Hallelujah!

Earlier this week I posted a small piece of a stained glass window that used to hang in our church.  The church was renovated a few years ago and they just didn't want to throw away so much beautiful glass and so it has sat outside in the back of the church for 8 years!

Dirty and muddy but oh so lovely!  My good friend Carol sent me a text with an announcement in the church bulletin that they were looking for crafter's to try and do something with the windows and Carol very sweetly thought of me.   The funny thing is that I had just been thinking that I'd like to get more involved with the church and here an opportunity just drops in my lap!  (Of course, since then I've been thinking I need a million dollars and am hoping that will just drop in my lap as well... :)).

I belong to an online craft group and while I had been thinking of using resin to make either crosses or jewelry with the stained glass, I wanted to put it out the the creative cosmos on the craft site and see what ideas they came up with.  What an amazing group, jewelry, signs, garden stones are just a few of the great ideas they came up with.  A nice thing about having so much of it is that I can probably try all of their ideas!

First, I wanted to try resin.  I took a hammer to the window and broke it apart.  I put it in a paper bag first to protect myself from glass flying around.  Then I ripped open the bag and put it in a box so it wouldn't slide around.

Next, I separated the pieces and then started laying them out to see how I liked them together.

I purchased a circle bezel and the resin kit at Michael's (using a coupon of course).  A circle bezel is simply a jewelry base that you can decorate using resin or other materials.  Think of it as a flat bottomed frame that you can fill with whatever you like.  The resin is a liquid that you pour in while wet and it hardens to a rock hard finish that is completely clear.  Below is an image of bezels that I pulled from an Etsy shop called Ilovepaperkits. (https://www.etsy.com/listing/97690852/10-1-inch-square-pendant-bezel-settings?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_campaign=supplies_low&gclid=CLPtjqO3sL0CFSqXOgodCS4AwA)

After mixing the resin and the hardener, following the directions on the box, I poured just a little bit into the bottom of the bezel to act as glue for my first layer.  I decided to line the bottom with some of the silver leaf that I bought for another project, making sure some of the leaf stood up from the bottom.  I then laid out the pieces of broken stained glass and then poured in the rest of the resin until it formed a slight dome over the top of the piece without going over the edge.

Silver Leafing the bottom of the bezel

Here is the finished piece!  I love it!  It has some air bubbles in it but for a first try, it's exactly what I was looking for!

I tried another one as well, only this time I added a small cross charm..Here are the two finished products together.  The resin makes it look like the glass is encased in a clear droplet of water and the colors really POP!

I've gone back to the craft group to ask them how to ensure no bubbles are in the final piece and received some great advice.  They are sort of like having Martha Stewart on speed dial!  My plan is to take these to the church to see if they like them and then start designing a Christmas ornament using the glass.

Have a wonderful week everyone, we are starting to warm up here in Virginia and the daffodils are starting to peek out of the ground - it's such a welcome sight after our winter here!  This week coming up I am starting my photography class - let's see if I can improve my photo quality!

Keep on Swimming...

Spring is here and I am just starting to get to the top of my work pile!  Something about the temperature being above 27 degrees just makes me feel happy and motivated to paint!

Coming soon!!

Over the past few weeks, besides my list of ornaments I'm painting, I also have had several opportunities to work for two amazing designers.  One of the projects was to silver leaf two large mirror frames.  I have always thought silver leafing would be easy, and it is, except if you want an even coat over a large object.  I'll post more on this in the next week or two but I finally had to tell the designer that I was not comfortable with my (lack of) technique at this point and didn't want to ruin the frames.  She's working on a Plan B, and I will continue to work on the silver leaf technique for next time!

Another project is a small mural above a kitchen sink.  This one is for another designer.  I have submitted my second drawing to her to show the customer and am waiting to see what she thinks.  It's  a real process to paint something for someone with definite ideas of their own (her customer) - and rather fun too.  The challenge is to ask the right questions to extract what the customer is thinking and then be able to draw it out for them.  I really enjoy this part and learn so much!  I find that many times the customer doesn't want to hurt my feelings and say they don't like my drawing, but I really have no ego about it at all even though I appreciate their concern.  Photos and more on this coming up soon as well.

Yet another project will be painting a hutch that will be delivered next week.  I have a friend who is a handyman that will change out a piece of the hutch to make it less "country" and then I will repaint it.  Can't wait to see what color she wants!

