Vintage Findings

Today ~

~ I will clean up the worktable.

Hoping you have a great start to your week.

~K

Macro Monday

This week's theme is toys.  I sort of view my tools as my toys, so I went with that.

I have made found object jewelry for quite some time now. Well, mostly I work in PhotoShop, but still have the desire to make things with my hands. This sterling vintage fork was a gift from Objects and Elements. Linda Larsen sent it to me with a bag of "goodies" from the Objects and Elements stash.  She has a tutorial showing how to make the fork into a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry.

Check out her blog, it is full of great ideas!

~karen

STUDIO FRIDAY

Amazing how quickly Friday seems to come around!  Maybe it's just me. But Friday it is and the tour continiues.

Pretty unexciting, huh?  My textbooks.  When I am not involved in an on-line PhotoShop class, I am usually reading these as well as googling tutorials to learn more. But, LOOK, my table is clean!  This particular table is an old door found in the attic.  I cut and adhered vintage papers all over it then put a protective coat on it.  The indentations of the panels keep my pens from rolling to the floor.  Unfortunately, it catches the crumbs when I dare eat in here.  This door/table is 8 feet long and 30" wide.  I love having all the extra surface area.

Table number 2.  This is the work table.  It came from an old art school in Ohio and was truly a lucky find.  I love every single scratch and dent and hole in it.  It is perfect for frame work and wrapping canvases.  It is just the right height for standing.  My friend, Doug, drilled the holes for my tools. My drill just wasn't up to the job - the table top is 2 1/4" thick and the holes needed to be large enough for the hammer handles.  This sits in the center of the room so I can work from any side.

This is my printer's cabinet.  Yes, each drawer is full of treasures.  It started out being used for threads for my quilting work, then there was the button collection, and it's use has grown to include all types of findings used for one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. There are game pieces, jacks, dominoes, eye glass lenses, buttons, pen nibs, bullet casings, typewriter keys, scrabble letters, watch faces, bezels, keys, doll heads, rivets, beads, chain, papers, ribbons, tags, clothespins, metal curlers, garters, library cards, checkers, typeset, rhinestone pins, mahjong tiles, chandelier crystals, and more.

Next week I'll open the drawers and let you peek inside.  

Since I am not making much found art jewelry these days, I have been using the items in my digital collage work. I can make a digital collage, print it on canvas, staple the canvas onto the stretcher bar frame, then add components to the canvas surface.  Anything that has a hole in it or that can be drilled is fair game.  I sew items to the canvas and secure it on the back with knots which are then caulked with a glue-like substance to keep the pieces in place.  

It gives the canvas a 3D look which appeals to some.  There is only so much depth and dimension I can add in PhotoShop, so I supplement that depth with findings.

Leave me a comment and tell me about your space.  If you dream of having a space, tell me about your dream space.  What do you need storage for? Do you need an extra table? What kind of art are you pursuing? Is your space comfy-messy or do you like everything in it's place? Can you create amongst clutter? Do you crank up the music? Do you like soothing tunes or music with energy?

Have a wonderful weekend.  Get out there and do something fun!

~~karen

 

STUDIO FRIDAY

Friday seems to have come around quickly this week.  I had a busy week.  How about you? Did you accomplish a lot? I think I still have things on my To-Do list that will carrryover into next week.  I kept all of my Pilates sessions and managed to walk everyday, so that is a plus for me! I seemed to have a good week creatively and even did some troubleshooting with Epson when my printer decided not to talk to my computer. 

So, in an effort to carry on the Friday traditon of a glimpse into my workspace I have a few photos for you. These are straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC) shots.  No time to tidy them up.

This little cabinet sits on my table - one of my tables - it is so very old.  It holds office supplies.  The dowel rod on the bottom was originally intended for kitchen towels. It used to hang in a kitchen, but my ribbon spools fit it just fine. I tie my tags with odd ribbons so I keep them handy.  The 3-drawer cabinet on top was an old sewing cabinet. Really handy with that handle on top.  It now holds ink for my smallest Epson printer. I just noticed that my thimbles are up there.  And my Dad's watch. . .  

My inspiration board, or just notes I tack up so I don't forget something - show dates, submitted work, papers I don't want to lose on my table top, etc.  It's just a large bulletin board with a vintage map of Europe as the backdrop.  The kind of map that teachers used to pull down in classrooms.  It was a flea market find.  I actually wanted to use it for a window shade, but the mechanics never worked out.  The blue ribbon is from my quilting days.  It is the highest honor - The Master Award for Traditional Artisty. But I am on to new and different things now.

 

Last image today.  Here is one of my sweet birds sitting on a pair of vintage binoculars. I just love it.  I have another bird on a vintage camera that I will share next time. If I remember. I want to share how I organize all of my collectables, too. And I want to share my tables.  Two of them I made from old doors that I found in the attic. Thank goodness for Home Depot, I got some lumber for the frame underneath and the legs. For a small space, I really did pack a lot of things into my studio. It is a comforting room for me. I love it in here.  

Check back next Friday for more.  Because, there will always be more! But I hope you come back before Friday, so I can share my week with you, too.

Have a great weekend.

~~karen

Writing Code is a Foreign Language!

There is a lot more to building a blog than you think.  I am very good with tools like those pictured above.  But when it comes to technology I need to learn new tools.  I will get this figured out soon becasuse I really do not want to be the "problem student" in my typepad class.  So far I have a nice banner, and as of today I have two new blog buttons.  The Flickr Photos button takes you to more of my work.  Please check it out and look through the images.  Tell me what you like and what you don't like. The Free Textures button takes you to a group of textures that you can download and use on your own images.  Now I just need to update all my notes so I remember how I did that!

I hope you are gearing up for a wonderful weekend.  Cooler weather has hit here and we have had our first rainy day which I enjoyed.  Please check on me again so you can see the progress!

All for now,

~~karen