what to do, what to do...

I love to visit pinterest and all of my favorite blogs for inspiration, but recently I decided to

check out my own pics for a jolt of inspiration

 (like a walk down memory lane)

and I think it's time to plug in the soldering iron again...

could my kids recent moves be what draws me to this one?

and then I came across this bag, and now I want to plug in my sewing machine...

I have more sweaters...

and more skirts for more pillows...

but I also have a few more of these vintage trophy ribbons in my stash...

is this starting to sound like one of Deb's squirrel alerts?

and then Santa brought me a dremel for Christmas...

(we are now eating with plastic silverware!)

At the moment, I am making a few special orders with special phrases

of this Valentine heart...

Is it a bad thing to want to create with so many different mediums?

I didn't even bring up the collage work and assemblage that I want to do...

At times I question my direction as an artist and small business owner.

Am I really doing myself any favors by going in so many different directions?

When I have tried to concentrate on only one or two things,

I find myself feeling antsy, 

or feeling maybe a bit more squirrely than antsy actually.

There is that one thing that always comes into play when I make something,

making something new from something old, creating something it was never intended to be.

Did you know that when you type in repurposed it comes up as misspelled?

It's not recognized as a word except with those of us

who can't help but look at something

and think...

what if I did this to that, and then put this here, and cut this off...

you get the picture, right?

I knew that you did :)

you get me... thank you for that!

so be it upcycled, repurposed, recycled, or whatever the spell check will accept,

I will surely be doing more of it starting next week!

Gotta get my head back in the game so to speak.

til next time,

love,

Theresa xoxoxoox

linking up to:

Transformation Thursday

Vintage Inspiration Friday

Thanks for the parties girls!

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spring and silver, a great combination...

A while back I made this metal cone/ tussie mussie out of an old screen, I liked it a bunch but there was just something about it that I thought needed a bit of tweeking. So I pulled the ribbon off of it that I had used to cover the raw edges and the construction bits and as soon as I did I knew that was the problem... less is more!

Oh and I took off the ribbon that I had used as a hanger and added this silver chain instead.  I dusted it with a bit of glitter and when the glue dried and the glitter stuck it looked a bit like sparkling white paint. 

 and now it hangs in the kitchen on the china cabinet with a little primrose giving all who see it a sign and hope of spring and I just needed to share it with you!  I just adore it and will definitely be making more, I just needed to work out the kinks :) 

I have also been soldering again, and I had my brother Wil over to play last week, these are almost finished, I just need to add the jumprings.

These are the backs, I made my MIL a bookmark out of one for her birthday and I plan on doing the same with these.  I will show you again when I have them finished ~  consider yourself warned!

I made another one with a bit of crochet trim enclosed inside, they are a bit trickier but I do love the results.

Have I ever told you I have a thing for older men?  I do!  I can't help myself, I see these old pictures of a man in a suit and his lil hat and I just NEED to create something with him!  I have put a piece of a dictionary page behind him from the letter O... original, just because you just know he was one!

And last but not least, just in case you thought my sewing machine was sitting idle, Danielle was going on a whirlwind trip to TX. for a comedy festival ( which is why she was missing from the b-day trip pics) and she asked me to make her a small tote to have with her at the festival.  You know I can't hardly say no to my kids, so there I was as she was packing to leave,  sewing and ruffling her new bag :)  She found the graphics and I ironed them on.  This one was really quick and simple, even the handle is made of drop cloth, we skipped the rosette,  and no snap (only because she already had one foot in the car!)

So there you have it... I wanted to assure you that I haven't been sitting on my duff watching the world go by!  

O.k. o.k.... I've been doing a bit of that too :)

I am linking up to White Wednesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, and Link Love... 

what can I say, I'm a creature of habit!

Thanks for stopping by!

Theresa xoxo

vintage inspiration...

For me, nothing strikes the inspiration nerve like an old photo.   My blog header photo of my mom's family is a good example, I love that photo, it's so full of happiness and you can just feel the love they share for eachother.  That is the love I grew up with.  I am blessed.
So when I find a photo that depicts that kind of love I am drawn to it like a moth to a flame and I just want to give it a new life.

This one spoke to me, I think they look like they share a promise of a new life with one another.

