My facination with metal

I don't exactly know what it is I like about metals, maybe something to do with it's industrial feel. I started buying little bits of it here and there; a wire letter holder, a metal curio cabinet, and an end table. I love the grey color and the hard cold texture. I'd really like a little bit in every room. One of my favorite blogs is La Dolfina. She lives somewhere in California and has lovely things that she shares and sells on her site. I had some old wine barrel planters that disintegrated over the years and hadn't the heart to toss out the metal rings. I hung them on the fence in the back yard for awhile, but was at a loss of what to do with them. 

I then saw these clever entry way decorations on La Dolfina, and decided to create my own. (She does sell them if you are interested) I'm embarrassed to say, a clever girl like me doesn't even own a drill. I know it's an outrage. I keep thinking someday, but until then I borrow the neighbors. I have two zinc containers by my front door, and they worked perfectly with them. They are kept together with natural twin until I get a metal drill bit and put proper holes in them. I have plans of growing little climbing vines on them. Alas, the weather has turned and it's not the time for baby plants.  I can imagine how perfect they'll look like next summer. 

Re-purposed! 

I've also tried a few different things with needle nose pliers and wire. Both of these I saw in stores or online and decided to make my own. The bird cage is my second one, the first was given as a gift. Not difficult at all. I sat in front of the TV twisting away. I use chicken feathers that came out of my sofa for the tail, and spray painted the whole thing black. Mr Birdie flips over every once in awhile, but other than that it's been hanging around in my kitchen for years now.

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This one is my newest creation. I saw it in a magazine in someones house and wanted my own. I just had to decide what language to write "love" in. 

AMOUR

My love for all things Potter

I'm a fan of Pintrest. It saves me from ever spending money on another magazine, and I get all I want, anytime I want. I saw a Harry Potter mobile, inspired from the Sorcerers Stone with the flying keys. I of course save old skeleton keys. I also know you can get them at the old fashion locksmith shops that now a days are far and few. So I'm off and running with a new project.... 

Supplies and latte on hand!

Draw wings on velum with colored sharpies and cut them out with an exacto knife. (I only had baby blue velum on hand)

Give them a wash of iridescent gold acrylic paint. Iridester is bester!

Hot glue the wings to the keys. Use nylon invisible string to hang them. 

Attach the winged keys to the ceiling with little white cup hooks. It this case I attached them to the bathroom exhaust fan which makes them move when the fan goes on. 

My boys think I'm the coolest! 

She sells seashells by the seashore.

I'm back!! It's not that I haven't been creating, I just haven't been posting. I started teaching two art classes at Arts Umbrella studio in Bothell. I have young ones, K-6th grade. It's so much fun and really feeds my soul. I also started subbing in the school district mostly working with low function students in the CLC. That being said, I haven't had a lot of time to blog. I do however, have quite the stock pile of photos of work that I have done. 

Seashell Mirror

I love collecting seashells. I'm pretty sure I was a mermaid in a past life. My grandparents loved collecting them too, and I have a good portion of their shells. It's something that you can do for free, or spend a little money on. I like to think of shells as works of art from other creatures that we share this world with. I'm fascinated with the spirals and how they all go in the same direction. I love the colors, textures, and the fact that you collect them all over the world. Iridescent is the best. Grandma Seyler used to say "iridester is bester". See it's in my blood!

My husband grew up in a Marine Corps family and lived in Guam and Cuba for a bit. He brought quite a collection into our family from his childhood. About 8 years ago he was diagnosed with Multiple Myloma, a red blood cell cancer that usually attacked much older adults. Together we went on a journey through the wicked world of radiation, chemo, and stem cell transplants. During that time he would spend many hours in our bedroom recovering. I decided to spruce it up, as it was the last room in the house to be decorated. Along with new bedding and curtains, I came to the idea that I would create a "Cancer" mirror. Something to represent this trying time and to uplift the spirits of the dreary bedroom. We had collected shells as a family for years, beach-combing with our three young children. We also had all those beauties from his childhood, and my sister brought me treasures from the beach by her work.  What I didn't have I purchased at the local craft store for some continuity. I had quite a collection to work with. 

It started by ordering a door from Home Depot that already had a mirror attached. I then laid it out on our dining room table and proceeded to layout the shells around it, focusing designs on the lower and upper bits. Everything was then permanently attached with Liquid Nails until it was completely covered. (toxic mind you). It took me four days, with lots of fresh air breaks. Luckily the room is surrounded by windows, but still, I may of lost some brain cells in the process. We had oyster shells that I turned sideways and used as candle holders. I bought some little mother of pearl hearts to randomly place along the sides, and also decided to put in a creature of the mirror for luck.

Creature of the mirror. Can you see him?

Detail on the bottom of the mirror

Detail on the top. The blue limpets are all color on the inside so I showed that side. 

Curio Cabinet

My very good friend and second mother, gave me this lovely curio cabinet this summer. It belonged to her mother for 25 years and then she owned it for 15 more. She thought I could do something wonderful with it, and suggested seashells. I pondered painting the whole thing ultra glossy turquoise and modernizing it,  but decided to take her advise and do another seashell project.  

This time my shell collection was considerably smaller. I did use shells collected from each of my three boys, and I used a few of my Grandfathers that he found in the Pacific during WWII. I purchased the majority of shells from Hobby Lobby. This time I couldn't lay the cabinet flat, so I used a hot glue gun. Next summer I'm going to take it outside and weave Liquid Nails around the shells for extra hold. I should of used both first time around. The hot glue is study and very difficult remove, but none the less I want it to last and be as strong as possible. 

Key detail

Leg detail. It's my favorite part of the cabinet. They look like octopus to me and are my creatures of the cabinet. 

Bottom detail

Top detail, which is just beautiful!

Looks stunning in my entry hallway.

 Added bonus...It gave me a spot to display all my bird nests, seashells, rocks, and other natural treasures.