Queen of Star Shine and Glimmer

Only a few hours left until the new year here on the west coast so here are one last post and project for 2012. A touch of whimsy to welcome 2013.

 

 

In the past my son and I have made paper or pipe cleaner crowns to celebrate New Year's eve. I was thinking of what I wanted to make this year when I became inspired to make a fancy frosted crown. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it and got started as soon as I got up this morning. I was so excited I even skipped my usual morning hot chocolate.

 

 

For the base I made a circle from a wire hanger then covered it with a strip of black poster board folded in half then stapled it to hold the wire in place.

 

Then I cut out various shapes from glitter card stock and glued them onto the base. The diameter of my mini crown is about 5 inches.

 

 

Each section is backed by another piece of glitter card stock to make it sturdier and also makes it look nice on the inside.

 

 

To give my crown a vintage frosted look I thinned white glue with water, brushed it onto the glitter paper and covered it with crystal glitter in two sizes. The large one gave it texture and muted the silver while the smaller one gave it extra fairy sparkle.

 

 

I also frosted a few glittery green stars.

 

 

 Next I sorted through my jars of baubles and trim.

Tried bits of this and that. Glued and unglued stuff.

Had a waffle for breakfast.

 

Until finally...

 

 

A frosted winter crown for the Queen of Star Shine and Glimmer.

 

 

In honor of my first word for 2013. Glimmer.

 

Glimmer, to me means a subtle glow, unsteady perhaps and sometimes faint but luminous and stunning in its own way. It is a sliver of hope in the darkness. Elusive and mesmerizing but never garish or overt.

 

When I was making my mini falling star bottles this Fall one of the words I cut out from the dictionary to make a label was glim-mer. Doesn't it sound magical? Like a light mist of stardust falling from a velvety night sky.

 

 

I like this word because I have never been the kind of person that constantly burns bright. My passion for anything waxes and wanes dramatically. In my relationships, my art, my whole life in fact, it's always a balancing of light and dark. When I try to stand out and shine darkness never seems to be too far behind. It is simply a part of who I am and the way things tend to turn out for me. I've learned that the brightest light can also burn.

 

 

 

So rather than say this is going to be my year to shine I'm going to embrace what I know about myself and find beauty in moments when I can simply BE. To be comfortable in the shadow of clouds as well as playing among the stars. To be content to whisper my own unsteady light. To glimmer.

 

 Which brings me to my second word. Gratitude

 

Gratitude for blessings, lessons and opportunities. Gratitude for what's good as well as what's not so good because they all make me who I am. Gratitude with a touch of Glimmer. I'll see where they take me in 2013.

 

(Oh and I'll try to post a picture with my crown on too.)

 

 

I wish you love, blessings and inpiration.

 

Happy Beautiful New Year!

 

 

 

sirena's gift

 

I think I'm getting the hang of this.

 

Catching a falling star that is.

 

 

Quickly now, before the penny glimmer dust goes out.

 

Away they go across a pumpkin moon.

 

 

From Sirena to me.

 

And me to you.

 

A handful of bewitchments.

 

I wonder where?

 

I wonder who?

 

{insert wicked cackle here}

 

 

 

 



catch a falling star

Sirena McKenna tried to catch a falling star and ended up falling into the lake. Luckily she left a few notes on how to do it.

 

I was feeling a little blue last night so I set out to catch my own stars.

 

 

My house doesn't have a balcony and  although I live near the river I made sure not to be anywhere near it so I wouldn't fall in like Sirena.

 

 

It's tricky catching a star you know. Some burn bright for days while others slowly start to dim as soon as you put one in a bottle.

 

 

Maybe stars aren't meant to be caught but allowed to be free and burn bright. Still I thought I could keep this one for just a short while. Surely the man in the moon wouldn't miss one tiny little star.

 

 

Hope you're having a lovely week.

