Hanging Onto Summer....For Dear Life!!!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE summer and don't care for fall???  Oh...okay, yes I remember now that I have bored you a time or two with that detail!! LOL!  I have come home from work this past week wishing summer could just continue...so I decided to pour it into my work!  I forgot about this tea tin that I had with a FAB pattern of flowers and a cute checkered background...begging to be earrings, of course!!  Aren't the colors just absolutely happy??? 

Then came the little charm necklace with flowers and a lone butterfly...who is hanging onto summer for all HE is worth!!

Domed tin butterfly hung in tandem with a weathered brass disk....it was pure serendipity that the bead nestles perfectly within the brass jump ring!!

Take your pick of my gift envelopes....Did you know that tin is the preferred gift for the ten year anniversary??  I didn't either until I began to craft my jewelry!  Paper is the gift for the one year....all of it found in my shops!!  Remember...it's never too early to even shop for Christmas!! (which means cold weather and maybe snow....UGH!!!!)

Visit me at themadcutter.etsy.com or piecespassed.etsy.com!!

Relic Bracelets: The Thrill of the Hunt

I never quite grasped the concept of "the thrill of the hunt" until I started crafting Relic bracelets about six years ago.  Since then, I've just been happy as a clam constantly searching for things to put on them.  As you can see, they are loaded with any and everything....a real mish-mash!!!   Even Tom agrees....as he is surrounded by his darlings!!

Where the Wild Things Are!

You may remember the cute door I got a while back...I fell in love with it and began to think of how to transform it to take to shows.  I wanted somehow use it as a sign / display piece.

At first I thought I would stick to a strict color scheme...yeah....that went out the door REALLY quickly!!  I just adore bright, in-your-face color!!

This door begged to be a blackboard, so on it went!  I found a bike basket at a flea market and thought I'd incorporate it into the door...on went the hooks

I loved doing the doorknobs and plates more than anything else, I think!!

More fun on the other side!!

Some of my previous "Wild Things"....two sad little pieces from a dresser turned desk.  I just put a piece of glass across the top and it became my desk in what is now called "The Dr. Suess Room" at work!!

Fun bed set

The psychedelic tulip set....went to a young girl, cute as can be!!

Heart In Your Hands

Back in the summer I submitted five of my jewelry pieces to the jury of the Kentucky Artisan's Guild for consideration.  I was quite excited at the prospect of being a part of the guild....to be recognized and be in the company of other respected artists of all kinds in our state.  I knew that the jury was tough...they have that reputation, but I felt pretty confident that I could be included.  I waited anxiously for the results to come to me by mail and last week I got my letter.  I laid it on my kitchen island and did every task known to a dutiful housewife to avoid opening it.  I finally thought I was being a bit silly and tore it open.  I found that my pieces had been rejected and that my judge(s) felt the need to be a bit condescending as well.  I told myself I could have one day to be bummed out and disappointed and then it would be time to move on....but it wasn't that simple.  Saturday morning upon waking up, I was still brooding when my phone rang.  It was my mother-in-law,  Alice, whose beautiful work you see above.  She paints the most wonderful botanical and bird prints I've ever laid eyes on and I would DARE the guild to turn HER down!!  I told her of my woes and she reminded me of something I had heard her say before....it just never made much sense to me until I became an artist myself:

                     "When you become an artist, you pour your heart and soul
                        into your work....it becomes a piece of you.  When you 
                        show your work to others, it's like putting your heart in 
                        your hands for them to take and do with it what they please.
                        Some will trample on it and others will take your heart and
                        nurture it.  This is the risk we take as artists...but it's worth it!"


 I realized that she was right....putting our "hearts in our hands" is just part of the deal of being an artist.   Even if others choose to trample it, I'd still rather say that I was willing to hold it out there than to just keep it to myself without giving it a chance to be nurtured.  I was thankful for her reminding me of that!!

Special Relic Bracelet

Every so often I get a special request to make a piece of jewelry and those pieces are always my favorites.  I think it's because I know that something I have crafted with my own hands will be a treasured item for another person.  This piece is for the mother of a baby girl who will make her appearance in early October.  The buyers wanted pretty pinks and other shabby colors in buttons in addition to her name.  What bracelet could I make for you or someone you know??  Contact me if you would like one made.  I have a boat load of buttons for endless options!!

