Very Merry

So as of today I'm all done with the semester! I'm very excited to start break and have some breathing time to enjoy Christmas time. It's been a good semester, but there's always some crazy business going on.

So after teaching an RS lesson about being prepared and recently teaching a YW lesson about time management, you'd think I'd be all set, right? {snort}

I got a late start on this final painting- my teacher explained the project options to us and then only gave us basically a day to come up with a fab idea and gather all your materials. That's a tall order when you want to do something good, not cliche. It took awhile to gather everything and glue the still life together. So I found myself finishing my painting at 2 am this morning. Other painting students stayed even later!

And even though yesterday started off with no snow, by the time I left school there was three to four inches on the ground. I didn't have boots or a heavy coat with me because it'd been so nice out earlier when I'd left for the day.

Oh, and I had to be at school at 8 am this morning for my other final. And and keep in mind I live nearly an hour away from school.

The best solution was to get a hotel room in Edinboro, by the time I got McD's and got checked in it was 2:40 am. So there I was- no pj's, no toothbrush, no change of clothes, no makeup or hairbrush. I'd taken my other clothes out that had been in the car. I made do, got up at 6ish, showered and picked up a couple things (like a toothbrush) at Wal-Mart. There are few things grosser than having to put back on socks that you've already worn!

And I'm having to walk around campus in my tennies when I should have had boots. Blech.

So that's a lesson to me to 1) manage my time better so I don't have to do projects at 2 am and 2) to be more prepared in all this snow.


Anyhow, on to my painting. It took a long time to do because I wanted it to be good. Things went well in critique today and I got an A! I was also asked to bring it back for display at school next semester.

Am I painting bubbles? Nope, Christmas ornaments!

Normally you would work your entire painting from general to specific, but since I had so many colors and a large canvas (18x24) that was pretty impossible. It became kinda like paint by numbers! You had to look at each ball and separate the reflections into shapes.

A good start:

A little more progress...

and then it was done! It's even more colorful in real life. My teacher liked how they gleamed like vintage ornaments, that was the look I was going for. I really like how the colors popped against the dark. The trick in painting is not to use black but a very very dark color, like blue. If you use a true black then it becomes rather dead looking.

So act surprised....this will likely be used for next year's Christmas cards!

Ame's Shower

I've been doing a ton of party/event planning lately, as you can see- last Saturday I threw a bridal shower for my friend Ame (pronounced Ah-May, there should be an accent over the E). You may remember her from the Preception party. Anyhow, she is staying around longer than the others did so I had the opportunity to throw her a shower. I've been to many but never thrown one before, so it was something new. I have fun doing things like this, and Ame made it easy- she loves butterflies as much as I do so I used stamps and punches that I already had. I have fun being crafty, and it's always fun to make things with someone that you enjoy in mind.

Ame has been a good friend to me since I moved here; she was one of the first YSA that I met out here and we had an instant bond since she is from the Bay area like my parents. We've had some fun adventures since, so it was a pleasure to do something for her.

I was responsible for invites and decor, Ame's mom did the food and helped out with the games. I used my little vintage bride doll on the top of a cupcake tower, each cupcake had flower and butterfly paper punches for decoration. Mom and I collect pretties like cake plates. I was pleased with how things looked and how the day went. Everything was lavender and yellow which are Ame's wedding colors when she marries in California in January.

Cupcake tower:

I hemmed a long strip of lavender fabric for a table runner and I made a paper punch garland for the food table, all you have to do is string random punched paper onto a long length of crochet thread. I knotted the thread about every six inches so that the punches didn't clog up in one spot.

The tables had paper punches too, and everyone got a little candle. I stamped the yellow cards for people to write advice/wishes for Ame, those will go into a book when I have some time.

We had the shower in the overflow room in the Meadville building because my home was too small and far away and we didn't really know where to have it. I wish the curtain looked better, but the room was fine. Here's the room:

After munching and mingling, we got started playing games. For the first game, I had Ame's mom enlarge a bunch of photos of Ame at various ages. People had to guess how old Ame was in each photo. Since she's only 21, it's hard to tell how old she is since she looks about the same after age 15! It was cute to see the photos of Ame, and the person who got the most right won a prize.

After that game, yup, we did the toilet paper bride thing. You have to, it's the law. We had 4 teams of three and Ame would choose the winner (despite being wrapped up herself). It was hysterical, easpecially watching a team of three elderly ladies! They actually had the best craftmanship. Everyone was a good sport. Ame's mom Shirley and I wrapped up Ame, that was funny.

