I DIDN'T GET IT....The Owls you Know?

When I first started seeing all the owls on Etsy.com, I just didn't get it.  Owls?  Whoo-Knew? LOL  But they took off and of course eventually, though I didn't get the attraction, it was contagious to say the least, and to the drawing board I went and started creating some personalized products with of course, "OWLS"...

Then just when I think, wooo-hooo, I'm trendy again, my niece tells me the next craze will be peacocks.  So what is it with the birds?  And peacocks now?  Just when I'm trying to be creative with OWLS?  .... :)

So, now I have owls, and I guess the peacocks will have to wait.  I have note cards, address labels, calling cards, whatever you might want personalized, WITH OWLS...and a little damask.

So, I'm wondering what matter of fowl will be next????  How do I start my own trend?  I guess that question is for "the birds"......

LOL...address labels are available in my ebay store:  pumpkinmoonstudio

~time to fly~!
Robbie

VINTAGE CAMPERS AND TRAVEL TRAILERS

I have such a desire to restore a vintage small camper, and go camping with it this summer.  My sister has one for sale, and I'm trying very hard to talk my husband into buying it.  I want it restored into retro colors.  I know I can create the new curtains, upholster the benches, refloor it, and have new cabinets built, etc.  It would be fun, just gotta convince my hubbie to dive into this with me.  Here is the vintage little guy, that I want to "fix up" and use.  I tease her and call it "Red Rover".  The first is her trailer, and the second photo is what this camper could become!  When she first got it, I teased her and drew a cartoon, put it on a coffee cup, with the caption, "Hitched By a Bitch"....which made us both laugh and crack up over it.  Neither of us right now could probably hitch it to our vehicles without a little help from the husbands. LOL....  So here is how Red Rover looks now....and below it, how it could look. The second photo is of a restoration I saw on the internet. I'm always surfing the internet, looking at vintage trailers and campers, and information on how to restore them.  I think I would go with a pastel color instead of the red.

And here a drawing I created, vintage inspired of course!

I actually have note cards that I sell with the vintage camper on it, in different colors in my Ebay Store, which are personalized with your name, or quotes.  The link is on the right side of my blog.  I also used the above image, along with some tropical palm trees, etc, and had my own fabric designed at spoonflower.com  I plan on making myself a blouse out of it.  Pretty cool to have fabric with my own artwork on it.  I'll post a of photo of the fabric soon.  The pattern you see below repeats itself, so hard to imagine without seeing the finished product.  But below this, you will see how the pattern repeats, and makes GREAT fabric.

So, I hope you all are having a great weekend, and dreaming up
Spring and Summer projects like me LOL.....

VICTORIAN LAMPSHADES

Well, the weather has taken a turn for the worst again, rain, sleet, now snow.  Unfortunately, the local salt trucks never came our way today.  Not sure if they are out of salt, or if no one knew about the weather change.  Alas, we are inside and warm.  With the arrival of January comes TAX preparation, and I have been so busy with my "regular" job.   Tonight I plan on previewing fabrics online, trying to decide on the lining and the outside cover of the lampshade I'm working on.  Again, I cannot wrap the frame with silk yet, as I haven't decided on the fabrics. 

I thought I would at least try and keep you interested by showing you a lamp shade that I did finish awhile back.  It now graces my bedside end table.  The beaded fringe is about 6 to 7 inches long and captures the light so well.  After finishing it, I proudly showed it to my brother, who immediately commented on the shape resembling a woman's hips.  GO FIGURE...typical male....but it does resemble an old fashioned courset I think.  My hips haven't looked like that since I was as teenager..LOL...

Oh, and so you know, every piece of a handmade lamp shade, is completely handsewn.  It took me 3 weeks to complete this shade.  I worked an hour or so each day..  You can click on the photograph so that it will enlarge so you can see it better.

If you know me well, you will know that I love primitives, and my home is full of vintage old primitive collectibles.  But when it comes to my bedroom, it is "foo-foo girly and shabby chic" in looks.

Handcarving Your Own Rubber Stamps

Just a quick update for you.  I haven't wrapped my lampshade frame yet, and that is because I have to pick out my fabrics for the lining and the outside.  The silk ribbon that I will wrap the wire with, will have to be dyed to match the fabrics.  Just so you know, I haven't put that project aside, just haven't gotten my fabric choices.  Hard to get out of here and go shopping to find some, with the harsh winter and snow we've had. 

So, onto a quick project that I "tried" today while Gary had my computer occupied.  I have seen some of the cutest handcarved rubber stamps on Etsy.com.  I thought it would be a neat little rainy or snowy day project, so out came the linoleum cutter, tracing paper, and pencil.  Of course, you need some red carving rubber.  Had to order that online, but it is inexpensive.  Now, believe me when I tell you this is my FIRST attempt, and the stamp is ugyly ugly, but I like the fact that I tried...**gulp**.  I cannot stand not knowing how to work in a new medium that I have noticed out there in the creative land. 

