Floral inspiration

It's about this time of year...when the holidays are long over...
that winter just seems so ...so...unwelcome to say the least...

I really shouldn't be complaining...we've had little snow here...its just so...un-green!

Looking ahead to the Vintage Market in late March where I'll be a vendor, finds me seeking floral inspiration...


Recently discovering a stash of vintage seed package labels that I had misplaced fueled my inspiration...
let me walk you through it...

Step one: rejoice in the fact that after searching for longer than I can remember, I found these vintage French seed package labels...

Step two: find a few old painted boards...the crackled pink paint on this one was perfect...I sawed it in half...

Step three: unearth rain gauges bought last fall on clearance...swap out glass gauge for test tube...

don't know yet what I'm going to do with the calibrated gauges...any ideas?
















After gluing each seed label onto a board and sealing the entire board with a coating of wax, I nailed the metal tube holder at the bottom of the board.  The test tube was a hair wider than the original glass gauge but gentle persuasion opened up the metal clamp just a little bit more...enabling the test tube to be held snug in place.  
Two more nails and a length of wire at the top of the board comprise the hanger...

Add the stem of your choice and its ready to hang...

I just used whatever painted boards I had on hand...but you could color coordinate as you like, using new boards painted your color choice...sanding the board and the edges before you glue on the seed label helps to give it that distressed look...

I like them grouped together but a single board could brighten up a sliver of dark space...






















I checked online and the company I bought these labels from years ago still has them available for sale...and they swear that they are not reproductions but the real deal...find them online at www.simplyfrenchvintage.com

A simple stem in a simple vase...the hope of spring when we need it most...

Joining the Vintage Inspiration Party over at Knick of Time...
because doesn't everyone need a little more inspiration...

A turn of the page

And with the turn of the page...it is now November...and plans begin for the holidays ahead...

I don't like to rush the seasons...Thanksgiving never seems to get enough attention...but sometimes a little
pre-planning is necessary...which is why, starting today, you will find holiday cards in my etsy shop.

New this year...a packet of 4 folded notecards...
just the right size to send a special note...
or tie onto a present for a favorite friend.

Ordering information and details at

www.etsy.com/shop/fourcornersdesign

In the weeks ahead, I be adding in a few more new designs...I'll keep you posted...

Art soothes

Its been a tough week here...I work up Tuesday at 4am...to get to work by 6am...and as I stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen...I glanced out the window and noticed...my car was gone...I had to look twice...yep, the driveway was empty...

Really?  who steals a 17 year old Subaru Outback...another middle-aged women with a golden retriever?  Come to find out from the police that Subaru keys are easy to file down and use in other Subarus...who knew...

After dealing with the police, I wouldn't make it into work on time...I was scheduled for a short shift...so I just stayed home...and after drinking too many cups of coffee and thoroughly reading all three morning newspapers, I decided that I needed to do something to calm down and focus my attention elsewhere...so I went to my work table...and began cutting...and pasting...and sanding...and made some art...

Here's the first piece I completed..."once again"

This piece is part of a collaborative art group on Facebook...each artist using the same vintage target...but each in their own fashion...you can view the entire gallery on Facebook...you don't have to sign in  or belong...get all the details here...

Then I finished up this piece "simple-hearted"...sparked by the remainder of the incredible vintage wallpaper that
I used in "Simplify, simplify"...

 

I like that the vintage blue flower earring (with the back removed) mimics the blue clover flower...

And then later in the day...a package arrived...

it was almost too beautiful to open...that French paper triangle hat is to die for...

but I did...

Belle Brocante is an awe-inspiring blog...recently there was a week of giveaways...I was a lucky recipient...

vintage lace...old buttons...a fabulous artist trading card...a unique French coin...

yes indeed...art soothes...

Like a kid in a candy shop...

Next to getting money in the mail, finding out that I won something ranks right up there for me...early this morning...checking my email before work (that day job that interferes with my creative process!)  I found out that I had won a gift certificate from French Kiss Collections ...

For those of you who aren't familiar with this fab site...its a grand place to get all sorts of inspiration for editing your photographs...since I  have become enamored with Photoshop Elements and discovering all the variations of what one can create, its been a glorious exploration of creative possibilities.  French Kiss Collections offers for sale a wide variety of premium vintage inspired textures, brushes and overlays to use with your Photoshop editing...most of it French-inspired (the designer, Leslie, lives in France with her French husband).

The drawing I won involved posting pictures either of your creative work space and/or you being creative...and winners were selected randomly - oh lucky day!

So before I scrambled off to work, I made my selections from the shop...it was tough but I finally whittled down my choices...and downloaded the files so I would be ready to play later in the day...

Here is my first image...a combination of old postcard, vintage bird etching and French postmarks...

My second design used a photo I took last weekend of fresh tulips...editing in Elements with two grunge textures and an overlay of an old French sales receipt...

