check out my apron

I asked Holly Stinnett to make me an apron for a venue i am attending in Oct. (Art-is in Connecticut). I am attending the Cornonation of Alice and we decided that we would be wearing aprons. so i felt i must be prepared with a show stopping apron and immediately thought of Holly. After a few emails we came up with a game plan, i sent her a few images and VIOLA! look what she came up with. my criteria was vintage and shabby chic colors: blue, yellow, pink & green. A boy did she deliver! i told her that when it arrived today that my hair was a disaster, wearing pj bottoms, a skanky tank top, no bra, etc. but that the minute i put my apron on, i felt beautiful!

New York City is where i spent my weekend

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So my friend, Pam, was in town, (NY) to help her daughter, Kasey move into their new apartment. So yesterday i drove into Seacacus Junction, parked my car and took the 10 minute train ride into Penn Station. Then i hopped into a cab and took it over to Pam's place. wow, the place is stunning. After waiting for the cable/internet guy to show up, we headed out for a little shopping and lunch. it was quite rainy and really cold. i was wearing flip flops, capri's and a little sweater - so i got cold fast. quick stop at Daffy's and i emerged with a pair of polka dot rain boots and a sweet lightweight coat to keep me warm. Then we met Kasey, at Ben's, for NY's best chicken noodle soup. Yummy is all i can say! after leaving Kasey, Pam and i walk over to Metalliferous. never been? OH MY GOD! you must go; but warning, it is overwhelming, crowded, hot and the staff a bit on the snippy side. we both managed to spend way too much money there on tools, vintage findings, chain, wire and more. after that it was back to the apartment for a little rest before dinner at Rosa Mexicalli where we were meeting up Cindy Dean, who is in the process of moving from Las Vegas to New York. We had a wonderful dinner with scrumptious guacamole and pomegranate margaritas. again i'll just use the sophisticated word, YUM, to describe them. After dinner, Pam and i went to a Barnes & Nobles to see what new art books and magazines were available.
We went to bed late and got up early to hit the Garage flea market. what a wonderful time we had there. so many cool things to see and really interesting people. i made a lot of great contacts, handed out a few business cards when people saw the necklace i was wearing and then inquired about it. We had great sandwhiches at the Blue Dog Cafe before walking our way to Hell's Kitchen to check out their flea market, which turned out to be a bit of bust, but that's ok. We grabbed a cab back to the apartment, as unfortunately, it was time for me to head back to New Jersey. Thank you Pam for having me and showing me such a wonderful time. I appreciate you picking up all cab rides and giving me such a comfortable place to lay my head. Spending time with friends is always so fun.

country living fair

here's just a few of the things that are headed to CLF with me in Sept. Country Living Fair is in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 18, 19, 20. hope to see you there. i'll post my booth # once i receive it!

charlotte doll heads

a package finally arrived today from far away. i couldn't wait to unpack it. it's from Germany, from Thomas! it was an ebay win, a LOT of those highly sought after and coveted Charlotte doll heads. since i am teaching a few classes where we use one of these heads as the focal point, i needed to get some in stock to get ready. i don't know if i'll be selling any of these since i use these alot in my projects. when i am almost ready to leave for Country Living Fair, i'll post some pictures of some wonderful things i have created using these doll heads. until then, you'll just have to be patient!

"Souvenirs de ma vie" (memories of my life) - metal charm bracelets

this is a bracelet i made for my friend, Abbie, to say thank you for helping me with my website and answering all my techie questions! she read all the behind the scenes stuff for my website and then taught me what to do. it was so much easier that way since i couldn't view the tutorials on my laptop and she has much experience in that area. so thank you Abbie for your help! i am currently taking orders if you are interested in a customized metal charm bracelet. you need to give me 7-8 words (short words or names) and send me any doodads you might want on the bracelet (go through your jewelry box! no heavy items though) or i can add my own items that i choose for you (there won't be any consulting on items i use). allow 3-5 weeks for an immediate order and Christmas orders will be mailed out by mid November. girls, it's not too early to start your wish list and forward this link to the hubbie, boyfriend or significant other in your life! if you are interested, email me at keeshagirl@aol.com for more details. Thank you, Allegra, for giving my bracelets such a beautiful name.

