More Boards

Okay, here's the next post of chalk boards. It must be obvious by now that I love to do these things.

This one is obviously for Dawn!! She commissioned me to make it for her mother-in-law. I love to do custom work!!!

I've had this Victorian couple for a long time now and needed just the right place. They will be happy forever on this chalk board.

I put several of those fab flower buttons in this board. I love the color mixture in the rusty old cup. (SOLD)

I'm always on the lookout for these little cups. Many of them were made by a company called Ohio Art. It's funny to think about lots of the toys they used to make for children. It seems obvious today that tin doesn't make an ideal material for a child's toy, but then again, neither does lead paint.

Very bright color combo.

I got the golden star burst brooch at the Goodwill on about 90th and Wornall. I am not lying when I tell you I come out of there with treasures EVERY time I go in. Yee haw.

And the ladies who work there are super nice.

This chalk holder is a weird fish vase. I got it while shopping in July with my hair stylist, Lisa, in Greenwood, MO. I've said many times that it sometimes takes awhile to decide where something should go. And then there's some stuff I use the second I get it home. Weird.

And it's pretty obvious from the looks of this board and what I've written on it that this one is not yet finished.

Love this chalk holder. Very shabby vintage pink boot.

Beat up domino from Old School Flea.

Perfume bottle from D's yard sale. I'll post this one later in the weekend after I finish it off and then all of these boards are going on Etsy. (Except for Dawn's!!!)

Ho Ho Ho

Lori and Andee are hanging out in Denver, drinking some cocktails, and checking out the blog!! I wanted to post some pics of some chalkboards I've been working on. Ho ho ho. These will all be on Esty this weekend. Thanks for taking a look, Lori and Andee!! (others to follow here in a sec)

Homecoming, Mosaic Boxes, and Magnets

Brendan might be upset with me for this, but I had to include some pics of he and Nora before homecoming last weekend. So cute!!!

And outside of Nora's house.
Wil and Brendan.
And I had to include this pic of Wil and Brendan circa 2004. It's amazing what a difference four years make!!

I've been busy getting ready for another Stuff drop and working on some custom orders, too. Here's a round box I did for my dear friend Lori (who's been my friend since we met in Miss Parson's seventh grade art class!!!) This will arrive in the mail to her today along with another fun surprise that she is not at all expecting. Yeah!!!

As usual, I've crammed in a watch face, a key, a di, just anything I had laying around. Ahhhh, so many possibilities!!!

And the bottom of the green box. I have so much fun doing custom pieces.

Here's the next round box with the doll arm I got at the antique mall, a few earrings, and another watch. This one is currently in my Etsy shop.

And I've been working on some magnets with inspirational words. These are currently on Etsy and I'll be making more very soon.

This magnet was sold to Andee. Thanks, Andee!!! My fab mother-in-law gave me these sparkly birds. I've used one in a box, but I really like them on this magnet.

And here's another one of those great buttons I found at Old School Flea. I put several in a chalkboard I will be posting soon and will run out of them before long, but I can't help myself -- I must use them!

Buddha magnet (SOLD)

Retail Therapy and Weird Mosaics

I've been cranking away at the mosaics lately and I needed a little retail inspiration, or retail therapy, as I like to think of it, to keep my creative juices flowing. I was at one of my favorite places meandering around yesterday, the Mission Road Antique Mall, and I tripped across a booth and felt like I had struck gold.

I posted a pic earlier of a Big Ben clock I found at Sparks and I found two smaller clocks in this booth yesterday. Just the right degree of rusty and worn. Most of the plates came from another trip I took to the DAV and Goodwill thrift stores on Wornall.

The berry spoon and letter opener came from the fabulous booth in the mall. I've already glued the berry spoon to a double switch plate that says, "MY KITCHEN". I'll post a pic when I'm finished. Not sure what I'm going to put the letter opener in, yet. Maybe a chalkboard. As you can tell from the boxes I posted recently, I love doll parts and I snatched this doll arm right up. The red and white English saucer is awesome and I've already used a piece in the picture frame below (behind the dog's head). The watch and gold swirl brooch came from the DAV and Goodwill thrift stores. I usually find something fun at the Goodwill on Wornall.

Here's a close up of the pink clock and I got the jar of dice in a nearby booth. Although I really like the look of the dice in the jar, they will be used in mosaics. I already stole one for the "BIG DOG" frame below.

And a close up of the cream clock. When I move to a larger house, I'm going to have a dresser with nothing but these old clocks spread across the top. Big, small, black, white, pink, the only thing they'll have in common is that none of them will be able to tell the time anymore.

I actually walked away with my arms full and had to make my way back to pick up the dog. And seeing as how I just bought him yesterday, I didn't waste any time . . .

Yes, he looks like he's just sitting in front of this frame, but he's actually glued and cemented into it.

Lots of what I do is color-themed, but I enjoy letting lose every once in awhile and for some reason, I like to mix and match lots of colors on dog-themed stuff (scroll down to see the latest dog chalkboard below).