Ugh...FALL!!!

Those of you who don't know me have no idea of how much I dislike fall!! LOL!  I'm a lover of summer through and through.  I could go the rest of my life with endless summer weather (even if it is really HOT!!) and never experience what others love...cool crisp days.  Nonetheless, it IS upon us!  It may be that fall makes me think of going back to work and being in a routine again....UGH!!  Oh well...in honor of fall, here is a fall necklace I whipped up.  This was taken from a magazine layout featuring pretty fabrics.  It was copied onto heavier card stock and triple sealed for an early fall walk in the rain.  It is accentuated with a chocolate bead.  Sigh...bring on fall, I guess!!  No way to stop it!!!

Glory Days--The 127 Yard Sale!!

Ahhh....the dirt road that leads to tent after tent filled with potential goodies!! Welcome, my friends, to the now famous 127 Yard Sale!!  Every year during the first week of August, the world comes to an abrupt halt so that junkers can unite at the mother of all sales...and it runs right through the town I live in!! I don't mean to rub it in, but.....

Does your heart beat quicker just looking at this picture??  I know...mine, too!!

I know these will haunt me...a WHOLE BOX of cabinet cards for $20??  And I walked AWAY???  Yeah, it gets better....he said he would take $15 and I STILL walked away!!!!

Loved this chair...walked away from it, too!!  I love the color they took the time to paint it!

This booth was set up so cute...eye candy galore!  If you want to visit these folks, their business card is the last picture in this post.  Their prices were very fair and the vendors very nice

I was in love with the Pepto Bismal colored shelf...to die for!!

These are haunting me now, too...who can have too many crates???  I guess this vendor did because he was unloading them at $10 a piece!!  Sigh...yes....I walked away from them, too!

Yummy colors painted on simple frames

How gorgeous is this??

Off the beaten path, I found this neat industrial letter sorter.....and again, I WALKED AWAY!!!  Someone snapped it up when they saw me packing, too.  It probably looks super cool in their office!!

So, I'm driving down the road and I see a sign that says "Barn Sale" with an arrow pointing down a country road....Um...YES, PLEASE!!!!

The owners had meticulously set up that barn like an antique mall....with booths and all!!  Don't you love the summer sun streaming through the old wood planks, too??

Who didn't love Ken??!!  Look at him here with his cool white shoes, snappy sweater, new hair cut and his college pennant!! The vendor said he had never seen a Ken case....only lots of Barbie ones.  This puppy was $5...but I walked away!! 

In one booth was this super cool vintage shopping cart....boy, I wanted that, too!!  I'm trying to picture a housewife during that era shopping with it!  I guess that was before all of the junk food that fills MY store cart was out and took up so much room!!!

You may be wondering what I DID NOT walk away from...THIS!!!  One woman had a nice little stack of some "Where Women Create" magazines, other Stampington issues, and this lonely little Somerset Life.  I have NEVER seen those wonderful publications at any sale or even in antique malls...naturally they became mine!!

This was a particularly good find because most vendors want anywhere from $5-20 for these tobacco tins.  I love to incorporate them into my jewelry, but have to walk away if they are too much.  This vendor had a sign that said, "Make me an offer on my stuff...I don't want to pack any of it back up!!"  Well, alrighty, sir--I can do that!!!!  I offered him a dollar a piece...and he TOOK IT!!!  Gotta love these 127 dealers!!!

The quirky...it's out there at the 127!  I just love the face on this mannequin...quite the thinker, huh??  I'm digging the hat, too!!

What a cutie!!!  This is a coin operated Rudolph ride from the early 50's...$800 smackaroos and this could have been mine!  He even WORKS!!!!  The dealer let a child on it and rode to his heart's content!  I think his dad was trying to strike a deal...I hope they got it!!!

Who in their right mind would not go see about THIS sale??  I'm always in my right mind at the 127!!

So here's where the sign took me!!!  My eye went right to that table with the wheels on it.  That would be such a super great piece for the studio that I don't yet have, huh??  I didn't even bother to look if it was for sale or how much it was...no need to punish myself any further!!!!

As promised from the above pictures, here is the business card for the cool booth with the cute pink shelf.  If you live near this area (Columbus) go check 'em out!!