A bond. sometimes sparkly, sometimes somewhat tarnished, but a bond none the less.

where you promise your heart, as it sometimes dangles carelessly for all to see.

together, gathering the scraps, baubles and treasures that life throws your way...

with the hope of music always in your ears so that when the dance is over you still hear the violin.

I hope you dance...

I am linking this up to Vintage Inspiration Friday over @  Debra's!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Theresa xoxo

p.s. I get a bit melancholy when I'm tired... sweet dreams xoxo

snow day...

        What do you do when you have a snow day?

  We snuggle in and watch a movie or two, the little ones go sledding and hang out with friends and I do this...

 I still wake up long before my family does, snow day or not!  So in the wee hours of morning when my head is not fuzzy and with my first cup of coffee, I sat down at the table and thought of spring.  I thought of the not long ago memory of only 2 DAYS AGO being able to wear only a sweater outside.  No coat, no gloves, o.k. I kept my pants on but only because there are laws you know :)  but seriously we had temps in the 40s maybe even low 50s, I'm not sure because anything above freezing is considered a heat wave in February!
so I thought of spring...

and I realized that the boiled wool sweater that I loved, looked ridiculous on me and so I needed to cut it up and quick before I was tempted to wear it again without anyone here (Danielle is my fashion police) to stop me!  I realized that the pattern I drew fit on the front side of the sweater and I could incorporate the dark green trimmed pocket into the body of the rabbit. I love it when things work out like that!  I looked around for the perfect addition to this little pocket and after much digging for treasures I came up with a vintage spring postcard.

You can see her soldered pendant that says "oh dat's pretty" and skeleton key necklace here,  I originally had a bow tie on her but decided SHE was not a he...  and after stepping away and taking a  break the more I looked at him I new he was in need of a little make-over,  "scalpel" ... just kidding no bunnies were harmed in this little sex change operation! Call me Dr. T !

edit... this just in, after posting this, I saw those above pics. and thought "hmmmmm, she is missing something...  WHISKERS!

and  a TAIL!  duh.

all better  :)
So this is what I did at the table but while we were watching movies I did this...

I love to crochet in the winter and most of the time I have no real idea what I want to make, I just sit and crochet to keep my hands busy I guess.  I don't follow patterns but only because I can't follow patterns for anything very well so this was going to be a bag but then I thought, nope...  pillow.

and I thought this black and cream toile was the perfect back for it.  I will tell you that when you don't follow patterns though it sometimes takes 2xs to get the lining and back to come out correctly.  oh well, Never, Never, Never give up!  We actually have a sign that I made with that saying on it hanging in the house, it helps when you think you want to give up.  on your math homework.  on the burnt dinner.  on cleaning.  on fixing that darn pillow,  you get the picture. :)

While we watch movies I also do this...

and this...

and this...

what can I say it keeps me from eating during the movie! 

o.k. because I find it very difficult to lie... there was popcorn, but imagine how much I would have consumed if I wasn't sewing or crocheting! 

So you can see that even though it does not look like spring outside my windows, I am feeling it in my heart.  I hope it is in yours as well.

All of the above goodies are now listed in my etsy shop... theoldwhitehouse .

I am linking up to White Wednesday, and Link Love, and Wow us Wednesdays,  Thanks girls!  

 I hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by... becareful on the steps.

Theresa xoxo

Silver Sunday...

I haven't played with everyone over at Silver Sunday in quite some time... I'm thrilled to join in the party today!  I thought that since I took pictures of my latest crafty adventure, soldering that I would give you a peek... oh my gosh it is so much fun!  I tried it a couple of years ago but after much frustration I put it aside, well no more!  It, apparently like all of the other art forms I try, is addicting and with the right teacher is so rewarding!  Thanks again Jill! 

After making many little bubbles and such I finally sat down at the kitchen table and got down to business!  I made a few more trinkets to solder, thanks to Sally Jean Alexander's book Pretty Little Things and tried the crystal for my necklace.  My initials on the little bubble were done by cutting the letters out of an old book and adhering them on the tiny bubble with Diamond Glaze and then gluing the bubble to a silver piece from chandelier crystals, and the Red Cross pin was actually just set into a bezel from Hobby Lobby with a piece of background paper behind it and then filled with Diamond Glaze.  I do not profess to be a jewelry artist, far from it, but I am proud to wear this, it being one of my first pieces.

