Making a little art ~

I played a bit more in the studio today!!
I finished up my nature inspired cabinet of curiosities piece ~
I've collected so many wonderful things that I had a hard
time choosing what to place in each cubby!  

The nest I used is the tiniest little thing I've ever seen!!!

You can't ever go wrong using pieces of nature in your artwork....

they are simply BEAUTIFUL!!!

This cabinet can be found in my Etsy shop now :)

Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday precious friends!

hugs and love,

Dawn

Feeling kinda lame....

It's good I'm in the studio....but I'm not creating.

Just taking pics of lace I have stashed in an old suitcase ~

I love old lace so much!

I had this amazing old battery box glass thing and thought this nest

one of the boys gave me would look beautiful inside BUT...it's a little large!

This is the roll of tracing type paper I've been printing on...

it's from an old general store ~ I don't know what they wrapped in it.

I just lay a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" paper on top of a torn piece and slice it out

with an exacto knife. Then stick it in the printer ~

I'm not fond of shirts with collars. I'm one hot mama, literally!

So I took an old shirt today and thought I'd slice the collar off

and give it a scoop neck ~

so much cooler and to my liking...well, it worked!!!

It's just a trash shirt I wear around the house but I'm so glad that I

was able to get that hot collar off!!!

No pics on that, it's dingy and cruddy...but cooler now!

Wishing you a wonderful and productive weekend....

I can only hope that I'm a little more productive too!!!!

hugs and love,

Dawn

Lost n' found ~

Another sunset to share with you....

we've been having so many gorgeous evenings lately!!!

So what was lost then found???

My pressed flowers!!!

We've lived here almost a year now (the end of Sept.)

and I stashed it away and haven't been able to find it this whole time ~

Finally, today I ran across it!!

Look at how teeny this fern is...I placed a pin beside it to give you an idea of it's size.

These are African violet blooms....I know I've shown you these before ~

 Here's a variety of flowers, nothing fancy ~

I love the texture of these....

I picked a hydrangea bloom and wanted to see if I could press pieces of it...

The color is fading on these but I love them so ~

Do you know what this is? I found it growing in our flower bed!

It's a little meaty to press but I have to try ~

My wonderful and fabulous flower press...a big ol' yellow pages book!

Have you heard of this store?

Our son Brad just loves it and he found me a few treasures here this past weekend ~

I guess their Spring items are on clearance and he bought me this set of three nests!!!

They are pine needles held together with something...I just love them ~

And what am I doing in the studio right now?

I've had a few commission jobs to work on

and one is a sweet little charm

for a friend ~

I love using these microscope slides but they are very tricky to cut smaller...

The charm holds an old photograph of Pam's father ~

she lost him several years ago but wanted to have charm

to wear in memory of him...

I'm a little rusty with the soldering but it came out pretty good!

It's only 1" x 1", teeny, right? :)

I need to get these projects completed (finishing my flea bag is next!)

so I can get the studio cleaned up for

Where Blogger's Create this Friday!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday precious friends ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

An old, rustic drawer + a big, beautiful bird's nest = ART!

Why am I so in love with bird's nests?

Birds?

Speckled eggs?

I don't know why but I am ~

I guess because birds are so beautiful and simple yet look

at the complex structures they work so very hard on

to raise their babies in!

This is a real abandoned nest that one of the boys gave me

and it just had to be showcased ~

I've had this old drawer for years now and it

turned out to be the perfect size to hold the nest!!

The drawer measures a big 15" x 15"....and the nest?

Approximately 9" in diameter ~

I had to share my new artwork with you.....

now in my Etsy shop too!

Can you tell I'm obsessed with wiring stuff in now???

I love the cabinet of curiosities look of it I guess :)

I added the knob and decorative piece ~ tied with trim and twine...

My gift for you today?

A sweet dandelion that I encased inside of waxed paper....
I bought this little mini iron at Michael's with a coupon and
just ironed away on the waxed paper ~ it wipes right off too ~

I tried to make it look like the seeds were blowing away!

Now....to make something smaller and who knows? I may have to wire it in too!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

I always seem to forget ~

And just what do I forget, you ask???

How wonderful I feel when I make something!!!

I have a new "creed", "mantra" or purpose this spring ~

make something beautiful....every. single. day!!!

So here is my current offering and new artwork.....

Remember my recent giveaway?

I just had to try to recreate it

as I loved making it and

how it turned out ~

And you can find it in my shoppe too!!!

Be sure to double click my photos to see more detail ~

Another piece I finished is a petite nature assemblage

housed inside of an old wooden box!

It's tiny but oh-so-detailed....

and it's in the shoppe too!

Yes, I do laundry (when folks are moaning :)

Yes, I try to cook my family a tasty dinner every evening.

And yes, I do try to keep this old place clean.

But girls,

making these treasures

TRULY makes me SMILE!!!!

Have a beautiful Wednesday my sweet friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Nests on the brain....

My antique sweet boy photograph doesn't have much to do with bird's nests

except that my boys are always so good about finding me

abandoned nests to display in our home.

Don't you think he's beautiful?

Look at the nest that my son Brent found for me!!

I'll be displaying it in the living room soon ~ still on the branch too!

I love finding gorgeous old nest paintings ~

Nests in old book pages ~

Nests on vintage or antique postcards ~

The sheet music page below doesn't really feature a nest

but don't you LOVE IT???

I love these illustrations ~

A cardinal's nest found in our front yard a few years back ~

I'm trying to decide how to display

a beautiful collection of bird nests

that I've collected over the years.

I love SEEING these wonderful creations ~

Maybe they would look good in cubbies or shadow boxes....
and how about displayed on either side of sweet Bucky??

What do you think?

I hope you have an amazing Wednesday precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn