Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vintage. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

it's a zoo + finish-a-long...

My name is Heidi and I love vintage kitsch. There is my confession. I enjoy my small, but lovingly currated, collection of vintage pyrex. When we cleared out my grandparent's farm before auction, I picked the items no one else wanted {furniture with "character", bits of old fabric, christmas ornaments in disrepair, rusty bits and bobs}. When I saw the Indygo Junction patterns for these little circus performers, I knew my shelves needed them!

The elephant came first... I think he is adorable with his little stick legs. That sparkly bauble is a button salvaged from my grandma's house.

This little piggy went to the circus. The elephant and piggy are similar in construction. I really enjoy the decorating and detail work on them - choosing that perfect trim or paper for their hats.

Mouse in the house. She is just adorable. What's cropped out in this picture is a little pink balloon made out of paperclay. Paperclay is a wonderful air-dry clay that is easy to work with and acrylic paint friendly. If anyone has some great suggestions on how to store paperclay long term, I would love to hear them. I don't use it often enough and it seems I am always throwing some dried-out bits away no matter how many ziploc bags I use.

Monkey see monkey do. I love this little juggler - again with the help of paperclay! In case you wondered what the rest of the monkey {& mouse} look like, here is a full photo. The legs are pipecleaners wrapped with floral tape and then painted - a new technique for me!

This post is two-fold: I wanted to show off my circus folks, but also share with you the Finish-A-Long happening over at Quilter in the Gap. I have long talked about my box of unfinished objects {UFOs}. Each quarter you share what you plan to finish, link up to her site, then add links to your finished projects at the end of 3 months. I'm excited to get to work + there are great prizes at the end of each round! Worst case scenario, I get some work done! So my first hope-to-finish is the last 2 circus animals that I want to make - a lion and a horse {possibly a unicorn}. I have all of the supplies out to make them - even little legs and arms all painted up for Mr. Lion. But these little guys are pretty time consuming with all their details.

Next up is this wreath. I had grand plans to get it finished in February for valentine's day. I want to make a variety of felt flowers just like I did for the Christmas wreath I made.

My last hope-to-finish is the binding on this queen sized quilt. I don't want to reveal too much until I am completely finished.

I hope you are enjoying Spring - it always seems like the best time of year for a fresh start!

Friday, January 8, 2010

winter makes me wonder-land...

Just wanted to let y'all know [I'm now totally southern :] that it is SNOWING in Georgia right now. Like, inches of snow snowing. I really thought that going to the south meant that it would be warmer, but no dice. I opted to save space in my luggage by not packing my winter coat, b i g mistake, so I am stuck with my zip-up fleece jacket. I really liked this pic, Iucked out at an estate sale and scored these sweet vintage deer ornaments [one is blue and two are gold].

Back out to the snowglobe...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

leavin' on a jet plane...

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standin' here outside your door..." oh, excuse my Armageddon moment... But really, I'm off to Georgia. [to sit and listen to a professor for 8hours/day] The pic is some vintage Samsonite luggage that belonged to my Grandma & Grandpa - instead of clothes, they're filled with fabric :) The Moravian paper stars are so fun. My templates came from a very old homemaker magazine [not really a magazine; more like copies made on construction paper bound with staples] but I'm sure you could find a tutorial somewhere on the world wide interweb. First you make a bajillion sided base out of cardstock, then you make the points. The points have tabs so that they can be glued on to the base. The top star is made with vintage Christmas cards, the lower one with old sheet music. They make quite the statement, but are incredibly time consuming.

note: I have a few posts up my sleeves for while I'm away so keep your eyes open...
note #2: I am very honored to be featured on ModgePodge Rocks today!!! My little file cabinet, all grown up and famous!!

okay... also - this was supposed to post yesterday, but I have been having some technical difficulties with the wireless internet here...