Freckled Star

Hungry girl

Well I haven't been in my craft room, studio or whatever you want to call it since last Saturday except of course to grab a handful of toffee chocolate candies from Trader Joe's. Speaking of Trader Joe's........did you see they now have Cookie Butter Ice Cream!!?? I DIE!

But I have been in my kitchen all week:)

Thought I'd share a few links of easy recipes I LOVE........

Monday: Sweet and Spicy Chicken Vegetable Stir Fry. This was delish!

Tuesday: The Pioneer Woman Chicken Taco Salad. Seriously you can't go wrong with Pioneer Woman recipes. The dressing TOTALLY makes this salad. I always have her Restaurant Style Salsa in my fridge so I used that in my dressing. Could have drank it;)

Wednesday: I made halibut. Straight from Alaska:) Super easy and light. Rub filets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Then top with shredded Asiago cheese and broil til melted and browned. The cheese takes on a buttery nutty flavor that is wonderful. Serve with a light salad of greens, slivered almonds and feta. Simple champagne vinaigrette to toss. Great meal for after spin night. Got the idea for the halibut from a dinner I had at  the Salty Sow in Phoenix.

I also made the simpliest dessert ever! Mostly to get rid of the fish smell in my oven I made a package of chocolate chip cookies. You know the ones from Pillsbury that you can get for $2.50 right by the cheese. Yep those ones:) Bake and then take that gallon of vanilla ice cream we all have in our freezer, take a small spoonful and mush between two warm cookies. It is heaven on earth I tell you!! If you manage not to eat them all they freeze very easy. Just throw them on a cookie sheet in the freezer til solid and then transfer to a ziplock bag. Easy peasy:)

Tonight I am going to try Green Chile Chicken from who else....the Pioneer Woman lol!!

Vons has a great special on these green chilis I saw when I was there Tuesday. But I didn't know what I'd do with them so I passed them by.

So you know what that means......

Back to the store lol:)

Hopefully no one taps me on the butt and says they'd like to cut off my hair!

Fingers crossed!!

Have a wonderful Labor Day friends!!

I will be in Mammoth wearing jeans and a sweater. Getting a burger from my favorite place and possibly a Lemon Drop. Reading books from our gorgeous deck or laying on a pool lounge with a blanket. Taking it all in.

I am a lucky girl:)

 

Last but not least........

The Cowgirl Flag with Sheryl Johnson!!

I had seen this flag on display last year at AU at the Lipstick Ranch vendor booth.

When I saw it was being offered as a class this year, I knew I  had to take it!!

Yeehaw:)

Because I am a neutral kind of girl I already knew I would have to change the colors a bit so I could hang it and be happy with it.

Kim brought that fabulous tan ticking fabric which worked out perfect for the large stripe and backing for the "cowgirls". The rest is a hodge podge of different fabrics including some of the new Tim Holtz fabric line. Also laces, some mother of pearl buttons, appliques and muslin.

Not really thrilled with these pictures but the room I have it hung in does not have the best light for a novice picture taker like myself:( I must have played with my camera for a good hour and then did some editing. This is what I got and it's ok but only seeing it in person can you really appreciate how big and beautiful it is.

This project was a beast but so worth it! The final size of it is 4ft by 3ft. All 50 of those "cowgirls" had to be cut and then stitched through a sewing machine. No easy feat I tell you!! The only other sewing was on the ticking strips to give it a stitched look. Which we ran through the machine before gluing. That's the secret to this project. It is all glued!! 

Or else I'd still be there;)

That was the last project of my AU adventure!! All five are completed and have found their place in my home. 

Can't wait for next year!!

Thanks for following along and a big thanks for all the kind comments about my work!!

 

 

 

 

Cinderella's Little Mice Friends..........

They were the inspiration behind Julie Haymaker's "Alterations" class.

With their task being to create Cinderella's dress for the ball.

This class kit was brimming with all sorts of lovely things!! Lace, seam binding, ribbons, fabrics and charms galore!!

Just waiting to be made into the lovliest of dresses.

And that we did!

 The perfect spot for her hanging from my ceiling fan. Because seriously you should be hanging things from every hanging light fixture in your home! That's my motto;) 

Her front with it's sweet little heart necklace.

The back.

Fun little things are sewn throughout the dress to add texture and pop.

And then there were the charms!

My FAVORITE part!!

Love, love, love, love, love!!

And that's my little "Alterations" dress.

I think Cinderella would have gladly wore it;)

Happy Monday!!

 

 

Cuckoo

The night class with Julie Haymaker.

