Workbench Wednesday...Getting Ready For An Art Abandonment...

It has been some time since I showed you what was on the workbench.

It seems something always is...I just don't always take a picture.

Here is what is going on this week...

These charms and beads are on their way to becoming something extra special...

The beads will be turned into bracelets that will be given as gifts...

There are some people I need to thank and art seems like the natural way for me to do it...

Each bracelet will have a hope bead as well as a few others...

I want to make enough that each person can choose the one they like best...

Of course the beads will have to be dyed...

I am thinking pink, blue, purple....

And then I made a pile of these little charms and beads.

My plan is to do a couple different bracelet designs...

And the charms???

Well, they have a special purpose...

They are destined to be a part of my next art abandonment...

What is that, you ask?

Well, there is a movement in art where artists take the things they make and leave them for others to find and take.

All these little charms will be sprinkled about next week in a place where I know they are needed....

The funny part of this story is that after taking these photos, I took the tray of pieces into my garage where I was going to color them....

The whole try flipped over and the beads and pendants scattered down into a huge pile of paint cans and such next to the sink.

Sigh.

I gathered the ones I could see, but I will be making more soon....

Oh my...

Thanks for stopping by....

Workbench Wednesday...Box of Possibilities...

As you know, I collect many things.

One of the things I can't seem to resist is industrial-type storage.

If it is old and grubby with chipped, scratched paint...I am in.

My father in law brought me this box a while back.  

I think it held screws and such.

I am using it for some of the handmade components I collect.

Sometimes when I am working on a project, I don't finish it or have extra components when I am done.

Some of them ended up in here....

There are also jewelry bits and game pieces that I have plans for.

I feel like this could be a jewelry maker's "I Spy".

Don't you agree?

Balled wire, fiber wrapped beads, stamped leather components, bottle caps, pencil bits, moss/twig bundles, felted wool, etc....

Little bits of leather, polymer faces, pretty beads, washers, chains, silk strips....

Resin wonders, escutcheons, film bits, pencil beads, wooden spools, keys, feathers....

What do you keep all your bits and baubles in?

For me half the fun is seeing them all grouped together in unexpected ways...

Makes my imagination race...

Thanks for stopping by....

Workbench Wednesday...Washing Buttons

How about a quick peek of what I am working on this week...

I dumped a tin of vintage buttons in a hosiery bag and dunked it repeatedly in a bucket of hot water and Dawn dish washing detergent.

Then I rinsed, and rinsed and rinsed...

I dumped them into a strainer purchased just for such purposes (i.e. crafty stuff)...

Then I spread them out on a plastic tray and let them dry....

I ran my hands through them over and over...

I tell myself it is to spread them out to dry better...

Really it is because I have to touch them....

Touching them brings me happiness...

My heart tells stories of each button as my fingers touch them...

Next step is letting them become something new....

Stay tuned....

Thanks for stopping by....

Workbench Wednesday: Tie Dye Beads

It is Wednesday again.

That means I am going to give you a glimpse of what I am working on.

How about these tie-dye beads...?

I spritzed some of my homemade alcohol inks on these white beads.

The effect is a funky tie dye look.

I like it.

They still have to be rinsed.

So they will lose some of the vibrancy and be more muted when I am done.

These are even more fun to make than they are to look at...

A squirt, squirt here and a squirt, squirt there....

I hope your workbench is filled with vibrant color too....

Thanks for stopping by...

Workbench Wednesday... T-Shirt Yarn

One of my favorite materials is t-shirt yarn.

I did a post on it earlier here.

 I also did a post on Hometalk.

Some of the yarn was made from t-shirts that were already destined for the rag bin.

Some t-shirts were purchased at the local thrift store for about 50 cents each on half off day.

My daughter and I stocked up on different colors. 

 Our cart was full and the lady behind is kept sighing.

We were chatting with the thrift store staff while we were checking out.

When my daughter went to put the cart away, the woman who had been behind us approached her and asked what we were doing again....

My daughter told her and the lady said it sounded cool.  

It made us chuckle.

This week on the workbench, I was cutting the t-shirts on my back porch workbench and making yarn for some yarn projects.

I really liked the colors in this group.

The t-shirts were super soft so this yarn is extra soft and stretchy.

I love that this time of year my workbench may be inside, outside or a combination of both....

I hope you have something on your workbench right now too...

Thanks for stopping by...

Workbench Wednesday...making soap

Happy Wednesday.

The project I am sharing today you can find in the Spring 2016 issue of Willow and Sage.

I figured I better share it before the summer issue comes out.

Last summer I spent a morning making melt and pour soaps.

Looking at the pictures, I can almost smell them.

Complete recipes and directions are in this issue of Willow and Sage.

The great thing about melt and pour soaps is how easy they are to make.

And you can use just about any container for a mold as long as you treat it to release the soap.

Once the soap is made, the best part is the packaging.

I wanted my soaps to have a rustic look.

This is the Gardener's Delight bar.

Off to the woodshed for a log....

Then to my husband's garage to use his saw.

I ended up using his drill press too for the holes.

His suggestion and it made the process much easier and faster.

All the rest of the packaging details came from my studio/garage.

Sometimes the prettiest pictures take in the tiniest details.

I gave a bunch of these soaps to my dear friends at work at Christmas time.

Looking at these photos makes me long for summer days.

They will be here before you know it.

In the summer, anyplace is a work area for me, especially outside.

Our days are getting longer.

It is not warm enough consistently to feel like spring is definitely here to stay.

But there are other signs...

Our grass could use a cutting.

In the morning I can hear the birds singing.

Some flowers are coming out and blossoming.

And the fish in our pond come lazily to the surface and swim about.

We are almost there...

To finish the packaging, I made tags for each kind of soap with polymer clay.

I love the way the tags turned out...

I used the silicone molds from a former workbench Wednesday.

And then I just stamped them with tiny alphabet stamps as well.

I used a bit of watered down black paint in the letters to make them stand out.

 And rubbed the tags with some DecoArt Metallic Lustres.

They are among my favorites because I use my fingers and get dirty when I use them.

So, before it is no longer available on the newsstand, run out and pick up ma copy of Willow and Sage Spring 2016 issue to see how to make these and many more fabulous bath and body products.

Linking up with these great blogs.