Boho Bangles

these are some bracelets i 've been making to take to Country Living Fair. they are used bangles (most of them pretty awful in their original state) that i have given a new look. i used vintage scarves, lace, buttons and beads.

frog and butterfly

on thursday during the soldering class , a few of us took a break and went outside for some fresh air. Christina's son Max was standing next to me and a deck chair. he moved the chair pillow and found a tiny little frog. it was the prettiest blue/gray color. so i scooped him up to go show jeff, since we love little frogs and that was the first one i've seen all summer. anyway, as quick as i picked him up, he jumped right out of my hand and was gone. so the next morning as i was watering the plants on the deck, i decided to look behind all the pillows and ended up finding 2 more frogs. so that was fun. a pretty orange one and a gray camouflage one. they were very cooperative during their photo shoot. the little butterfly flew by around the same time.

i'm sad to report that the little baby squirrels i discovered in a bird house next to the front door did not make it. i don't know if the area was too high traffic or if it was too hot, but it seems as if mom abandoned them. really bums me out.

soldering class

so yesterday i held another soldering class. it went from 3 students to 7 in a matter of a day, so i did some reconfiguring and got it all arranged. need to get some extra power surgers and longer cords as we ran into a couple of glitches using an extension cord (not enough power). as i say after every class, i learned a few things as well as teaching what i know. it was a great class, fun and lively. i seemed to innocently say things that as soon as they come out of my month, sound rather crass! so we all had some good laughs at me! it is humbling to be told that i've inspired someone, so as a teaher, my goal has been achieved. you can check out jill's blog post here from my class.

what will $20 buy you?

it started in the garden when i found some wisteria growing under a bench. (my neighbor has the biggest, oldest wisteria tree in her yard and it sends seeds to our yard). it was a really long piece of wisteria; about 6 feet long. i looked at it thought, wow, this would be cool to wrap around something. so i didn't whack it, cut it or pull it. it's continued to grow and grow until recently when i mentioned this project to my husband. so we dug out these two free columns that we pilfered from a dumpster. they've been sitting under our deck waiting to be called into service. last week at the New Egypt flea market, i saw in the scrap yard, tons of metal stuff; so i dragged jeff there yesterday and we bought 2 pieces of salvaged metal railings for $20. i thought one of them would be the perfect thing to run between the 2 columns and then wind the wisteria through. so what do you think?

hitting the flea yestreday

Yesterday morning i took a drive over to the Columbus flea market (Columbus, NJ). it's about 45 minutes or so from me. you have to go early as it gets hot and the vendors pack up around 10:30/11:00 since they've been there since 4:30am. i usually go to Columbus on Thursdays, as that's when all the vintage/antique people go, but some guy i spoke with was telling me i had to go there on a sunday as it was great. Well, i beg to differ! there wasn't as many vintage/antique people and it was a lot of crap. it was hot, smelly and there were soooo many people. it was like family day with 20 family members in tow all toting strollers and screaming children. it was crowded to the point where passing people and even looking in booths was difficult. drove me nuts! quote me here, never again! anyway, enough complaining. i found a few things that were fun before hitting the road. i got an awesome bag of vintage plastic and metal cracker jack type of charms. so when i got home, i immediately put them to work as turned them into bracelets. they turned out great and hopefully will go over well at the Country Living Fair (CLF).




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then as i was leaving the flea market, i saw a garage sale so i stopped. he had a bunch of awesome stuff. i picked up a darling pair of vintage green gloves in the prettiest green color ($1), a box of (4) vintage Mustang hubcaps (1960's) for a project that i'm going to do with Dillon ($5), a wood level for jeff (.50 cents), some junk jewelry ($2). but the best thing was this white portable washer on wheels. the guy said he used it to clean out parts, but i looked at it and saw a cooler or something i could do tie dying/coffee staining in. it also might be part of my display for CLF. look how great is it? cost? now don't get mad - but it was $3!

