiles.  I am inspired....which usually leads to lots of productivity.