Awesome Treasures

Recently I got caught up in making Treasuries on Etsy. They changed the Treasury rules and now you don't have to play the game of wait and snag to create them. Since they might be interesting enough to the rest of the world outside of Etsy, thought I'd share them here.

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"Strange Beauty"
Curated by me @ WonderWorks
About This Treasury ::: Found several items that although they weren't earthy, somehow had that feel. I am so soothed by these natural color combinations. My intent was to use color and unusual items to create an overall feel of nature even though some items are metal, hard, and man made.
(Click image to go there. See full size with comments.)

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Must admit I got a little carried away. Then again when I'm inspired I usually do. Wound up making four of them. What awesome fun gathering the work and beautiful items of some of the most superb artists and collectors. It kept me inspired until I had to reign myself in. Now my little brain is ticking... "how can I make them useful for all?" :)

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"Red Glass Baby"
Curated by me @ AngeeArt
About This Treasury ::: The actual piece that inspired this entire treasury was the glass beaded knife handle. Knew I wanted to tackle red and it fit well. Had gathered quite a few different things when I decided to make it nothing but different forms of shiny red glass. Ahhh, but, I just couldn't leave the baby out! She was so sweet and perfectly red. Then the epiphany; she's as fragile as glass, and appears so; she fit. Thus the title.
(Click image to go there. See full size with comments.)

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Etsy uses member curated Treasuries for the front page on the site. Members are discouraged from using them for self promotion. If one of my Treasuries is chosen for the front page I get billing as the curator. If everyone has a look, it will increase views and perhaps get more attention from the powers that be. :)

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"Midnight"
Curated by me @ AngeeArt
About This Treasury ::: O night ... dark black ... the daring color. How to create a "dark" treasury without it really being dark? There are so many awesome works in black, and so many these days appreciate it. (I had a black and white kitchen in the 70s. Talk about odd! :)) Tried to stay far away from a halloween look because that was not at all the feel I wanted to convey. Didn't want the really gruesome dark evil stuff with blood and fangs to scare away the regular guy. (ugh!) And, it's summer when everyone else wants to get all bright and colorful! Well, maybe not everyone. So, this worked, and pulled together!
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Etsy might also choose from among the treasuries that receive alot of comments and views. No one knows their reasoning in front page choices. Keeps things fair I suppose. Well, I couldn't collect a color coordinated assortment from among all of my items anyway, so it's yummy to find interesting items from various artists that work together to create a theme or feel.

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"Almost Royalty"
Curated by me @ AngeeArt
About This Treasury ::: Mauves, lavenders, and purples are my favorite colors. Not that I live with them, but these colors please my eye most. Been that way all my life! So I gathered those things that pleased my eye: items as well as colors. I do choose artists that I think are very good, and interesting vintage things that are unusual and photographed well. This treasury and it's name inspired the poem, so, when this treasury was complete I included it.
(Click image to go there. See full size with comments.)

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So here are my new Treasuries. If nothing else, they're inspirational; the point of this blog. If any of them are chosen for the front page we all win. Click a Treasury and hopefully you'll have a creative inspiration too!

NewZtuff

My one-of-a-kind beads are each individually hand sculpted. See one that looks familiar?
Collect little shrunken heads representing each of your ex-husbands or partners. Hang them in your car or hang him on a chain around your neck. Warn new prospects against treating you badly! See my WonderWorks Shop.


Ahhh, check out this juicy French Kiss with a little tongue pendant/bead.

Each is individually handmade from clay. Glossy finish makes it have a realistic juicy shine. You sure will get some attention with this hanging off your fine silver chain.


Notes designed and printed using my original colored pencil rose drawing. These will be at AngeeArt next week in packs of 8 with square flap envelopes.

Thanks for reading. :)

Goodbye Little Friends! :)

On a happy note... several of my minis sold!

Tiny Dinky the Dino Dragon found a new home. He was carefully packed and went to live in Port Charlotte, FL. I hope he'll be happy in someone's special collection or dollhouse room with other boy toys. This inspires me to perhaps make some more dinosaurs and dragons! Hmm.

I also sold all my ducky toys. (gotta make more)They went to live in Boynton Beach with a sweet little collector named Michelle. I know they'll love being close to the water!