This class was so much fun!

A little more fun than I think it was supposed to be;)

We had just gotten out of our 8 hour flag class, taken it to our room to finish for a few minutes, brought down our craft bags and hurriedly ate a 1000 calorie dinner before running back to the classroom.

Needless to say we may have been a little delirious and perhaps even obnoxious by a few looks we got:/

What are you going to do? It was supposed to be fun!! It was a night class for goodness sake. I will say by the end of the night we had all but the lady in sweatpants won over;)

Anyhow I am going to just say it......

I didn't follow directions!!

I see yellow, orange and brown paints and I recoil. 

I can't help it!!

So of course Kim brought pink and Julie had some pink and really I tried doing the "dry" brush technique......

But you know what you get when you use pink and cream even with a "dry" brush......

Light pink!!

I should have just painted her light pink and saved myself the aggrevation and probably an hour:)

Even though I didn't quite get the "technique" I still love my "cuckoo" bird. Besides the paint variations everyone else's had she still turned out just fine.

She really is adorable even though I could not stop laughing when I put her eyes in!! Probably because they mimicked exactly how I felt at that moment:)

There are so many sweet parts to her. Julie's kit was awesome!! We were provided absolutely everything. I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVE that!! And Julie is such a good teacher, very patient. Even when she was giving me the look I knew she still loved me:) 

 Another project in the books:)

And she has the perfect place overlooking my non existent paint skills.....

Now that I am looking at these pictures I am seeing they have a pink tint to them. I have no idea why. My camera is still a mystery to me!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!
 

 

 

 

The Puffy Heart

Otherwise known as the "Repousse" heart with Diane Cook:)

Day 2 of Art Unraveled!

One of the things I love the most about Diane's classes is her amazing array of tools! I have taken from her before when she taught a tassel (the start of my tassel love) at Gilding the Lily. I immediately went out to find a metal punch, bench block, tool holder and tons of other stuff!! This class the tools of choice were hammers and lots of them. I went with 3. Two for forming and a chasing. Left with 6! Needed that texture hammer (really I did:) and that rubber mallet...well why not;)

So know I have a drawer full of hammers at home.

Bob the Bulider lol!!

Before I show pictures keep in mind this class was NOT easy. I knew it wasn't going to be but I so love Diane's creations that I figured why not, throw that "I can't do that" out the window!!

Like the class the day before it statred with two very simple things. "Tangled Heart" was wire and this was 22 gauge metal sheets.

So I broke out my French sheers (fancy name for metal cutters:) and started cutting out my heart shapes that by the way I traced one and had to free hand the other. Free hand is NEVER pretty!! Cutting metal is also never pretty. Sharp edges, hard consistency. Just begging for a bandaid or tourniquet. But I did ok. My hands were like what the hell are you doing after the 3rd heart I cut and I told them relax let's make two necklaces because the first one will be so easy......

Insert sarcasm:)

After cutting I think oh thank goodness the hard part is over.......

Well that wasn't quite true.

Then it's all about hammering. First to flatten then forming while hammering to make "puffy" but not too much or you'll harden the metal and YOU DO NOT want that to happen! Then you have to hammer some more to make the edges actually lay flat on the back heart so they can connect. Phew! I am having flashbacks!

In the end I didn't get much "puff". I think I was a little timid with the hammer:)

But I got them to connect....

AND THAT IS ALL I CARED ABOUT!!

 

Not to much puffy more like indented lol!!

Added a little tassel chain of hearts and love because I can't get enough tassels.....

Obviously:)

 Oh and there is Charlotte on it...

Shocking I know:) 

That was necklace number 1. I loved the etched piece I bought from Diane so I used that as the center. The back heart has all those little rivets around the edge. That was done with a texture hammer. Now that was fun!!

Necklace number 2 has a copper heart that was textured using the same hammer.

A little bit simple but I was happy with it.

 Loved making a little chain! I got these "cornflakes" from Diane (yes she always has the coolest stuff for sale!) they are little shells with a hole in the middle. Perfect for stringing with shiny rondelles. 

I cut up a vintage necklace to pull it all together. Added a little lace to tie. 

Because what's any project without a little lace!!??

Now they hang on some of my most treasured Santos. 

For all my "oh my word what have I gotten myself in to" moments I am really glad I took it. I learned a ton. It opened my eyes to a new use for tools I already have as well as make me want to play with them more. 

Inspiration!!

That's what it's all about:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hammers, dap blocks and torches.....

Just a few of the tools I used in my time at Art Unraveled.

