FRIDAY FENCE POST #71

Time, once again, for a Friday Fence Post. Today's featured fence has been here before, but my Dear Husband suggested I do it again, because time and weather have worked on it. An update seemed appropriate.

Here's how the fence looked, back in September of 2008:

And here it is now:



This is the other side of that same fence, where the sage has pushed the boards away, and come through.



And this is also the same fence, but I took the shot to show off one of my latest projects--a garland, which I sent off to my Swap-bot partner, earlier this week. I loved making it, and loved the results.


In fact, I enjoyed this so much, I'm thinking of making them to sell:


What do you think? Opinions, anyone?

Your turn now. Got a fence you'd like to share? Drop the link to it in Mr Linky here, and I'll come visit! Mr Linky is here all week, so don't feel like you've missed your chance if you don't get yours in on a Friday. Stop by with it anytime!

Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts: Book Review

If I were to make a list of Favorite Things, "Books" would be right up at the top, and angling for position right next to that would be "Crafting", especially using found/recycled materials. Imagine my delight then, just reading the title, The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts.

And then I opened the book....oooh.

Flowers from pop cans

The book is divided into six sections, Plastic, Paper, Glass, Cans, Textiles, and Throwaways. That is, by the way, all the Table of Contents tells you, along with the page numbers that begin each section. It's all right, though; you are going to want to leaf through page by page anyway. Be sure to have a stack of bookmarks handy for all the projects you'll want to do!

Pumpkins from dryer vent hoses

Each project has it's own page, sometimes two, with a photograph, materials list, and very clear instructions, with copious illustrations and photos where mere words might not suffice. Sprinkled throughout the book are extra tips, and at the end of the book are full-sized patterns.

Who doesn't have a bunch of Cd cases lying around?

This is a book I'm going to use a lot. I found myself thinking, That would really be fun for the Crafting Week with Mama! or Wouldn't that make a great gift for the grandkids!

There were projects I wanted to make as gifts, projects I wanted to make for myself, ideas I wanted to share with various relatives, and ideas that sparked the creative brain waves for new projects of my own.

My prediction: This is a book that will garner a lot of fans.

An elegant throw from recycled sweaters

SHOW SOMETHING SATURDAY #5

I have a video to show you! My friend, Christine Claringbold makes cool stuff from old phonograph records--

Clocks

Bowls

Cuff Bracelets

Suncatchers and Window Clings (which aren't from records, but are still cool.)

Spinners for the yard

I love everything Christine does, but most of all I love the spinners. They're so bright, and cheery, and they MOVE.

And today Christine's daughter, a young teen, created this video of them for her Mom. Isn't this just great?

(Hope this works--I borrowed the video from Christine's FaceBook page!)

TUESDAY TUTE: SCRAP PADS

There’s paper all around us these days. Junk mail, last year’s date books, old ledgers, snippets of scrapbook paper, school notebook paper, and you don’t want to just throw it away, but what’s it good for?


Scratch pads! I don’t know a single person who doesn’t need something to scribble a quick note on from time to time. Have you ever made your own? It’s remarkably easy.

You’ll need just three things: paper, card stock, and rubber cement.

First decide what paper you’re going to use. I chose to use an assortment, just for the interest of having different patterns and colors to write on, and took sheets from all the sources I mentioned above. The card stock is for the last sheet, to give your scratch pad stiffness, and it’s good to use it for the front, too, to protect the lighter-weight papers. What I used for mine was the back of a Bessie Pease Gutman calendar.

Cut all your sheets to exactly the same size. Or you could go random with them, which was my first thought, but I quickly discovered I liked a smooth, book-like edge better.



Shuffle the pages for maximum variety. If you want, make your cover pieces just a smidge bigger than the writing sheets, and choose them for their decorative effect.


Now stack them so that the top edges are perfectly aligned, put a sheet of paper under the stack to protect your work surface, and one on top to protect your weights, and then weigh the stack of paper down with something good and heavy. I used my cast iron bench press, but a concrete block, several heavy books, or pieces of wood clamped together with C-clamps are also good choices.

Paint the top, exposed, edges of the scratch pad with rubber cement. Let the cement dry, and repeat. Do that until you feel like you’ve got a good heavy coating of rubber cement. This is what holds the pad together.



When the glue is completely dry, take the weights off, and peel off the protective sheets of paper. Trim any excess glue sticking out. If some of your writing sheets have skewed in the process, you can trim their edges, too, if you like.


My front cover looked a little lopsided to me, so I added another image to it. You might want to decorate it with a bit of ribbon, lace, or other pretty item.



You can also make these more production-style, by stacking multiple scratch pad assemblies, and painting as for one. When the glue is dry, just tear them apart.

Another option is to glue one side, rather than the top edges. Your scratch pad would then open like a book.

FREE: CIGAR BOXES GONE PASTEL

Once again, MizMollye has inspired me. The other day she put up a whole slew of beautiful vintage cigar box art, free to download. The box labels were so fabulous, I downloaded the whole bunch.

I was looking at them, mulling over possibilities for use, when it occurred to me that for some uses pastels or sepia might work better for me. Minutes later, I was opening them in my photo editor and happily playing with the colors.

If there are any here that you'd like to take, feel free to click and copy. (And be sure to visit MizMollye's post, too, to get the original, fantastical, bright art!)

















My apologies if there are duplicates in this post. The computer is fighting me, and this month has officially caught up with me. I've caught cold, and will now carry myself off to bed, and hope I did this entry right!

LITTLE TIMES 8--NEW TEA KETTLE CHARACTERS

The are new peeps on the block, eight new little Tea Kettle Characters, to be precise. Here they are, in order of size, smallest to largest.

Gidget fits in my hand quite comfortably--


Lily is perhaps a little shorter, but definitely plumper--


Royce and Kilroy are about seven inches tall. (Royce has removable arms; they're sugar cube tongs, so you can put sugar cubes in the top of his hollow crown, and use his arms to serve them!)


James, our Rockin' Rodeo fellow, and his friend Bartleby--


And this handsome couple, Hattie and Eugene--


They all wish you a happy weekend!

THE UNGARDEN SHOW, Pt 1

I was going to do this all in one, but between unexpected company (the band), and band practice itself, there isn't time to do a big post, so I'm going to do the simplest part first--my own table at the show. My apologies for looking ego-centric. (Not that I'm not--I know it's one of my faults, but I do try not to be too obvious about it as a rule!)

Here are the photos, and enough said, except that it was an awesome show, and I got to hang out with some amazing artists, most of whom are not only sweet people, but put me in awe of their formidable talents. Every bit of the art at the show was created from at least 75% recycled/reclaimed materials.

My table, covered with lovely estate sale fabric

Some of the Mini Cake Stands

A few of the new Coffee Pot People magnets

Brand new! Glovelettes from hankies, napkins, etc.

Bookmarks from old cooking illustrations

One of the glovelettes, next to a tray of rings

Tomorrow: Pictures of just some of the wonderful, whimsical, beautiful art shown at the 2010 UnGarden Show.