Guess this is a good way to start the summer (it's hot as blazes here already) on a happy note.

Bye little friends. Don't forget from whence you came! (shhh, i signed them!)

Peer Pressure

No matter how old you get there are still times when you succumb to basic, life altering, peer pressure. The only thing that changes is some of those peers may very well be: kids that are much younger, family that is much older! Heck...I consider everyone my peer. Guess I need to check the meaning of the word.

Finally broke down and joined facebook. So, all who go here might want to befriend me there as well. You can't have too many friends, or friends of your friends, friends.

I've added SceneScapes, that were packed and forgotten, to my WonderWorks fan page on Facebook. Nice way to show them without the listing fee. Now all I have left to do is clog my brain with more techy info on how to make things function according to their programs. Ugh! For this technically challenged individual...it's just a wad of confusion.

If you're not a member...join! After you do, or if you're already a member find and befriend ME on Facebook!

Busy Me!

I am so bloggin' behind!
Here it is May and I haven't posted a single thing since the end of March. Just goes to show how busy I've been.

Finally found my dream location at a local salon a few weeks ago and opened a nail business. It's a nice upscale place with massage pedi chairs and great ambience. It was way passed time to use that hard earned nail specialist license, so I set sail for nail land.

So far I've done quite a few pedicures and am working on perfecting my 3-D acrylic extensions. I'll post photos as I go along to keep everyone up on my progress.

Lovely Lady-Like Coffee Service

This is a gorgeous 19 piece Formal Coffee Service of ceramic ware, made by my aunt, L.L.Liles in 1962. That means in two years the set will be 50 years old. Amazing how it made it into 2010 with no dings, breaks, cracks, or stains. Only the lid to the teapot has crazing. It was obviously well cared for and she would be proud that it was still in such great condition.

Let's begin with the large Coffee Pot. It measures almost a foot high and is 12 3/4" across from handle to the spout! The Pot is accented in gold and has those exceptional little feet on the bottom. All the pieces have these features. It's big party size! I would guess it holds about a gallon of coffee!

Because of the lighting they all look creamy white, however, in daylight they are really white. The huge teapot measures 9" tall with the bulging bottom 6" in diameter. It's 12" from handle to spout. I photographed it next to the EAPG regular sized salt and pepper shakers for a size reference.

I guess you can get an idea of size for the lidded Sugar Bowl and fancy creamer by the EAPG platter the pots were on and again the salt and pepper shakers. I love the lids on this set because they are so easy to handle. I guess that made it much easier to survive the years. See, they have the little feet too.
A Cup & Saucer together stands a whopping 4.5" tall. The diameter of the cups is 4" across. It's in the diameter that you can tell they were handmade. Not that it is ready visible but if you look down on them all you can see they are a little bit unevenly round. I guess where she held them to paint the gold accents on.
There are six Cups & Saucers. The cups as well as the saucers have those cute little feet! (Easier to see in the previous picture) The gold accents really show up on the saucers and the handles have plenty of room to get your finger inside. The cups are very thin and lightweight. I like that feature as well.
Certainly a lot of work went into this set, but I know Sister had a wonderful time making it and caring for it to hand it down. Little did she know that times would change and women wouldn't be so involved with high tea and fancy things after fast food took over! She would flip to know that you can buy a whole Thanksgiving meal at the grocery store with beautiful disposable servingware to accompany it.

Creative Spring Genes

In the next few posts I will be laying groundwork to familiarize you with a few of the creative people in my family, and the heirlooms I've aquired. Am filled with lovely childhood memories surrounded by all of the gorgeous things my mother and aunts gathered, collected, meticulously cared for, and creatively made by hand. However, I have no room for them all... i.e., they literally cannot be contained!

Before many of these heirlooms are sold and pass to other owners, I want to make a photographic journal of their careful collections, and creative exploits; to record for myself and remaining family a virtual scrapbook of sorts. If we can't keep all of the items, at least we will have stories and photos that accompany some of them. "Ah...lest we forget."

