Friday, December 19, 2008

Sawdust Results!





Check out my newly printed fabrics! Hand screenprinted and hand designed! Perfect for whatever project you have!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Homemade Sawdust Kiln



I am so excited!
My husband and I went out to our farm last weekend and gathered up rocks and sticks and built a sawdust kiln. First we made a big circle out of rocks built up like we were building a wall. Next came the stinky part. We took out the wheelbarrow and got a load of cow manure....there is definitely no shortage of that on our farm! It actually wasn't very stinky, it was all well aged and most of it had almost completed the process of turning back into dirt! We took all the cow manure and piled it up around the outside of the rock wall we had made to insulate it.
This weekend we went out with our un-bisqued clay pieces and loaded them in the "kiln".
We used a mixture of fine and coarse sawdust and dried shredded leaves and loaded the kiln. Then we piled our sticks on top. Now it was time for the fire!
Not as exciting as it sounds, really not even as big as a campfire. Once our sticks had burnt down level with the rock top of the kiln we put tin over it and let it smolder. We went home and came back this afternoon, still very hot and smoky; but we unloaded it anyway.
All of the pieces were a beautiful deep black from being in the fine sawdust!
So exciting. I came home and burnished them with some wax. Beautiful!
I will post some pics later, when I get some good ones taken.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Late Nights

Wow, this has been a busy month.
I have read about the Christmas rush on Etsy but didn't really expect this much business!
I have been up until 2a.m. for the past three nights. Tiring work, but so much fun!
Keep the orders coming and I will keep making things....well, even if you don't I still will.

Goodnight sewing machine! Goodnight all!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Taylor Mansion




Tonight I ventured with husband and child in tow to the Taylor Mansion in Newport Kentucky.
They were having a party for the holidays that my father in law being the county historian was invited to. What a fabulous piece of architectural history!
The building was enormous and the details unbelievable.
Starting with the front door which was made from a very thick piece of curved wood. I have never seen anything like it in my life. So amazing.
Anyway, the mansion was all original. They definitely don't build them like they used to.
After touring the whole house we went up to the attic on the third floor which was where the servants quarters were. I believe that many of the house servants were slaves, as it was before the civil war. The attic was my favorite part of the whole house.
The rest of the house was spectacular and everything you would expect a mansion to look like, but when I walked up the unfinished creaky attic stairs into the dark and gloom it was like I was walking into the soul of the house. The attic was creepy and rough around the edges. This part of the house just felt so much more real to me. So many lives were lived out in these small rooms. I just wanted to go into each one and explore. Alas they were roped off. Maybe another time! Just such a lovely house overflowing with history!

Tunnels

Tunnels
Mingling amongst friends.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Glam Dress



Wow!
In my last post I wasn't sure if I was going to trek to the thrift store or not...I did!
Look what I found!
Talk about 80's gold.
More pics just look at my Dustymoustache!

Another cold morning

It's another cold morning here in Kentucky. I am having a hot cup of coffee and watching my 16 month old feed himself bananas and peaches. He is getting pretty good with his fork! It's amazing to watch another human being learn all of the things that I learned so many years ago.
Anyway, I am trying to decide whether to head out to my local thrift store or not. I love going to the thrift store and junk shops! You never know what you might come across. I would love nothing more in life than to have a job cleaning out attics of people who want none of the items up there! Think of all the treasures just hiding away in those dark musty places just waiting to be rediscovered! Many people would also say think of all the junk, dirt, dust and possibly spiders! Yikes!!! I would be willing to brave it all just for a peek into some forgotten old trunk. Sadly there was no attic in the house I grew up in. I feel like I missed out on something! I was just in my aunt's attic last weekend. She was showing me how she had finished some gorgeous quilts and they were stored up there....oh so many boxes and this mysterious handmade old wooden chest that she said was there when my grandmother and grandfather bought the house. I wanted to just throw open the lid and explore its' depths, but it's not my house and so I just followed my aunt back down the treacherously skinny and steep steps to the regular house wondering all the while what still waits to be seen in the dark!

A vintage picture of my aunt's house, where the attic awaits!

Monday, November 24, 2008

I NEED to THROW something!


How about some of these lovely handmade throw pillows and or pillow covers from my
fellow Etsians!
Top left to right: TheHomeCentric, Olive, novemberfoxtrot,

Middle row: rrounds, ouno, bannerbabe,

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Fiber Art Necklace


I finally finished this necklace I have been working on for some time now!
It's made of all sort of vintage metal findings wrapped in mossy green and earthy brown embroidery floss.
I did some weaving on some parts of it.
It's for sale in my shop on Etsy.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Friends on Etsy

gracieluv makes some fun and funky jewelry from polymer clay!
David makes some fun screenprints!

cplummerart: Chris makes some amazing and unique prints!

Vintage can be Art!

Vintage can be art!
Check out some of my favorite items today!
A beautiful repurposed piece of vintage from Simplymeart on Etsy.
If you're in the market for unique fork jewelry check out forkometry!
Imotime proves that tupperware will never be outdated with the fab "Tupper Time" Clock!
Artsy shows that vintage dolls prove to be rather fun when combined with lightbulbs!
So much more, but that's all I have time for right now!