I can tell that this is going to be quite a diversion from work at hand...
I encourage you to check it out...creativity loves company!

Another sneak peek...

Thought I'd give you another preview of what you can find in my booth at this weekend's Ruffles & Rust Vintage Show...

There were a couple of teasers of these lamps in progress on my four corners design facebook page (click here to jump over and "like"...that way you'll be in the know on all that's happening in my studio...)
Here are the completed lamps...burnished gold metal bases topped with custom shades created with vintage french book pages...

the inside of each shade was finished with a length of Cavalinni numbers tape...and the outside of the shade was buffed to a waxen sheen...

I transferred a few of my photo images onto canvas and stretched them over a frame...

love the numbers on this old scale...

I'll also have plenty of old books and vintage ironstone...and other fun finds...

For the rest of the week, I'll be busy setting up and then I'll be at the show...so I'll be back next week with pictures...but if you want to see it all in person...stop on over...Friday night or all day Saturday...I'd love to see you!

Enticements

Since I just found out a week ago that I'm going to be a part of the Fall Ruffles & Rust Vintage Show, figured I'd better get organized.  The Southern Man has been visiting family and friends down in Florida...it was the perfect time to haul up what I had in the basement and make a big mess in the dining room...I'm still on my mission to clean out my basement...and I know that it seems like I have an unending supply of stuff down there, but it truly is looking a little empty in places!

I spent one day last week pulling together possibilities and a couple of days of cleaning up forgotten castaways...and then finally finishing other projects...I have more than plenty to fill my booth!  My theme is "remembering the old country" and I'll have a good mix of original art, my vintage art cards, multi-media collages and lots of great found objects.  To take advantage of the mess strewn all over the dining room (and before I priced everything and packed it back up for the show) I decided I would do a little photo shoot to tempt you...and entice you...to clear your calendars and head over to the Monroe Fairgrounds on October 12 & 13 for this fab event...

enought enticement?  and yes, the menage a trois table from my previous post will be there as well...
want more details...as well as the scoop on first choice shopping on Friday night?  head over to www.rufflesandrustsquare.com...

Scratching an itch

With the new year, it seemed like I had a clean palette...I was itching to create...I had a few bits of ephemera hanging around my workspace that were enticing...but did I have the right composition...should I look for a better focus...consider a larger size...and then I remembered my word for the year - BEGIN
so I did just that-

copper leaf - 3" x 5-1/2"
french game card, book spine, birch leaf,
vintage cloth tape, silk thread

winter in paris - 4" x 4"
corrugated cardboard, paint chip sample, cotton flannel fabric,
chinese fortune, silk thread, seed beads, acrylic paint

parisian mist - 4" x 4"
corrugated cardboard, paint chip sample, paper napkin,
image transfer, original photograph, silk thread, acrylic paint

I've been wanting to incorporate fabric into my collages...and stitching...going back to some of my original ideas when I began four corners design in 1999...interesting how ideas cycle back into your consciousness/sphere of influence/inspiration aura over time...so I thought this was the perfect excercise to see where those ideas would take me...

And I am not alone in feeling a need to scratch an artistic itch at the beginning of this new year...

Dave over at Clearer Reflections has been on a whirlwind artistic bent...creating a photo a day and taking it to a different level...with opportunity for others to join in...read all about it here...

A New York Magpie's Eye has likewise been creating a collage a day...simple and sublime at the same time...see her work here...

Carole Reid has started a daily journal that will be a study in circles...I'm not much of journal writer (the blog substitutes for that) but a visual journal is a unique twist...and certainly scratches an itch...read about her work here...

what itch do you need to scratch?  ...feel free to share...

Embracing color

While in the midst of christmas decorating about a month ago, I decided that it was time to rearrange the furniture and spruce things up a bit...my big stack of 20+ suitcases moved from the front entry to the dining room, a table from the Southern Man's office came downstairs to behind the sofa, lamps were swapped out, pillows exchanged...but through it all, the slipcovers on the sofa and the overstuffed chair were looking a little ragged...

I bought my sofa and chair from Ballard Designs over 15 years ago...I remember at the time that more than one person thought I was a little crazy to be ordering major furniture from a mail-order catalog without actually seeing it/sitting in it before I bought.  But I had fabric samples and detailed measurements with line drawings sent to me beforehand so I felt confident in my purchase...and I have been very happy with my sofa and chair ever since...they both are still in great shape...but the slipcovers were faded and becoming threadbare in places.  Well, of course everyone was having a major sale on the monday after thanksgiving...and sure enough so was Ballard Designs...so I ordered new slipcovers...I decided that I would stick with a solid color but didn't want anything as boring as khaki or sand (and off-white was out of the question if I didn't want to wash the covers every week!) so butter was the choice...it sounded so rich and creamy...with a click of the mouse, it was done!