 

 

 

 

 



wicked fun

Hello my pretties! I'm back from dancing with the gypsies. What a marvelous party that was and so wonderful to see lots of familiar faces, and new ones too, around the gypsy campfire. I think our dancing brought on the wind and clouds because today feels like a real autumn day. And that is exciting for me!

These dark skies and tonight's full Harvest moon are too tempting so I thought I would share a wickedly fun idea I've been playing with. Sometimes one image can inspire an entire project. In my collection of vintage images I found a picture of two ladies that really fascinated me. Soon a story started to spin in my head and I knew I had to use them for some of my Halloween creations.

I can't share all of it yet but I would like to introduce you to two interesting ladies.

trunk show

Remember this trunk from the Judy Moody movie? You probably know that I just couldn't stop drooling over it.

It inspired me to make my own little craft trunk from a thrift store find

And last year I altered another mini trunk to create a wardrobe to house my paper dresses for the 2010 Dress Up Challenge.

I have to confess I have always had a trunk obsession. Specially the old steamer trunks people used to take along on long ocean voyages and train rides.

I love the idea of opening up a seemingly unassuming piece of luggage and seeing it filled with hidden compartments and drawers to house an entire wardrobe (or studio). There is something about this that is magical to me.

My husband said I love anything that works like a Swiss Army knife and he is absolutely right. I love things with lots of functions. That's why I love camping gear....and diaper bags! And the smaller the item the better. I'm actually one of those people that loves to pack. I love arranging and organizing stuff to see how efficiently I can get it done. Now this doesn't mean my studio or my house is efficient and perfectly organized. It's far from it I'm afraid. But every now and then I get into these moods where I love reorganizing things to see if I can figure out a new way to make things work a little better.

So I thought I would share this collection of amazing 'trunks' I found on the web. You'll see that some really aren't trunks at all but definitely keep the idea of efficiently storing lots of stuff in a smaller space.

Wouldn't this vintage vaudeville trunk make the most amazing craft trunk? I think even Judy Moody's Aunt Opal would be green with envy.

This reproduction from Free People is a little simpler but still has lots of drawers for artsy stuff. I love the boho gypsy feel.

This one is from Coco Republic. It's hard to tell what size it is when it's closed...

Until you open it and see it's a full sized wardrobe.

I think this piece from Restoration Hardware is the ultimate magical trunk.

You open it up and it's actually....

...a secretary! What an amazing art studio that would make.

Image source: Flickr

And of course I adore old trunks like the ones they used in the Harry Potter films.

All of these are  insanely priced as you might imagine. The Restoration Hardware piece is $3500. But think of all the ideas you can use to alter that old trunk you have sitting in the attic. Or the plain old cabinet or armoire in the dusty corner of your guestroom. Not to mention all the goodies you might find at your local thrift store.

Well I'm off to buy paint for my walls. Still not sure what color I want but something will come to me eventually, lol!

crafty trunk

Shhhh!! I'm suppose to be finishing up my pictures for Friday's blog party (Where Bloggers Create), and also going through my list of errands. The big Harry Potter movie marathon starts tomorrow so I wanted to get all my other things done today. But....

Ever since Celia over at Adventures of the Striped Stockings posted THIS a few days ago I have been obsessed. Celia took her daughter to see the movie Judy Moody And The Not So Bummer Summer. Judy's Aunt Opal (played by Heather Graham) is an eccentric artsy character and this is her craft trunk. Isn't it just fabulously amazing?!

Being the mom of a Harry Potter crazed teenage son, I would have never thought of Judy Moody...and I would have missed this wonderful trunk, so thank you Celia!

Well of course I had to think of a way to make my own magical crafty trunk. At first I wanted to make one I could really use and take with me whenever I go out of town to visit my mom for a few days. I found this case at the thrift store a few months ago.

It's 15x12x6 and solid wood. It's actually a cassette tape holder (remember those) and what I love is that all the little dividers are removable. I was already using it to hold a lot of my ATC stuff but I decided to turn it into my new crafty trunk.

