More wall art

Now that the 8 Nights of Lights are over....I may never do another video!!!! OK....JUST KIDDING!!! But I want to get caught up on my life and all the other fun things I did the past 8 days! Are you getting a rest yet? Not me....I just seem to go, go, go! But I do love a great sale. Hobby Lobby had these shadowbox type frames marked down to $3.50. I couldn't resist!



But they weren't my colors. Of course! So I got busy and altered a couple of them, adding in what I'm now calling my studio signature colors - turquoise, white and brown and this Heidi Swapp paper.



You really have to be careful if you ever come to my house and look around! That's NOT a jump ring on the top of the letter "L"! That's Grandma Myrtle's wedding band! And yes, I've written on the back who this goes to....and I've told Kerry to be sure to read on the back of all my art as it will tell what the little hidden secrets are and who I'd like it to go to!



And I did one with a photo of mom. It says, "She gave me the gift of art. She taught me how to play an dhow to pray. May I give these GIFTS to my children one day." And inside is a piece of domino art that has the word "play" on it.



I'm still working on coordinating wall baskets and if I ever get them all done, I'll take a photo of the wall. For now, the art is piling up on the table so I guess I'd better go play some more!!!

Shadowbox Memories, Part 2 of 2

So have you decided to pull the kids baby things out of storage and put them on display? You don't have to do vintage like I did - there are so many wonderful scrapbook papers and embellishments available today - I'm almost tempted to re-do these!



First thing I noticed - I never finished this one! Jeff's senior photo is missing! Well, one of these days....



I tried to keep them different because the boys have very different personalities. Jason loves classical music and Jeff loves county western. But I wanted the same elements in each box. They both got teddy bears because when they were little, I made and sold bears.



Jeff's dedication certificate, cigar, flowers. The baby blanket was made by my sis, Elaine.



His baby outfit, photo, and more chipboard dolls:



So many things to keep - so many memories.



Another vintage pop-up with greenery behind her. Angels watcing over my kids, every day.



Cute little hanky pockets stitched and shaped to hold flowers



His spoon - stitched to the ribbon to hide the thread.



Jeff loved trains and when I found this printer's block, I just had to add it!




Each of their boxes has a Mexican peso given to them by a family friend, and a silver dollar from the year of their birth.



The possibilities for shadowboxes have no limits. You could do one for each year of school, for ancestors, for marriage....well for any life event. It's just a great way to display momentos that are too lumpy for scrapbooks! 2' x 3' is just the perfect size to keep baby blankets, christening outfits and more! And with glass front doors - you never have to dust! These are 12 years old and look as good s the day I put them together!

Shadowbox Memories, Part 1 of 2

These shadowboxes are 2' x 3', with hinged glass fronts and a total depth of 2 1/2". This is Jason's box, he's my oldest son, soon to turn 29. I started by laying a sheet of foam core board in the bottom of the box and covered that with his baby blanket. The blanket was made by mom's mom.



I think I made these boxes about 1995 - long before I took up scrapbooking. But obviously, I was into the vintage look. This is a little pop-up card. But the halo is actually Grandma's wedding ring. I think it's quite fun to hide little things like this and make you have to look to see what's there! Idea # 2 - make a list of what's in the shadowbox, who it came from, it's date or origin, and put that in a pocket on the back of the shadowbox. Just so no one throws away Grandma's wedding ring!!!



Here's the cigar his dad handed out and his baby spoon. I didn't want to tape or glue a thing, so I've wrapped fine thread around these and then stitched them to the baby blanket. More like a loose basting stitch.



His baptismal certificate, the rose from the alter that day, a hanky from his godmother - it's folded as a baby bonnet. Now, you can't stitch paper, but you can use a lot of "T-pins" to hold things in place.



Here's a really fun technique. I wanted a unique way to showcase his photos K-12. Behind his senior photo is a vintage fan. I cut the ovals using a craft knife and put his photo in the center of each blade of the fan. I've got his life in a nutshell right before my eyes every day of the week!



These are the cutest little crocheted sandals that his godmother made for him. Jason was a premie and only weighed 6 pounds and his feet were so tiny. These are about 2" long.



I think it was obvious back then I was destined to do collage! His baby photo is in a counted cross stitch frame my dear friend Pam made. His first baby toy, the newspaper clipping of his birth, more flowers from the day he was born tucked in a hanky pocket. And I've threaded silk ribbon through the items. Do you see his first lock of hair tied to the bow?




And here's his christening outfit. Handmade by me! White velour onesie, matching jacket and hat. Pale blue shirt with a matching bowtie. I tell you - he was just too cute that day!!! This was attached to the blanket using pins. Note the hanging chipboard boys attached to silk ribbon looped from the top frame. Lots of dried greenery and it's still just fine! You can even see the tassle from his graduation cap hanging to the left.



And I was definitely not a stamper when I made this, but I found these wood printer blocks that spelled his name and one that is the Boy Scout emblem. I couldn't resist adding them to his shadowbox. Note the metal corners that I added to the outside of the box.



I've received hundreds of compliments on this box over the years and it's so much more fun than to have everything tucked away. Maybe this is just scrapbooking on a grand scale? It doesn't have a title and there's no journaling, but sometimes, memories stand alone, just as they are!

Home decor

I'm trying to downsize, but there are just some things that will stay with me even into the nursing home! LOL! So today, I worked on hanging them on a spare wall in the guest bedroom. In the center was today's project.


It didn't photo too well with the flash on, but that was a brown/black metal key from Hobby Lobby - on the 66% off aisle. I needed something to hang the 48" long christening gown on. And the 2 vintage doll dresses. A layer of Krylon primer and 2 layers of Krylon white glossy paint - and I have a white key!




Everything in my life has some kind of meaning. The christening gown is one that was given to me when I had an antique shop in San Diego. It was totally brown with loads of bug stains and big holes in it. I used Biz to clean it and then Japanese paste to mend the tears. If you looked at it today, you would not be able to see any damage at all. I need to find another piece of old vintage clothing and then I can do step shots as I go through the process of repairing it. The other antique dealer who gave it to me could not believe the restoration job I did on it!

The little doll dresses - well, they are the kind I always wanted for my dolls when I was a little girl - all pretty and covered in lace. I've decided it's never to late to awaken that childhood spirit that lives deep inside of each of us! So here they hang - reminding me every day that it's ok to be a kid, to have some fun, and to play a bit!



On the left is a 2' x 3' shadowbox filled with Jason's baby things. Tomorrow I will blog more on that and share some techniques for preserving your kids things.



On the right is Jeff's shadowbox. We'll be talking about that on Saturday.



I know so many people put their kid's baby things in boxes and store them away. I wanted to display them, look at them, share them with others, and just enjoy the memories of their childhood on a daily basis. I know also that I don't have room to display all the momentos I've accumulated in my life, but these 2 shadowboxes bring great joy and lots of smiles to me. The boys can certainly wait another 30 or 40 years to have them!!!