In doing this... I hope you, the reader, will better understand some of the items I'm listing at AngeeArt on Etsy which now contains a gallery of vintage and antique. If you find anything you have an affinity for within these photos, (not listed there)...let me know and I'll make a listing there especially for you.

SISTER...
LUCILLE
LeMASTER LILES
My Aunt Lucy (we called her Sister) loved creating anything ceramic. She gave us all ceramic gifts as they formed from her hands, and sprouted from her kiln. I've consumed many a cup of coffee from mugs with her stamp on the bottom. But this was not her only passion, she also collected antiques, was a recorded country song writer, sang harmony with my mother and me, published a book of poetry, and crocheted up a storm in her off time.

After "Sister" retired from Kraft Foods, (she was a nutritionist in the cafeteria at the plant in Atlanta) she moved from Georgia to Florida to be close to my mom and our family. My mother's oldest sister, she was 23 and married, when my mother the baby of the family was born. Mama always called her Sister. Unable to have her own children, Lucy (as her friends called her) sorta "adopted" and raised my mom. After my brothers and I were born, she pretty much functioned all of our lives, as grandmother. My youngest brother was the only one who didn't call her Sister... he called her "Grammy." (my grandmother died when mom was 18)

So, in 1974, Sister brought all of her entire household of antiques from Atlanta, rented a little house in a non-residential area, and sold them all, except those rare, unusual wonders she loved. When she died in 1985 at the age of 84, all of her unfinished ceramics, crochet booties, extensive antique collections, old china, and remaining antique furniture... passed to my mother.

Keep watch! There are many more things to come, some of which I will need the world's help to identify and establish value. I'd hate to sell something for $5 that's worth $5,000.

March to a Different Drummer

March means getting ready for Easter. I'm working on marzipan filled vanilla chicks and sweet chocolate fondant bunnies at Visualicious.

March came in like a cold lion and I hope it goes out like a warm, wooly lamb. I want to plant seeds and see them sprout.

March marks the first birthday I could not give my mother a gift. Her birthday was yesterday. That's a hard thing. But, I still have four close friend's to celebrate b-days with this month. It's a blessing they were born.

March will be the month I add vintage things left by my mother to my AngeeArt shop. My house smells like hers since I brought her things here. Some of the items she made, some I made for her, some things were made by my aunt, others I made for my aunt that mom inherited when she died. Most are vintage handmade and, a good majority are antiques. We were and are a creative family. Just don't have room for everything and... I'm tired of stepping over the memories. I hope to add photos of some of the more unusual things and share their stories here.

Blessings.

Be My Valentine!

Here's a visual pig out for Valentine's Day! Check out this sweet surprise.

It's a little chunk of eye-candy love this Valentine's Day to all my faithful followers.

I made this cute, custom marzipan stuffed fondant pig for a customer on Etsy and thought I would share it with you. My grands so much wanted to eat it, but, I managed to get it mailed out unscathed.

Last week they raided my basket of 25 "ready to sell" candy bracelets and ate all but three. Boy was I upset, and boy were they wired for the day! I didn't realize they had gotten into it until I went into their room and found stickers, little bags and leftover sparkle elastic all over the room. "sigh" :o/ On a positive note, I guess it was proof positive they were delicious!

Hope your day is fiiiillllllled with lots of love.

Ushering in a Creative New Year!

Here's wishing everyone a Prosperous and Creative New Year. May we all enjoy another season of freshly inspired opportunities!

In 2009 I finished developing the illustrations for Helen Barbazon's book. Now its in its final stages and getting ready to print. Might be sharing my drawings in a widget of the book, here on the blog, if I can get it to work. Check back.

I'm excited to begin working something different into my signature line.
So...this first post of 2010 brings a glimpse of what's in store this year.

In 2009 I developed my gourmet candy jewelry, perfected their tangy-sweet deliciousness, and found them to be my biggest and best sellers. I'll be distributing them from several local venues so, photos of the counter displays are soon to come!

Had an offer to dress the front window of a local furniture store with a display of my signature painted furniture, canvas/rock paintings, and sculpture. Working on the pieces that will be included now. Bought several interesting pieces of furniture to paint right before the holidays and am in process. I'll be sharing these pieces as they come along.

2010 BLESSINGS!!!