I have some vintage images from the 1940s that I have saved, and I chose this little bird on a branch.  Overall about 1.5 inches wide.  So you trace the image on tracing paper, then you turn it upside down on your rubber and use your fingernail, or a bone folder to rub the image onto the rubber.  Then you begin to carve.  I know, I know, the finished stamp is ugly and I need to clean it up and make the edges of the image more sharper.  Also, I didn't have a good ink stamp pad, only this turquoise thing.  But, you can at least get an idea.  Gary will cut me a small piece of wood to mount it to, and I'll treasure it as my first attempt.  I hope to get better, as I would like to hand carve one for each of my grandchildren, with a drawing of my own, and their names.  A keepsake of sorts.  Ok, now for the photos.  LOL....you can laugh, but not too hard please LOL.  Oh, and there are some good tutorial videos on youtube.com of artists showing how to do this, and if you want to see some of the cute ones out there, just do a search on etsy.com for "hand carved rubber stamp"....

Kitschy Retro Red Mood

Maybe it is the overcast gloomy cold weather with 4 inches of snow on the ground that has set my mood, wishing for Spring with flowers, color, and fun.  I know for sure, I'm tired of winter.  I recently saw the book, The Naughty Secretary's Club, and thought it was very fun, and so while the snow is coming down, I used some fun bright vintage plastic beads and jewelry pieces that I had, to make a fun sweetheart of a bracelet, a fun daisy and mum necklace.  Both are available in my Etsy store, http://www.pumpkinmoonstudio.etsy.com/ .  I also had these vintage lucite confetti, sweet cottage chic old clip on earrings.  There are just some pieces of vintage jewelry that I cannot disassemble for other projects, as they stand alone in whimsy and these are so Kitschy and retro.  They are also available in my Etsy store.  As for the photo of the book, you have to go to Amazon.com to look inside the book.  It has fun simple projects, so bright and retro in color and design.  You never know what you have in your stash of crafts supplies, that can be turned into fun jewelry. 

Shades of the Past Part 2

Well, continuing on, and I'll call this part 2.  Because of the poor condition of the lampshade cover, I thought it would be very easy to just rip that old cover and wire wrap off. Well, it didn't come off that easily.  What a chore.  It will be much quicker wrapping the wire, than it was to remove the old.  As you can see from my little stool, I had to basically ATTACK it with scissors.  Of course, being that the half doll is porcelain and breakable I had to be careful, but I can assure you that she got bounced around quite a bit!  She probably felt she was on a tilt-a-whirl at a local carnival!  If you look closely, you'll see that I left the metal frame under her, wrapped with the original material.  She is very sturdily attached, and feel that a new single layer wrap around that will be sufficient without disturbing her anymore.  Poor thing is still dizzy as it is.

So you can get an idea, she is about 3.5 inches tall, and marked in red on the back, JAPAN.  Now, I will sand the frame down where there are some areas of the beginning of rust, then I'll seal the metal, and begin wrapping the frame.  I'll explain that as I go in Part 3.  The frame was out of shape somewhat, and I've tried bending it back some, but trying to be careful not to break the joints, which look welded or soldered.

As for me, it has been an adventurous day.  It is my birthday.  I woke up to 12 degree weather this morning, and 3 frozen pipes.  I have had friends and family ask me why I didn't "drip" the water last night, knowing that the temperature was going below 20.  Well, you cannot drip the water going to your bathroom toilet, LOL, nor the water hoses going to your washing machine.  So, under the crawl space of this old farmhouse I went, mubbling under my breath and swearing.  Fighting old insulation, spider webs, and Lord knows what!  You cannot stand up straight under there.  That was difficult for me.  Anyway, I managed to get an electric heater on and start the unthawing process.  It took until dark this afternoon for the the water line to the toilet to unthaw.  It didn't take that long for the washing machine, and you know when it thaws, you hold your breath that there are no broken water lines. 

Holding my breath didn't work.  Unfortunately, the cold water line to the washer is broken, and water was spraying in the utility room.  So, finally this evening, after all the lines were unthawed, the water was shut down to the whole house, and a plumber will have to be called tomorrow.  We are expecting snow and ice here in Tennessee this evening and tomorrow.

I hope everyone of you are staying warm.  I know that I'm dreaming of Spring already.  I hope you'll stayed tuned for Part 3.

~Robbie~

Sweet & Repurposed

Well, before I could remove the lampshade's old cover, I had to finish this sweet necklace, created using old and new findings.  The 30mm daisy connectors were a wonderful find on etsy, and I topped them with 15mm floral mum cabochons.  Each charm link, is then attached with vintage brass and pink beads from the 1950s.  Overall length is between 20 and 21 inches.  Such fun Spring colors, reminds me of old egg filled Easter basket from long ago.  Now, I guess I better get that lampshade started.  Check back for more photos.

Stay warm, as the South is really getting hammered today with ice and snow!

~Robbie~

Shades of the Past

This is a precious find, a small petite lampshade. You can click on the photo so that they enlarge so you can see more detail!  This is a vintage lampshade that would slip over the headboard to your bed, for night time reading, etc.  My first major New Year 2011 project will be restoring this to its sweet glory.  The little porcelain half doll that is attached to the framework will be hard to work around, but she is part of the original design, and will remain.  From the looks of her clothing, this lampshade probably dates back to the 1920s.  Of course, it will have new wiring/cord.  So, I will photograph each step along the way, and will post so you can see how this will be done, and of course, I welcome any comments or questions also.  When finished, I'm not sure if I will sell this, or keep it.  That is yet to be seen, but I hope you will follow me along the way.  My first step will be to remove the old shabby pink cover, trim, the lady's skirt, and old cloth wrapping around the wire frame.  Please check back for updates, and I hope you are having a wonderful January thus far....~Robbie~