By the way, the trunk from the movie came from the Metropolitan Opera and is about 4 feet tall. Now somewhere in the back of my mind I think there's an old trunk about that size in my mom's garage. Hmmm...

I turned the case on it's side, took out some of the dividers, glued on paper, trim and started stuffing it with all sorts of crafty goodies...

Because this case was already way too heavy before I even started filling it, I realized it wasn't going to work as a travel trunk. So I just had fun with it and made it more decorative than practical.

I recycled a little drawer from another cabinet, made a nook for magical books, threw in bottles and boxes of this and that.

Remember my altered Sweet Tart box bag? It fits right onto the lid and even works as a little file holder.

So I may not be able to take my trunk on any trips but I love having it in my studio, and I can play with it anytime I feel like dreaming about being a hip eccentric guerilla artist.

Plus...

I can still hunt around for another trunk I can really use on the road (maybe an old suitcase). Now back to editing those pictures and getting on with my errands. Be back soon :)

up all night

I am a night owl. Given the choice I would stay up all night working on art. I love the peace and quiet, not just in my house but also in the world just outside of me.

And I love the night sky.

My husband has to go to bed early for work so he often wonders what I do in the wee hours of the morning. If I'm not working on art I'm on the computer, or both. I'm sure he thinks I'm carrying on who knows what with who knows who.

"What do you do up all night?"

Sound familiar?

So for all of you night owls out there I dedicate my latest painting.

Now when my husband wonders what I'm doing I have an answer...

I fly around the night sky with my pink balloon of course!

I play hide and seek with the moon and tell her all my secrets.

I grab a handful of stardust to use for my art.

Then I fly back home and sneak in the house just in time for toast.

And I know I've seen some of you out there flying around

with your own pink balloon ;)

early morning carnival

It's nearly impossible for me to believe that tomorrow is the first day of Spring. We are having mad mad weather this weekend. Tons of rain all day today and the wind is just howling and rattling everything from our windows to the trees. I was hoping to see that enchanted super full moon tonight but I don't think that's going to happen.

I was up bright and early this morning to drive my son to an all day science competition. On our way to the event I saw a carnival set up in a small shopping center parking lot. After I dropped him off I headed right over to it. It was still closed and completely empty. Luckily I had my camera with me this time.

The wind was blowing so hard that the candy colored flags sounded like they might rip in two. But I loved walking around the empty lot under these grey skies. All the bright colors popped even more and there was just something deliciously eerie about seeing an empty carnival right before a storm was about to roll in.

I checked to make sure there were no little fishies freezing in those little bowls!

My dad was in the Navy which meant we lived on a military base most of my childhood. One of them was in San Francisco and I remember how a carnival would come once a year for a few days. My friends and I always looked forward to it. We would ride our bikes the day they came in and watch them set up.

Most military bases had very limited places to go for fun, especially for kids. There's a very uniform and nondescript look to the entire landscape so having this magical and colorful carnival come once a year was such a glorious treat.

However, I was never a big fan of most of the rides. I had such a weak stomach that just looking at them made me nauseous (and maybe I also didn't trust them). But I always loved the whole atmosphere of a carnival. The storybook colors, the mechanical sounds of those crazy rides and the intoxicating smell of cotton candy, candy apples and buttered popcorn.

 And I liked the silly game booths, not the prizes so much but just the way they looked...the riot of banners and colors, the lively game keeper inviting you to part with your change....and the not so gourmet food that you would try to keep down if you actually got on a ride.  Even the slightly seedy reputation associated with old carnivals was part of it's curious charm. It was like stepping into another world which was always gone much too soon.

I only had a few minutes to snap these pictures and reminisce before big drops of rain started to fall. But what a lovely surprise I had this Saturday morning. It brought back a few warm memories and reminded me of why I find a carnival and circus so fascinating.

Happy First Day of Spring!