michelle my belle

handmade ornament galore!

not totally sure if it was the smartest thing ever,
committing to an ornament swap that is.
but, i just couldn't help myself.

after being at Janne's and messing with DAS
i decided that this was going to be my medium for this year's ornament.
here is the one i did last year.

first i made little armatures out of tin foil.
i probably didn't have to do the arms and legs but it made it easier in the long run.
making the armatures also cuts down on the amount of DAS you have to use and makes the drying time much quicker.

i used my hands and a sharpened pencil for the shaping.
i think some simple carving tools would have made things go quicker and easier.
next time!

they'll naturally air dry in a few days.
i was running out of time so on the second day i popped them in the oven with the door open at 200º for about 20 minutes.

i squeal with delight at how each one inherently ends up with their own personalities.

sorry i didn't take more pictures of the process. :(
for paint i used acrylic's. slightly watered down and layered.
instead of glitter i opted for a bit of Golden's Interference Gold which gave them a nice subdued shimmer.

i've always hated having to use shiny metal in my art.
a few years ago i learned about this awesome product that takes that away.
just make sure that your metal items aren't coated or galvanized and it'll work beautifully.

my mom made the cute hangers for me.
probably cause it was midnight and she wanted me out of her house! ha!

using a hot glue gun i warmed their necks with felt scarves.

and if you're making ornaments, don't forget to put your name and the year.
the recipients will appreciate it as forgetfulness sets in over the years.
(speaking from experience!)

all wrapped and ready to send out in cute gnome bags from ikea.

i'll post the other ornaments from the exchange as soon as i receive the rest of them.

xoxo,
michelle

handmade ornaments

today was yet another long day.
woke up. which was feat in and of itself.
coffee and a few emails.
ran 7 miles with my friend stacey.
checked out my local antiquey junk shop. got a killer deal on a pot rack!
took my employees to a new restaurant in town for rachel's birthday.
picked up my daughter from school. chatted with her and her friend.
studio paperwork and more emails.
grabbed some paints and DAS (which fyi they have at Michaels) from the studio and brought it down to the house.(it's cold and lonely up there!)
more emails and too much thinking.
really wanted to veg and watch tv but just can't justify it.
a little blog hopping for distraction.
finally at about 10:00pm i became creative.
and these are the little varmints that evolved.
edited and uploaded some pictures to costco.
now off to bed.
and hopefully i'll be applying paint to these guys in the morning.
maybe even begin a little christmas decorating.

Playing with new Art Supplies

while i was in Norway a few weeks ago, Janne and i messed around with some sculpty material called DAS. it was SO FUN. and easy to work with.

initially we made a very rough shape with tin foil.
then we just worked the clay over and worked it with our hands and a few simple tools.
let it dry 24 hours.
and then painted with mostly watered down acrylics.
slowly layering the colors.

this little guy was supposed to be a mouse but i'm thinking he looks a bit more like a bear.

i don't know if you can tell, we added a high gloss finish just to the eyes.
i think it made them come alive.


this was janne's piece.
here is another darling piece she created after i left.

it was refreshing to step out of my "normal" way of creating.
honestly i never would have thought that i was capable of sculpting.
it's a lot easier than it looks.
you should try it :)

Pretty Acorn Cupcakes

I've been pondering what to do for my fall cupcakes this year.
These have been my creations for the past two years here and here.

Katy let me borrow her much treasured Hello, Cupcake book for some inspiration.
My girls and I decided to go with the acorns, they were so cute!

The book offered a great tutorial and as it turned out, not difficult at all.
Just heat 4-5 caramels in the microwave for 5 or so seconds.
While warm and pliable, form into the shape of an egg.

Dip the tops in melted chocolate and then into the jimmies.

SO CUTE! But I can't take credit. My kids made all of them.

Then we took turns adding dollops of
White Cake Mix with blue food coloring and Devils Food Cake Mix.
I'm sure there was a much cleaner way to do this!

