La Cage Aux Fleurs

I've wanted a birdcage for the longest while but have either not found one in good shape or for the right price. I finally found one over the weekend for a price I could live with ( of course because I'm looking I won't find one as inexpensive as I want) at an antique store. It started out like this before it was ready for its appointment with my very first ever can of, "I think I'm in love", Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. Where have you been all my life? 

 

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it but then I remembered that the first of each month is Frenchy's "French Obsession" party at Chateau des Fleurs and since there's pretty much nothing I can't tie to a movie title, the movie "La Cage Aux Folles" popped into my head ( trust me, a psychiatrist would change professions after playing word association with me!) and I knew I didn't want to do anything birdy with my birdcage because that would be um, LOGICAL, so I decided on "La Cage Aux Fleurs" since I'm currently obsessed with flowers. Still with me? It's exhausting huh? 

Here's what I ended up with ( didn't get pix along the way because my camera battery was charging):

Inside:

 

I made flowers from book pages and some kraft colored paint masking paper, put a black button in the center, and an antique gold rhinestone on top of the button. Made a couple more flowers from just the book paper. I had some ribbon I'd saved from a present that I wrapped around the top of the cage and another piece I tied to the loop thingy on top. 

At the same place I got the birdcage, I found a mason jar of chandelier crystals so I cleaned up four of the biggest ones and attached them to the cage with jump rings. Inside the birdcage there's a nest attached to a branch that I found at Michael's on sale for $1.49!!  I propped that up inside the cage, and what's on the bottom are the scraps I tore from around the circles I cut to make my flowers, along with two more book paper flowers. I used all my bits and scraps!

The center front decoration is from a bag of ephemera I bought at a stamp show...some wired bead strands and a fabric flower. I hot glued the edges of the ribbon to the cage so they'd spread out.

Mr. Chocolate is relieved I didn't intend to keep an actual bird in my birdcage! 

A Little Bit of This...A Little Bit of That

is probably how I would describe my "making". Paper, general crafts, re-purposing, some knitting  / crocheting, mixed media, beads, wire, jewelry a little sewing. You name it, I pretty much play with it. I've been wanting to make one of the bib-style necklaces we've seen around blogland and Etsy. So here 'tis...I was not sure if I'd even finish it so I didn't take any pics along the way.

 

I kept it simple and made rolled rosettes from tee shirt scraps and layered organza flowers with a metallic bead center. I wanted it lighter for Summer so instead of adhering to felt like I've seen a lot of the tutorials do, I made a sandwich of a scrap of a flour sack towel, iron on fusible stuff and a scrap piece of muslin which gave it body but not weight. Glued the flowers randomly, trimmed it close to the edges, and sewed a length of chain on each side. Finished off getting the length I wanted by stringing beads onto stringing wire and added the clasp. 

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If It's Tuesday...

it's time to

Thank you for stopping by, have a chocolate, and take a look around. I'm in and out so will be by to visit you soon!

Win a Silhouette!!!

Yes, you read that right. I've been seeing these opportunities pop up and Just A Girl 
  has an opportunity for you to win one!!! If you don't know what a Silhouette  is, go to their site and check it out in full detail.
The winner will get $325 worth including the following items:

• Silhouette Craft Cutter
  
• Software for Windows XP/Vista
  
• Power cable and USB Cable
  
• Two cutting mats
  
• Two cutting blades
  
• $10 gift card to the online store
  
• Instructional CD and manual 
  
  
  So go NOW to Just a Girl  to find out the FOUR ways you can enter to win! Why are you still here? 

Thank You Jennifer!

Jennifer from The Craft Barn, surprised me with an award, and I'm especially honored because the award recognizes:

and I'm shocked and amazed that anyone would think this applies to my blog! So thank you Jennifer, I am blown away!

The Rules:
•Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.

•Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five (5) words.

•Pass it on to 10 other blogs which you feel have real substance.

My blogging philosophy? I'm not sure I have one but here goes:

Creativity, inspiration, fun, sanity,positive

I'm what you would call a "wordy girl" so limiting it to five words is a challenge. I use 5 words to say hi. 

And now the fun part...the 10 blogs I feel have real substance ( which is not to say that if you're not on this list I don't think you have substance, but I gotta pick 10 )

1. http://allthingzrelated.blogspot.com/ 
2. http://www.centsationalgirl.com/ 
3. http://diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com/ (aka Craftaholics Anonymous)
4. http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/ 
5. http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/ 
6. http://modpodgerocks.blogspot.com/ 
7. One Cheap B*tch 
8. http://roomtoinspire.blogspot.com/ 
9. http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ 
10. http://mmscrapshoppe.blogspot.com/ 

Final Fourth Project...#3

Unless of course I make something last minute next week which I probably will since I called this final. I thought my mantle needed some "bunting". What do you think?

I made coffee filter and crepe paper medallions and used up some patriotic bear iron on transfers I picked up "because they were a steal deal" words that are a permanent fixture in my vocabulary! It's more "cute" than I normally do but at the same time it's vintagey and oh who cares, I like it.

For the coffee paper medallions:

• 4 natural coffee filters for each medallion
• 3 " circle cut from scrap cardboard...mine was a cereal box I cut on my Cricut
• White crepe paper
• Red and blue w/ white star scrapbook paper scraps
• Buttons
• Self adhesive rhinestones

I scrunched the coffee filters, opened them back up, stacked on top of each other and then folded in half, stapled...opened, folded in half the other way, stapled. I don't know why I did this. It seemed like a good idea.

I used a glue stick to attach my crepe paper to my cereal box circles. To me it's the perfect medium for this because it holds the crepe paper yet you can still pull it up without ripping if you need to re-pleat. I just glued down an edge, made a fan pleat, put some more glue stuck on, made another fan pleat and so on. I went around twice to give them some body.

Cut out cirles from the red paper, and then slightly smaller from the blue / white starred paper and crumpled the latter. Stick those in the middle of the crepe paper circle; stick to the coffee filter base. Punched a rustic star from some scrap kraft paper. I added a white button, and because I'm blingy that way, an antique gold self adhesive rhinestone.  I punched a hole on either side of the medallion and added an eyelet so it wouldn't tear when I went to hang it.

For the canvas pennants:

• Scrap canvas, muslin, whatever
• Iron on transfer
• Pattern ( I made one from a scrap piece of paper)
• Eyelets

Cut pennant; iron on transfer, punch holes on either end, place eyelets, string to rest of your banner.

"Fourth" Project #2

Welcome to those stopping in from









 I hope you'll look around and make yourself at home. Virtual chocolates are calorie free!



Told you I didn't buy only one of the table leg / post thingys I used in my first project. I like things in twos I guess...they don't have to match, but coordinate. So I started with another bare one and added a wood ball to the top of this one:

Painted this one cream and dry brushed with gold. I also went around the raised edges with a gold paint pen. I decided I wanted this one to hold an image so I Mod Podged a piece of cardboard that was an insert for a vinyl monogram (re-use, recycle!) with the blue star scrapbook paper and I had some gold paint left on my brush so I went around all four sides with it because....because I did.  I was feeling a vintage vibe and found a piece of clipart in my graphics program that I liked, printed it out, mounted it to a scrap piece of red paper and then to another scrap piece of black mat board:

 

Almost there...I MP'd another scrap of the star paper onto a wooden clothespin, hot glued that to the post ( I don't know what to call it) added some adhesive rhinestones to the drum and remembered I had some stars and stripes wired ribbon and:

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