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!

a tale of old

Four easy prompts...a list to comprise a composition...take the time to enjoy the process...those were the instructions for last week's bestill52 exercise...

So I did take my time...and thought quite a bit about it...and then I put my idea into play...

The four prompts were bread, linen, twine, scissors...now 3 of the 4 were no problem...but that first one...bread...I really didn't want to do the traditional thing...and then it hit me...the eureka moment...
bread is also a slang term for money...

When I'm not digging up vintage treasures, creating art or hanging at home with the Southern Man and Mr. Calvin, 
I work part-time at Lowe's...lately in the cash office...occasionally I come across coins from other countries...which have no monetary value but plenty of artistic intrigue...so its a small bonus...
and perfect for my planned vignette...

"the conundrum of Mr. Albert Halliday"

Once a popular tailor, requested by the upper echelons of society to outfit them for any grand occasion, Mr Halliday had seen better days.  The advent of those department stores where anything could be found within their walls and taken home with a swipe of a plastic card had diminished his clientele's need for bespoke clothing.  

The only requests now came from others, like him, who had immigrated from the old country...fleeing from a land that no longer held their allegiance...they understood the quality of a even stitch and the smooth hand of woven cloth...but had no resources to pay for the work...trying to barter their bill with a pittance of old coins and remnants of a dry loaf of bread...

A little imagination goes a long way in setting up an artistic vignette...and helped to reinforce the lessons of this exercise...as is my mantra - the most ordinary of objects can tell a story...you just have to be listening...

A final collage inspired by my story...
"time ticks on...and the ways of the old world are forgotten..."

Joining the group over at kim klassen's Texture Tuesday...
all of my above photographs were edited with kk texture plastersquared...
the digital collage is a combination of both kk textures and french kiss textures

The newest craze

I'm not one for following the crowd...or buying into the latest fad...but I have to admit that when I read about this newest craze over the weekend, it was just up my alley...

Introducing the "shelfie"!

As explained in the WSJ Weekend article, this photo sharing phenomenon is replacing the selfie as the way to demonstrate who you are...

I never cared for the selfie...only took one when I had to for the first Beyond Layers course...

But this idea of expressing yourself through sharing what you have on your shelves...bingo! lightbulb moment!

As I discovered as I posted a couple of shots on Instagram, this idea resonates with others...so for the month of May, I'm going to post a shelfie everyday on Instagram...and I invite all of you to join in...

I've been using Instagram to record my artistic musings...I love that its quick, fast and visual... 
I hope that you'll follow along...
fourcornersdesign, with hashtag #shelfieaday

tag me so I know that you've joined in the fun...I can't wait to see what's on your shelf!


Also joining up with Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday...there might be one or two shelfie geeks in that group...

edited with kk texture 1612 - saturation at 100%

Spring Cleaning

I know it is spring now because the tulips are coming up...and though I wish it was a little warmer, I have bid adieu to winter...and have begun to lighten up with a little spring cleaning...

In the process, I decided that my Etsy shop needed a little spring cleaning...and a bit of lightening up...so starting today, I am having a SALE at my shop on my mixed-media medley boxes and my vintage tin collages...all of them are one of a kind...so when they are gone, they're gone!

In addition...I have added 6 new card designs...and one new variety set...4 flat notecards with a different design on each card...I feel that my photographic collages on these cards reflect the lighter mood of the season...

And I have permanently reduced the price of my 4 card sets to $6!  That's a 20% savings to you!

So hop on over - click here
see what you like...place your order...
and if you let me know that you read my blog, I'll include a bonus gift for you...

Pride of workmanship

As I've been renovating my daylight basement into my new workshop studio, I've come to appreciate workmanship...the attention to detail, the precision of lining everything up and be level, and the ability to have a complicated process look seamlessly simple...

A week or so ago, I caught the last day of a large estate sale...its always my favorite time to go just as the sale is winding down...what remnants remain that have been orphaned...those are the items I look for...

This trio fit the bill...add in the fact that the three pieces hit the high notes of old metal (yes!) and aged string (I have a thing about string), I felt I had hit the jackpot - and all for the price of a dollar!

Simple, everyday items...

The intricacies of the ball of string are amazing...
how a closure was constructed from a small stick and a figure-eight wrap...

The font inscribed on the scissor's hilt...beauty in design...

Joining the others over at Kim Klassen's Friday Finds...finding beauty in the simple things...

