Monday, March 14, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
More glitterhouses
These are about 4" tall and some are covered with napkin decoupage. All have tons of glitter . . . can there be too much glitter? I don't think so!
Window mullions are done with dimensional paint.
Bases were covered with handmade paper from those bags of samples you can get in craft stores. Glitterhouses Galore
This is a variation on a German "glitterhouse" or "putz" house. It's made of cardboard, paper, and lots of glitter. This is my own design . . . lots of fun.
I first found directions for something that looked like what I wanted to do in the ezine "Inspired Ideas", winter edition. I've always liked these, especially the vintage ones, but they are rare and the reproductions are outrageously expensive. So now I can make my own! Hooray, retirement!
These were usually made for Christmas, but it's spring so here's a lighthouse. Though it does look like it snows in this imaginary place.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Colorado at last . . .
Today I put new license plates on my camper, car, and truck. I am truly here at last, and this is how it feels! What a process . . . I still feel like the move was just yesterday. Exhausting!I've been doing some art work as well as design and will post some pictures in next few days.
Friday, June 27, 2008
A Little Bit of Writing
Part of my job is writing a monthly column for our little local paper. Here's one that's quite a bit more lighthearted than most, plus a website that you've just got to visit.
Summer is a time for exploration. What I’ve been exploring this summer is a venue for selling my own art work. Craft fairs and festivals have become impractical because of the price of gas – the only people making money on them consistently are the groups putting them on. So I’ve spent a good chunk of time exploring the internet as a possible sales tool.
While reading an article in Newsweek online, I came across a website of which I had never heard and made a mental note to check it out. Well, summer is a time for exploration and fun, and that is what this website turned out to be!
I was hooked when I opened www.instructables.com – “The World’s Biggest Show and Tell” – and, to my delight, saw the directions for making a furry costume for one of those round robot vacuum sweepers. It was a mouse costume, complete with whiskers and tail! If I had one of those vacuum sweepers, I would surely make one of these costumes!
This website is combination of totally, laugh-out-loud silly instructions, like “How to Knit a Leia Wig” (remember Star Wars and that cinnamon-bun hairdo?), as well as some hard-to-find, useful info. I have looked for a while now for a way to refill those expensive home fragrance dispensers rather than buy refills, and there it was! Also, there was a great recipe for making your own granola, which at last check was about six dollars a box! Shades of the Sixties!
The site is actually recognized by PCMagazine as one of its top 100 sites. It was developed by Squid Labs, whose focus is on technical innovation, so there are many technical/scientific things on there that were pretty much lost on me. These kids also went to MIT, so they encourage users to post instructions on how to make creative things as well. And according to one source, over a million people accessed the site in May, 2008.
If you are interested in gardening, there are instructions for building a wind-powered yard light, making wind chimes with old computer hard drives, and my personal favorite, “How to Grow a Square Watermelon.”
If you’re into home renovation, you might want to explore “Grow Your Own Bioluminescent Algae” (think of the electricity savings!), making shingles and siding out of aluminum cans, and how to stripe your lawn. The latter I have already done by accident, so I found it comforting that others are doing this on purpose.
If you like to bike, there is an entry on converting your exercise bike into a bike that produces electricity and another on how to make a basketball hoop with spare bicycle parts. More seriously, there are several articles on how to add LED lights to your clothing, one of which was a bicycle jacket with directional arrows sewn into the back with lights. Picture arrows on the bicycle rider’s back signaling right or left in blinking lights!
For those into recycling, there were at least four ways to reuse those pesky burnt-out lightbulbs – as oil lamps, flower vases, shrimp aquariums, and slug habitats. For the arts and crafts crowd, there are instructions on “Origummy,” the art of making things from gum wrappers, and instructions on welding the perfect present for Dad, giant steel garden centipedes. And for us frustrated dieters, sick and tired of a culture that says you have to be skinny to be attractive, there are instructions on how to make a “Bratz Knife Block” and how to build an electric chair for a Barbie doll.
