Angels & Steampunks

What have I been working on lately? Quite an assortment of projects. I always have multiple folders open. Some photography jaunts, helping a friend with an art-journal, and dolls, of course!

 

My sister asked me long ago to make an angel for her. She has been so very patient. I'm happy to say, we're about half-way there! Here's a preview of the work in progress.

 

And remember waaaay back in 2011 when I took a workshop with the Dolling Dames where Barbara Schoenoff taught us her "Anneal" pattern? You know, the beautiful Steampunk Siren?

Well, my "siren" came out with feet that looked like they belonged to the Wicked Witch of the West. Poor Anneal has been shoeless since then as I got distracted by other projects and forgot about her poor tootsies. Actually, I just didn't know what to do with them. The pattern boots were kinda tricky & I didn't really care for them. I had even found a broken pair of Christmas ornament boots on clearance, but put them aside til I figured out how to repurpose them into something fashionable.

Finally,  unable to bear looking at that poor doll's sock-covered boats any longer, I got out the broken ornament boots and just started doing something. First I painted them black. While the boots were drying, I did an amputation on the boats & got the much tinier feet stuffed into the boots.

I covered the broken tops with a bit of zipper and pieces of an old leather glove that had also been used to make gloves for Anneal and other dolls. A pair of gloves goes a long way!

I added some Steampunk-style accessories and our girl is now standing proud!

 

Yeah, baby, these boots were made for walkin'.....! And you know how the rest of that song goes!

"Where Bloggers Create" Blog Party!

Welcome to Mystical Gypsy! What fun to participate in the blog party. I've been so inspired by pictures from other artsy bloggers and want to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing your world with me.

Please click here to go to Karen Valentine's blog for the complete list of party-goers! (scroll down & the list is alphabetized on the right-side column)

I'm going to be transparent & let you see the before picture of my sewing/craft room, my "studio" if you will. I don't know how it happens, but this room ever so subtly goes from organized & tidy to tornado after-effects décor in such a short amount of time.

One day, I decided to pile everything in the middle of the room and re-organize.

This was after I began to empty out the closet where I had been carelessly stashing things. You know - open the door, toss in & slam shut before anything could escape. The picture quality is pretty bad because I was rather uncomfortable documenting this disarray for anyone to see.

But enough of that...on with the show!


This is a re-purposed metal bakers rack. I painted it white & washed it with tinges of pink. Cute containers hold a variety of tools, brads, punches & doo-dads. The wood bucket was on clearance in the garden section at the hobby store. I painted it & added the polka dot ribbon for trim.

As you can see, I like polka dots. I made the skirt to go around my L-shaped work table. I'm so thankful for my hubby who gladly made the table for me, set up my computer & keeps it in good working order.


The skirt hides the computer, wastebasket, and the sewing machine tote. There are shelves which hold white baskets of patterns, embroidery hoops, etc.


The bakers rack holds all my scrapbook supplies. Next to it is a plastic shelving container with wide drawers for holding paper. I have two 4' folding tables, convenient to move around as needed.

I have tons of scrapbooking supplies. I don't scrapbook - but I do like to make cards. There used to be a scrapbook store in town that had a quarterly garage sale where my friends & I would pick up all kinds of loot for next to nothing. I think we enjoyed the pillaging more than the actual crafting. However, when the card making inspiration hits me, I've got all I need right at my fingertips!

For example - all my glitters & embossing powders are stored in this former-spicerack, painted white to match the bakers rack. Notice the crown? It's a large jewelry pendant, on sale at MFCS* (my favorite craft store). I love crowns!


At another junk store, I recently got one of those old boxes that used to hold print blocks. I've always thought they were so neat with all their little cubbies. It's holding about 1/8 of my stamps.
 
The closet is outfitted with wire racks and this is where you'll find the Mother Lode. The Fabric Stash. Oh my goodness, you wouldn't believe the visions & dreams just waiting to be realized behind those bi-fold doors!! Clothes, banners, embroidery projects, art dolls, curtains, table runners, pillows.... You see, I used to work at a fabric store. Who can resist using their employee 20% discount, especially on things that are already on sale?! Should some dreary global catastrophe happen, I will at least have fabric to make throw pillows and dolls!!!


Clean & organized! (I wonder how long this will last!?)  I found these aluminum cups at a wonderful junk shop. Memories from childhood. I always liked the pastel shininess of them.

The dresser was my son's when he was growing up. I painted it some fun colors & put colorful knobs on it. It's a sentimental piece that I can also use to store ... more stuff! The top drawer stores stabelizers and thread cones for the serger. The middle drawer holds silk painting supplies (yes, another hobby whim). The bottom is hiding a bunch of mementos and little knick-knacks that will probably be seeing a garage sale this fall.

A little wicker corner piece to display dolls, stuffed bears from hubby's Valentine's Day presents, silk scarves, mementos.

And finally, a shabby-chic chair for Blu2 to curl up in and keep me company.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to my hideout!

Day Trippin' on the Prairie

Last night, hubby said, let's do a day trip tomorrow! I'm always up for a road trip, so with camera locked & loaded and Starbucks in hand, off we went this morning.

He had heard about a neat little place on Route 66. In all our years here, we've never really explored the famous road. It's a very pretty country ride. Our first stop: Pop's!

This is Pop's. Part gas station, part restaurant, and a lot of...well, you'll see.

A Rt 66 roadside attraction must have an iconic landmark.

Does this give you a clue what Pop's is all about?

 You ain't seen nothin' yet....

 The wall slants in.

Rows and rows of pretty bottles and strange flavors.

Look close at these labels. They really are soda pop flavors.

Pop's was a fun stop. It's clean, bright & colorful. They have a little restaurant with great burgers. They also have fun cardboard beverage containers that you can fill with any of a 100 different flavors of ...pop! In old fashioned bottles with metal caps. (I hope we have an old fashioned bottle opener at home..)

Right up the road is another roadside attraction: the Round Barn.

The inside is indeed round. The walls are covered with pictures and articles of it's history. I thought this must be an oddity, but round barns are not unheard of, at least according to the documents displayed inside. You can read about the Round Barn's history at this link.

This was not part of the day's plans, but serendipity is what road trips are about! We were so close to Guthrie, that we went up the road just a fair piece to check it out.

 

Guthrie, OK, was the first capital of the Territory before statehood. It boasts of a Victorian architecture, but it looks 1890s western to me. I thought this building was the original capital, but it was a major newspaper publisher. I would love to have toured it, but as with most museums, it's closed on Mondays. The picture below is of old typewriters I could see through the window.

 

This is where the Land Run of 1889 was launched from. In a matter of six hours, 10,000 people staked a claim for their new homes and a city was born.

Oklahoma City won the bid to become the capital after OK became a state. According to one article, OKC lost much of its original architecture due to growth & modernization, but Guthrie was able to retain her Victorian style and is listed as a National Historic Landmark.

This statue stands outside the Oklahoma Territorial Museum (closed on Monday). It's called "The Wedding" and symbolizes the uniting of  Mr. Oklahoma Territory and Miss Indian Territory into one state.

The last picture was taken in Bristow on our way home. Just a little proof that we did indeed get our kicks on Rt 66.