Re-creation of My Winged Back Glider Rocker

Old Chair

This past few weeks I have been on  an adventure to find and recover a new chair for myself. My chair was giving me a backache, so I went to my favorite thrift store, Deseret Industries (D.I.),to find a chair. Anne (my husband's sister), took my husband and me.  We took our old one downstairs and I knocked on a few doors to see if anyone wanted my old chair. It still had some good life in it. At the third door I found a neighbor who was very happy to take the chair and give it a new home, so we had a bonus not to have to load it into the van for a trip to D.I. The seat part of the chair from back to front was too long, so it forced me to sit slouched.    As a result I had a backache. I stayed away from the chair for a few days, and sure enough, that was the cause.  So that is what brought about the search for a new chair. 

           I thought it would be nice to have a winged back chair. To my surprise I found a winged back glider rocker; two things I have  always wanted combined into one. Yahoo! To top that off, it was the most comfortable one I sat on.  So the search was over.  The one drawback was that the cover was really ratty looking. I didn't like the color either. We took it home, cover and all. 
      I went to a fabric store and Wa La! (translation: Viola!) where they were having a 50% off sale.  I found fabric I liked.  I also bought some striped fabric to make a tablecloth

and some new covers for our dining chairs, and dress material for a couple of dresses. 
      






     

       Well, off to the makeover. I measured the parts and took the bottom cover off, cut it out laid the top back on the fabric and cut around it because I was not  sure if I could get the thing back together straight. I also cut out a cover for a pillow for Estel's chair; it needed a new cover too. Then on Saturday I just sewed, sewed, sewed. My machine is an old straight-stitch Kenmore. It did a great job.

 I did the hand sewing today.   That was the tricky part. It came out not too bad for a first try of reupholstering. I'm also planning to make a foot rest. I also made a cover for a small head pillow I already had.  So here are the "after" pictures. 
Here it is. What do you think?

A Funny Thing Happened

A funny thing happened. I redid a necklace  because the thread was wearing out, and when I finished, I realized that there was someone looking back at me.The face that emerged is like some sort of ethnic mask.  He seems surprised or just whistling a tune.  This necklace has one of my favorite stone donuts in it. I was told it is Zebra Jasper. 

 The two large buttons are vintage, from a large gallon jar of buttons my sister bought. I had fun going through it on one of my visits with her.

This is the before picture

This is the After Picture

     Repairing this necklace has tried my patience. I would string some more beads and weave them in and something else would break.  I would get one done and another strand would lose it's beads. So I gave in and took the whole thing apart and used heavy thread and realized that this would just get cut by the sharp edges on the beads. 

So I undid it again and restrung it onto some coated beading 

wire. I braided it and found I did not have enough strands, so I made  more. I re-braided it and found it was really stiff because of the wire. I also found that when I set all the ends together they were too big to fit under the findings,( the metal bits that hold the ends together) so I found some old  silver earrings, cut the posts off and glued them over the ends and backed it with dark felt. I got glue on the earrings and could not get it all off. This is why I do not want to go into the repair business. It all made me cry and feel crazy.   It took 3 to 4 days. So  finally, I called it quits and gave it to the friend that had asked me to repair it and said it was not my best work, but it was the best I could do.        

My next attempt was a necklace and  earring set I made for my sister-in-law's birthday. It was more fun. Made with amethyst chips, pale lavender teardrop shape glass beads, green cut glass beads,vintage crystals, and some purple cathedral beads.  Purple and green are her favorite colors.  Amethyst is the birthstone of her mom and Estel, her brother.
 



      In the picture to the left, is a magnetic bracelet I made for my husband's arthritis, to see if what they say is true. He has noticed some improvement in the joints in his hands since he has been wearing it.  The turtle is kind of a symbol for him. His homeroom teacher in High School called him "light'n' " because he moved so slowly. He also had a t-shirt that his mom gave him that had a picture of the tortoise and the hare. It said "I may be slow but I sure am good." 
             