This dog is a pretty large figurine and just the right size for the frame. If you're at the Mission Road Antique Mall, go to the first floor by the bistro to see this great booth packed with treasures.
Now for the "weird mosaics" part. I have been on a kick lately, putting strange things into my mosaics. I recently posted a dented-up red plastic baby doll I stuck on a switch plate. Here's a green and red trout.

He looks kind of stunned, but I'm sure he'll warm up once he goes to a good home.

I got this strange plastic girl doll at Sparks from a guy who was my favorite vendor. I mentioned in a recent post that I was disappointed that he wasn't at the fall show.

Kind of like the fish, she looks stunned, but I'm sure she'll get used to having been glued and cemented into a switch plate eventually.

I got this elephant figurine at a thrift store on 470 and Blue Ridge Boulevard. The place was packed with cool stuff and the entire back wall was lamps. Interesting. I feel some more retail therapy coming on.

Extra Credit Cookies

Brendan made chocolate chip cookies last night for extra credit in his foods class. Me helping him with this assignment is scary, since I can't bake myself out of a wet paper sack and with cookies, I usually forget to add the eggs to the creamed mixture. Two missing eggs from a cookie recipe makes a big difference. Luckily, Brendan was paying attention.

I guess it would kill me to go out and buy a set of canisters from some time period other than the Vietnam era. Luckily, these are stored away in a cabinet when not in use.

Dash was awake for the finished product. Scroll down to see him napping while Brendan was doing all the hard work.

To get full credit, you have to clean the dishes. This was an unfamiliar pose for Brendan.

Dash wasn't much help while Brendan was mixing everything together. He fell asleep in his chair while eating a chocolate donut. It was fun to have Dash hanging out with us, but not barking his usual orders or singing loudly (and badly). He gets both of those traits from me.

Busy Weekend

I had more trinket boxes to finish up this weekend in preparation for another Stuff drop. These take awhile to complete because after the gluing and grouting, the inside needs to be painted and the outside back and bottom need to be papered. Whew! This one says "TREASURE" in mini Scrabble letters I bought off of Ebay.

I've mentioned that I really enjoy these boxes because of all the things I can cram into them. Like the red button, perfume bottle, car, and bowling pin on the top of this one.

The purple flower is another button and I am really on a domino kick lately. I have several sets of those. Seems I can never accumulate too much junk.

Another button on the top left; some kind of plastic with sparkles inside. Another Old School Flea treasure.

A tiny spoon on the other side with a fleur-de-lis, and the white rosette is a button.

I paper the back and bottom for a nicely finished look.

This one says "GIRLY" in those same mini Scrabble tiles. That's a pink button on the right next to the doll. I've had it for months and have waited for just the right place. Very funky with pink plastic chips melted to the top. It looks like it may have spent a former life on a coat.

To accompany the doll arm on the top of the box, here's a doll leg. You can't tell from the pic, but it's quite a chubby leg. I love the dark blue perfume bottle and I'm always a sucker for dice.

You can't have enough perfume bottles on a box that says "GIRLY", so here's another. I also added a nautical button to this side. Once again, I was waiting for just the right thing for this button.

The gold swirly is a button and so is the purple plastic round object on the right with parts peaking through.


And the back is finished with some fun polka dotted paper. These boxes are worth the work and customers at Stuff really like them.

On Saturday, mom and I went down to the Mound City arts and crafts fair and met up with my cousin Janet and some other friends who live in that area. Janet is the country mouse and I'm the city mouse and we are always teasing each other, but I must admit the fresh breeze and open land where she lives is awesome. (I hope she doesn't read this blog because I won't live that one down!)

I was so happy to pull up and see Janet's friend, Becky. They have known each other since grade school and I remember going to Becky's bachelorette party about 15 or 16 years ago. Going is about the only thing I remember. My, how I've grown up . . .

We met up with Janet's friend Corina and her mom, Roberta. Corina's son, Colby, and Dash got in some basketball before our shopping extravaganza.

Once we got there it was super crowded. This picture does not begin to show that.

There were all kinds of cute Halloween things like this fun ghost.

I like the Halloween socks and the witch boxes.

This hand was great. It's a good thing I have no room in my house.

There was lots of jewelry, including these colorful charms.

And I always see this house on the side of 69 Hwy on the way down to Mound City. I told my mom on the way back that I was finally going to stop to take some pics.

I wanted so badly to look in the windows, but the grass was really overgrown and being a city mouse, I'm very afraid of snakes.

There was some cool detailing at the pitch of this wall. My mom and I wondered how long this house had been here and why it had been abandoned. It doesn't take long for homes without people to lose life, but I wonder how long this one has been empty.

And one more project this weekend; it wouldn't be a mosaic party at my house without a magnetized chalk board. Isn't this a great chalk holder?! This board says, "DOG POWER".

This dog looks very regal.

The bones are polymer clay.

And of course, I had to sneak in a button or two.