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i took a different way home as i wanted to stop by this other flea market that i've seen before (and heard about) but had never had the courage to go to. it is very SKETCHY. It looks like something out of the bayou's of Louisiana - almost as if you will enter in, but never come out. It is very run down and the it is full of shacks (shantys as i like to refer to them). the first thing i saw was the scrap yard, which i ventured into, but it really was more of a dump. so i gamely headed back into the shack area. the first shanty i went into was run by a woman with very few teeth (see what i mean?) but she turned out to be really sweet. i asked her about the place and she said it's always been a flea market, for 50 years or more. she said Wednesdays were the day to go as it was much busier. there must be 30 or more of these shacks on the premise all full of "stuff" - most of them were closed. i picked up a few things here and there. all in all, i found the people to be very nice and friendly. if i have time, i might go back wed. just to see how the action is and then do a post for flea market junkture.

steampunk palooza

today for the show (Country Living Fair) i worked on these steampunk pendants. they all use vintage watches: Elgin, Bulova and some names i don't even recognize. every little charm on each watch was soldered closed. any i sick of soldering tonight? that would be, a, YES! each pendant will go on a dainty little 16" chain.

fun with anagrams

at shows i always like to have some items that are on the inexpensive side, so i've soldered a bunch of these anagram letters to sell (at the Country Living Fair) on a ball chain for the economically challenged or economically savvy individual (however you want to look at it!) i wore my initials along with a charm and it looked cool.

for all my Texan friends

here's a piece i worked on tonight in between soldering all those anagram letters (pic tomorrow). it is meant to go to the Country Living Fair with me, but i forgot and posted it on Facebook and might have some interested parties in it. so if you are interested you can email (keeshagirl4@aol.com) me for the details. i won't be listing it on my website because of my intent on taking it to Ohio.

butterfly visit

mother nature always has a way of making things up to you. after my bout with a yellow jacket the other (which is still itchy and fire red, mind you!), i noticed this little guy flitting around my garden. i figured he was heading for my butterfly bush, so ran, got the camera and waited for him to show up. sure enough, he gently glided in and started enjoying a mid day snack. what a beauty. so quiet and peaceful he was as he moved from flower to flower.

i've discovered some newborn baby squirrels in a bird house right next to my front door. it is surrounded in ivy, so it is quite safe for them there. they are darling! as they get a little bigger, i'll try and get some pics.

books, jewelry and classes

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here is my book from Judy's class this past weekend. i didn't get any of the inside pages done. i just played with my cover. my thought was to make it look really old, but also as if it was falling apart and somone tried to repair it with some handmade stitching, etc. on the inside and the side panel, i used this wonderful old upholstery fabric picked up at the flea market. it has these beautiful birds on it. and it is quite fragile and frays easily, which was a plus for my book! i also used as a signature an old men's leather toiletry bag that i had deconstructed.

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and look at this yummy necklace! Barbe St. John and i did a necklace swap with each other when we met up for dinner in San Fran last week. i just love it. everyone is quite taken with it (strangers and friends alike!) thanks so much Barbe. i sure wish i could get that girl on a plane to visit me! (hint hint)

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In other news, i'm planning some classes for Nov. and early Dec. when i finally get a break in my schedule. you can read about it on my other blog, Jersey Jypsies.

san francisco

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family and friends

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looking around Bass Lake

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here are some of my favorites places in Bass Lake

it's all about dillon

Here's some pictures i've taken of Dillon while we've been here. he's very photogenic and instantly goes into his pose (that started when he was very young!) when i say "Dillon, smile".

birthday girl

today we spent a wonderful day at Fall's beach to celebrate my mom's 70th b-day. we swam, bbq'd, kayked, swam, had awesome cupcakes, swam more, went down the falls - basically this went on all day. we are home now, just finished pizza and we are all exhausted.