Queen Of Broken Bling

Queen of Broken Bling or maybe the Crusty Queen.

Love her face! It's clay and I purchased it years ago from a shop on Etsy, but it's been so long ago that I don't remember the shop or the artist. I had deleted the account that I was using, so I have no way of looking it up. So sorry…..I'd like to give credit to the artist.

Her body is a rusty old funnel covered in bits of news paper from the 1920's and modpodge.

She's adorned with tattered old lace, broken bits of costume jewelry and vintage buttons.

You can see that a lot of the rhinestones are missing thus the name "Broken Bling".

Oh, almost forgot…

Her crown is an old glass drawer pull.

Even broken can be beautiful.

Have a beautiful day!

Karen

A New Shop Opening

Hi everyone!

I would like to announce the opening of my NEW SHOP.

Shabby Laundry Dry Goods

SHABBY CHIC, PRAIRIE, COTTAGE, and RUSTIC wares for you and your home.

I am planning to have it up and running November 1, 2014.

The shop will be filled with lots of vintage goodies and some handmade items as well.

Some of the things you will find there are vintage clothing like these:

Some for wearing and some for display.

Decorative Items

 

 Useful Items

 

 Crafting Supplies

 Handmade Gifts

These are just a few examples of the many handpicked and handmade items that will be available.

My goal is to keep the shop filled with interesting, reclaimed, vintage items at affordable prices.

I want folks to be able to have that Shabby Chic or Prairie Style look that you see in all the magazines, without having to spend a ton of money. 

Items listed in the shop will be featured HERE at

www.shabbylaundrydrygoods.blogspot.com, where you can view more photos of the items you find interesting and also gather ideas for using them in your own home.

A huge THANK YOU to all of my readers and followers.

Please take a moment to stop in at www.shabbylaundrydrygoods.blogspot.com and follow along for a chance to win a pretty lavender sachet. A winner will be chosen on November 1st. I hope you will join me there.

May you find peace in your day!

Karen Ann

It Is What It Is

I've decided that I'm not really interested in the acceptable standards of spinning and other fiber arts.

I love what I'm doing and how it makes me feel, so I don't really care if it's right or wrong.

It just is and I love it.

 When I first started spinning I fought the spinning wheel in an effort to make "perfect yarn".

The more I spin, the less I fight it, and now have developed a flow that keeps me in a state of ZEN.

 This little basket or "hat for Jack", is a combo of spun wool and textile strips.

I managed to get a balanced twist, but the overall look is a bit uneven.

Jack hates the camera, so his photo is blurred since he was on his way out of the room as I took it.

 A quick peek at my finished scarf that I was knitting.

It's actually prettier in person.

The color combination and texture of the fiber is quite lovely.

I'm off to card some wool.

Have a great day!

karen

Vintage Crewel Samples

I've never tried crewel myself, but like the pretty patterns in these vintage samples. I purchased a small bundle of them from a little fabric shop that had recently gone out of business. 

 They were extremely dusty and even had some water damage on some of the edges,

 but I see potential in these squares of stitching.

 I cut them into pieces and soaked and washed them in lots of warm soapy water.

 I have a project in mind for these, so they'll be showing up here again in a different form.
Reborn into something brand new and one of a kind.
Just a little "Random Salvage".

karen

Simple and Bright

Some time ago I piddled around, covering little empty wooden spools with some reclaimed scraps of wool felt and random stitches. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, so I put them in a jar and they ended up on a shelf in my studio.

 I came across them recently while doing a little organizing.

 I paired them up with some large resin beads, some small bone beads and a couple of square ceramic ones. They are simply strung on a piece of turquoise leather.

I also came across some old memory wire, left over from my very first jewelry making attempt.

(I've been trying to use up some of the supplies that I've hoarded over the years.)

I wrapped sections of the memory wire with strips of old hippy textiles, also from my hoard of supplies.

I may add some beads and charms to these, but I kinda like them just the way they are, so maybe not.

Anyway, I hope I inspire someone out there in blog land to use up some of their hoarded supplies.

Have a great weekend!

karen

Primitive Pumpkins

When I'm out browsing the flea markets I always come across a booth or two with handmade primitive folk art.  I love the stuff, but rarely purchase it because I know I can make similar items myself.

Last weekend was no exception.

I came across a wonderful booth all decked out in Primitive Fall Folk Art.

This time I actually got busy and made myself a few simple pieces.

I made these pumpkins from an old chenille bedspread and stained them with a mixture of strong instant coffee and vanilla nut flavoring. They have a wonderful fragrance just like the gift shop candles that smell of gourmet coffee.

 The basket was a flea market find that I got for just $2 and the leaves and sunflowers are from my garden.

 These were made from an old pillow case and a tattered doily.

 I just love Fall.

Don't you?

karen

Jar Of Hearts

Last year at this time I started a Jar Of Hearts.

They were tattered hearts adorned with bits of lace and blue silk from an antique dress.

This years tattered hearts were also made from bits and pieces.

An old sweater, torn doilies and scraps of this and that.

The jar is only half full, so there is lots more room for tattered hearts.

I'll be adding to the jar until Valentine's Day.

You can never have too many hearts.

karen

Royal Birds

Hi all!

This is the 2nd project for this weekend using antique grain sacks.

The first was my experiment with a jewelry dress form, as seen in my last post.

I also made these birds from a grain sack.

The crowns and beaks I made from polymer clay.

I've been working on a few other projects as well using reclaimed fabric.

I'll be posting those at a later time.

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya soon.

Karen Ann



Recycled Doily Sachets

If you ask me, nothing smells better than lavender.

I always keep a supply of French lavender buds on hand for making sachets.

These were all made from vintage linen doilies.

I picked these vintage doilies up at an estate sale for 3/$1.00.

These are about 10 and 12 inches in diameter and hold quite a lot of lavender.

These small sachets were made from thrifted doilies.

They are about 3 inches in diameter.

Each sachet holds one tablespoon of lavender.

I purchased all of them for just 29 cents.

They are adorned with tiny vintage flowers.

Jack likes the smell of lavender too, and fresh bed linens, and hamburgers and bacon and......

What's your favorite fragrance?

Karen



Primitive Valentines

Hi.

I'm taking a short break from the jewelry making as I wait for some supplies to arrive.

I don't usually do much decorating for Valentine's Day, but as I rummaged through my craft supplies, I figured, what the heck, I have all of this STUFF,  I may as well do something with it. So, my next few posts will be devoted to handmade valentines.

This is my rusty heart tart tin hanging thingy.

It consists of three rusty heart tarts, a piece of driftwood, some jute twine, antique tattered lace, a couple of white stones, vintage dictionary text, and some Martha Stewart clear glue.

I drilled holes in the ends of the driftwood and the tops of the hearts.

Then I glued the lace and text to the hearts and hung them from the driftwood with the twine.

I like the way the rust was soaked up by the glue and is peeking through the lace and paper.

It gives it a real primitive look.

The stones add some interest to the overall look.

It's been a while since I've played with ink and stamps.

In the past I had used coffee or tea to give my tags an aged look, but this one was soaked in vanilla and smells wonderful.

You can't get more primitive than this.

Valentine's Day is less than two weeks away, so I will be posting more ideas on making valentines using recycled odds and ends.

I hope I've inspired you to make some decorations of your own.

See you soon.

Karen