Cherry Fest 2011

Watercolor pencil cherries

     We did it up today! Ate what we wanted, rode the train and walked all over the open space and midway. What a blast we had too! I got my Jumbo Smoked Turkey Leg (really), roasted corn on the cob ($3, no lie), cotton candy and even a Funnel Cake with powdered sugar. Yes, we Lived! My youngest daughter rode a few rides and my husband and I enjoyed her delight. I've never been much for those stomach dropping or spinning rides, but I love to watch my kids having fun.
     The cherries to the left are my art for yesterday, done with watercolor pencils, though not very well, I'm sorry to say. But I have a

Best $8 turkey leg I've ever had!

Drawing I class this fall and I hope the next time I draw cherries (next year) they are spectacular! My National Cherry Festival photos are my art for today. They were so much fun to take. The Jumbo Smoked Turkey Legs shot came out blurry from the train, but I had to include it, too much fun!

The Midway as seen from the train

Jumbo Smoked Turkey Leg and corn on the cob. It was soooo good!

One of two ferris wheels on the Midway

Hubby and youngest posing for me by one of the "fun" food stands

               Caramel apples and Carousel reflection

Fun house, such fun colors!

Bumper cars, we didn't ride them this year

Sinful food row...you can hear arteries seizing up

Swing ride on the Midway

Train ride view of the beach

Bungee Jump, I'll pass thank you!

Fab Find Wednesday!

Aladdin alacite lamp

     Although it is easy enough to buy new things in every style imaginable, I love old things. Antique, vintage and hand crafted pieces call out to me whenever I walk through an antique shop. However, I can't really afford to shop in antique shops all the time, so estate, garage and yard sales, coupled with thrift and resale shops give me the chance to find hidden treasures that haven't yet made it to the higher priced antique shops. Over the last couple weeks, I've found some fabulous things, which is always exciting! I have, on occasion, found some really valuable things and sold them for extra pocket money, especially when they are things I appreciate but don't really collect or have a place for among my treasures. The lamp pictured to the left may be one of those things, I haven't decided yet. It is an Aladdin lamp from the mid 1900's, really beautiful with slightly translucent glass (alacite). One of the local thrift shops had it for $8 but sold it to me for $4, I think lamps were half off that day or something like that. I just thought it looked like it was worth more than $8 and had possibility either in my house or as something to sell later on Etsy or eBay. Turns out that it is worth a bit more than the $4 I paid. The lowest price I found online was $84.95 and the highest was $145 on eBay. But I haven't decided what to do with it yet, I kinda think I'm going to keep it.

Vintage Samsonite train case

    Then there is a new train case I found at a new resale shop in Interlochen, a little town just a few miles away. The shop didn't seem like much at first, a bit junky, but after nosing around, I found the train case, in great condition inside and out for only $4.50! And also a cute pair of white, all cotton, summer pajamas, which I had already been searching for new all over town without any luck. I love the storage possibilities of train cases. I like to store my art supplies in them and then tuck them out of the way. Then if I am going somewhere, I can grab a case and take my supplies with me. Of course, these are too big to take and work from at the park or Dr.'s office while I am waiting, but they are great for visits to my Mom and Dad's or for vacation. I just clean them up and sometimes embellish them if they need it and voila! This one is in really good shape, so I don't think I'm going to mess with it at this point, but we'll see, sometimes I can't help myself.

Small harp wall shelf

3" x 3" mirror

     At an estate sale last week, I found a few great pieces for display. The little harp shaped piece to the left is one of them. It was stained dark brown, but I painted it today, along with the small mirror shown here too. I love small little things like this that can easily be hung just about anywhere in the house. They add bits of charm and character and can also be easily rearranged when the mood strikes me.
     I should probably come clean about what I collect. When you collect a lot of things, it is easy to find something you love when you are out and about. Let's see now...I collect vintage platters, the smaller size, mostly American made like Homer Laughlin, china tea cups and saucers, mirrors, single salt or pepper shakers as well as pairs if they "speak" to me, bark cloth, Block Optic depression glass, small rabbit/bunny figurines of all types but resin, heart pins/brooches, single cordial classes, vintage linens and hankies, small fancy frames for wallet photos, lace, silver silver ware and interesting stainless silverware, pansy dishes...I think I better stop for now, you get the idea though. Someday, when I die, my kids are going to want to kill me all over again...

Guild signed vintage air brush watercolor

     My last fab find for today is a vintage airbrush watercolor from the 1940's, signed by Guild. I have no idea who or what Guild is, I couldn't find out too much about the signature, just that there were other vintage air brush watercolors with the Guild signature out there. I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it. It is loose in the frame and the frame itself needs some tightening, but her expression and the softness of the airbrushing is just sublime. I think these type of pieces were done with stencils. I hope to hang her in my bedroom as soon as I get the frame tightened up. It was $45, but I was there on the 1/2 off day and it does have a small scratch on the skirt, so I got it for $14. I looked it up online after I got home and it is going for $300 here! Also, I did find out that there are these types of pieces in the early episodes of "I Love Lucy," and also in the movie "Batteries Not Included," which I have but haven't had time to watch lately. The piece is pretty big, 30" x 35", a nice focal piece. Right now it is on my fireplace mantel, just leaning against the wall, but she doesn't go with the deep turquoise of the room, so she can't stay there. But at least I can admire her everyday.  
     Thanks for stopping by today and checking out my fab finds, if you found something fab, let me know, I'll post a link to your find on my blog.

Project Updates and New Beads

     I am working on the second phase of my upcycled art supply train case. The paint is dry and I've been adding the collage elements. A couple borders and images that I like, including photos of my four kids on the lid. I think I'll add another border to the edge of the lid, above the silver toned metal border. I've also stamped the words "Art Goodies" on top and plan on stamping and writing a lot more words onto the case. I would like to add some shading to the collage, but haven't decided what would be best. It will all need to be sealed at some point too.

