Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Weird House

Ok.  I admit it.  I believe in my "old age" I have taken on a new persona.  I have turned weird!  I am no longer the conservative I used to be.  I used to have to have everything match.  Really match.  Like the tablecloth had to match the walls - had to match the dish towels - had to match the canisters, etc.  You get the idea.

I have changed.  I don't care as much about matching anymore, but if I do, it is still in my kitchen.  However, the rest of my old, old house has taken on what my husband and I used to jokingly call "the weird house".  We had this idea that we would build a section of our barn into a place where all things strange and magnificent would go.  This would include every odd thing we find in our ventures to antique stores and weird places we find on our motorcycle trips.  However, we both know we aren't going to build the "weird house", so our real house is slowly turning into the actual weird house.

I have to admit - I love it.  I love making my children look at something and say "What the hell is that??"  Better still, I love to make something odd and strangely creative and have my husband say "Um, that's cool.  What is it?"

Enter the Elephant.  Of course, I was cruising Pinterest the other day when I happened upon a most unusual thing - a llama pincushion.  This is a plastic toy that was altered into a sort-of pincushion.  Now, why that would appeal to me, I have no way of knowing.  Like I said, I have changed.

So, I had to rush out to the dollar store and buy a plastic animal.  Couldn't find a llama, so the elephant came home with me (along with a dinosaur or two).  One night while I was working away on the elephant, my daughter called me and said "What are you doing".  I said, "I'm painting an elephant."  She said, "Of course you are."  She meant it.

The elephant is finished.  My husband, of course, has no idea why I would make such a thing.  Neither do I, really...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

First online class is over, but...

The first online class I taught over the winter is over now, but believe it or not, I've been asked to do another one for Joggles!  I even got paid for it!

This time, I will be making some gorgeous button bracelets.  The bracelets are made with vintage (and maybe not-so-vintage) buttons attached to a bracelet chain with jump rings.  This class doesn't start until the end of July, so I have plenty of time to perfect my style and process.

If you look at my photostream, you will see that I have something of an obsession with turning buttons into something other than a fastener!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/haineslouann/
Button Bracelet