Naomi's closet affair: January 2011

Just a Little Frilly Friday

Normally I have lots of lace to share with you on Fridays,

but today,

I'm sharing some things that I'm making with some of the frilly stuff.

This is a decorative pillow I've been working on.

It's not very functional, but I think kind of pretty.

As you can see, it's not quite finished.

I'm hoping to master this project and make these a regular item in my Etsy shop.

This is a finished flower made with the burlap centers that I was working on last week.

This last photo is of some tags that I'm planning to use as Thank You cards.

I love this new stamp.

What new projects are you working on?

I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I appreciate all your thoughts and comments more than you know!

Have a beautiful, frilly, Friday!

Lavender Love and an Experiment

Lavender love...Okay, maybe it's more of an addiction.

Aside from the heavenly fragrance, it gives me an excuse to use up some of the vintage lace and fabric I've been collecting.

I usually include a little handmade sachet when I'm giving a gift and I've started giving them as a freebie with the purchase of a piece of my crocheted jewelry.

This is not a sachet, but an experiment with burlap and crochet.

A flower?

What's your favorite fragrance?

Lavender?

Thanks for stopping by!

Texture

Burlap has such a wonderful texture.

These are the centers for some crocheted flowers I'm making.

White burlap that I tinted blue and did a blanket stitch around them.

Petals or ruffles will be added later.

Thanks for looking.

Have a beautiful Sunday.

Absurdity

Whimsy and Versatility

Spring and Summer Cotton Necklace

Countless crochet stitches around a cotton cord.

Wear it all wrapped up or long and lengthy.

Just plain fun!

Here is something I'm working on that's a little less absurd.

I've combined some linen fabric with some crochet thread to create these little flowers.

I'm not quite sure what I'll do with them yet, but it's fun playing with new techniques.

Frilly Friday

Frilly things and pretty things.

Inspiration for my art and home decor.

Pretty satin and lace.

Of course it was a thrifted find.

A stuffed heart that I made from bits of lace and scraps of fabric.

An antique bottle adorned with lace and one of the distressed tags that I featured on yesterdays post.

Here is an idea I came up with for my dining room window treatment.

I had purchased a vintage bedspread from the local antique mall that I thought was just beautiful, but I wanted to incorporate it into my dining room, not a bedroom.

At first I thought I would use it as a tablecloth, but it only had fringe on three sides, so I figured out a way to use it as a window treatment without cutting it.

I had some curtain rings with clips attached and it worked out just fine.

I still need to get a window scarf to cover the rings.

No cutting or sewing involved.

I used an old crocheted doily for the tie back.

This is some black lace from an old dress. It looks gray in this photo, but no, it's black.

Skeleton Keys and Hand Stamped Tags

I've always had an interest in altered art and art journaling, but never really took the time to do much with it. This year, one of my goals is to explore more art related projects.

Something different from my usual crochet.

Due to my addiction of collecting everything old, I think altered art and repurposing used, thrifted items is the perfect thing.

I've made a bunch of coffee stained, hand stamped tags and put them together with some old skeleton keys, and I'm really excited about how they turned out.

I plan to use some of them in future projects and have some for sale as well.

You can purchase the keys with tags at:

http://www.reconsidered.etsy.com/

and the tags with ribbons in sets of three at:

http://www.umelecky.etsy.com/.

Have you tried creating something different lately?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you all explore something new and different today on your creative journey.

Hugs and laughter!

Karen

Making My Own Spring

I've heard so many of you mention this week that you are tired of winter and I'm right there with you.

It's cold and snowy outside my window and I'm just not going out there.

Instead, I'm playing with my plants indoors and trying to create a sort of Spring garden look in my dining room.

Of course it's still a mess as I sort through tons of stuff, trying to decide what to keep, what to get rid of, and what I can use in another room to change up the look a bit.

Here are some of the keepers.

The bell jar was a Christmas gift from my daughter and I just love it. There's a little pot of ivy in there, a clay bunny and a little birds nest. It is sitting on a beautiful silver tray that was a thrifted find from a few years ago.

The mercury glass candle holder was a remarkable thrift find from last week. It was a 50 cent item and I just love it too.

The silver leaf was a gift from an old friend and the wool acorns are something I made after purchasing a few from Lisa at http://www.lilfishstudios.etsy.com/.

I've had this old stick wreath for years and just can't part with it. The little ceramic bird hanging in the center was something I picked up at an art show a few years back.