Any suggestions for the sealing compound would be appreciated. I will start painting the new "used" train case today, I'm thinking it would be lovely in a bold shade of pink or bright lime green with a theme of food and cooking, including a couple of recipes for real and imagined goodies. I might even be able to add some food or kitchen type charms to it. Maybe a couple of my glass food beads, like a cupcake or ice cream sundae?

     Another project I am in the middle of is repainting a pair of worn Dansko shoes. I love these shoes, they are so comfy and supportive. As someone who has to deal with Plantar Fascitis, I have to wear good shoes as often as possible and of course the good shoes are always the most expensive! So I wanted to extend the life of this particular pair of shoes. They were originally a dark burgundy/wine color. I love the blue of

the train case so much that I decided the shoes wanted to be blue too. I cleaned them with alcohol first to remove what was left of the finish. Then I painted them with two coats of the blue acrylic paint over the next few days. Most recently, I added black stitches with permanent marker. I'm still deciding what to do for my next step. I want to draw some faces on them and then add some glitz like rhinestones...we'll see.

     And finally, after over 6 months, or 7 or 8, I've sparked up my torch and made a few beads. It was great to melt some glass again, but after I made a few beads, my mind went blank and I couldn't think of a thing to make! I was overwhelmed with all the possibilities and just froze, it was not a good feeling. So I decided to run the kiln with what I had already made and just call it a night. I did have one of them crack, I let it cool too much before putting it into the kiln to anneal. But it will be a gorgeous piece for a mosaic! Always a silver lining...

Strawberries

    
     Started the day off early with a trip to the pool. Sixteen laps later I was ready to get the kids and head out to pick our first strawberries of the season. We went out to Guntzvillers, a wonderful U-pick farm in Elk Rapids. We go every year for strawberries, raspberries(red, black and white) and blackberries. Local June strawberries always taste like summer to me, if summer had a flavor. They are sweet and the flavor is so much more intense than anything available frozen or imported from out of the area. Next up is some strawberry freezer jam and strawberry dessert pizza. The dessert pizza is simply a sugar cookie crust, you can use store bought, but I'm making homemade, spread out on a jelly roll pan or pizza pan, baked, cooled and then you mix some marshmallow fluff, vanilla and cream cheese till smooth and spread onto the baked cookie "crust." Finally you spread sliced strawberries all over the topping and viola!  I guess I need to make a Strawberry patch/badge very soon.

I also picked up a new train case to upcycle for more art supply storage. This one is a Samsonite, longer than the blue one and an unattractive shade of brown. I like brown, but for an art supply case, it just doesn't work for me. I need some color, fun and sparkly stuff!!! Photos later, after the blue case is finished. Did I mention I'm jazzing up an old pair of Dansko shoes too? Photos of those later as well. Ok, time to go make something...what are You doing?

Orthodontia and Rainbows

    The weather was as strange as the range between my daughter's orthodontia appt. and the brilliant partial rainbow over my neighborhood this evening. It was overcast on and off, rainy and sunny at the same time, muggy at times and then cool and breezy at others...such a crazy day.

     Tweaked some of my visual journal pages this morning, but won't get more done until tonight. Also going to attempt to make some "cupcake" bath bombs tonight...it takes two days, one day for the base and the next for the "frosting." They are just the cutest things and I love good bathtime treats, I'm well overdue for a good soak in the tub. Spent the day perusing bath bomb recipes along with problems and solutions others posted on various blogs, really helpful. Then I spent the afternoon looking for all the ingredients...citric acid is not so easy to find! It is one of those things I will have to order by mail in the future to get the best price, and that is if, IF, they turn out on this first go through. I will post photos at the end of the day tomorrow or the day after of the final product.

     I'm posting my "Sister Mary Sunshine" visual journal page. This one was created with one of my own photos of me, lol, because I do look at life on the bright side for the most part, I'm an optimist, always have been and always will be. I don't like the alternative...and life is just too short!


     And lastly, a few photos of the train case I am upcycling to use for my visual journal art supplies. You can see the original steel blue color in the photo where the case is tilted up since I have not painted the bottom yet. The lovely blue is the new base color. I will be adding more layers of color and fun down the line. And then you can see all the supplies I can fit nicely into the case in the last photo.

More Visual Journal and Studio Cleaning...

So I went out to my glass and jewelry studio to work on cleaning and organizing it further today, but only got about 45 minutes under my belt. Those little wispy spiders are everywhere, and although my shop vac is perfect for sucking them up along with all the dust and cobwebs, it still took a lot out of me mentally. I know, being such a wimp about it, thought I had really conquered my fear of 8 legged things. And I'm not so much afraid as I am edgy. When I come across one and it just zooms out, it startles me, and that is what freaks me out. I don't run screaming from the room or call out to my DH to come and "save" me, but I can only come across so many before it gets to me. I was hoping to have my studio all ready in 3 days, but it is looking like this may take me at least a week...sigh.

On a brighter note, I worked on some more visual journal pages and another project. I am revamping a vintage train case or make up case from the 50's or 60's. It was from JC Penney's and was a really dark steely blue with silver toned metal trim. It is a perfect size for taking my visual journal art supplies on the road. I have almost finished the first layer, two coats of a lovely sleeping beauty turquise blue. I still have to paint the bottom and then use a small brush to get into the smaller spaces so it is completely covered. It already looks so pretty and cheerful, much better than the original. I'll take a picture soon of the paint job when that layer is finished. I am posting photos of two new visual journal pages that I'm working on as well. So having fun making art in between cleaning out the studio and running away from spiders...it's all good!