02 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, Easter, family
Tags
dancing, dress, family, granddaughter, spinning, Spinning Tales
My daughter-in-law entered a drawing and won several amazing items from Spinning Tales, a company that makes the most charming spinning dresses ever. Here is a photo of my granddaughter spinning in this dress.
My granddaughter spins in her Spinning Tales dress.
My son Gabe Monroe took this photo, beautifully capturing the dreamy moment.
24 Sunday Mar 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, crafts, Easter, family, home decor, miniature
Tags
1960's, 1960's crafts, 1968, crafts, decorated eggs, DIY, Easter, Easter Egg Tree, egg tree, eggs
My mom was going to throw out the decorated Easter Eggs she made in 1968. They were dusty, damaged and bug-eaten. Then she considered giving them to someone to salvage any useable trims. Of course I wanted them, cracked shells and all! They cleaned up beautifully.
Egg tree eggs, made in 1968 by my mom. My sisters and I made some of these eggs, but not the prettiest.
At first glance, these seem like really simple eggs compared to the lavish rubber-stamped, lace-trimmed, glittered eggs made today. What makes these eggs so remarkable was the creativity with such limited supplies. My mom had very little to work with. She used poster paint, nail polish and a couple jars of my brother’s model car paints to paint the eggs. There was no shiny spray-on acrylic finish back then so she used clear nail polish to make them shiny. She purchased the gold paper trim from a mail order catalog from Lee Wards, a huge craft store in another state. There was no internet from which to buy craft supplies. There were no big Walmart craft aisles, Michael’s or craft stores. The only place for craft supplies was the local 5 & Dime store and even there, craft supplies were extremely limited.
Some of these eggs are missing pearls, some have bent trim, some have cracked shells. But when they are hung on the tree, they are all beautiful together.
1968 Decorated Egg – the Blue Egg with a tiny plastic dove inside.
1968 Decorate Egg – The Purple Egg.
1968 Decorated Egg – My mom painted this egg with a jar of my brother’s model car paint. The plastic hollow sequin “gems” on each side were precious and I was in awe of them.
1968 Decorated Egg – The Yellow Rose Egg. A tiny sequin butterfly flutters above the plastic rose.
1968 Decorated Egg – Painted with poster paint, covered with clear nail polish.
1968 Decorated Egg – I love the spring green color of this egg. I have a couple plastic flowers like those used on this egg so I will restore it before putting it away at the end of the season.
1968 Decorated Egg – A pink sequin butterfly flutters over a pink fabric rose. My mom didn’t have much gold paper trim so she cut it apart and used pieces sparingly.
1968 Decorated Egg. – The Hot Air Balloon egg.
1968 Decorated egg – The Lavender Spiral egg.
1968 Decorated Egg – The Purple Rickrack and Gold Trim egg.
1968 Decorated Egg – Painted with poster paint, brushed shiny with clear nail polish.
1968 Decorated Egg – Painted with pink nail polish.
1968 Decorate Egg – The Bunny Basket Egg. This was one of the few eggs I made for the tree. Even though the bright colors didn’t fit in with my mom’s elegant color scheme, she graciously added it to the family tree. That’s true Mother’s love.
1968 Decorated Egg – The back of the pink rose egg, with a very design of pink rick rack and gold paper trim.
1968 Decorated Egg – my favorite: The elegant M Egg. I don’t know where my mom got the embroidered M trim. M was for our last name – Musser.
1968 Decorated Egg – The Lily Egg. I love how this egg has one side white, the other green. This egg was so shattered on the top that I had to flip it over and reattach the wire on the bottom so it could hang. The little plastic lilies were just tucked inside so they were easy to turn right side up.
The only non-1968 eggs on the tree are the Peter Rabbit Eggs, purchased from Pottery Barn Kids several years ago. My mom used to read Peter Rabbit to my sisters, brother and I so I was thrilled to find eggs featuring illustrations from Peter Rabbit. Here Mrs Rabbit is fastening the brass buttons on Peter Rabbit’s blue jacket.