Have I told you how much I love the red cross symbol and vintage photos of service men, and well I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to our flag so adding the red, white and blue is a natural!  This piece is too big to wear I think, it is made from a small match box.  It is a little shadow box and I am thinking I will make it into a book mark.  As you can see, I need more practice on my soldering, but that will come with time.

Jenny Doh just showed something similar to this on Crescendoh that was made with a piece of vintage doily, I used a piece of embroidery from a vintage hanky and then added a crystal to hang off of the bottom.

 

This is where I put a bit of my silliness to good use!  I mean she looks happy, right? LOL  See the scallop edge I am hooked on?  It is a special tape that is already trimmed like that!  I love time saving stuff like that!

These glass bubbles just about got the best of me though ... they are tricky and I think I need to master the straight stuff first!

I also should share that I need to get me some silver cleaner to shine these up! 

This is going to be a book mark too,  I am going to add a nice ribbon to it...

and give it to Duane's mom for her bday.  (she doesn't read my blog so I can say that on here)

So now you know something else about me... I am the Jackie of all trades and master of none!  I can't help myself, I seriously only try a fraction of the things I want to try.  I am like a kid in a candy store when it comes to art... so many choices and so little time!  Here is the question...do I need an art intervention? And if you tried to have one for me would I be able to convince you to try the lastest project that I am jonesin to make?  ;O

Are you like that?  Do you want to try every new thing you see?  Are you like most crafty people I know and see something, and maybe instead of buying it you take it as a challenge and tell yourself... I can make that, and for a good many things in the dept. stores, make it for a fraction of the price!  I have always looked at that thinking as a gift... but maybe it is a bit of a double edge sword... because I would be kidding myself to think that I really have time to do everything I want to tackle.  I mean, there are after all loads of laundry and a sink full of dishes to tackle first!  So now I am off the immerse myself up to my elbows in the kitchen sink and get a bit of my household duties done!I'm sure you can guess just how thrilled I am to do that, but I will look at it as a blessing. 

 If we have dirty dishes, then it means we have good food in our bellies. :)

Thank you Beth for the Silver Sunday Party!

Have a fabulous Sunday Everyone!    Theresa xoxo

blame it on the glue...

I was in the mood for a little assemblage work.  I find it very freeing, Hannah says I channeled my inner Sid! (the kid from Toy Story who dismantelled and destroyed toys)  I think I kinda freaked her out a little :)  but I am of the thought that it's good to keep your kids wondering...

I had a broken frozen charlotte body and so I put a birds head on it (cmon you know you would do the same thing!)  dolled him up with an old monopoly hat and little scrap of wool scarf and bingo button.  But I didn't stop there people...

He is sitting in a rhinestone bedazzled vintage finial nest full of glittered music paper.  This was easy peasy, I ran the paper through the shredder and then I poured some modpodge into my hand (think hand cream)  and then crumpled it all up and placed the ball, now formed into a nest, on a piece of paper and sprinkled it with silver glass glitter.
but it didn't stop there...

The nest is "perched" (sorry couldn't resist)  on a piece of a chippy rusty light fixture with the name Junk Bird stamped on some seam binding and glued to old ledger paper.

Add an old store price tag and waalaah!  So you see why Hannah was a little concerned ;)

O.k. truth be told, this one wasn't the one that  frightened her...

This one was!  I ask you... what's a girl to do (after using strong whiffy glue all day)  with a lone broken doll head?  How many times have you wished that you could fly like a bird?

Once I started playing with the rusty crusty goodness that has taken over the my workspace, well I just couldn't stop myself...  (really, we had pancakes for dinner)

besides her fabulous salt shaker hat she is bejeweled from front to back!

So there you have it... glue fumes, rusty treasures piling up, broken dolls and birds just laying around. do you agree with Hannah or are you flying over to the creative paradise with me?  ;O

Hope to see you soon!  Today I will be cleaning up my mess, stocking up for the big storm and maybe I'll treat them to soup instead of pancakes!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and link up to Suzan's Project Genesis.  One of my main contributions to our planet is saving things from our landfills.  What better way than to turn it into art!  It is a wonderful project that Suzan has created... one drop of water in the well at a time will fill the well.

I am also linking up to Tutorial Tuesday, White Wednesday and Link Love

On a side note... on Sunday when I visited Hope Studios for her Sunday Funny, I may have taken the video too seriously!  If you didn't see it, you really should, it is a great laugh!!!


Thanks  for stopping by!  Theresa xoxo