memories of days gone by - green before green was in!

As i go through my files of pictures, I am always drawn back to my trip to Ireland. I absolutely loved it there. The air fresh and clean, the land green and lush, the people simple and sweet! It was especially sweet in the fact that we took our father back to his land where his grandparents came. It finally felt good having been to the place where it all started. I loved the fact that the irish are very green by default and they don't make a big deal out of it, it just is. The picture above is at a bed and breakfast we had stayed at, in which a sweet elder was hanging clothes to dry. We used Hidden Ireland for our accomodations and were truly thrilled with all of the b & bs. I did however find it interesting that she hung them indoors as opposed to outdoors. I remember my mother hanging clothes outdoors and us kids running through the fresh laundry hanging and swaying. My mother was also green without even knowing, it was the order of the day. Growing up we didn't have a washer and dryer, therefore hanging clothes on the line was the norm. I am very thankful for her knowledge of canning, recycling, repurposing and passing it on to all of us, done by just living and doing. The simple things in life are the most wonderful things in life!

recycling and repurposing in the studio

So here is a lovely little frame that I repurposed and I am so happy with the results. It was a dirty brown old vintage frame and it needed something to make it like new again. I was contemplating painting it, gilding it, and even antiquing it. Well I ended up adding a rub on and the results came out amazing. I added a chalkboard insert and now instead of being in a box, I have it hanging in the kitchen. What a sweet little treasure.

Here I used some old fabric & trim that was lying around and I made this adorable little evening bag. I inserted some lining and used stripped cotton fabric. By adding these cute crochet flowers, I gave it a finishing touch. This handbag has been repurposed in that the fabric was a sample used in a furniture store as a sample for fabric on sofas. I love these fabric samples because they are small pieces that can be managed quite simply. I have made table runners out of them along with many other gift items. The more I use what I have around the house it seems to give me a wonderful creative feeling of accomplishment. It really pushes me to think outside of the box.

Furniture at the Bellagio Spa

This piece of furniture at the Bellagio Spa caught my eye, not only because of it's beauty but because it wasn't new and shiny. It was an old piece of furniture that was repurposed and made new. It was covered in really interesting bits and pieces of plates, cups and saucers (mosaic). It even had a few pieces missing. I loved the fact that such a big and glamorous hotel had very unique and eclectic old furniture fused into the decor. As a mixed media artist, I love to look for the contrast between new - old, distressed - smooth, high - low contrast etc...basically anything that captures my attention. I always keep that camera in hand because, remember you can't go back or you have forgotten what it actually looked like or you have forgotten those wonderful little nuances. It's that simple CARRY THE CAMERA!!!  My latest place to go for do it yourself projects is tipnut.com/  You'll love it.

Fabric Creativity for Wall Decor

When we think of art... we tend to think of paintings, drawings, sculpture. Do we really think that much about fabric? Well here is my daughters studio wall that she has created for her studio space. She is a super fantastic fiber arts/sewing artist. It is very fitting for her to think in terms of fabric to decorate with, I absolutely love it! While on a shopping trip to New York she shopped at Mood which she thought was fun with so much to look at. Not sure where she purchased all the fabric for this wall art. If I know my daughter she used remnents, go green girl!!! I love the idea of repurposing or recycling anything and everything we can.