Fini Friday! Buttoning Up Inspiration!

Hello Everyone!
Welcome to Fini Friday!
Happiest of Thanksgivings to those who celebrated it yesterday or will celebrate it this weekend!!
Warmest wishes for a Bountiful Fall to those who don't celebrate the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving!

This post is all about what is inspiring me today!
Come along for the ride!
These are photos of two button drawers in a quite old treadle sewing machine!
I love gazing into them because of all the now-unusual contents!
It is as if I step back in time as I sort through the buttons, needles, beads and etc. with delight!
I can imagine many a scene in my head as to where these buttons came from...where and on what gown that shiny bit of trim was to be used....what happened to that other earrings..
What stories do you see?
Feel free to leave a comment below to share!!

I've news to share about my December schedule!!!

Holiday Geek Expo!

DoubleTree Hotel - 2nd Floor, Atriums 4&6

December 7th& 8th    

Saturday    10am to 6pm

Sunday    10am to 5pm

7800 Normandale Blvd.

Bloomington/Minneapolis, MN 55439

Women's Art Festival!

Midtown YWCA

Saturday Only!

December 14th     10am to 5pm

2121 East Lake Street

Minneapolis, MN 55407

BlogTalk Radio Interviews!!
December Message From the Faeries! Tuesday, December 10th 11:30 to 12:30 (CST, USA)! 
And!!!! Welcome to Being Human!!! December 22, 2013, 5:00pm to 6:00pm (CST, USA)! 
I'll post the link for this as soon as I have it! 
Whew! 
Have an excellent weekend!!
Ciao!

Fini Friday! Woodland Critters Fini and Loot!

Hello Everyone! 

Welcome to Fini Friday! 

I hope this week has treated you well so far! 

I've a finished creation and shinies to show you today! Whee!!! 

First up is the finished creation!  If you remember, I was working on creating a bracelet with leather and a collection of "Forest Critters" buttons on Wednesday.... I'm pleased to say that there were no set-backs today and the bracelet is fini! 

Title: Forest Critters 

Ingredients: Leather lacing, plastic buttons

I'm so pleased to be able to use the porcupine button as the clasp! Just slip him in-between the forest brown and green leather lacings on the opposite side and voila! He'll keep his compatriots (Deer, Owl, Fox and Beaver) securely dancing around your wrist! Very fun! 

I traveled to a Gem show this past weekend and have some of the loot to show you today! 

I've ideas for the chalk Turquoise skulls to the left in the photo. I'll probably whip up a few pairs of earrings for Halloween and/or the Goth at heart. It was also suggested that the beads look like owls when turned upside down...so you can bet I'll be playing with that as well! 

I'm looking forward to working with all the fabulous chain shown here! I'm particularly pleased to be able to debut the matte black leaf chain at the far right. This is a new finish for this type of chain and I've ideas for it already! That piece of metal that is reminiscent of a shepherd's hook is a bookmark blank!  Now to attach shinies!!! YAY!!!  I'm really looking forward to creating Steampunk and Neo-Victorian wares with the rectangular beads with the scroll designs.  And sparklies in the middle are just fun!  Stay tuned to see what grows into completion with those!!  Woohooo!!!

So there is a little bit of what I have to celebrate!  I hope this weekend brings much for you to celebrate, too!

Speaking of celebrating... I and Sprite Creations will be helping the Downtown Saint Paul Artists celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th in the 3rd Floor Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

It would be grand to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee! 

Ciao!

Whimsy Wednesday! Autumn Leaves and Forest Critters!

Hello Hello! 

Welcome to Whimsy Wednesday! 

I hope this mid-point to the usual work-week is treating you well! 

This post will be a bit of whimsy and a bit of a peek into an artist's life! 

The creation I anticipated finishing and showing you hit a snag and will probably require a redesign. So, I'll show you all of that! 

But first... lovely photos of autumn leaves and kitties! 

Title: The Purrfect Halloween Cat Photo 

This is indeed (atleast to me) the perfect Halloween cat photo! 

Title: An Autumn Invitation 

Can you see the impression of someone laying in the leaves? Perhaps someone who has raked the leaves and then fallen into them? What a fabulous invitation to enjoy Autumn! Also....When we leave impressions in the snow, we call them Snow Angels and so it occurred to me that there could be Leaf Angels as well! So this could be the first record of a Leaf Angel in all of human history! 

Hee! 

These next photos are of the still-growing creation mentioned earlier...the first photo is of a collection of buttons I acquired yesterday on Walkabout. 

They are a menagerie of Forest Critters and every one of them is so charming and whimsical!!!

I envisioned creating a bracelet with them on twin strands of brown and green leather... and so I did... the first attempt proved that I cut the leather strips too short to accommodate all the necessary knots. 

The second attempt is shown in the photo. All went well until the green lace snapped as I was adjusting the tension on the knot! So.. here is where this will rest tonight and I'll have another go at it soon! 

 

So! There you have it! 

A Wednesday full of Whimsy! 

See you on Friday! 

Ciao! 

P.S. Want to know where I and Sprite Creations will be "in person" next?

Oct. 12th, 13th and 14th, we'll be at the Saint Paul Art Crawl in the Atrium of the Lowertown Lofts Artist Coop! 

This is the 20th Anniversary of the Saint Paul Art Crawl and it would be lovely to have you celebrate it with us! 

Whee!