On the home front, I have changed my family room one more time!!  Bob has been travelling and, well, you know me, that means changes!  Once my new couch comes in, I'll take photos....

All exciting learning experiences for me and I love it!  Have a great weekend everyone!

I was asked to bring an entree and "something else" to my son's Indoor Track banquet this evening - here is my "something else!"   Hard boiled eggs dyed in the team colors of burgundy and gold and all of the Peeps holding little sports flags!  I used the top of a Styrofoam cooler and lined the bottom with plastic grass.  Then I attached the Peeps to the base with a toothpick so they would stand up.  Big hit!  Yes, even high school kids love Peeps!

You can see a bit more of the Styrofoam base in this shot.

College Blues..

Yard sale-ing - one of my favorite sports!  Money in pocket on a Saturday morning and out the door no later than 8:00am - modern day treasure hunting!  Last August I bought this dresser for Bobby's room.  He had been using a completely inadequate dresser that was my husbands before we got married.

This is how I had to bring the dresser home, back door wide open, praying the whole way that it wouldn't slide out!  It cost $25 and is just a decent, full sized,  Broyhill dresser.  It would do nicely, except for the color.

This is the dresser Bobby used for years - "labeled" to help him keep his clothes neat, but mostly his clothes were in piles in his closet...You may also notice the lovely curtains made from sheets -in my defense, we had just moved in and had no idea if we could actually afford our new home and so weren't spending ANY money!

Since Bobby is my Florida baby, I had tried to make his room look tropical.  I decided to "comb" a glaze over the lower half of his walls so it would look like a hut.  Here's the thing about doing paint treatments on your walls;  it changes the surface texture of your wall so if you ever want to paint over it, you will see the lines and bumps and whatever else you did in relief against the new paint.  I never loved the treatment, but we had just moved in and there were bigger fish to fry at the time.

Fast forward to last fall when Bobby left for college, I wanted to surprise him with a new room when he came home and so I spent DAYS sanding that dag-gone "hut" off of his walls.  My hands tingled for about a week after from holding the palm sander!

But I digress, back to the dresser..

I decided to paint it a dark navy blue to match his comforter and, because I already had some nice bronze curtains, I opted to accent the drawer pulls and feet in the same bronze color.

No, that wasn't a typo, I did say I wanted to accent the feet and knobs in bronze, but I love the way red looks under gold or bronze paint - you really can't see it much but it gives it a rich look.

After...

I used Rub N Buff (in the tube on the left side of this photo).  Great product and the name tells you exactly how to use it!

When we brought Bobby up to Clarkson University, I looked through the school store for a poster of the school itself - surprisingly, there was nothing.  So, as we walked around campus, I took photos of the school and of the sculptures they have on the grounds so I could frame them as a focal point over his bed.

I am pretty proud of the way they turned out.  I even added "Clarkson University" to the larger photo before I had it printed out!  Not being much of a techie, this was a huge accomplishment for me!

I painted an accent wall behind his bed in the navy blue as well and the rest of the room is in a nice soft tan.

You can just see a little of the bronze curtains in this shot and I still need to get some nice shams to plump up the bed.

Bobby was so happy with his new room when he came home over Christmas!  Of course, Joey has now asked that I not wait until he leaves home to redo his room!  I guess that is my next big project!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Craft Day!

Just before the holidays last year, I hosted a craft day with my sister Sandy and my BFF Kimmy.  Everyone brought over whatever project they were working on and we spent the day doing them together while watching "chick flicks" and having a glass or two of wine.  It was a ball so I decided to host another Craft Day last weekend, this time including my other sister, Laura, and two of my nieces, Jenny and Courtney.

I mentioned last week that I just bought a new Cricut machine.  I decided to try it out and monogram some wine glasses.  I used my coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a box of 12 wine glasses for about $14.  Now to "class" 'em up!

 

The process to make these glasses was actually very easy.  The cartridge that comes with the Cricut (there are many you can buy) actually has the monogram programmed into it.  I had the machine cut out the monogram on self stick vinyl and I just stuck it onto the side of the glass.  Without the machine, you could just print a monogram on your computer, then cut it out using an exacto knife onto the vinyl, which they sell at your local craft store in the Cricut aisle.

I used a product called "Armour Etch" and put it on the part of the glass I wanted to be frosted.  You have to put on a fairly thick coat and let it sit for thirty seconds.  I let it sit about a minute or so to get a really good frosting.

