Traincase Makeover

Today is packing day and tomorrow I leave on my own personal little road trip to California to teach and attend "The Affair at Downton" at the Biltmore hotel in L.A.

As I was gathering things together, I realized I hadn't shared my train case makeover with you yet!!

I'm so pleased with the results. It looks just like I envisioned it (and believe me, that rarely happens!!!!)

This is what it looked like before. It was quite masculine and not at all pretty! I didn't take any "before" shots of the inside but just imagine black vinyl, torn and stained with spills and gunk.

Yep. That was pretty much the inside.

 Now it's clean and pretty! Just waiting to be filled with supplies and tools!!

I used a very tightly woven burlap fabric. It's very strong and I think it will last a long time.

 I actually used encaustic wax medium to apply the lace instead of glue. It's very forgiving because if you do something you don't like, you can just heat it up with a heating tool and the wax melts and you can remove or reposition whatever you want.

After it cures for a a couple of days, all the "sticky" goes away completely and you are left with a nice hard finish. The only thing I couldn't do with it, is leave it in a hot car. Out here it gets REALLY hot inside a car in the summer and I would come back to a big mess I'm sure!

I wrapped the handle in twine and used colored seam binding and torn lace strips to wrap around the base. Then I added a little bling for good measure!!!

It took me a whole day to re-do it inside and out, but now I cant wait to take it with me on this fun and creative weekend.

Hope yours is filled with fun and creativity too!! See you next week!!

Sweet Salvage-Color Stories

 The theme for this months Sweet Salvage event was Color Stories.

 Now this is my kind of color!! Ha Ha. Okay, so grey may not really be a "color" per se, but it is certainly of of my favorites. It's such a calm and soothing color and goes with just about everything!

 So pretty!

This old sign came home with me. I thought it was perfect since I have built up a nice collect of vintage scales.

 Green is the color of nature. I also find it a wonderful soothing color. 

 Seems like I am always seeing things in my photos that I wish I would have brought home with me. This scale is one of them. It would have looked so awesome in my kitchen!!!

 Love it all. Here in Phoenix where so much of our greens are brown or grey, this vivid color just makes me happy!!!!

And speaking of happy... this works too!!! The metal letters are awesome and just look at that sweet aqua manni.

 I sooo wish my studio was bigger. She would have been a wonderful addition to it.

 Okay I am loving this armoire!!! Can't you just see it in a studio with those see through drawers stuffed with lace?? "Sigh."

I thought this was a cool industrial cabinet too.

 This purple was fabulous. It reminds me of my garden since purple is the predominant color out there.

 These were cool and I almost took a couple home. They are flat on the back so they can go right up against a wall. The frame is pretty cool too. And look... purple scaveola, just like I have in my garden right now!!

I'm not sure if this is an Annie Sloan chalk paint color or not, but I need to find out. I may need to paint a piece this color for my patio.

 I also really liked this pretty mustard color. Perfect for a French Country room don't you think??

My last favorite piece was this wonderful cubby unit on wheels.

Can you say Studio Bliss????

There were others wonderful displays full of reds, oranges, and vivid blues, but well... you know... those just aren't our colors!!!

If you get the chance to go this weekend, you should go!!!

Vintage Inkwell Bottles for Vendor Night at Downton

I cannot believe "An Affaire at Downton" is just under 2 weeks away! I am not lying when I tell you I have been preparing for this event for almost a year! I had no idea when I began that it would take up so much time and so much thought! It has been a wonderful experience and I am sooo happy to say that I am fully prepared and wont be staying up till the wee hours of the morning the night before I leave trying to finish my kits!! Yeah!!!

On opening night of the event there will be a cocktail party and Vendor market where I signed up to sell my wares. :)

Among some yummy supplies and extra class kits, I will also be selling vintage inkwell photo holders. I spent the weekend making these and plan on making a few more too.

 They are all made using the inkwell bottles, solder, lace, rhinestones, crystals, German glass glitter and Vintage bling... really all the things I LOVE to play with!!

I'm even thinking there might be class this summer here at Casa Valentine!!!!

(stay tuned... I'll let you know. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Weekend. 

See you Thursday for Sweet!!!

Playing with Jewelry

 I've been playing with jewelry a lot lately. There's something really fun about wearing your own creations! The NEST necklace I made needed something else so I made a second piece to go with it.

I'm kinda mad that I didn't notice the chain was messed in the photo, but I'm feeling too lazy to fix it!! LOL!!  I just used stuff I had here in m studio. I wanted to keep the mix of metals so there is shiny silver, brass and tarnished silver for the chain. 

 I also really like to make stretch bracelets I can cluster together. They are so much easier to get on and off than the kind with the clasps and I can mix and match them whenever I want to. :)

I also used a key on this one. I normally tend to prefer the  tarnished silver look , but brass has been growing on me! It took lots of separate elements to make the focal piece. All of it was fused together using E-6000.

More bracelets to match!!

 This one is for when I really want to make a statement! That vintage broach is almost 3 inches of blingy goodness!!

This last bracelet was so easy to put together! I already had a bracelet that I bought several years ago that had broken, but had lots of charms on it. I just took it apart and used jump rings to attach to this vintage rhinestone bracelet! 

While I have been collecting vintage bits and baubles for a couple of years now, all the beads, wire, and findings were found at one the big 3 craft stores here in Phoenix.

I do love to play with solder too, but sometimes you just want to put something together fast!!!

I'll be stylin' now!!!