     

      Next is a little bracelet and necklace for my great niece who is eight years old. This set is made with macrame' and sweet yellow flower beads which I talked about in my windfall post. Bright and cheerful, they are like Spring, which I hope is here.

      Last but not least, I learned how to do these sweet little flowers at the lacer's group I belong to . It was designed by Ramona, a member of our group. I added some needle tatting and cross stitched on the gingham check and  some new and vintage beads with a pin in back. I think I will add a Barrette too.  



                                                                     We had snow here last Friday. I hope this bright spot will brighten things up a bit.

    I also bought and planted in a couple of pots of Peruvian Daffodils. They look beautiful in the picture, but we shall see. I have not been able to get my orchids or amaryllis to bloom yet. Third time is the charm, right? 

Windfall Blessing

Windfall Blessing

Since I last wrote I've had a bit of an adventure. When I went to be the guest artist at the Women's Council of Provo, Artist Section. I brought some of the things I have made and sold several of them. So I earned a bit. Then after my last post, a friend of mine bought two of the necklaces I posted, so it added to my windfall. Then, as we were out shopping with a neighbor of ours when leaving the store we saw a sign “Bead sale closeout”.

   A few days later I decided to take a chance and go see what they had. I was really surprised at the quality and discount so I spent some and thought that was good enough. As I thought about it I went and spent some more another day and I got 20% off on top of the already discounted prices. The day after that the lady from the shop called to let me know they were having their blowout sale the last two days. Friday they would give 40% off, and Saturday 50%. My Husband and I went on Friday. I felt there would be a better selection on that day and I already had some things planned for Saturday. So we had some more fun! As we were shopping my husband's sister showed up. I had told her about the sale. She was stopping by on her way to work. So we hitched a ride home because she was going that way.

These new supplies have sent my mind reeling with ideas. One night it was so bad I got little sleep. So In the next while I will share as I bring them to life. Here are some of my finds: This first picture is chalk turquoise. I had never heard of that.

Next Picture same kind of stone.

The next three pictures are mostly Jasper and some agate. I'm not sure of the one on the left that looks a bit like a cloud.

I think God has done some amazing work here. I have loved rocks as long as I can remember. I did a little research and Jasper is made of petrified mud. Nice mud I wouldn't mind wearing some of that mud. 

This next one I 'm not sure what it is I found online a similar looking one and they said it was some sort of quartz.These make me think of spring.

Hope I'm not boring you with my little rock fest.

        

This picture has some Czech glass, baby blue glass pearls, and one container of  clear flat round beads are quartz.

These are so sweet. Did you know there was such a thing as pink jade? The other beads pictured look a bit like ordinary white beans but they are subtle pale colors. Some sort of stone.

 

These are double holed button pearls,

colored a rich golden color. And the large red faceted stone is red Jade I've already made plans for this one. I attached some forest green satin cord and a ceramic bead I already had. It has a Chinese knot in it's future.

                                                

The picture on the left in the bowl has a jasper focal bead. Also, some sweet glass disk beads with small yellow and white flowers. More Spring.

This small picture is a bit disappointing because these have a beautiful, iridescent glow They are labradorite, or as I found out same as feldspar.

               

Picasso Jasper: this stone has baffled me for a long time trying to find out what it was. I had the donut stone I found at a thrift store and could not find any more of it so now I can complete this long awaited pairing. The others are red orange glass, green and gold swarovski crystals and last but not least bright tiny butterflies also swaroviski crystals.


Whew did you make it through that ?

A Journey of Re-creation2

"If you don’t have time to do it right,
when will you have time to do it over?" - John Wooden

This is my dilemma. I want to start from the top or have things right the first time. That is sort of a silly expectation, don't you think? I find myself focusing on what I can't do and not on what I can. It gives me a lot of grief. So I, like everyone else, have to start where I am right now. Such as it is, here I go.

This is made with paper beads,a bone cross piece, glass beads, black cord with Chinese knots, and an old poker chip with a woven paper heart attached.