Even though these eggs have missing beads and cracked shells, they are still so precious. When I look at them, I am reminded of simpler times, days of ingenuity, days crafting with my sisters, days of being read to by a mother that loved us. This little egg tree serves to remind me that it doesn’t take a studio of amazing craft supplies to make something all sparkled up, it just takes an eye for beauty and a determination to make do with what you have.
19 Tuesday Mar 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, Easter, flowers, gardening, home decor, miniature, sparkling, tutorial
Tags
All Sparkled Up, crafts, Easter, Easter decoration, Easter Egg Tree, egg tree, miniature, miniature eggs, miniature flowers, miniature plants
Last year I posted about the Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree I made. It’s time to get it out again. Adding the drops of dew was my favorite part.
After I finished each miniature plant, with it’s tiny leaves and petals, I hung it on the tree. Though pretty, the plant didn’t seem fully alive it was all sparkled up with spring rain or drops of dew.
For each drop, I used tweezers to dab a single crystal seed bead in tacky glue and attach it where it should go, hanging from the tip of a leaf or puddled in the folds of a petal.
The tree was from Pottery Barn a couple years ago. The hanging egg baskets were cut from small plastic eggs. The miniature plants were made by cutting up full-size artificial flowers and leaves. Some of the hanging vines were made by gluing hand-cut leaves to artificial plant stems. Click on photos to see the full size images if you wish.
Miniature Daisies.
Miniature daisies.
Miniature Lily of the Valley.
Miniature ferns and moss.
Miniature Forget-me-not.
Miniature Burros Tail.
If you want to add realistic drops to an artificial plant, remember how real water acts. It flows down hill. So it will puddle at the bottom of a flower center, or hang from the lower tip of a petal or leaf.
Miniature Blue Flowers. The fluffy white balls were actually stamens cut from the center of a full-size artificial flower.
Miniature ferns and moss.
Miniature Tuberous Begonia, reminiscent of the colors of my mom’s beautiful begonia hanging plant.
Miniature Marigold.
Miniature Roses. To make a rose, I took one petal from a 1″ artificial rose, folded it in half and glued and rolled it up into a cone shape. The pointed tip of the cone was cut off and stuck down inside the top part of the cone to make center of the rose. Some cone tips are also used as the buds.
Placing the tiny bead droplets on the plants was a very contemplative task, like yoga or painting, with each moment crystallized and beautiful. No it was not tedious, it was restorative and full of light. All sparkled up.
“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:11
02 Saturday Mar 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, Inspirational, sparkling
I stood at the back door feeling trapped.
I stood at the back door and looked out to a place I couldn’t go.
Where we live, there is rarely snow so winter is just all dead. There is nothing there.
But I wanted there to be something there.
And then I saw it, just a sparkle.
There, barely visible, hovering above the table was a sparkle.
It was my own heart that contained the only sparkle in the day. I just had to look for it. It was there all along.
The heart necklace was the only part of me that reflected in the glass on the dreary day.
26 Tuesday Feb 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, flowers, Inspirational, nature, sparkling
Their edges are a bit crispy and tattered and the Valentine Roses can no longer hold up their heads.
I’m not about to part with a bouquet if it has even a speck of life in it.
I placed the musty bouquet on the table outside thinking perhaps a little sunshine might brighten them for a last hurrah.
But there was no sun. Instead, the sky darkened and the rain came down in streaks.
Past their prime, these Valentine roses droop their velvety heads.
Once vibrant red and perky, the Valentine Roses age gracefully in their queenly red velvet capes and dripping with jewels.
30 Wednesday Jan 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, crafts, sparkling, tutorial
Tags
crafts, decorated notebook, gems, mirrors, mirrror, notebook, plastic gems, tutorial
Today I reached for a notebook I haven’t used in years. I decorated this notebook in my hotel room during some free time during a writer’s convention. (Doesn’t everyone take glue, gems and tin foil to conventions for emergency crafting sessions?)
Mirror Gem Notebook
First I wrapped and glued a piece of tin foil over the front cover of a small memo pad.
Tin foil is glued on the cover of a memo pad.
The gems and small craft mirrors were glued on with tacky glue and then secured around all the edges with silver glitter glue. I’m surprised that everything is still holding together over 8 years later.