For those of you already into exploring the “net,” check this out. It’s great fun! And for those of you out there interested in entering this strange and wonderful electronic world, there are courses at the college and the library, as well as access to computers in both places for any county resident. If you’ve been wondering what all the commotion over the internet is about but still are a bit wary of making contact with total strangers, we can help you learn to “surf” safely and intelligently.
So should you see someone pedaling down the street in a light-up jacket and a knitted Leia wig, it’s me! Happy Summer!
Summer is a time for exploration. What I’ve been exploring this summer is a venue for selling my own art work. Craft fairs and festivals have become impractical because of the price of gas – the only people making money on them consistently are the groups putting them on. So I’ve spent a good chunk of time exploring the internet as a possible sales tool.
While reading an article in Newsweek online, I came across a website of which I had never heard and made a mental note to check it out. Well, summer is a time for exploration and fun, and that is what this website turned out to be!
I was hooked when I opened www.instructables.com – “The World’s Biggest Show and Tell” – and, to my delight, saw the directions for making a furry costume for one of those round robot vacuum sweepers. It was a mouse costume, complete with whiskers and tail! If I had one of those vacuum sweepers, I would surely make one of these costumes!
This website is combination of totally, laugh-out-loud silly instructions, like “How to Knit a Leia Wig” (remember Star Wars and that cinnamon-bun hairdo?), as well as some hard-to-find, useful info. I have looked for a while now for a way to refill those expensive home fragrance dispensers rather than buy refills, and there it was! Also, there was a great recipe for making your own granola, which at last check was about six dollars a box! Shades of the Sixties!
The site is actually recognized by PCMagazine as one of its top 100 sites. It was developed by Squid Labs, whose focus is on technical innovation, so there are many technical/scientific things on there that were pretty much lost on me. These kids also went to MIT, so they encourage users to post instructions on how to make creative things as well. And according to one source, over a million people accessed the site in May, 2008.
If you are interested in gardening, there are instructions for building a wind-powered yard light, making wind chimes with old computer hard drives, and my personal favorite, “How to Grow a Square Watermelon.”
If you’re into home renovation, you might want to explore “Grow Your Own Bioluminescent Algae” (think of the electricity savings!), making shingles and siding out of aluminum cans, and how to stripe your lawn. The latter I have already done by accident, so I found it comforting that others are doing this on purpose.
If you like to bike, there is an entry on converting your exercise bike into a bike that produces electricity and another on how to make a basketball hoop with spare bicycle parts. More seriously, there are several articles on how to add LED lights to your clothing, one of which was a bicycle jacket with directional arrows sewn into the back with lights. Picture arrows on the bicycle rider’s back signaling right or left in blinking lights!
For those into recycling, there were at least four ways to reuse those pesky burnt-out lightbulbs – as oil lamps, flower vases, shrimp aquariums, and slug habitats. For the arts and crafts crowd, there are instructions on “Origummy,” the art of making things from gum wrappers, and instructions on welding the perfect present for Dad, giant steel garden centipedes. And for us frustrated dieters, sick and tired of a culture that says you have to be skinny to be attractive, there are instructions on how to make a “Bratz Knife Block” and how to build an electric chair for a Barbie doll.
For those of you already into exploring the “net,” check this out. It’s great fun! And for those of you out there interested in entering this strange and wonderful electronic world, there are courses at the college and the library, as well as access to computers in both places for any county resident. If you’ve been wondering what all the commotion over the internet is about but still are a bit wary of making contact with total strangers, we can help you learn to “surf” safely and intelligently.
So should you see someone pedaling down the street in a light-up jacket and a knitted Leia wig, it’s me! Happy Summer!
Little Boxes
More napkin decoupage. This time I took some artificial flowers and made a little tree for the bird house to sit in (see why I'm wondering about my sanity?). In the grass are little red hearts and white flowers. Too sweet!
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