This is a reversible necklace made on an old poker chip base. It has a dragon fly on one side, and a vintage brass button on the other, with a needle tatted frame; some glass beads around, with stone and acrylic long beads between.

  These two necklaces are made with polymer clay and Chinese knots.

Of these two bracelets, the one on the left is needlepoint with seed bead edging and two vintage green buttons. The bracelet on the right is knotted macrame with a center motif on an old poker chip.

These three bracelets are made with needlepoint. The red and white bracelet has some new and vintage beads, and an old button. The middle blue and white one is made with a Japanese border design. On the far right is a black and white one, also Japanese inspired design, with a large vintage mother of pearl button and a small iridescent button on top of that.

The butterfly necklace is made with an old poker chip and beaded around with iridescent glass beads and some purple acrylic accent beads.

This night owl is made with an old poker chip with a felt backing and seed bead enclosure . Large blue glass beads and metal star beads are scattered around. It is hard to see, but I put some purple glitter in the acrylic covered owl and a small rhinestone.

This necklace is made with a poker chip pendant and a Chinese knotted neck piece with cream colored Indian glass beads.

These two also have something that reminds me of my childhood. The picture attached to the good old chip changes as you move it. These came from a puzzle. I think they are bright, lite, cheerful, and fun.

Tree of Life

This is wire work with a piece of an old CD for a backdrop. The beads are vintage , old and pearl-like. The base is a poker chip with a brass wire outside ring.

So what have I learned thus far.

• I learned working with epoxy is tricky. It's hard to judge how much you will need for a particular project, and you have limited time to work with it. So be prepared to use the extra epoxy if there is any. 
  

  

  
  
• I learned Chinese knotting takes time and practice. The end result is quite beautiful, and so worth the effort.
• If you put yourself “out there” someone might want more of you. I took some of my things to a craft fair and now someone asked me to be a guest artist at the Arts Council. I didn't even know we had one around here.

There are almost endless avenues to explore, so I hope you will enjoy some of them as I go on.

I learned a new technique to transfer images to the poker chips or other objects you might be interested in, if you want to try it yourself sometime.

Let me explain. You take an image you want to transfer and copy it, and print it out with a copy machine that uses toner. I use my laser printer. You can use color or black and white. Make it the size you want to fit the object you want to apply it to. Print it out on regular paper. Then take some clear packing tape and put it over the image and smooth it out so there are no bubbles or air pockets. Then comes the fun part. Get a bowl of lukewarm water and put it in and gently rub the paper part until no more paper is left on the tape. You will have a image of what you printed transferred to the tape. This is what you apply to your project. The great thing about it is, that it still has some sticky to help hold it in place and you don't have to reverse the print on words because they show up right, not reversed as in some other processes.

Here are some examples of things I have transferred.

Notice the words on the right side have blotchy white spots and a little yellow dot. The blotchy things are where I did not get all the paper off, so be sure to check that. Sometimes it is hard to tell there is still paper on the tape when it is still wet. On the left is the example of the words before I took the paper off the back and on the right is after. (The yellow dot was paper on the scanner bed, oops.) Pretty fun thing don't you think? Happy transferring.

Well, that is about it for this time. Take care and enjoy the journey.

A journey of Re-creation By Renaissance Heart

A Journey of Re-creation

By Renaissance Heart

from a post menopausal woman who

always lives a little off center

This is a journey of re-creation and discovery. I've been thinking I need to broaden my scope. How should I do that? I thought I should set down some ideas that are the foundation about who I am. 

      These things I know about me.

• I like old discarded objects or supplies.  I want to give them new life or a chance for usefulness. Nothing earth shattering of course, but maybe just to bring a smile to someone's day.
• I do things a little outside the norm.
• I use multiple mediums to integrate things and show how they can work together.
• I want to unify old and new.

I learn best by skipping around a lot, so hang on to your seat and enjoy the ride with me. Hopefully you and I can find some sort of continuity to it all.

