Welcome White Wednesday

Hello, it is good to be back on White Wednesday hosted by Kathleen at Faded Charm. As always visit Faded Charm for wonderful white posts by so many talented bloggers.

I have started bringing Spring into the shop and with that Easter. It is starting to feel a little like spring here in Chicago but March is more of a "Hope For" month. Easter comes early this year, so I have been working on it since I have come back from Az.

Paper bird collages

Old buttons

Painted cross on linen fabric with old lace trim

Old tin ceiling angel

I am coming up on my 300th follower here soon, so that means a GiveAway!  I haven't decided on what to give yet, any suggestions?

Well that's it for this Wednesday, thank you to Kathleen for hosting yet another Wonderful White Wednesday.

I hope all of you will have a fabulous week and many blessings to you. Don't forget I love hearing from you...

Rebecca

Leaving Arizona...with a pocket full of gems

Leaving Arizona... with a pocket full of gems and good times to remember. The evening sky put on such a spectacular show that it seemed to beckon us to return again soon.

We go every Feburary to escape the gray Chicago winter for just a short time but it helps rejuvinate that last leg of winter. Now, since my sister and her husband moved there it makes it quite easy and a lot more fun.

It also gives me a chance to shop for beautiful stones for my jewelry. I happen to love turquoise and bought some wonderful Kingman and Bisbee turquoise this trip, not to mention all the other beautiful precious gems I found.

My sister wanted to learn to make jewelry this trip, so I brought my tools and we shopped for stones and findings. She is a natural, as she makes stained glass ornaments and solders beautifully.  She will be selling her beautiful jewelry in her new shop in Black Canyon City called Pleasantries.

Bisbee turquoise from the Sleeping Beauty mine and other treasures

Beautiful stones to warm my heart

I love Pyrite or fools gold and I use it a lot in my jewelry, it has a nice weight to it and comes in so many different forms.

Here is some of my handy work while in Arizona

A nice pile of jewelry to put in the shop and a lot more to make. Looks like I will be busy for awhile now that I am well rested and ready to go to work...

Our next Vintage Living Workshop on Junk Jewelry will be

March 19 at 6 pm

Thanks so much for stopping by and I love hearing from you!

Blessings

Rebecca

Enjoying the Sun...

Hello from Sunny Arizona!

We have been here for almost two weeks now and it is time to be thinking of going home.  We have had such a nice time with my sister Cindy and her husband Rudy. They live north of Phoenix and this is the view I see as I sit on their patio.

Soaking up the sun... Chicago has been gray this winter (as most of the winters are) and I have a hard time without the sun, maybe a lack of vitimin D (which I take) but it still seems to affect my energy level, so to sit here in the sun just makes me happy.

I find the desert to be beautiful and especially this year with all the rain the West has had, it is green and lush.

My mother also came from Minnesota and enjoyed staying here for a couple of weeks. I am so grateful to have these two lovely women in my life... my mother and sister. Each day as the guys head out for the golf course, we say "well what shall we do today"... and the answer is usually the same, we are content to stay here and visit.

We have just sat and talked... caught up on life in gereral. We have solved world problems, we have talked ailments, we have shared what the Lord has been doing in our lives, discussed and quoted scripture, laughed and walked down memory lane. It is what we as women do best, share our lives and hearts with each other. There is nothing in life better than that...

My sister in her new consignment shop, Pleasantries.

Oh ya, and we did a little (very little) three wheelin'

Even the rain is beautiful here with a double rainbow...

My husband will miss the sun and his reading time...

We leave for home tomorrow... it has been a renewing of the soul and I am ready to get busy with life again. The shop is waiting for a good spring cleaning and I am ready for spring!

Blessings
Rebecca

Bottle Art

Hello...

A couple of weeks ago I posted some treasures I found at an antique show my son and I went to and among those treasures were some old bottles.  I had promised that I would post them and show you how I decorated the bottles. So here are a few that I have finished. I have used soldering and encaustic wax method and added old buttons and charms.

On this first bottle the stopper is an old drawer pull and on the front of the bottle I incorporated my fathers picture. The bottom of the bottle is wrapped with fine screening and lace is on the top. 

 

I soldered book chain around the bottle. And inside a rolled up paper with Psalms 91 is hanging form a chain.

This bottle is soldered only, no wax was used.

This was an old show buckle

The top of this bottle is an old lamp finial

The bottles are great to work with and are a lot of fun... I will be making more and putting them up on my etsy.

 If you have any questions and would like to make some for yourself please feel free to email me - there is a wonderful artist Johanna Pierotti, her tutorial at Moss Hill Studios on bottle art, dolls and collage is fabulous.

I am traveling for a couple of weeks but have my trusty new laptop with me so I should be good to go.

Sunny Arizona here I come!

Blessings to all of you...

Rebecca