Tea Light Lotus

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Happy New Year!!!

I wanted to share this beautiful item made by a fellow yogini.  She makes these beautiful lotus blossoms out of the leftover metal from tea lights.

She attaches the petals to a used cat food can lid, which gives it a hook for hanging.

I love it!!!!

X-mas Wreath, b-day present

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My super reuse crafty friend, Keri, made me this amazing wreath for my b-day.  She gave it to me a couple of days ago because she would be out of town for my b-day.  I love it!!

She told me she found all of the materials at the Goodwill Outlet, aka the bins, or in free boxes.  Pretty amazing.
She found this super cool record at the bins, which was the inspiration for the bright colors, which I totally love!

She told me she found the light bulbs in a free box and the wreath's and flotsam and jetsam at the bins.

Happy Holidays, everyone!!!!

Ornament Cards

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I am a huge fan of ornament cards.  That way they get used every year either as decoration on the tree or just around the home.  I'm also constantly looking for ways to reuse used cards.  This year I decided to combine the two ideas and make ornament cards out of used cards.  It was pretty simple really.

I just cut random strips of the used cards.  I went to SCRAP where I purchased said cards, plus I found these super cool used file folders that were brightly colored and had a grid design on the inside.
I grabbed one of my seal rings used on canning jars as a template and I traced a circle on the outside of the file folder.  I traced the circle along the crease of the folder and let the ring hang off the edge a bit so that it created a folded card when I cut it out.

I then decoupaged the colorful card strips to the front.  After the ornament was dry, I trimmed the strips to match the circle shape of the ornament.
I then punched a hole through both layers of the card with a hole punch and attached a ribbon.  I made sure the ribbon was long enough so that I could open the card to write my holiday greetings and wishes to my friends and family.
Enjoy~

Urban Source, Vancouver, BC

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I just got back from a little backpacking trip to Canada.  I went via Amtrak to Seattle and then took various ferries, one from Seattle to Victoria and then one from Victoria to Vancouver.
Before setting off to Canada I did some research on things to do in Vancouver.  I checked to see if they had a reuse store kind of like SCRAP and low and behold they did.

The store is called Urban Source and it's located at about 14th and Main Street.  Main Street, by the way, between Broadway and 30th is a really fun street with interesting shops, restaurants and coffee shops.  I highly recommend it.

Urban Source is a cool little store.  It's about 2/3 reused materials and 1/3 craft materials kind of like what you would find at Collage.  It's about 1/5 the size of SCRAP and they get all of their materials from local businesses.  Since they have limited space they are very choosy about what they take and I noticed everything they had was very appealing.  The walls and ceiling are covered in reused projects and I really liked the aesthetics of the store.

I did purchase a couple of items.  They had clean dropper bottles like what you would use for tinctures a quarter a piece.  I couldn't resist getting a couple.  They also had rolls of laminating plastic.  They showed how you could use it with an iron.  I thought I would try it as a final layer on my fused plastic wallets as a protector of the ink on the outside layer of plastic.  This way they will keep their original color if all goes well.
If you are ever in Vancouver, I definitely recommend a peek.
Here's a link to their store:  http://www.urbansource.bc.ca/

Framed Wallpaper

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I hope everyone had a delightful Thanksgiving spending time with loved ones and sharing delicious food.  I hosted Thanksgiving this year and it turned out great.  My brother picked up my mom and brought my two adorable nephews and stayed at my house.  Brandon's mom and sister flew out from Chicago and stayed in a vacation rental just three blocks away on Hawthorne.

Brandon and myself really went crazy with the cleaning and getting ready the week before and we managed to finish a project that I'd been meaning to do for 6 months; nothing like guests coming to motivate you.

I have always had a love for interesting wallpaper and I didn't realize until we finished up this project how many pieces of framed wallpaper I actually have.

It all started with this piece.  I found this interesting wallpaper sample at SCRAP when I first started volunteering about 6 years ago.  I found the frame in a free box, of course.

 

The wallpaper is called Les Caprices Orientaux.

The next piece I did was I framed a piece of beautiful blue wallpaper inside a wall clock that no longer worked from the '60s or '70s that I happened upon at the bins.

And finally the project that Brandon and myself did a few days before Thanksgiving; I absolutely love velvet wallpaper.  You can just imagine how excited I was when I came across a book of about 8 velvet wallpaper samples at an estate sale for a super cheap price.  You may have seen in other pictures that I have a collection of gold frames.  I think I have found all of them at the bins or perhaps a free box or two.  Yes, you guessed it, I framed the velvet wallpaper with gold frames.  Here's the outcome:

 

I received a lot of compliments from my family and friends over the velvet wallpaper, so I guess it's a success.

Happy Holidays ~

Dia de los Muertos

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This year I didn't dress up for Halloween.  I stayed home and handed out candy to lovely little trick or treaters.
I did go to a post Halloween party last night and so myself and a couple of my friends decided it would be more appropriate to go as Dia de los Muertos calaveras.  This was a first Halloween costume for me and it has found a place in my top 3 favs and I might even go as a calavera next year.
We all did our own face paint and got our inspiration from Google images, but it's amazing how we all look completely different.

Enjoy ~

Final Look of Art Car in 2012

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Well, since the rain is upon us, I think I will put the art car endeavor to rest until the sun comes out.  I have collected quite a number of mardi gras beads and I can't wait to add them to the hood, but it just can't be done unless I have two days of no rain, which may happen at some point this Autumn and winter.  I will keep you posted.

Here is the final outcome for 2012:

Don't worry, this project isn't over!

Solid Gold Shoe Planter

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I've always wanted to make a succulent planter out of old shoes.  I really wanted to make one as a birthday gift for my sister-in-law.  It turned out the universe answered my call and I found a pair of shoes way past their prime in a free box.

I thought what do these shoes need?  Gold spray paint, of course.  I sprayed them up and planted a few chicks and hens in the shoes and ta-da a solid gold birthday gift.
Enjoy~

Frolicking Fused Plastic Fascinators

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So you may have seen my original, smaller, more subdued plastic fascinators, but here's the latest, new and improved version.

I decided it was time to go larger and more colorful; make a statement.  So here you have it.  If you would like to own one of these Beautiful Creations, please stop by SCRAP's ReBoutique in Portland, Oregon.  That's where I sell most of my creations.
Hearts,
Bece

And the Beads Just Keep on Coming

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Here's the latest bead work on my art car.

Enjoy~

Overall Winner of Tour de Faux

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In a previous post, I mentioned I would be attending the first ever Tour de Faux this past Sunday.
And after some serious deliberation it was determined that I was the overall winner of the art bike parade!
Here are some pics:

These photos were taken by Tom Richardson, the curator and janitor of Tour de Faux.

Here are some photos I took of the trophy in my home.  I love this trophy by the way.