After a minute, I took the glasses over to the deep sink and rinsed them off really well, then I removed the vinyl.  The problem I ran into was that because of the curve of the glass, some of the etching creme oozed under the vinyl in a few places around the circle.  Not terrible, but enough that I decided to hand paint a scroll around the edge of the circle in the etching creme so it looked deliberate and no one could tell there had been an "oopsie"!

Love the result!!

Now here are some of the crafts the ladies made - it seems glassware was a theme even though we didn't talk about it beforehand!

First up, my sister Laura.   She lost one of her beloved dogs unexpectedly and so for her craft, she decided to paint mugs to honor the dogs she's lost over the years.

Now you might need to sit down for this, but this was Laura's SECOND TIME EVER painting - the results are nothing short of astounding! 

My niece Jenny brought a large box of mason jars to paint and to share.  They turned out awesome!

Jenny "glitterizing" a mason jar to use as a tea light holder.  She didn't love the finished product, but I did, I thought it looked beautiful!

Jenny's second mason jar - absolutely adorable!

My sister Sandy painted one of the jars as well - gorgeous and perfect for Valentines Day!

My niece Courtney opted to paint coffee mugs using blackboard paint.  I would have never thought of doing that, but what a great idea!

taping off using masking tape

Sandy also decided to paint some coffee mugs from the set that Laura brought for her dog mugs.  She just "threw" them together...sheesh, my family is so talented!

We've all decided that we need to try and do a Craft Day at least once a month.  We love being together and I think all of us were inspired!

In other news - we are digging out from Winter Storm Pax (when did we start naming winter storms?).  I did another snow"man" and thought I'd share a few photos..stay warm everyone and have a great week!

Can you see the frog?  He has a fly on the end of his tongue...

The fly - it's hard to make snow wings that stay on by the way...:)

Malcolm and More!

Hi Everyone!  First of all, let me introduce you to Malcolm the Rabbit.

Last week I decided to clean out my closet and asked my husband to go through his clothes and pull out anything he doesn't wear anymore.  When I was done, I had three large garbage bags of clothes...Bob had a blue dress shirt.  Sigh.  Well, at least it's something!

The blue dress shirt - pretty color and the front of the shirt and sleeves were still in good shape.

I decided to try another stuffed animal since I am enjoying the process so much and with Easter around the corner, I thought a bunny would be cute.   Malcolm is very imperfect, but I like the rather shy quality I managed to paint on him.  He will go with the others on my ever growing "Island of Misfit Toys" shelf and keep me company in my studio.  

I used the cuff of his shirt to make a collar for Malcolm and finished him off with a daffodil.

Also this week, I pinned this Bulgogi beef recipe from A Spicy Perspective on Pinterest.  Isn't her photo beautiful?

Here's my photo in the wok...I really should take a class!  Tasted delish though and I also made some spicy eggplant and Vietnamese garden rolls to have with it.

Vietnamese Garden Rolls

Spicy Eggplant

I really tried to make the Garden Rolls beautiful but the reality is...

...this is what was left only FIVE minutes after I put them out!  My family eats them like they haven't eaten in days!

Lastly this week, I want to share my new toy with you - a Cricut Expression 2 cutting machine!  I've already started thinking about things to make with it!  The machine comes with a sticky tray to secure paper, vinyl or fabric and you can program very detailed things for the machine to cut into them.  It comes with several books of letters and designs but of course you can buy others.  My only regret is that I thought I would be able to download my own designs into it.  There's another machine that I may have to get if I can't do it on this one.  Still, it's exciting to try another tool!

Hmm, comes with a lot of things to learn and it includes a spatula?

Making my first cut according to the intro directions.

The final result is a very crisp cut - I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship!

Tomorrow I am hosting a craft day with my sister's, my good friend Kim and two of my nieces.  I think I may have to work on learning more about this machine and try a project or two!  Woo hoo!

You Gotta Have Friends!

There are times when I look around me and realize I have surrounded myself with the most amazing group of people in the world!  How is it possible that I can count these gems my friends?  I really am so blessed.

I have no craft post this morning as I took some time to meet up with one of said amazing girlfriends who agreed to talk with me about the business end of running a business, which is definitely not my strong suit.

Rebecca, thank you so much for your advice and wisdom and giving me a hysterical visual in my mind that I will giggle about every time I take a bath!

Have a wonderful week everyone!
Andie