Small Box and...kind of...warm feet

Here I am again, with a cup of tea and kind of warm feet... My cool, cozy, fuzzy slippers are torn and I did not find the time to repair them or sew a new pair, so I'm a little cranky, trying to put my feet in all kind of positions to get them warm. :)

Here is another box, just a small one I did lately. It got different than the others and I have to get used to it, although I don't know why. I do like it but I always....have to get used to it, like I said ;)

Let me know what you think of it because I thought about doing more of them if Mösi still got the other ones.
It is old and handmade and lathed so it is a unique item.

It is painted in white/eggshell matt and distressed. I had to be careful painting it because the thin wood warped with too much of liquid. Since it is handmade and fitted just the right way it would have been a sad thing if the cover wouldn't fit anymore. Luckily I managed it to fit in the end.

The image of the blue birds, which makes my heart sing, I found on Karen's Blog (The Graphics Fairy).
Mode Podge, my new friend, made it possible to glue it on and I also could distress the image a little with sandpaper.
Added a piece of torn fabric with a small, old key, a cameo and a bird which gives it a victorian look.

I hope you like it!

So, this is about it for today. I will go fight my cold and try to find the balance between working and relaxing. (If someone's got advices I'm more than happy to learn ;))

Much love,

Dina

Mirror, Mirror, Frame, Frame

Snow got close this night, in fact, the mountain tops are covered with thick layers of brightest white. If I wouldn't be in need of a fall feeling to get some of my collections done, I would dig out my winter decoration and cookie cutters and sprinkle flour all over my kitchen while listening to the christmas bells ringing.
Back to reality... I'm on the way to catch a cold. My throat hurts and my eyes are burning, so I decided to keep the fire low today.

This is a good moment to catch up on some of the things I did during the last two or three weeks.

First of all (some of you might have been seeing these on FB already) I finally was working on some old window frames I got months ago at a flea and antique market. I payed way too much for them, but it was the first time I was on such a market and I did not know that there are price ranges that can be beaten down.
I'm such a redneck...

Anyways. Here is the first one (guess what, I can't find the before pictures...thaaah).
I buffed the back of the mirror, which was a real dusty story, cleaned it very good, and used Mode Podge to glue the graphics onto the mirrors.
The images I've found on Karen's Blog (The Graphics Fairy).

I painted the frame in a matt white and distressed the edges just a little so it wouldn't get to "nervous" and added some little details here and there.

Sorry for I could not escape the mirror on the picture...

The second one I did was a "plane" window frame I painted and distressed the same way I did on the mirror frame.

I also used Mod Podge to add some scrap book paper to the frame, added a little lace, and some other details. I thought this one was screaming for a watch and since I had this heavy pocket watch which I did not use for a while I figured this would be the perfect purpose to use it.

And the last one I did (I actually DID find a before picture!) I kept very lightly.

On this one I had to do major cleaning, repairing and buffing because the wood was kind of "mushy" and almost falling apart. While painting the brush was almost dry and I added very few, light details, such as a stamped rag I mentioned in some older posting.

I love the hinges on this one! (Sorry for I did not get a better picture of it.)

before

after

after

Those three I will safe for my booth at the christmas market.

To not get too long of a post I will split them into two, so if you are interested in some more things I did, go for the next post also ;)

Much love and a great week to all of you,

Dina

Helena Bonham Carter and the Rockabillies

Good Sunday evening to all of you, I hope you had such a wonderful fall weekend like I did. It is cold, stormy and wet since yesterday and our house smells of cinnamon, vanilla and coffee. Can it get any better?

Since it is fall my creative energy goes nuts and I can't help myself working even if it's weekend.

So I finally started on the "Helena" collection which I was shoveling around in my head for such a long time. In my opinion it fits fall pretty well.

This collection is inspired by Helena Bonham Carter (great actress and beloved fiancé of even more beloved Tim Burton). It's the first part and there will be many more of them.

Originally I thought about doing a collection for some of the characters she played such as "Miss Lovett" in Sweeney Todd or "Bellatrix" in Harry Potter. But my point of view is that Helena herself is such an interesting woman with a unique style which made me come up with "just" a plane "Helena" collection.

