Spool Valentines Art Party

take a vintage wooden thread spool...

        



















add a strip of patterned paper...a button or two...or maybe a bit of ribbon or twine...
              write your own secret message, rolled around the spool...

                     and you have a spool valentine.

Join me at this February Art Party where I'll show you how to make these tiny treasures...I'll supply everything from the old spools to a plethora of paper, buttons and ribbons...along with a dose of creative camaraderie and light refreshments...You don't have to bring anything but enthusiasm...

Registration is limited; the workshop will take place at my home in Everett.  Once you have paid your registration, I'll send out a confirmation email with all the details.

Spool Valentines
Saturday, February 6, 2016
1 - 4 pm
Everett, WA

$45 registration fee

Any questions? - feel free to email me at amy_duncan@yahoo.com
Don't delay...registration is limited...hope to see you in February!

Visiting an old friend

Just before christmas, I visited an old friend...of the metal persuasion...
my mint green cast iron Singer sewing machine...

I really hadn't seriously sewn in quite a while...part of the reason due to the fact that my sewing table was piled high with stuff...unfinished projects, garage sale finds, leftover materials, etc, etc, etc...
I had a few projects in mind...so after spending a couple of days of clearing off the table completely, I was ready to go...

I love to sew...I have sewn since I was a young girl...my mother was a seamstress and my grandfather a tailor...there is a certain calmness that I feel from the rhythm of the stitching, the hiss of the steam iron, the satisfaction of creating a functional item...

So it probably comes as no surprise that sewing paraphernalia is one of the things I collect...













The past week I participated in a monthly "contest" on Instagram called 7vignettes...sponsored by Jen of Interior Addicts, it is a daily photo prompt that occurs the first seven days of each month, with the objective to photograph whatever your interpretation of the word prompt is for that day.

I had dabbled in past month's competitions but really hadn't given it my all...this time I thought I would commit to all seven days...and with sewing on the brain, I thought I would give a creative thread to all of my vignettes centered around sewing...the quest for items began...and I was quite surprised by some of the treasures that I unearthed...

Day 1 - the theme was sparkle
nothing more sparkly than rhinestone buttons, 
coupled with the sheen of metal and the shimmer of pearl...

Day 2 - the theme was yellow
I had no shortage of yellow measuring tapes on hand...

Day 3  - the theme was blue
the gigantic scissors that the Southern Man's daughter brought back for me when she was in Turkey was an instantaneous choice for blue...along with my vintage mattress ticking that I am hording...

Day 4 - the theme was green
colored dressmaker's pins on white linen...simple but classic

Day 5 - the theme was pink
I adore silk thread...especially when its wound around old wooden spools...
I was quite surprised that I had so many spools of pink thread since its not a color I use...

Day 6 - the theme was rainbow
there's something very nostalgic about rickrack...had to supplement with seam binding for the orange and the violet...but the mnemonic of ROY G BIV stuck in my head all day...

Day 7 - the theme was black and white
digging deep into one of my metal storage baskets I found a treasure trove of notions I had totally forgotten...
this compilation features many of them...which I will keep out so I can incorporate them into a future project...

Having now cleared a space and become reacquainted with my old friend, we will be back together creating...

linking up with kim klassen's Friday Finds...where my find is what was hiding in my own studio...
I just had to re-discover it for myself...

and by the way...I'm having way too much creative fun on Instagram...you should join in...
and follow me...find me as fourcornersdesign...

the ABCs of Style & Simplicity

It finally arrived this week...
and I had to stop what I was doing, break open the packaging and immediately immerse myself in it...

hot off the presses...Style & Simplicity by Ted Kennedy Watson

I've known Ted for over 15 years...and have witnessed firsthand how he has become a style star...with his combination of spot-on design sense mixed with a healthy dose of graciousness and a generous laugh...

This first book (because I know there will be more!) demonstrates how easy it is to have a sense of style...
from A to Z...

As I read through the book, I kept nodding my head in agreement...and to demonstrate his alphabetical approach, 
I created, in a matter of minutes, one such vignette...

A is for Art...and Apothecary Jars
B is for Birds...and Branches
C is for Candles...and Collections

E is for... Easy -  you need to get the book for yourself...and discover how easy it is to inject your own sense of style into your everyday life...and find the beauty in that simplicity...



















Want your own copy? (yes, you do!)    available at both Watson Kennedy retail stores in Seattle 
and online at www.watsonkennedy.com  

Linking up with Kim Klassen's Friday Finds...because this is, by far, my favorite find of the week!

From the heart, part 4

Once again...Monday...
and the countdown to Christmas continues...

Here's another Simple 6 project...another tutorial in my ongoing series...where I provide inspiration and information to make simple gifts to give this holiday season...because the best gifts are made by hand and given from the heart...

Today I start with metal bookends...these I snagged from the Southern Man's library...

They will be the basis for a simple easel to display a favorite photo...or a special holiday card...or a menu on a buffet table...or reminder notes on your desk...or whatever other purpose you can imagine...this project is very versatile!

