A Charming Heart

23 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, art, miniature, photography, Uncategorized, Valentine's Day

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heart, miniatures, toys, Valentines, vintage

On Instagram this month, I am posting a heart a day, #amonthofhearts. AllSparkledUpDesign . Today is Day 23 and I thought it would be fun to share the full size image here. I’ve had most of these charms since my childhood and some go back to my mother’s childhood. Some are old Cracker Jack prizes, some are homemade. My granddaughter and I spent a couple enjoyable hours placing these charms in heart shape for this photo. Click on the image to access the full size. At the end of the month, I’ll post the rest of the photos here as well. Enjoy!

A heart of charms. Can you find two toucans? A mouse with no tail? Two boxes of teeny tiny roses? Ken's missing sock? A Real Wicker Basket? A sphygmomenometer?

A heart of charms. Can you find two toucans? Three trains? A mouse with no tail? Two boxes of teeny tiny roses? A roll of paper towels? Barney Rubble? An old iron trivet? Ken’s missing sock? A Real Wicker Basket? Sparkly ballet slippers? A sphygmomenometer?

The tiniest book I ever made – Blue Flowers

14 Friday Oct 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, art, books, crafts, flowers, handmade books, miniature, painting

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art, art books, book arts, bookmaking, crafts, miniatures, painting, water color

This tiny book, less than a quarter inch square, is titled Blue Flowers.

The tiniest book I ever made was titled Blue Flowers.

The tiniest book I ever made was titled “Blue Flowers” and included tiny paintings and descriptions of blue flowers. In order to qualify for “micro mini” status, it had to be under 1/4″ square.

I shaved the blue suede as thin as possible so the edges could be folded with less bulk.

I think I made 7 copies and traded them with book making friends. I have one copy but don’t remember where the other copies went. Each book with blue suede cover and gilded page edges was tucked inside a tiny blue flower.

The text was printed using a laser printer. When the pages were cut apart from the sheet of printer paper, I had to be careful not a single breeze blew over my worktable since I couldn’t see the text and would have to use a magnifying glass to put them all back in order again. I was glad when I had all the pages stitched together!

Each book had a headband made of silk ribbon. The gold ink used to gild the edges was sticky so I used an exacto knife to carefully cut the pages apart so they wouldn’t stick as the ink dried.

Tiny book, with blue suede cover, text and water color paintings of blue flowers.

I made the paintings on each page using a magnifying glass and a brush that had only 3 hairs in it.

Blue Flowers – a micro mini book with descriptions and water colors of blue flowers

The paintings were so fun to make! Some day I hope to make a tiny book about Pink Flowers. But that will have to happen soon before my eyesight ages even more.

100 Lego Perfume Bottles

27 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, miniature, photography, sparkling

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crafts, Lego, Lego Perfume Bottles, Legos, miniature perfume bottles, perfume bottle collection, perfume bottles, photography

if Lego made perfume…

Actually, there are over 100.
The Legos were dumped out on the table and the grandkids and I chatted away during many cold winter nights.
While the little ones made houses and trucks and planes, I started making perfume bottles.

Lego Perfume Bottles made of the smallest Lego pieces.

I made more and more.

It became an obsession.

The rules were simple: No pieces could be forced, all the bottles had to be built like normal Lego building and they all had to stick together properly. There is just one bottle out of all of them that isn’t stuck together and the pieces fall apart if you turn it upside down. Can you guess which one?

So much color and sparkle from such a tiny source!

Perfume Nation.

At one point, we counted 124 different Lego perfume bottles.
Then some got disassembled to make different designs.

And then we started naming them.

So I made a poster of 100 of the Lego perfume bottles to be named.

This is a very large image. Click to access the original size in order to see all the detail.

Some of these Lego perfumes don’t have names. Please leave name suggestions in the comments and I’ll add them to the Lego Perfume Bottles poster.

Feel free to copy, save or print the poster. If you post on your website, please link back to allsparkledup.com. Thank you!

Edited to add: I was asked what lighting I used for the photography. The photos were taken in the late afternoon, west sun through half-curtain window. The top of the arch window had plenty of sun streaming through which bounced off my white kitchen cabinets behind me like a giant white board, exactly as I hoped when we redid the kitchen. Camera- Canon 5D2, Lens Canon EF 24-70, hand-held.

On my worktable – tiny snowflakes

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in Christmas, crafts, home decor, miniature, On my Worktable

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miniature, paper snowflakes, tiny snowflakes, vintage paper crafts

The tiny snowflakes are for a decoration I’m putting in our library/guest room.