Ame had an 80's/Pocahontas vibe going on:

What good sports: Ame's Mom-in-law, My sis Laura, a friend, and Ame:

Then it was time for presents! I didn't want to do too many games because I have been at showers that took forever. It's no fun when people have to leave before they get to see their gift being open.

My mom and I like to be a little creative when it comes to shower gifts. One thing we've done in the past is to divide the gift into four: Something Old, New, Borrowed, Blue. I decided to do that for Ame. Each gift was in a white box with lavender ribbon, lableled on a white butterfly punch. Something old was a vintage tea towel in her wedding colors along with a butterfly plate that is the same discontinued pattern that I collect.

Something New was personalized kitchen goodies.I made a hotpad and embellished towels and an apron for Ame. I've never done a hotpad before, it was a bit wonky but not bad for the first try. I tihnk I'll use a different binding technique next time- the bias tape i bought was so stiff and hard to work with. I'd never used Insul-Brite (a batting made for things like hot pads) before. Embellishing kitchen towels with a strip of fabric is super fast and easy, I imagine I'll do some more. It's fun to create a personalized gift by matching the fabric design to the person.

Made a ruffle and used binding tape to embellish a pre-made apron:

Something Borrowed was a butterfly pin from my collection that I knew Ame would like but that I wouldn't mind if it flew away. When it came to Something Blue, I just had to embarrass Ame- she gets mortified easily. I decided to fake her out by making her open a Victoria's Secret bag (what were people thinking of me when I was walking around with it at the mall? haha) that contained.........Victoria's Secret brand lotion.

But then I got her with the box that the bag was attatched to, muh ha ha ha ha!

Not bad for $3 at Marshalls, eh?

Ame got a lot of other sweet gifts from the other ladies and her mom. Laura helped out as the gift scribe and I had her put the gift ribbons on a plate as a "bouquet". Found the cheesy butterfly tiara at Wal-mart for a BUCK...and it lights up too!

It was a little nervewracking because I was not totally in control of everything- I never had the opportunity to see the room before we set up, etc. But I think it went well- people seemed to be having a good time. Most important, Ame had a good time cause I got lots of thank you hugs.

Several have commented that I should do weddings- and yes I've thought about that. Doing stuff like this is fun for me- it's a good mix of my planning/crafty skills and I have fun being creative. Not to mention, it runs in the family-my grandmother used to do weddings. Maybe one day I will. I think part of me might feel too J-Lo in The Wedding Planner....always the wedding planner, never the bride. School, YSA and YW also keep me quite busy now, though. For now I am content to do things like this, though I would like to sell my wedding wares, etc on Etsy. I have cake toppers floating around in my head (instead of sugarplums).

And no, that's not the last of the event planning that I've been doing lately....stay tuned!

One man's trash...

...is totally another's treasure! I have so much fun antiquing, flea marketing, garage saleing, etc. It's always a treat to wander Goodwill, too. I like to see the potential in something that others can't. I have fun revamping things plus it's much "greener" (and cheaper!) to buy things that have already been made rather then to cause new things to be manufactured, not to mention you are keeping stuff out of landfills! If I had my own place I think it would be Salvation Army Style all the way! Here's the latest finds:

I love to collect vintage dishes (and they're aqua! Double score!):

Aren't these vintage bride dolls the sweetest? I love love love them! I will use the one on the right to decorate with at the upcoming bridal shower I am throwing my friend (she is a brunette). They were only $2 each and I estimate they are from the 40's or 50's at the latest:

I also found this wooden house, it looks like it was made to hold a chotchke or two, but I like it on it's own as a sculptural element. It now sits by the phone.




Another steal was this random of random quilt top...a random quilt for a random girl, eh, Angela? Ha ha. It's actually rather difficult for us humans to create a random thing, our brains want to organize things so badly- I was rather impressed at their randomness. I guesstimate that this quilt top was made in the 60's or 70's as it has some very funky fabrics! Some even have butterflies, it was a sign.

The fabrics aren't actually pieced together, but zigzagged onto a backing.

Sometimes a steal really is someone's trash, like the other week when my parents found this antique sewing machine sitting outside an Amish house. They asked about it and sure enough it was out for the trash. And it's in great condition too- the paint still looks great, no rust. We have a Singer treadle machine that my mom bought when I was little (she sewed us a lot of costumes on that machine! Way to go Mom!) so we have an appreciation for them. I'm curious as to what happened to the cabinet this would have been a part of.

I was surprised that this was out on the curb, it'd be worth a pretty penny in an antique shop, especially since it is in such nice condition.