I don't like being in the spotlight, but I do have something to say. I dislike being told I cannot do things this way or that. I have found I have an adult side of me that tries to get in the way and take away the joy and fun of youth. I am trying to recapture a time when I was more carefree and didn't mind if what I did made sense or not. So I am busy exploring and learning new skills. 
My sister Dawn likes to work with old objects like I do, she rescues plants and animals.

 

 

Here are some of the orchids she has brought home and they reward her well.

I'm drawn to more inanimate things.

I went on vacation last summer and found a piece of my childhood while visiting my sister in Washington. I found an Old box of clay poker chips from about the 1920's in a small junk shop that was going out of business.

How does this apply to my childhood? When visiting my Grandparents, I spent many happy hours putting in and taking the chips out of the round carousel, like the one shown .

Dawn & Rene' at Grandma's Easter

So I felt I should take those old chips home. I thought I should do something creative with them.

       Since I wrote last, I have taken an interesting journey. I found a second batch of old chips on Ebay and bought them. They look as if they have been through a fire. I don't think they are made of the same stuff as the others. Some are warped and have burnt spots as if someone had set a cigarette on them. I might start working with these chips to see what I can do.

I took one of the misshaped ones that looked a bit like a smile. I made what I think will become the little mascot of my chips.

My sister asked me to write down the process of how I do research in Family History. I haven't done that yet. But this is a close second, so here goes .

         As I went on a Google Search, looking for examples of pierced paper patterns, I came upon a Froebel book . I wondered, what is a Froebel Book? I Googled that, and learned something. I  found a hero of sorts. A Froebel book is named after a man Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel born 21 of April 1782. 

“Be it yours to give men bread; mine, to give them themselves.”

It turns out that he was the father of our kindergarten. He had a method of teaching Young children. I looked up a book written about his teaching methods. Some of the things he taught made me want to cheer. He believed that each of us are divine and need to learn in our own way to bring out the best in us. I wish I had been in his school. He did not believe in “cookie cutter” education but tried to tailor teaching and learning to each individual Child. It was a wonderful side shoot of my search. It  was fitting that I would find this in the beginning of my journey because I am indeed a beginner in this endeavor. As I read more of the book about Froebel's teaching methods, I realized that his beliefs about respecting children and trying to find the best in each one had parallels to how my father thought.

My Dad Jacob Pfund 1898-1980

I felt a desire to know how my grandfather was taught . Was he exposed to these same beliefs? Is that how my father came to believe that way?

Johann Kaspar Pestalozzi said “Never , if you can help it , deprive the child of it's sacred right of discovery.”(Teacher of Friedrich Froebel)Both of them were Swiss born, as was my grandfather. 

Johannes Pfund

 

http://www.answers.com/topic/friedrich-wilhelm-august-fr-bel#ixzz1A5PSjcco

"In 1849,after spending approximately 5 years touring Germany and spreading the idea of the kindergarten, Froebel settled in Liebenstein. He spent the remainder of his life combating conservative forces critical of his educational theories. These forces managed in 1851 to get the Prussian government to ban the kindergarten on the grounds that it was an atheistic and socialistic threat the the state.  This action was based not so much on what Froebel had done but rather on his followers' misrepresentation of his educational ideas. He did what he could to restore confidence in his kindergarten but died on June 21, 1852, some 8 years before the ban was lifted by the Prussian  government." 

My husband and I live in an old grade school that was made into apartments for people 55 years of age and older. Built in 1898, the same year of my Father's birth. We have been told our apartment was the  fifth grade classroom. On my fifth grade report card the teacher said, "All she does is draw horses." What a great place for rediscovery and leaning.  
    
Go Check this out.                                                                                                                              

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37122482/093-The-Student-s-Froebel

          When I read The Student's Froebel by William H. Herford, I feel as if I have found a hidden treasure. It is filled with truth. I love how truth outlasts time and space. It truly is eternal. This man had a lot of light. Why is it that it sets on a shelf and gathers dust? Sometimes it seems like the world is asleep. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book. 

I will share some of that with the results I have achieved so far next time.