I looked more like the Bob the Bulider than Andrea the Crafter:)

But man was it fun!!

Although I posted a whole bunch on Instagram while I was there, sometimes those pictures just don't capture everything. So I played a little in my studio over the weekend and was able to get a few detailed shots. Getting better and better with that camera!! 

The first class we took was "Tangled Heart" with Riki Schumacher.

I adored this class!! It was a great first class for two weary travelers:)

I love twisting wire and adding and adding til it turns out just right. There is a charlotte, a birds nest, glass buttons, rosary chain and all sorts of other stuff "tangled" in there.

 I used heart chain and old pearls to complete....

 

It's kind of amazzing when you are looking at 2 pieces of wire and someone holds up a sample and says this is what you are going to make. There is always that first reaction of Hmmm yeah right!! Then the obligatory eye roll at your partner in crime:) But you hunker down, settle in and just do it.

If I can any one can!

Seriously!!

** "Open the window at the center of your chest and let the spirits fly in and out"   Rumi

Take "can't" and throw it out the window!

It's a brand new week!

Time to make something beautiful:)

 

Many thanks!

Thank you so much to everyone who commented! I was truly blown away. You are all so sweet and I am so happy to call so many of you my friends!! And I was so happy to know I have a fellow military wife reading along:)

So truly, thank you from my whole heart!

I had Miss Lindsay pick a name this morning. We wanted everyone to win lol!!

But alas only one can.

Drum roll.........

Yay!!!!!!

We will have to plan lunch:)

I am finishing up my Art Unraveled projects and getting pictures taken so hopefully early next week I can do a couple blog posts on them:)

Have a great weekend!!

 

 

Inspired

Inspiration comes from a whole bunch of places for me.

Books, magazines, retail display, flea market display, antique malls,  instagram, facebook and so on.

But one place I get inspiration from seems to be slowly dying. 

And that's blogs:(

Sniff, sniff.....

I have had quite a few conversations with other art friends who have blogs but no longer update, post every month or so and yet others who spend thousands of dollars updating their blogs even when they only have 2-3 comments (if that) in their comment section. It's sad. I got in to this whole crazy mess by following blogs. Lots of blogs! And now that list has been whiddled down to a sad few. So the question is to post or not to post. Is anyone even reading this?? Besides my friend Erin and that's only because she doesn't have facebook! 

I admit I am not the best "post"er. In the beginning I felt I had a lot to say and had time to say it. I wasn't working way back then. Just taking care of little ones and my grandma. Funny how I seemed to have more time then!!! But alas my kids started getting older and we had high school (no easy feat) and sports and, and, and the and's never seemed to end it seemed!! Now that's all dying down and I am finding it hard to find something to say. Instead  I can be found tinkering in my studio and not in front of my computer in my spare time:)

And I do love tinkering with pretty things! I'd do it all day if I could!

But I still love to share here. So here I am, sparadoic at best but still here:)

And hopefully someone will find a shred of inspiration to create. 

With that said here is what I am sharing today.........

Bracelets, bracelets and more bracelets!

Funnily enough I found this inspiration on Amy Hanna's blog! 

I am taking a class with her at Terri Brush's  Art Camp in the fall so I went to check her out and she had some gorgeous pictures of some she had done. Of course her's are all French and vintage and spectacular. Also not for sale. So I decided I can do that!!:)

While I was in Cayucos over the 4th of July holiday I hit my 2 favorite bead stores. Beads by the Bay in Morro Bay and Cambria Beads in of course Cambria. 

I knew the color scheme I wanted. Pink and cream, what else is there;) But I also wanted some more rustic looking beads. Organic, natural beads so to speak. 

What fun to go in search of something I am not familiar with and the bead store owners were so helpful. I found prayer beads from Kenya, natural moonstone, beautiful polished opal, bone beads in all sorts of sizes and shapes, rose quartz and my favorite morganite. It was so much fun! 

Couldn't you just eat them up!!!???

 These were so fun and so easy! And it also gave me a chance to showcase all the beautiful religious medals and santos pieces I've been collecting the last few years.  

I wear two or three at a time but my daughter says she'd stack them all up and wear them. They also look great with the leather cuffs from FarmGirl Paints that I am currently smitten with:)

I think I may have gotten a smidge carried away.........

But that's good news for someone lucky!

Giving away a set of 3!!

Leave a comment:)

I'll pick a winner Wednesday after I come home from Art Unraveled.

Follow my adventure in Phoenix on Instagram. 

I am freckledstar:)