Flea Market Stash

Raleigh Flea Market Finds

My wonderful husband toted me up to Raleigh this morning for the flea market.  Many of you will understand my desire to find that one piece of treasure that I can work into either a piece of jewelry or a piece of mixed media art.  I also have an old hobby of the printed word in many forms.

Today's treasures come in the form of some J.R.R. Tolkien paperbacks, a small piece of lace, three pairs of earrings (clip-on), and a rather heavy handmade shelf.  I have my work cut out for me over the next week or so.  If you are interested in what happens next you can follow me on a couple of pages.

I will list the Tolkien books on my Etsy page for Seaturtlebooks.

I will change the clip-on earrings over to post and wire.  Two of the pairs will be listed on my Etsy page for VindemiaConventu.

The shelf is wooden, handmade and in rough shape.  It will need some tender loving work from me.  May take a couple of weeks, possibly up to a month, but I will have it in working order before I go to the flea in Raleigh again.  I plan to keep this one and use it myself.  :) 

Feel free to follow me forward on my facebook pages respectfully: Seaturtlebooks, and VindemiaConventu.

I hope your day went as well as mine did.

Regards,

Kat

Simple Resin Pendents and Trinkets

I would like to take you back to the late 60's early 70's.  Many of you will not remember that time since you may not have yet joined us but in those days we were able to get small trinket's out of vending machines similar to the vintage ones you see here.  (Those will be fish tanks when I get done with them)

I remember when I was young in those days I was lucky enough to get a very simple, inexpensive item from one of these machines and what I received I have held onto since that day.

It was a simple hand painted piece of porcelain with pansies on them.  It is mounted in a very inexpensive expandable ring.  One that I am sure was only pennies on the dollar back then, but one that has withstood the test of time and in the process I believe my love for craft was born that day.  I have loved that ring for a half a century.  It exemplifies my soul and comforts me with color and beauty.  
Today I loaded some of my simple resin pendents for a similar reason.  I wanted to remind everyone that we need to remember those little trinkets that often remind us of simpler times and we can make simple sweet items without spending a lot of time or in many cases use these as an outlet for our remaining resin, or other such unclaimed items.  The items I can offer less than $10 USD shipped, fit that bill.
Those of us who like making handmade are all gifted in many ways, yet we need to remember those who are not so, or they may not have the access to the supplies or the time and energy to put into it. And I would also like to hope that maybe one of my handmade items might just make it into the next century as well.
Happy Spring!
Regards,
Katrina


VindemiaConventu
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Happy St Patrick's Day! Earrings

St. Patrick's Day is upon us!  It is a time to reflect on the green of spring and the freshness that comes with this time of year.  It represents a lot more to those of the Irish ilk including the "wearing of the green".
You can imagine my reaction when my wonderful daughter asked me to make her something for St. Patrick's Day.  I certainly hope she likes them.
I don't know about you all, but I can smell the corned beef and cabbage already!

Fourth Time Charm

How many of you have finished a piece and simply not been happy with it?
That was the case for this pair of earrings I made recently.  I was somewhat happy but after much thought and a week of deliberations in my mind I simply decided to go back, tear them apart and really look at it again.  I am happy to say that I feel much better about the way they came out.
They actually developed more when I was working with them than what I had imagined in my mind, yet I like the way they came out.
The first set was simply not flexible enough for my tastes.  I felt that it was too ridged.  So my thoughts went to what I could use to make them much more free flowing.  I ended up trying waxed thread.  While that gave me more color and flexibility I was still not really thrilled with the outcome.  So I tried with another option, that ultimately failed.  Third try is a charm they say.  Wrong.
It ended up being my fourth try that worked for me.  And the end result developed into a free form that I can honestly say works for me.
I hope you like them.
Etsy Listing

Rustic Imperfections Jewelry Line 2015

Good Day to all that happen to venture over here to visit .
I have good news!  I have come to a decision on this years line and most of the details are now down. "Rustic Imperfections"   I am very excited about it and I promise you will all see it shortly.  The colors are grand! and I hope it helps you learn along the way.
If you want a sneak peak you can venture over to my Etsy shop and take a look.  Just a small sampling of what is to come from now until the winter season.  Each season will bring new pieces and colors that represent that seasons highs.  I hope you like :)

This has been quite the experience and I have a lot of teachers out there in the crafting community. They teach me each and every day simply by answering posts.  Most don't even know I am there. :) 

I do however want to acknowledge some who have parted with info that has helped me develop this line.  There is a small sampling above which some of you may recognize the technique as "Rustic Beads_ from Ginger Davis Allmon atThe Blue Bottle Tree.  Ginger is an angel.  The details on all her tutorials are precise and wonderful. If you get the chance stop over and take a look.  She has many other tutorials that you may be interested in.

I also want to thank Carmi Cimicata over at I Love Resin who over the years has helped me expand my knowledge with working in resin in many forms liquid and clay.  We have enjoyed working in resin on a few projects.  

The knowledge that I have absorbed like a sponge from these ladies and many others is the sole reason that I was able to put this line down.  I just wish I had come to some conclusions a couple of months ago.  Ahh... but its that time management thing with me again. :)

Time Management Issues vs What I Really Want to Be Doing

Day one of 2015 and what is a better time than now to complain about time management skills.  We all get wrapped up in the day to day issues that need addressed so when do we actually get time to do what we want to do?

This is what I want to do:

Instead it appears that I need to fix a recipe in ifttt, make banana bread, and clean a stove top off so we can put on a replacement glass top (oops:0 damn those $2 frozen lean cuisine's, who knew).
Goal for today is to at least get one coat of paint on those beads.

What do you WANT to be doing? What are you doing instead?

Resolutions Old and New

As we move into 2015 I reflect on previous years resolutions and realize that while I have grown in many areas personally I have also fallen short on some of my goals.  I have come to realize that the reason I failed on those goals was very simply, because I set goals too high to reach.  I am determined not make that mistake this year.  Resolutions need to be about accomplishing growth without overreaching or disappointing. With that in mind I will make it easy on myself this year and let you in on two of my resolutions.

Personal - Work on improving my physical and mental well being by continuing my exploration and development in better eating and sleeping habits.
Professional - Improving on better time management which hopefully will also help me with a less hectic personal life as well.
It's a win win.  Hopefully.

What is your most important resolution for 2015?