The silver detail is quite Art Deco, this machine is probably from the 1920's or 30's. It's newer than our treadle machine. Us Chaneys like to rescue cool stuff, lol. And you wonder why we have too much stuff....

Thought I'd show what can be done with a thrift store find- I bought this gold plastic frame a few weeks ago and finally revamped it last weekend.

Before:

I spraypainted it black- when you remove color from an object it becomes all about its form. I LOVED the design that was left on the cardboard! So ghostly! Next time I'll have to remember to put a good piece of paper down to preserve the design.

I let it dry and hung it in my room, no other place for it now!

Can you tell I like butterflies from my pic? Ha ha. I really like "Mod Victorian" items so I liked how the frame turned out. I think it would look great with some Haunted Mansion wallpaper!





Stay tuned, folks for more craftiness!

Chautauqua Quilts

Last weekend I went to the Quilting Around Chautauqua quilt show at the Chautauqua Institution in NY. There's this neighborhood of beautiful old homes, many of them are summer homes on the lake. They also do cultural events, I've been there twice before for performances. It was nice to get out of the house, and I definitely got my exercise- 800 quilts were spread out in buildings all over the general area. It might have been nice to have had someone with me, but I had fun and got to explore and see what I wanted. Both the houses and the quilts were inspirational. I love old houses and quilts so it was a great match.

Wouldn't you love to live here?

This little church was unique and really cute:

A tiny public garden that was cute, had some pagodas around:

A beautiful, huge hotel:

I think I found my house:

You know you're in a nice neighborhood when this is the "homely" house in the neighborhood!

And on to the quilts:



A beautiful 1800's fan quilt:

Cute to use log cabin squares as pumpkins:

I'm not always a fan of batiks, but they work well in this:

A cute Christmas log cabin, it'd be cute as a big quilt:

I love the log cabin/stars combo, but I'd do different colors:

What a cute snowman!

I don't always like "mod" quilts but I like this one (Basic Grey does scrapbook paper and fabric):

If you don't want to do a whole big quilt you can do a framed one, it could be cute:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE 30's fabric...here's a cute chicken wallhanging:

and 30's butterflies! The whole thing was like 18"sq.

1930's baskets were sweet in a wallhanging:
The mini quilts were amazing...this whole quilt is 11 and 3/4 inches square...each bear paw was tiny and amazingly exact! Whoever did this was really talented:

It was a fun afternoon, I was definitely the youngest person there! It was funny because the "soundtrack" for the day was listening to women ohh and awww over everything.

There were a lot more neat quilts but those were my faves. I'm trying to get into quilting, been reading books, hoarding fabric and collecting patterns for a few months now. I really have a fun time putting fabrics and patterns together...now I just have to actually do it! I really wish I had more space to do stuff like this!

I {heart} books!

I love love love art books. I love most books. I tend to prefer non-fiction over fiction, I don't know why. Anyhow, I thought I'd share some of my current fave books in my collection, I'll likely share more in the future.


I really have an interest in color theory and how your brain and eyes work. I think it's important to know about these things as an artist. One of my fave books is Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing by Margaret Livingstone. It really goes into (understandable) detail about how your brain and eyes work together and why certain works of art are more interesting than others. Love it. I also love visual illusions, it fits along with that topic. Some of the illusions are pretty trippy, who needs drugs? Haha.

One of my recent vintage purchases was this book, I loved the cover.......and especially the 1940's illustrations inside. I would like to make copies one day to frame, they're so cute. This book was made in the 40's when my grandma would have been learning to sew (she took several classes), so it makes me think of her.

Another recent purchase is the book Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan. I really like this book, it has cute projects that are stylish yet relatively easy to do. I haven't done any of the projects yet, that's on the To Do List. I bought it at JoAnn's, gotta love coupons!

I recently found these books (still unpacking boxes after two years!) and I was so glad because I'd been looking for them. When my mother was a missionary in Colombia in the mid 1970's, she bought these fairy tale books that are written in Spanish. I grew up with them as a kid and I've always loved the illustrations. They're very nostalgic for me and now they live in my room.

Funny Story: When I was little I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I couldn't understand these books, not even when my mom would try to explain that they were in another language! It took me awhile to catch on. Eventually I did take Spanish in high school and now I can read them, though you get the gist of it with the pictures.

I have tons of books, I need more shelves! My bookcase (it only took 27 years to have my own! A dream has come true!!) is full and I have piles on the floor! I drool over IKEA catalogs and I dream of shelves....