Sources quite ordinary

As you might have guessed, I don't do ordinary Christmas decorating...can't even remember the last time I did any sort of traditional tree...I like to pride myself on the antithesis of retail Christmas...what can I create that uses ordinary elements with nothing that I have to buy...(to think that I work at one of the big box stores...a girl's gotta pay the mortgage...)

Step One - round up all of my spools of string and twine...
whittled down the numbers by concentrating just on cream colors...
and ones that looked relatively clean...

Step Two - round up a bunch of finials and door knobs...

I thought that marrying a spool with a finial might look like a modernist junk christmas tree...

Since I was keeping the vibe for decorating simple, I decided to have essentially a deconstructed tree...the germ for this idea was something I spied in a Ballard Design catalog and adapted it accordingly...

A large branch that had fallen off of a tree down the street from a recent wind storm was dragged home...trimmed up a little...and hung suspended from the ceiling...initially I was a little hesitant to put two holes in the ceiling...but as I was climbing down from the ladder, the Southern Man commented to me that I must have gotten over it...they're small holes...

A little bit of tulle...a string of white lights...a  few vintage shiny brite ornaments...

Just for a little divergence, I added in one spool of copper wire...as a perch for a stone bird...

Since I have no mantel, this trio of bookshelves in my dining room steps in to fill the role...
and this vignette brings a soft glow to the room...and helps fill the house with warmth during this festive but cold month...

joining the Junk Party over at Funky Junk Interiors...plenty more holiday ideas...

Shades of gray

Yes...change is in the air...two weeks ago it was still summer...warm, sunny days, clear nights...but in the blink of an eye...the temperature is cooler...there is fog and dew in the morning...and the rain is returning...tomorrow is the first day of autumn...

Suddenly the summer décor of the house was out of place...time to change it up...

Seems like most creative types decorate their mantel according to the season...I have no mantel but rather a trio of bookcases/shelves in my dining room that I change out the display according to whim...my current whim is shades of gray...and not just any gray...but the aged patina of galvanized metal gray...

I love galvanized metal...the patina is so textured... hardworking and sturdy.  With the change of seasons, I always think of the fading blooms of a summer garden...and the striking colors of leaves as they turn... preparations for the winter ahead...all of these thoughts spurred my creative spin...

Though the galvanized gray takes center stage, hues of rust and ochre play a role...dried poppy stems from my garden and pressed tree leaves add a touch of color...balls of twine and a roll of vintage woven wallpaper liner add texture...and old metal type communicates the overall vibe...

Weathered texture, vintage tones, well-loved metal...my favorite shades of gray...

Linking up to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Party...always a favorite...

and to Knick of Time Tuesday Party...another favorite...

Simple gifts, part three

When part of the gift can be the wrapping, that is the epitome of eco-living...
A printed flour sack towel from Full Circle Studio...tied up with burlap twine...
all I do is grab the stray edge of a piece of jute burlap and pull...I love the crinkled string that unravels...

A double strand of twine secures the package...
a tag of one of my recent designs, embellished with an old leather button, adds the finishing touch...

Ready for its special recipient...

I have a thing...about string

Yes...I have a thing about string...I don't know what it is...
the  texture of the fiber...the symmetry of the wrapped roll...the practicality of its use...

My friend Sue gave me this black and white string as part of my christmas present...it was in "the box" that we pass back and forth each year, filled with special delights for the recipient...as I opened the box, I appreciated the french hand creme and the charming hedgehog eraser...but I swooned over the string...onlookers thought I was nuts...but Sue knew...a sign of a true friend!

There is something so simple...so sublime about it...and since I abhor using a glue gun, most of the found objects that I incorporate into my vintage collages are either screwed into the collage base...or tied on in some manner...often with string...so I need a variety of choices...one needs options...

The prompt for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday was "pop of color"...I knew that the amaryllis Sue gave me for christmas would bloom soon...

edited with kk texture minus45, soft light at 48% opacity

(an aside...I am not a plant person...Sue told me when she gave the pot to me not to water it...so I didn't...what she meant was not to water it immediately since the soil was plenty moist when she gave it to me...when I mentioned to her that the shoot had only grown an inch or two in the weeks since, she asked if I had watered it...oh...that made a difference...now I have a beautiful red flower for valentine's day...)


The ball of red string is my other "pop of color"...a small remainder of vintage postal twine...I'm hording it...

edited with kk texture minus45 overlay at 50% opacity