Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Kitty Bangles

Over a year ago I created the Cat's Meow Bangle and earrings.  It's turned into one of my favorite pieces to wear (brown matches most of my wardrobe) and the smaller version of the bangle has sold a few times.  I didn't have any of the smaller one in my stock so I decided in preparation for new jewelry at Lansing Art Gallery and Angelwood Gallery I should get some kitty bangles to them also. We have 2 grey cats so I used them for a little bit of inspiration. Clark is the darker of the two greys and the largest of our cats so his bangle is a tiny bit wider. Lois inspired the glittery lighter grey bangle because she's a princess and should really be wearing a sparkly tiara around.


I haven't decided what's going where yet and I feel like I want to make a third for my personal stock so we'll see where all that goes. 'I liked the color combination so much that a pair of earrings came out of it too. 




Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Privacy Fence Passion Project


    I started this post last year but I guess I never got around to finishing it.  The privacy fence has added and changed a lot since I started it 4 or so years ago. Even between last summer and this summer.


Our door fence is what you might call a "living" project which means it changes, has maintenance, I swap out doors because some don't hold up outside as well as I'd hoped. Some doors clearly need to be sanded and repainted or addresses in some way.  When I moved in to my house the privacy fence was dilapidated and I knew I'd have to do something about it so I looked to Pinterest.  I found a number of ideas using old doors as a wall or fence.  So then the question is...where do you find a ton of old doors?  

I started seeing doors everywhere.  I drive around with the back seats down in my Explorer so I can stop on the side of the road at a moment's notice to grab a door sitting by the garbage. On my way to work one day I saw a couple of guys filling a pickup truck with garbage bags while clearly gutting a house.  I pulled over and asked if I could have the doors if they were just pitching them and they were happy to give them to me.  I had already started this project long before COVID and fate let me to my Millwork specialist position at Home Depot.  Now I can really talk about doors and I love it. 

In between working I've been continuing with my privacy fence passion project. I nearly have one whole section of fence in my back yard done.  I'm learning a lot about what works and what doesn't, I have a few doors to touch up eventually but I'm just happy to have them up with color.  I'm finding that our resident birds also enjoy them, so much so, I'm hosing bird poop off every once in a while.


Another little nugget of a home project I started in on was replacing the rotting boards on the ramp leading up to the back door of my house.  I don't want to be dealing with it if they go during the winter so I'm starting to address the bad ones.  Here's what I said about it when I posted the board photo on my social media: 

Our ramp is starting to have some rotting boards, so I decided to brighten it up as I put in new ones.  This turquoise stained board looks like a gem and it brings me such joy seeing the new against the old.  
I recently realized that having everything looking perfect and "in its place" is not my style. I feel comfort around buildings that need work or are falling apart. Probably from playing in piles of old barn wood and hunting for "the good boards" to recycle as kids building forts on the farm I grew up on. 
#onedayatatime #OneBoardAtATime #BehrStain #DIY

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Daphne Leaf Necklace Variation Necklace in Dark Blue

My friend Liz asked me to create a necklace for her based on an older version of a Daphne Necklace I posted for a #TBT (Throwback Thursday) on social media.  It made me realize that I did not have any of this style in my personal stock. To be honest, I cannot remember the last time that I made one! 

So while I was waiting for Liz's clasp to come in from Fire Mountain Gems I decided to make an extra necklace for my personal stock. I can use some new items for Art Feast 2021 in Old Town Lansing this Saturday. Since Liz was torn between bead color options I actually made a necklace similar to one of the color combinations she was leaning towards. Navy/Blue and Tan are a nice classic combo and it came out really lovely.

Bryan and I also went to a friend's wedding on Friday. There was a day when I had my outfit planned out way ahead of time and would be busy making jewelry to match. I have SO many clothes and I usually have plenty of my go-to colors at this point in my life. So with an Ignatius Hat (my favorite milliners ) a pair of leaf cluster earrings and my deco cat bangle we had a lovely time catching up and eating all the sugar.  

Vintage Rainbow Circlet Earrings and Bangle

This color combination started with just the earrings, but I couldn't help make a bangle to match. A few new seed bead colors always mak...