heirloom paper art.

the theme for this week is decoupage: the art of using glue, paper and varnish to surface an object. according to wikipedia, decoupage is sometimes referred to as the 'poor man's art' because it can be done using scrap you might have around the house. this is generally done on furniture or boxes, but i found some unique uses of this victorian paper art technique to share:

1. place card stones, StonesbySarah.

an eco-friendly replacement for the usual printed paper placecards for a wedding reception or a party. decoupaged with recycled paper and sealed carefully. a beautiful natural addition to your table, one of these would be a pretty keepsake later on for your desk at work or at home.

2. adjustable sewing pattern button ring, natuure.

a perfect antique button decoupaged with vintage sewing pattern paper, so thin you can see right through to the button surface in places. unfortunately this amazing shop only has four items listed for sale right now, but a click through natuure's 'sold' pages shows some really beautiful jewelry and decorations, and i'll definitely be checking back in with them soon to look for new items.

3. medicinal herb chromolithograph necklace, PegandAwl.

i love botanical themed jewelry, and this piece is rustic and lovely and just a little bit different from all those paper / scrabble tile pendants out there. this necklace was made of illustrations from a 1905 german medical book. PegandAwl makes most of their pieces from 'olde growth pine joists and beams from 19th century houses' in the philadelphia area. (which i think is just too neat.) their work is varied and creative and really has the feel of a true heirloom collection.

missoula madefair.

i wanted to share photos of the setup i built for my first ever craft show. last sunday was missoula MADEfair, a show of about 65 handmade artists from western montana and surrounding areas. it was a gorgeous day in caras park and we saw a lot of foot traffic.


here's me, setting up my table in the morning.


i made two super amazing thrift store finds into the main parts of my setup: first, an old picnic basket, which i secured to a crate underneath it so it would stand up with the top hanging down. i attached strips of balsa wood to make little shelves for my pendants to line up on. then i wired dowels across the open space above for hanging earrings. it was just a tiny bit rickety - i think i will try to find a more secure way to attach the dowels for next time.


my other amazing find was this vintage wine rack in the shape of a bicycle that you can see on the right. it had this beautiful distressed green paint on it and was perfect for gluing little s-hooks to for more hanging display space. i hung my larger earrings and a couple necklaces on this.

kerry made my beautiful sign, hand-painted with a lovely handstitched fabric tree. also the cute little price sign holders, made out of river sticks with slits sawed across them for holding the cards. she was super helpful and i really think the sign pulled the whole display together nicely.

p.s. i was set up right next to SaltyandSweet, an etsy artist who makes these great laser-cut mobiles - some kid-centered but also some fantastic ones geared more toward adults. go check them out!

trying to connect.

i've been considering blogging for a long time, and have had the average reservations about it (will anyone read it? will i know what to write about? will i end up doing nothing in my life but writing to the outside world?) and decided that, among other things, i need more productive me-time, and i think this blog will encourage me to schedule some of that for myself. i'm a preschool teacher and i have an etsy shop for my jewelry creations, both of which have eaten up so much of my brain for the last year that recently, when asked what i like to do i my spare time, i couldn't think of a thing. so here's the beginning: a documentation of what-i-do-in-my-spare-time and aiming to make time for wonderful things to fill it with.

for my inaugural blog post, i thought i'd show off today's project, the first thing i've made for myself in a while. i volunteered for the first time this morning with living art of montana in one of their 'creativity for life' workshops, a series of free craft workshops for people facing illness or loss. the workshop was run by a friend / mother of one of my students, and we made mobiles. here's mine, hung on my kitchen wall:



i'm quite in love with it. various found objects, beads, a stick found while walking by the clark fork river, some fishing line and yarn for hanging.




everyone's piece came out different and beautiful. i might do a series.