Everything's coming up Totems this Spring....

....I think I have "Totem Fever"!! LOL
I have finished up a few more Totems to share!! Enjoy!!

Glass Garden Totems and more....

I have been working all weekend on making some new Glass Garden Totems and Garden ART. I have 13 totems finished, or nearly finished and I made 2 bird feeders and 2 mushrooms. Thought I would share a few of them here today and the rest later. All totems are made from glass purchased at yard sales and thrift stores or given to me. Hope you enjoy them!! :)

Close up of one of my faves.....love the gold rimmed bowl!!

Mushrooms

Bird Feeder - I made 2 of these.

Signs of Spring in the Deep South

Last year, our neighborhood lost all of our Magnolia blossoms due to a freeze. It was awful....the whole tree turned black!! Ugh!! This year, we have been rewarded with an above average showing.....it is just spectacular, really. Here are a few pics of 2 of my fave trees.

Alice in Wonderland charm swap

I was so excited to find this wonderful Alice in Wonderland charm swap. I was the lucky last participant to get signed up. So, I played with a few ideas in my rambling mind and decided on my plan. I had these awesome Alice graphics from one of my fave Etsy suppliers. Because I do not have a Laser Printer (yet!!) I needed a way to print them so that they were stable. I found some printable shrink plastic and went to town. The first graphics I chose are great Alice images in brown jug/bottles. Yep, printed them, cut them out, punched the holes and shrunk them. They were darker than I would have liked but otherwise looked awesome. Well, not so much really. The little handles kept breaking off. The glaze I put on top made them blurry. They were a total bust!! Ugh!! Okay, try #2. Printed some different Alice graphics on the shrink plastic. These were lighter from the beginning. I used a Paper Shapers Oval punch for them. I added some beads and a wire wrapped loop to finished them off. These I am happy with. To package them up in a fun way I used mini playing cards and tiny blue bows. I cannot wait to see the 24 charms I will be getting back. I will definitely be making myself a unique piece of jewelery with these!! Anywho....just sharing!!

Easter Egg and Bunny Garland

So, I just rec'd back my part of an Easter Rabbit swap. We each made 6 bunnies that spelled out "EASTER" and they were swapped back out to us. I was debating on how to best make them into a banner/garland. I loved the bunnies, but they needed "something." So, I set them aside for awhile. I was searching through the studio and found my Easter Eggs from last year's banner swap. They didn't come in time to use for Easter then, but I figured they should see the light of day this year. So I grabbed 3 skeins of soft, floofy feathery yarn in lavender, pink and multi-pastels. I crocheted a simple rope with the three. I used mini clothes pins and strung the eggs AND the bunnies together to make one cool Easter Garland. Ta-Da......it's fun and lovely all at the same time!! :::smiles:::

A shopping we will go....

A shopping we will go. High-Ho the Derrio.....a shopping we will go. LOOKIE what I found the last few days. Aren't these blue birds and gold finches the cutest. I have 2 different bird cages I will be putting them in, along with 2 nests I found at a yard sale and hopefully some eggs and maybe plants.

Okay, NOW that you think they are sooo cute....betcha can't guess where I found them?? Well, did you guess Dollar Tree?? Nope....didn't think so. Gosh I LOVE that store!!

These little lovlies will be used as toppers for my Garden Totems.....and yes, they too were from Dollar Tree. I can only get them once a year so I have to stock up!! :)

One of my 2 fave purchases from Michael's: black velvet jewelry stands. I bought both the necklace and bracelet version. I think it will really help with displaying, photographing and selling my jewelry.

This is what happens when Shelly goes glass shopping.....holy cow. we went to the flea market, a funky antique/junk store, a thrift store (Which had half price glass today), 2 yard sales, an estate sale, and another junk store. Yes, I bought glass at ALL of them. I needed to resupply so I could make more totems. Well, let's just say I should be able to make a "few" more now. The pics are from today only. It took me 20 minutes to unwrap them all. I still have to de-label them and wash them LOL Good thing we seldom use our dining room table. But, we guesstimate we spent less than $50 dollars and we acquired approximately 90 pieces of glass. I was thrilled!!

The cool news is DH had met a lady who owns a nifty boutique/junk store in a town not too far from here. She was interested in us making some ART for her shop on consignment. :::smiles::: We are making Totems and garden ART but she also REALLY wants funky and repurposed jewelry (like my bamboo tiles and scrabble tiles). So, you know what I'll be doing now! I am excited!!

Yes, I am a Yo-Yo....

....well yo-yo maker that is. If you have never seen the wonderful yo-yo makers made by Clover you simply MUST check them out. They come in circles, hearts, flowers, butterflies, shamrocks and my new fave that I intend to add to my collection: an oval. They make creating yo-yo's easy peasy!!

Anywho.....I have found some new patterns to make. I found this one online that makes the cutest monkey ever? Is he not adorable? I bought this awesome purple fabric for him for an friend's upcoming baby.

The second one, ironically has a monkey but no where near as cute as my other one. But the lion and hippo and super cute, don't you think?? I especially LOVE the hippo.

The 3rd pattern is a very cool collection of brooch, belt, necklace, headband, scarf and bags. Pretty funky!! Oh, and by the way....WHEN did sewing patterns become $15.95?? Holy Cow Batman!! I nearly passed out!! Good thing one was on sale for $1.99 and I had a coupon for the other. I nearly needed oxygen....geesh!!

I have one other pattern on my wish list by Indygo Junction for these pincushions......just LOVE them. I think they might be great for Mother's Day gifts.

I LOVE making yo-yo's because it is portable and quick. It is very travel and "waiting" friendly.

On my bucket list is making a yo-yo quilt.....but hey.....that's not starting today.

That's my yo-yo story and I'm sticking to it!! :)