vintage jewelry

Remember my Instant Collection of Vintage Keys?

Well, in that same assortment of vintage goodies

were several very nice pieces

of vintage jewelry.

(Look closely to see the reverse carved pagodas!)

I fell in love with these earrings the moment I saw them

even though they had funny clamps for attaching them to earlobes

(like these only more tarnished).

I asked a friend who makes jewelry

to add the pretty orange beads and put modern ear wires on them.

This style of earrings was apparently quite popular in the 40's

when WWII veterans, returning from the orient,

would bring them home as gifts for their sweethearts

and family members.

(Perhaps they were a gift

from my Great-Grandpa, a medic in WWII,

for my Great-Grandma!)

I haven't been able to find out much about

this delicate blue set.

I had my friend add modern ear wires to these as well.

This sparkly little number made of iridescent beads

definitely evokes glamor.

This Jerusalem cross pendant is labeled on the back

that is it silver and that it was made in Mexico.

It is only about two inches across--

the intricate details are breathtaking!

Once again, I haven't been able to find out much about it.

I must admit to being quite delighted

with my "new" pretties.

red white and blue

Once again I'm too late to actually link up

with the Color Your World Challenge.

sigh.

Maybe next time?

This month's challenge was to interpret red, white, and blue.

I didn't want to lump

all three lovely colors into one piece of art,

so I made three.

(No wonder I'm running late!)

"Painters use red like spice."

~Derek Jarman

(Here's hoping that my red splotches

look more like paint and spice than gore.)

 "The first of all single colors is white...

We shall set down white for the representative of light,

without which no color can be seen;

yellow for the earth;

green for water;

blue for air;

red for fire;

and black for total darkness."

~Leonardo Da Vinci

The quotation made me think of a prism--

a beam of white light fragmenting into every hue.

"Once in a blue moon."

~ colloquial expression

I need to find some sort of paper

that will not curl when I watercolor on it

yet not make my calligraphy ink bleed.

Any suggestions?

linking up with Jennifer's Sneak Peek Friday.

Benjamin's birthday

Yesterday was Benjmin's 30th birthday.

And aside from the fact that last week he bought a motorcyle

(and a bunch of safety gear)

as his new commuter vehicle,

we celebrated simply and quietly as a family.

In the morning I loaded up Little Man, Brother, and Sweet Pea

and we surprised him at work.

We brought handmade cards from the boys

(and a store bought card from me--hey, a girl can't do everything),

a couple of small gifts,

and the boys' favorite part: a mylar balloon.

In the evening I made his choice of dinner:

Island Chicken with Avocado Mango Salsa and Coconut Rice

Then we had spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

decorated by Brother

and Little Man.

Happy birthday again, Love.

Looking forward to another year together. <3

custom wedding vow calligraphy

Yesterday I finished

this custom wedding vow calligraphy

for a customer.

I really love making custom orders,

taking a someone else's vision

and making it my own

and theirs

at the same time.

It's the best sort of stretching experience.

In fact, I enjoyed working on it so much

and was so pleased with how it turned out

that I decided to offer it

(well, offer the concept at least)

in my shop.

summer treasures

delightful summer treasures

curated by the boys

enjoyed by me

creative process

or perhaps I should clarify

that this is one

of my creative processes...

*not pictured:

corresponding with my client

and late-night mental design while I should be sleeping

sketching may involve

using my husband's pencil sharpener

and my son's scissors

cutting and tracing

exasperated sighing

pictures of prisms on Wikipedia

music

scrapping multiple undesirable drafts

facebook checking and updating

audibly praising ticonderoga pencils and nice erasers

a lunch of cereal for the boys

and unwashed dishes

trimming my paper to size is usually pretty straightforward

collecting my supplies might include

a trip upstairs to the kitchen

where various implements of art reside

on my magnificently dusty kitchen windowsill

meet my lightbox:

glass-topped table + lamp

ink time is simultaneously

the most nerve wracking and most satisfying

and usually includes

no music

trepidation that I'll set my hand in wet ink and smear it

horrible posture

messy fingers

multiple drafts

linking up with Jennifer's studio sneak peek

"instant collection"

I'm not sure why,

but something about the description

"instant collection"

on an Etsy listing always makes me smile.

My very own Instant Collection

of cute vintage keys

recently just fell in my lap (so to speak).

While she was helping my grandma pack,

my mom salvaged an odd assortment of vintage goodies

for us to go through more carefully.

Among them was a small box

filled with this assortment of keys.

They were horribly rusty,

but after a little TLC

in the form of vinegar soaking and vigorous scrubbing,

they turned out pretty nice!

I am having an deliciously difficult time

deciding what to do with them.

Accent a clutch?

Make a necklace or two?

Display them in a shadow box?

Add them to a mixed media art project?

What would you do if you had

and Instant Collection

of vintage keys?

June's Project MCP

Challenge #1-Express the following in a photo: Summer Love

One thing I always look forward to in the early summer here is our rose bush.  It's not a typical wild rose bush (the roses are yellow!), but the roses' structure is like a wild rose.  They are a lovely brilliant yellow and have a strong pungent-sweet aroma.

Challenge #2-Show us a night photo.

Um...so yeah. I didn't get one for challenge #2. I just kept drawing blank after blank when I tried to come up with ideas for it. Plus it doesn't help that many nights I'm in bed before I could reasonably begin taking a night photo.

Challenge #3-Snap a candid photo. 

My friend Krista and her little one.

Challenge #4-Illustrate the following in a photo: Refresh

blueberry lemonade on a hot day

Hopefully I'll be a little more on top of next month's Project MCP challenges.

yellow

"How wonderful yellow is.

It stands for the sun."

~Vincent Van Gogh

mixed media:

colored pencil, ink, various papers, and thread

it's too late to link up

to the lovely color your world challenge,

but I thought I'd share it anyway.

family photos

If you have been reading my blog for a while,

you might remember this sweet family

whose family photos I took in December.

Last Saturday I was able to take some updated portraits for them

at a beautiful park about five miles south of our town.

The weather was much more comfortable this time,

and we were able to get some pretty decent shots.