Since the bookends are steel, all you need is a magnet to hold a photo in place...I'm going to make mine from covered buttons...

Covered button kits are common at sewing/craft stores...
I often find partial packets at yard sales...

I snapped the metal shank off of the back of the button assembly so that the back will be flat and flush to glue a small magnet...

I gathered up a selection of complementary fabric scraps...lighter weight fabrics worked best for making these covered buttons...

Buttons complete...
flip them over and glue on a magnet...

Add a holiday memory...

or highlight the joy of the season...

Need more last minute, quick inspiration...check out the first three tutorials in my Simple 6 series...

from composition notebooks to art journals

from old socks and recycled jars to holiday candles

from lone handkerchiefs to fragrant sachets

Metal mania for the holidays

I have a thing about metal...especially if its old, rusted and has that "to die for" patina...

When I rounded up my materials for holiday inspiration, I knew that these antique tart tins would satisfy my junk metal addiction for festive décor...

I decided that the interior would be the perfect space to create a mini art collage...using found objects and vintage ephemera...and since I've been wanting to experiment with resin, I had my idea and was ready to go...

First I cut out circles from an old dictionary to fit in the bottom of each tin...finding an interesting list of consecutive words was a bit of a challenge...

Next up was gluing each circle to the tin with matte medium...this also ensured that the paper was sealed so that the resin wouldn't saturate the paper and blur the type...

Now the fun part...gathering up all sorts of found objects and assembling the most interesting combination of elements...

Once I had the elements selected for each tin, I lightly glued each object in place so that it wouldn't shift when I poured the resin...

The resin I used is a two part epoxy that I purchased at Lowe's...it is lower grade than the ICE resin used for jewelry but is more economical...and since I wasn't creating high end images, it was perfect for this use.  You want to make sure that you are ready...and have no distractions...because once you mix the resin, there's not a lot of time before it starts to harden.  I used popsicle sticks for stirrers and the straw comes in handy to dissipate bubbles that form on the surface...

With some of the tins, I added a few more elements after the first layer of resin was completely set...it gave a nice 3-D effect to the composition.

After letting the resin cure for a week, I punched a hole in the outer rim of each tin and fashioned a hook from a piece of wire...





























Ready to be hung from my bare branch holiday "tree"...

Want one of these tins for your own?  or to give as a special present?  I'm having a Holiday Sale over at my etsy shop...There are 9 tart tins for sale...each tin to be personally gift wrapped by me with vintage paper and ribbon...and delivered to you via free 2-day priority shipping...get all the details HERE

Linking up to the Christmas Junk Party over at Funky Junk Interiors...and Knick of Time Vintage Inspiration Party...
I'm not the only one with metal mania for the holidays...

From the heart, part 2

Its Monday...its the holidays...its another Simple 6 project...where I share a simple gift idea that can be created from the most common of items...made by hand and given from the heart...

If you want to visit the first project in the series, art journals made from composition notebooks, click here

There is a soothing presence about candlelight...the warm glow, the dance of the flame.  I am not a religious person but I always offer to burn a candle in lieu of saying a prayer whenever there is distress, pain or agony...the light does seem to banish the darkness...so why not give a gift of light...











Let's start with collecting a few glass jars from the recycle bin...
I find that straight-sided jars with a large mouth work best...

Next I gathered up a pair of worn socks and a nasty old wool sweater...washed both of them in hot water to shrink them...I'm going to use the sleeves from the sweater and the ribbing of the socks to cover the jars...

I cut the ribbing off of each sock...and then trimmed one of the ribbing pieces so that the length was exactly equal to the height of the jar it would cover...the foot piece that's leftover...ideal for another project - applying paint or wax to my art collage pieces...nothing goes to waste here!

Same process for cutting the sweater sleeves...the length of the sleeve cut is equal to the height of the jar it will cover...

 

Before I slide the sleeve over the jar, I fill the jar about 3/4 full with sand...

I'm going to nestle a tea light in the sand...

 

I like having the tea light up off the bottom of the jar...and when its burned out, its easy to replace.  If I was going to give one of these lights as a gift, I'd probably would include 3-4 tea lights as well.  Don't have any sand?  how about rice...beans...salt...or coffee...what you are looking for is any substance that can add some weight and hold the tea light firmly in place...

After sliding the sock and/or the sweater ribbing over the jar, I used jute twine and a few vintage mother of pearl buttons to add a little interest and to make sure that the ribbing didn't slide off when you picked up the jar...one of my holiday notecards adds an extra flourish...












Here's the completed set...

As you can see, you don't have to fill the jar with sand and a tea light...here I grabbed a handful of dried poppy pods...holly and greenery would certainly echo the spirit of the season...or a couple of paperwhite narcissus bulbs would work quite well...

 

I'm loving my candles so much I think I might have to keep them...but there's no shortage of recycled jars and worn out socks...so it will be easy to make more for gifts...

 

looking for more holiday inspiration...there's plenty out there...I'm joining the holiday junk fest over at Knick of Time...

and the Party Junk festivities over at Funky Junk Interiors...