Ok, I guess you all got that I'm totally in love with her ;) So here's the first part of the collection:

And next to it I finally, finally finished the second part of the Rockabilly collection (The new Generation)

Here we go:

Reserved

If you are interested in one of the pieces feel free to contact me on here or on Facebook. 

For now I will cook a great sunday's fall dinner and just be happy livin' :)

Much love to all of you,

Dina

In need of old Boxes...and Mondays

This may be unusual for a lot of you to read on a Monday but oh how I loved to go back to work this morning! I hardly could resist on getting back to my atelier this weekend but my Mom and my husband kept me busy on getting things done in the house and on relaxing. Although my thoughts where keeping me busy on what I could work on next.

I will show you what made me feel so good, for it where some of the last few things I finished on Friday.

First of all there is another box and for those of you who didn't read some of my older posts: I'm in love with old boxes but these days I'm running out of them. I don't know what's the matter with my "before" pictures lately but I keep loosing them...sorry for that!

Before, the box was in a dark brown. That's it. :)
And here is my redo of it.

I painted it white matt while the brush was almost dry. This made the original dark brown shine through which, in my opinion, gives it a neat finish. Afterwards I aged the paint using sandpaper on the edges.
On the inside I did a small upholstery with a striped fabric on which I sewed on an image I found on Karen's blog The Graphics Fairy. It is an old sign of a french corset label and I love the style of the letters!

On the outside I "Mode Podged" some the rest of the graphic onto the wood.
...done...


There was a lot of leftovers of the fabric the corset label image was printed on and I don't like to trash leftovers. So something I've seen somewhere on another blog (I can't remember which one, otherwise I sure would give credits to the girl!!) popped into my mind but I did not want to just copy it. I've seen small fabric squares with stamps on them and I thought it would be kind of neat to have them as tags.
So I ripped the fabric leftovers apart, stamped them and eyed them. This is a fast and easy way to make unique and cute little tags on your own. And this is how they look like:

So these are some of the last things I did on Friday and I hope being able to show you all of the other things I did. I might won't be able to explain all of the processes the items have been through because I'm afraid it will get boring but I will pick out some of the interesting ones.

Much love and... gotta love Mondays!!! :)

Dina

Preparing for Christmas Market

Never wanted to start a blog entry with "long time, no see" but I guess that's best to start today.
There was SO much going on in my life, good things but also not so good things.
A lot of health issues where bothering me over the last few months and I also had to recover from an absolutely awesome week with a friend of mine from Minnesota who visited me here in Liechtenstein.

Back to business, I was working on the second Rockabilly Collection (New Generation) which in my opinion will be a good one, came up with other new future collections AND did massive preparing for the christmas market.
I'm not sure yet if they will let me participate but I will know soon.

Do you remember me telling you about sledges I got at Mösi's?  I planned on showing you "before" and "after" and I remember taking pictures before I started on the remake but I accidentally can't find them anymore.
Quick description: the crib was a dark brown-red, just like the wooden handle which I also liked but I wanted to lighten it up a little. The Inside was black.

Now it looks like this:

Redone Puppet Sledge for Christmas Market

I took the crib off of the frame, sprayed it white matt, used Mod Podge to glue and finish the sheet of music around the handle (which was a real old sheet of music with a piece written for violin and piano on it) and adjusted three chains with rusty snowflakes and bells on the front.

I cut a greenish piece of fabric with little flowers to the size of the crib inside and used also Mod Podge (I love that stuff!! We just can't get it around here...) to glue and finish the inside of the crib.

Also I sewed a piece of white felt to go with it as a small blanket.

It didn't take me very long to do this and it was loads of fun!

The second sledge I did is a "real" one you even still could ride. Actually I thought of it to be just a decorative item but I made sure it still can be ridden (I used out door Mod Podge on this in case it will get wet).

Redone Sledge for Christmas Market

Redone Sledge for Christmas Market

The seat got grinded with sandpaper, cleaned and painted in cream white (on oil base). Then I used the rest of the music sheet and two graphics from Karen "The Graphics Fairy" and glued and finished it with three thin coats of outdoor Mode Podge. For a neat finish I glued a white lace band around the front and attached four rusty bells and a rusty snowflake.

Here also I sewed a felt blanket with another four vintage graphics on it to go with it for decoration or just for a cosy feeling. :)

Hope you like it! Wishing you a great and energetic week with love,

Dina