Look how pretty they turned out!
Can tell by my daughters blue teeth that she's been licking the finished utensils?

White Frosting with more blue food coloring.
Spooned into a large Ziploc bag with the tip cut off.

Makes for easy clean up that way!

A last detail of Chocolate Frosting added to the acorn tops to act as stems.

Don't you think things taste better when they're colorful!

Just a Little Junkin'

A few weeks ago my mom and I hit the Vintage Gathering Flea Market
right down the road.

And, the Barn House Vintage Sale a few miles past that.

I'm so excited to learn that we have this kind of stuff going on in our area.

If you're local and you like this sort of stuff,
there's another one Oct. 3rd being put on by the Uncovered Ruby here in Battle Ground.

I've started a little project inspired by these sales and this that my mom just made.
We'll see if I can get it done before the weekend is over.

Take a peek...
at this darling illustrator from Italy.
a scrumptious recipe that I'm pining to try.
a blog that is chocked full of visual delights and
my talented friend that I'll be seeing soon. yay!

Colorful Cake

My youngest celebrated her 9th birthday on July 4th. I was, once again, inspired by Meg's blog for the cake. She did this marvelous rainbow cake. After searching Google images Jess decided to go for the less "structured" approach. 

So fun and SO YUM!

We added the Trix cereal for a bit of extra sugar color.

What a can of Spray Paint can do.

A display at Macy's I found inspiring. Just think about all those garage sale items that are just begging for a coat of high gloss paint to put them out of their ugly misery.

Mother's Day Craftiness!

On this Mother's Day we decided to spend time doing what it is that we LOVE to do. Something other than eating and spending money! My aunt Cindy and cuzzin' Monica joined in the fun. Jess finished her painting that she gave me for mother's day, Alexis painted on her shoes, Monica painted in her journal and Cindy did some sewing and made some cute little paper flowers.

My very talented mom made this darling doll! I forgot to take a picture of the finished piece but she should have it posted on her blog within a few days. 

I'm so thankful to have a mom that has constantly encouraged me to draw, be creative, never give up, work hard and have the mindset that NOTHING is impossible. I love you momma!

After seeing my mom's stuffy, I just had to do one. Here is the beginnings. I can't show you the finished piece cause it's a gift and I don't want to spoil it before it arrives to the lucky recipient! It turned out so cute, I'm dying to show you!!!

A Little Cereal Box Fix

Last year at Artfest I created this piece in Judy Wise's workshop. 

I had painted it on 1/2" board. Maybe it's just me but I feel like if the board is too thin it needs a frame?

On a whim to get it hung I grabbed some cereal boxes and cut them into strips and began tacking them into the edge of the board. If I were to do it over I would probably paint the strips first and then add some glue around the edge before tacking it on.

You can see here I just used short black tacks.

Then I painted it with a copper metallic paint.

After it dried I took a little sand paper to roughen it up and give it a slight worn look.

And, wala. All done in about 20 minutes and a few pennies!

Coffee Filter Garland

I have a dining room that is desperate for some decoration. I wanted to spruce it up but I wanted to do it cheap! I remembered seeing this coffee filter garland that Pam Garrison did on her blog a while back. What could be cheaper than a bag of coffee filters and some cording? Really!

I went with one large bag of white coffee filters.

I decided quickly that just leaving them white looked kind of cheap and it looked like, well... coffee filters! So, I took some acrylic paint and water and proceeded to dye them ALL. I did some in a blue color and most I did in a warm orangy brown.

At this point I'm beginning to think I'm CRAZY. And, so are some of the other people coming in and out of my studio! After dying them all, I separated them and kind of scrunched them up to dry.

After drying I would make small piles about 20 filters at a time and shove a pencil thru the middle to punch a hole. I used macrame cord with the end taped up for easy threading. Adding the blue colored filters randomly through out. 

After I had the entire thing strung I took it down to my dining room and began hanging and tying it off into clumps. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out. It was fun and inexpensive.

The whole project probably took me about 3 hours.