Tiny snowflakes cut from a vintage dictionary page.

Tiny snowflakes cut from a damaged vintage dictionary page. I have several vintage dictionaries that I cherish but this page was from a damaged book that is just for crafts.

Little Ribbon Totes and Miniature Purses

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, miniature, sparkling

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bead crafts, crafts, mini, mini purse, miniature, miniature purse, miniature tote, purses, ribbon

Rainy day fun with ribbon and beads making tiny totes and miniature purses.
I started with the Klutz book Ribbon Purses (no longer in print) and made this tiny purse following their directions and using the kit materials.

A tiny ribbon purse made with Klutz book kit materials.

I really wanted to stick with just the kit items but then I thought of this one, using some of the kit supplies and adding my own seed beads and charms.

Tiny ribbon purse with charm dangle.

I didn’t follow the directions on this one but did use the kit supplies plus seed beads.

I used the purple beads from the kit to form the purse bottom.

Then I got a shiny new idea.

Tiny ribbon tote bag supplies: ribbon, chain, metallic trim, square beads, brass beads and eye pins.

Tiny ribbon tote bag supplies: I used the ribbon from the kit but the chain, metallic trim, square beads, brass beads and eye pins are my own.

Tiny ribbon tote bag. This was fun to design!

For the last one, I used the Klutz kit ribbon but added my own embellishment. I would love to make a full size clutch purse like this. The hardest component would be finding large, clear, flat-sided acrylic gems to form the sides of the clutch. I love how the light passes through this purse. I used a tiny turtle from a pierced earring for the decoration on the side.

The light passes through the gems in the sides of this tiny clutch purse.

I used a tiny turtle from a pierced earring to embellish this miniature clutch purse.

Miniature Perfume Bottles

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, miniature, sparkling

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bead bottles, bead crafts, beads, crafts, miniature, miniatures

I was cleaning out old photo files and found these photos from way back in 2003.

All the perfume bottles are made of beads, earring backs and jewelry findings. They are tiny, some less than half an inch. To help the bead “bottles” stand up, I glued the bead on a pierced earring back. If you want to see the most detail in these photos, click on the photo to open a larger image. Then at the upper left of each photo will be a link that says “ORIGINAL SIZE AT (number) “. Click that link to see the largest image.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads and jewelry findings. Please click on the photo to see a larger image.

A small plastic organizer with the lid removed made an elegant faux glass shelf unit for the miniature bead bottles.

A small plastic organizer with the lid removed served as an elegant “glass” shelf unit for the miniature bead bottles.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads. This dresser tray is a mirror with trim glued around the edge.

To make the tray, I glued seed beads around the edge of a small mirror.

The first two photos were taken in my kitchen window… so many years ago, even before we planted the rose bush which has climbed all the way up to the kitchen window. I don’t remember where I put all the tiny bead bottles. When I find them, I think I’ll put the display case in the bedroom or bathroom window. I love tucking miniatures around the house. Most people never see them but I like knowing that my home has an even smaller story for those who have eyes to catch it.

The 1968 Easter Egg Tree

24 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, Easter, family, home decor, miniature

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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 The Blue Egg with a tiny plastic dove inside.

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.

The Dewing of the Hanging Plant Easter Egg Tree

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, Easter, flowers, gardening, home decor, miniature, sparkling, tutorial

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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 are cut from small plastic eggs and filled with tiny plants

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

Five Tiny Bunnies

18 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, Easter, miniature

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bunnies, craft, crafts, Easter, miniature, paperclay, rabbit

About the size of a penny, they sprang from a package of Paperclay last year. I have no idea where they are now but fortunately I photographed them before they hopped away.

Five tiny bunnies, made of paperclay.

My plan was to paint them to look like miniature chocolate bunnies but I didn’t have time. They sat eyeless and white in front of my monitor for a month. Bunnies have a tendency to multiply anyway so I’ll just have to make more.

Little Wood Houses

23 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, jewelry making, miniature, mixed media, projects

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Blue Moon Scrapbooking, craft supplies, crafts, scrapbooking embellishments, wood houses

I got a new craft supply in the mail today –Prima WOOD EMBELLISHMENTS House And Building Icons, from Blue Moon Scrapbooking.
As soon as I saw them, I thought of several uses for them. Tied onto gifts as tags, glued into scrapbooks, perched in indoor planters, glued around a picture frame… I’m sure I’ll figure out more.

Tiny laser-cut wood houses. These are about 1 1/8″ in height.

…placed in the corner of a window, glued on a mixed media canvas, used as a cover for a tiny accordion fold book, painted and dangled from a chain for a necklace…