Plastic gems and glass mirrors are glued on the notebook cover.
I love the gems on the cover of the notebook but there’s more to it than meets the eye. You just have to focus on something deeper than the glitzy cover.
Mirror Gem Notebook
Look past the outside.
Mirror Gem Notebook
Don’t get distracted by the gems.
Mirror Gem Notebook
Find the real sparkle.
Mirror Gem Notebook
Appreciate what’s on the outside…
…just as much as what’s on the inside.
Now the dining room light is visible in the mirrors on the notebook cover.
Enjoy the bigger picture – Trees in the cover of the Mirror Gem Notebook.
05 Wednesday Dec 2012
Posted in All Sparkled Up, Christmas, home decor, lighting, Scoliosis
I’m returning from far away. It is now 9 weeks since my Scoliosis surgery. The recovery got worse before it got better. Weeks went by and I curled up and disappeared and the pain crashed over me and fell down as tears as I lay immobile on my back.
This past week, Week Nine, was a miracle. I went from spending 90% of my day lying flat on my back to 90% of the day sitting up and standing and working with my hands. Last week I couldn’t even move my arm to write a Thank You note without intense pain. This is what we did today.
God was with me before and He goes ahead of me. When I was immobile God taught me beauty in the pain and my peace remained with me. But now I am emerging from that strange time.
I am still in great pain but I am getting strong. As I stood in the dining room and looked at the lights we put up today, I cried. But this time, the tears weren’t from pain, they were from a thankful heart.
Now that I can hold my camera, I shall be posting again. I’ve missed being able to share with you all. Thank you so much for your patience.
05 Sunday Aug 2012
Posted in All Sparkled Up, Gilded Girls, Inspirational, Scoliosis, sparkling
Before getting into the Scoliosis part, it’s true: My life IS all sparkled up! Every day I’ve got bling going on.
Bling in the mail…
My amazing daughter surprised me with this package the other day, a Grace Notes box of gorgeous craft supplies from Gilded Life.
Grace Notes box of sparkling craft supplies, from Gilded Life.
Luscious velvet, beaded trims, pearl-studded flowers…
Bling at the dining room table…
My adorable granddaughter and I did some painting. I taught her how to carefully drop one drop of water into each pan of watercolor.
My granddaughter uses an eyedropper to place one drop of water in each watercolor pan.
Flowers, painted by my granddaughter and me.
Valentine’s Bracelet, made from a kit from Gilded Life. I have the chain suspended from a cardboard platform so I can add the charms without it getting twisted.
You’re probably wondering why the subject is Scoliosis but the posts are all sparkled up. If I went to a website called “All Sparkled Up” I would expect the posts to be just that! But while all this blinging and sparkling is going on, I must confess I’ve got a serious back issue – Scoliosis that has progressed to the point of needing major surgery, not an easy undertaking for a 53 year old. The date is set for September 25th and I seriously can’t wait! But I am not my disease; Scoliosis is just something I have, not who I am. Sparkling is something I like to believe people can actually BE. And I like to think that nothing can stop sparkling, not even migraines or Fibromyalgia or Scoliosis.
I’ll be posting about my progress from time to time but only if the posts can be all sparkled up, through color or art, humor or joy, light and truth. I doubt the doctors can use rhinestone-studded bolts in my back but it’s a very nice thought indeed. Wink!
15 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in All Sparkled Up, crafts, Etsy, projects
Tags
Today’s creative activity – hand washing, drying and pressing disassembled men’s ties to use in my first Etsy project for All Sparkled Up. They dried quickly but I decided to leave them hanging up all day just because I liked how they looked in the breeze. Click photos to see a larger image.
Many thanks to my dear friend Janette and daughter-in-law Holly for helping me disassemble them all last night!
28 Wednesday Mar 2012
Posted in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, Gilded Girls, jewelry making, words
Tags
I really ought to stop playing with the beads. But once they become a bracelet, they will never again live an alternate life as Words.
Love.
The beads are not glued down. One breath or tiny bump to the table sends all the round ones scrambling. Such a challenge to patience! The position is so fleeting. Then I brush them back into the bins and the surface is once again bare.
All Sparkled Up 