Primitive Baby Sock Ornament

Hello!

It is time for another ornament.

This one starts with a baby sock.

You may have some at your house or you can go out and pick up a pack.

First you want to stain it.

I have a tutorial here for staining tags but the principal is the same.

Once they have been stained and are dry, add a few simple embellishments.

I am very fond of stained cheesecloth.

It has a raggy appearance that is both primitive and delicate.

 That is all I did here plus one little rosehip.

A little wire hanger made from heavy steel wire finishes it off.

 The nice thing about these is that you can make a whole mini army of these in just a few hours.

You will actually spend more time waiting for them to dry than you will putting them together.

If you make some this month, they would be sweet for Valentine's day next month or you can save them for Christmas and be ahead of the game.

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs...

Swap and Tell with Tarnished Royalty

I am loving the concept of Swap and Tell over at Tarnished Royalty.

It is simple, you link an item or service you want to trade and then wait to see if someone wants to swap.

You can ask someone to swap first, of course.

Then you exchange info, and pay your own postage to send the item.

Off it goes.  

You receive the item you agreed to trade for.

Then each of you write a review of the service, product and overall impression of the other shop.

Easy Peasy.

Lucky me...I got to swap with Ann this time from Tarnished Royalty.

Now this is actually like some kind of surreal dream because I am a longtime fan of hers.

She is even sweeter and kinder than I could imagine.

Hard to believe...isn't it?

Her box came right after my first fall show so it was such a nice surprise after such a busy weekend.

I love when the presentation makes you not want to open it....

True story..I just admired it on my dining room table for a full day before I could make myself unwrap this little beauty.

So lovely.

Ann included a lovely handwritten note.

Such a personal touch.

Her business card is just so enchanting...

And while I have loved her style and work for awhile, I was not familiar with that amazing crown on her card....

I love unwrapping something...

all breathless and excited...

 to find another layer of wondering.....

There it is...

The lovely little B necklace.

I am excited to have this sweet little necklace.

It has been a very long time since I had one this length.

I love the robin's egg blue...

One of my favorite colors.

I could not be more pleased with this swap.  

It arrived quickly and was wrapped beautifully.

The quality is first rate.

I had fun poking around Ann's shop at Tarnished Royalty.

I especially liked the Tiara Hat Bands like this one.

Isn't it fabulous?

LOVE it!

Find it here.

I love this necklace as well.

You can go right to the shop for this item.

At her blog she has some amazing tutorials.

I adore when an artist will share how to make something. 

 I think it shows such confidence and  an open heart.

I love this spiderweb tutorial.

I have to make some of these....

You can too...

And here is the perfect little pearl spider for that web....

Here is the link to the tutorial.

I am just enchanted by her style, grace and inner beauty.

Thanks, Ann, for a great trade.

Thanks for stopping by....

A Dress Form from Old Chicken Wire...

A couple years ago, I saw some ghostly dresses for the lawn made from chicken wire.

They were enchanting and I was totally smitten.

I have wanted to make some for two years but have been worried about how hard they might be to shape and form.

A couple weeks ago, I was cleaning an area I call "the annex".

It has an old truck camper that I am planning to use as an alternative studio.

It is behind my round two-story shed and has a workbench.

It also has storage things like bricks and rocks and cans with Christmas decor for outside like lights and wreaths and garland.

Under the camper was a roll of chicken wire we removed from the chicken enclosure after the chicks were full grown.

I clipped off a length and started to fold the ends over to make a cylinder.

Then I squeezed and pinched the wire to make my first chicken wire dress form.

I was in love.

I made 2 more from the length of chicken wire I had.

  I turned 3 basic shapes out in about 30 minutes.

Here is one.

Once I made them, I was not sure how to display them.

My brilliant, artistic friend suggested tomato cages...

PERFECT!

Two of them  were stacked so the (normally) top ring rests on the ground for stability.

Then the other one is turned over so the 3 prongs/stakes are touching the other tomato cages'  prongs/ stakes.

Then the prongs are bent to lock the cages together.

This one is sort of ghostly.

She is hard to see with the vegetation behind her.

If you look close here, you can see how the chicken wire ends from one side bend over to lock on the wire.

Another photo so you can hopefully see better.

I have not "dressed" her yet.

I am thinking I want them in my flower beds as surprise focals...

This sweet girl is dressed.

I bought two tutus a few years ago at the thrift store.

They have been hanging in my laundry room since then, waiting for inspiration.

I think I found the perfect place for this one.

I wanted to accent the bust line with some flowers.

First I tried gluing them on with hot glue. 

 Not good.

So I pulled them off and glued them to a strip of fabric.

Then I used more short strips to tie it to the dress form. 

 I tied one strip between the flowers.

That worked better and I can remove it when I am feeling like giving her a change...

Then I tied a scarf around her waist.

The tutu has a bottom like a pair of underwear so I just slipped that over the base of the chicken wire dress form.

Then she sits down in the tomato cage and the tutu over the top holds her in place.

And then there is this sweet girl.

She was actually the first one I dressed.

She got a skirt from some sheets I tore in strips this summer.

I just tied a long strip in each hole along the bottom of the form.

