A little magic in the air...

Can you see it? That little bit of fall light? It's twinkling right at the tip of the leaf: autumn magic! I was out observing the light when a shiny bit in the weeds caught my eye...

A silver ticket! To a mysterious carnival! I wonder ...

What sort of mysterious mysteries await? Why don't you pick up your very own silver ticket and join the fun?

Click here to join the fun!

Metalicious - Painted Patinas on Brass

A brass butterfly from Vintaj with Ranger Ink's patinas - it was quick, easy and I love the results. You paint the patina on the metal, it dries quickly, sand off some of the paint and voila - old, grungy and beautiful!

A bead cap (posing for its picture on a toothpick) ...

A filigree...

The butterfly on the left, before sanding, right, after sanding...

The colours verdigris and rust...

A Buddha bead from TierraCast - the patina didn't grip the slick surface as well as the brass pieces but I like the effect.

 A pretty bezel frame from Accessories Susan with "reverse antiquing" - wouldn't it look nice with vintage text and a pink rose?

The working set up - toothpicks in styrofoam.

Some of the patinas and a clear extender / topcoat. The paint is very thin and detail painting didn't work, the effects were best when the colours were allowed to flow into each other. So now I need to get busy and make some jewelry!

WBC Studio Tour!

Welcome to my studio - a bit late, but I'm going to blame it on Mother Nature. My studio is an un-heated, un-cooled, un-insulated garden shed in Arizona. I can handle it when it's 100 degrees but not 108 in the shade, which is what it's been lately and I've had a lot of work to do to get ready! The summer rains arrived this week which cooled things down but now the outdoors is wet and I do a lot of my stuff outside.

Brownie poked his nose out...

and says "Hi" through raindrops on the camera lens.

The maple trees and tomatoes were happy - what could be nicer than rain and sunshine.

The sunflowers weren't too happy with the gray skies...

So between flashes of lightning, rumbles of thunder and lots of rain...

Enter the Enchanted Forest, the sun is shining, the birds are singing...

the gnomes are tending mushroom gardens and the studio is open.

The jewelry making end of the workbench with tiny plastic drawers full of neat stuff, like...

a hand painted spool wrapped in ribbon.

The other end of the workbench...

complete with inspiration and a curious dragon.

Built in shelves opposite the workbench hide the clutter.

This is my find of the year -  a metal card case with just the right amount of wear and rust. Set out for trash! All I had to do was haul it off!

Look at all those drawers - I've put all my seed beads, findings and a few projects away and still have some empty drawers. It's taken a lot of time to reorganize my studio, and there's still a lot to do but I'm always thinking about the next project and I like to put my ideas down on something decorative, like journaling cards. So here are some for you - print them on card stock, about the size of a postcard and use them to keep track of all your crafty ideas!

Henry David Thoreau

Thank you for visiting my studio and many thanks to Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage for hosting this wonderful party!

Steak & Cake

Now that the fireworks are over, the grill needs cleaning and the watermelon's been gobbled, it's time to say Happy Birthday to Brownie. He's impressed that people have fireworks on his birthday but he really likes the grilling. Meat bites and cake bites make a happy dog.

He didn't want his picture taken, so I had to sneak up while he was sniffing the zucchini. Maybe he's camera-shy because we had his fur shaved - he's certainly cooler!

Happy 5th Birthday dear friend!

Where Bloggers Create!

Yes, it's That time again! What fun! If you have a studio or just a creative nook - come and join the fun! Click the button on my sidebar.

Helloooo.....

Hellooo! Hellooo! Yes my poor blog is so empty I can hear an echo! The every-day has gotten in the way for too long - my camera is covered with dust and my studio is buried under cobwebs. So off with the dust and out with the spiders - they can scurry off to the parsley forest, it's summer, after all. And I'll scurry off as well - to the studio and then I'll be back to share.

Texture Tuesday - Happy Hearts



I call this goin' nowhere - but staying is worth it with such a view! The photo was cropped; the first texture layer is "happy heart", multiply 55%, erase over the sky. The second layer is "happy heart", multiply 49%, erase over the sky and ground. The third layer is "happy heart", soft light 70%, erase in center.

Happy Tuesday