A week later, covers arrive...I take them out of the box and put them on the furniture...I hesitate...the Southern Man comments that it looks more margarine or oleo than butter...

an aside...
I grew up in Wisconsin in the 1960's...Wisconsin, being "America's Dairyland", only sold butter in the grocery stores at that time...people would travel to Illinois to buy margarine (which was and continues to remain, much cheaper in cost than butter).  It was called oleo back then...people brought it back in their trunks and sold it to friends and neighbors...it was white and came with a packet of yellow dye that you could mix in to make it look like butter...but it was pretty easy to tell the difference...so needless to say, commenting that the new color of the slipcovers looked like margarine was not a good thing...

Now for those of you who know me, you know I am not a color hound...my attire is usually a pair of blue jeans and a gray top...every hue, tone and shade of gray I have in sleeveless cotton tees to tweedy wool wraps.  If the color choices for the slipcovers would have listed "pewter" or "slate", I would have been set...

But rather than return them, I decided to live outside my comfort zone...I realize that this is small potatoes, but its a start.  To complement the color of the sofa and tie in the other colors in the room, I decided to enhance a small rusty iron side table I had...it was a simple iron stand with a plain, brown, waterstained wood insert...here's the progress of the table top from start to end...

First layer - pages from an old french history volume...during the bookbinding process, the pages weren't trimmed so I was able to remove a set of untrimmed pages, unfold them and lay them down as the first layer, using my standard formula of Elmer's glue and water...

the second layer is a decorative paper napkin...I separated the three-ply napkin and only used the top single ply so the type from the first layer would show through...

the third layer is a page from an old french book about birds and their nests; this chapter page illustration is finely detailed and placed in the center of the collage design.

After the third layer, I felt that something more was needed...a bit more patterned tissue and a postage stamp was added...then the entire surface was sanded smooth and finished with two coats of polyurethane and one coat of paste wax...

here's the side table in the living room...moving around the margarine colored pillows helps to break up the mass of yellow dominating the room...

As you can see, at least one family member is enjoying the new sofa...maybe because its his color...

linking up to Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm...with the new year underway, there is no shortage of thrifty energy here!

That which remains...

Alas, I did not sell everything in my booth at the Fresh Paint Art Festival over the weekend...but good news for those of you living far and wide...I have four of my original multi-media collages in my Etsy shop for sale...

the french artist - 2011

Don't forget that during this inaugural opening month of my Etsy shop, there is free shipping on every order...that's an $11.00 savings on claiming this original collage as your own!  Just type in 811FREESHIP as the shipping code when you finish up your order.

I have more original collages and even a few junk necklaces that will be added in the coming weeks...hope you check it out soon...

Back from the Continent

With the holidays behind us for another year, it was time to totally refresh my space at Faded Elegance.  My theme for this vignette is "Back from the Continent" - imagine being back home after travelling to Europe for the holidays...time to rest and reflect on the memories...

 















"Back from the Continent" will run until late February - hope you will stop by and check it out!

Nouvelle vie

This is the saga of the sad side table which was given to me and how I gave it a new life - a french life -but of course!

Here is the square side table after it has been scrubbed down and its hardware removed.  You can't really see it in the photo, but the top of the table has various words (not of a kind nature) etched into it.  My neighbor down the street is a landlord and was going to toss this piece after some tenants left it behind.  I looked it over and decided to take it home...it is solid wood, there are dovetail joints and it has good lines - all good points when deciding whether or not a piece of furniture is worth salvaging.

Here it is after its coat of spray primer.

An aside - no one ever wants to prime...at work, I tell people that they should prime to get a good result - over half the time, people roll their eyes and shake their head - ain't gonna do it.  Priming is the secret behind good paint jobs - and primer is usually cheaper than paint- so doesn't it make sense to prime instead of doing multiple coats of paint?

I decided to use a hammered metal silver spray paint - the hammered finish would help to hide some of the flaws/nicks/scratches in the wood.  After the painting, I needed to move the project inside because the temp outside was too cold to continue...so into the dining room it went!

For the top, I decided to decoupage (image that!).  This would thoroughly hide the damage of the wood and add extra interest.  I used pages from an old french text for the initial layer.

After the initial layer was dry, I sanded the french text to make it smooth.  Then I decoupaged a layer of silver patterned tissue paper and when it was dry, again sanded it vigorously.  The tissue has a tendency to crease as you glue it down; the sanding smoothes out these creases and gives a textured finish.

Layering the tissue over the french text allows the text to show through, giving subtle depth to the top surface.  Once the sanding was complete, I applied three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane, using fine steel wool between each coat to ensure smoothness.  I'm not usually a gloss girl, but with the shine from the hammered paint, it made perfect sense.




And here it is - fin!

The polyurethane gave a slight amber tone to the top, as if it was aged...I picked up this same tone in the drawer knobs - they were once brass but all the brass had just about flaked off, revealing silver metal underneath.

Linking up to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special...Ultimate Repurposes...lots of fabulous creative folks out there!