Then I tied short ones in between.

She, too rests on a tomatoe cage base. 

 Her skirt is long so she needs a tall base.

I wanted to give her a flower accent too, so I made a little rose from stained cheesecloth.

I glued a piece of lace on the back so it can be tied on or taken off.

Here she is taking a little swing.

I think she would be awesome, hung with fishing line from our curly willow tree. 

 She would look like she's floating and dancing in the breeze.

For the post, I moved her all around.  

Below she is in our wildflower strip.

We planted wildflowers each year for three years in an area where we could not mow.

Every year, it looks a little different.

I love it though.

It takes no upkeep and I pick lots of flowers for the fair and bouquets from here.

I just love these girls.

I could not be happier with how they turned out and how easy they were.

You can tell from the photos that I have not decided on the perfect place for each of them yet.

So they live in my garage right now.  

I am not ready to put them outside permanently and let the elements take their toll.  

Maybe next summer.

I am thinking you may see some more this fall dressed for the season....

Thanks for stopping by...

We will be joining these great blogs...

Fabric Mixed Media Book...

I have long been fascinated and inspired by fabric books.

I love the old and shabby look of creations by amazing artists such as Viola from Shabby Chic Inspired....

and Karen Valentine from My Desert Cottage...

So with the fair coming up soon, I decided to finally tackle one of my own....

Here is the result.

I started with some quilt squares I got at a local surplus store.

  They came 4 in a pack and were already assembled as a finished square with button holes around the edges so you could easily build a quilt.

This is the cover.

I bound my book with yarn and fibers.

I cut a variety of ribbons and fibers and used a crochet hook to pull them through the button holes.

Then I tied them loosely in a knot.

The cover already had the lace as part of the quilt square.

I attached the word "Dream" by basting each letter on.

I bought the letters at the thrift store a couple years ago.

I think they are the ones you use on signs.

I cut the little tabs off with scissors.

I added a twisted satin flower and a piece of fabric that I dyed from a discarded set of curtains from my brother.

I wove an old pearl necklace through the button holes around the edge and attached a charm I made from hardware, rhinestones, one of my polymer beads, a frozen Charlotte head, and resin.

  When you open the book, you can see the first two pages....

Images from The Graphics Fairy were printed on muslin and sewn on the pages.

The other end of the pearl necklace from the front got a vintage music resin bottle cap charm added.

The secret here for the aged look resin is to use car resin which is amber instead of clear.

The letters are made from polymer clay in a push mold.

I antiqued and sealed them.

This page also has a UTEE covered book page leaf, a polymer clay music charm, a cheesecloth twisted flower, and a resin cube encasing a vintage crocheted flower and lace.

I love this cheesecloth flower...

Behind the resin cube are two white feathers.

A little polymer flower accents the end of one feather.

The next two pages are butterfly inspired.

Another great image from The Graphics Fairy.

A seashell with another image from her transferred onto it.

I love this sweet little girl.

The little blue mirrors are button attachments I bought when I got the quilt squares.

This page has a library card sewn in as well as a butterfly poem from a children's poetry book.

The library card is a pocket so little treasures can be tucked inside.

This page also has butterflies and flowers galore.

I adore how inking the edge of a die cut really makes it pop.


Staz-on ink is my favorite...

Die cuts are accented with handmade polymer hearts and flowers or frosty acrylic accents.

The twine flower is made by making twine loops and the gluing them and adding a button on top.

The trick is to make it on a hot glue release mat.

Just pop it off when it is cool.

Here are the last two pages.

The left hand page has cheesecloth and burlap sewn on and then two of my tags were added.

Cheesecloth and crepe paper are two of my favorite materials.

This little handmade chalkboard tag is so sweet.

This last page was so much fun.

I sewed about 5 dyed coffee filters right down the middle of the page.

That creates about 10 more pages on this page...

What fun!

So Let's get started....

More butterflies and cheesecloth....

That vintage picture on the right cracks me up.

It's from an old postcard and says, "I am fully occupied!"

Next page....lace and polymer flowers and more crepe paper accents.

Alice in Wonderland and a little handmade vial...

Dress forms are an obsession of mine...

I like the three-dimensional accents....

Another sweet girl and a string flower....

Cupcake liners are such a sweet accent.

I got a couple of these glitter keys on clearance but had not decided what to do with them...

Every book needs a key, right?

So much texture and fun in these pages.

A book spine with dyed butterfly wings peeking out.

This darling girl is actually on a flattened toilet paper tube.

I wanted to create a pocket for a tag.

Last two pages.

I still feel like anything is possible if you BELIEVE and WORD HARD!

A sweet little glittered spool.

On the back of the book is a coffee filter flower.

Doesn't everyone need a fabric book?

I have to say, I LOVED this project.

It took me a couple hours to assemble all the bits and pieces.

Almost every single piece (except the glitter key) was made or altered by me.

 Many things were already made and then just added.

Those jars I showed you before, hold lots of goodies...handmade and collected.

If there is anything you saw you want to see a tutorial on later, just let me know...either in the comments below or shoot me an email.

Thanks for stopping by....

I will be linking up with these amazing blogs.