This is a wooden box purse that I made for my mother embellished with buttons, charms, vintage labels and fibers with a photo of her and her sister.   They are very close and I thought this would make a nice keepsake from when they last visited.  The rose I did in a class on oil painting....not my favorite medium to paint in but looks great on the box.  Mom displays it on the shelf in her quilting room.

Here is my latest bottle creation, it will be listed on my etsy site.  This one leans more primitive then the other bottles and I have plans to do several more along this vintage line.  There is an antique family photo taken on the front porch of an old farmhouse, the sides are covered with paper resembling vintage measuring sticks, dangling from the button topper is vintage chains with rusted charms and glass beads.

Here is my newest spring bottle design, complete with all the icons of springtime...birds, snails, eggs and of course bling in the form of a vintage bauble.  This bottle will be featured on my etsy site.  The snail is made from sculpy, painted and then higlighted with glitter and inserted into a real shell then glued into the bottle.

It supposed to be spring  just around the corner, yet we are still having snow, then rain, then snow and rain, then just snow.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 50's again...what a winter!!!  My crocuses and daffodils I think have given up...

Am working on new bottle designs and collaged book boxes...will get them posted as soon as they are completed. 

Still trying to find bargains for vintage jewelry on ebay...no luck so far...it is all going for big bucks and in todays paper I see why...big  jewelry chains are now selling "authentic vintage/victorian jewelry"...and I'm sure they have big buck price tags too after seeing what the broken stuff is going for.  So will have to hit the flea markets when it warms up a bit...and the snows stop.

Also working on a new fairy watercolor...will post some teasers in the next few days...may post this one as a 'works in progress'....
till later...

"Magnifique"  book box.  The box is covered with a vintage themed paper to which I painted the 3-dimensional hydrangea.  The vintage photo is mounted ontop of a piece of scrap quilt from my mothers sewing stash  and I used antique jewelry findings and buttons for a little bit of bling.  The edges of the book are painted with gold leaf.

Now that it seems the snows are slowly starting to melt...slowly...the robins have returned and the sparrows are cleaning out the birdhouses. My backyard birdfeeding area is no longer incased in a wall of ice that had formed from the peaks of the pergola above the back gate. It was beautiful during the winter but I am tired of the below zero temperatures...this certainly has been a winter.
 It's time to start working on new bottle designs, lots of spring colors and textures, flowers, birds, and, of course...bling!  With spring brings gardening, cleaning up after the muck of winter giving way to the crocus's and wood hyacinths, then the tulips and daffodils and the return of my bluebirds to the back acres.   It will be interesting to see if my Bewick wrens will nest in the house hanging by the back door again this year....they are such chatterboxes!!!  And my pair of crested nuthatches....'yank yank yanking' up and down the trees.  I am sooo ready for spring and to beable to sit outside and paint on the patio!

Old vintage watering cans, acrylic on wallpaper...yes, the background in wainscot wallpaper!!!  It's just like painting on canvas...infact, good quality wallpaper is a canvas paper.

I have spent exausting hours on ebay trying to win bids on vintage jewelry.....broken lots that are going for hundreds of dollars!!!  I am shocked.  I have this marvelous idea in my head for a couple of designs and I want to use vintage jewelry parts in them and I am being stonewalled by the costs!  Will have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit and hit the flea markets and antique shops.

Here is another one of my paintings, acrylics on canvas.  The collander is one of the many that I own...and use...it just went so well with this quilt.

this design is called "time in a bottle".  It has watch faces attached around the bottle,  is filled with watch parts and beads with numbers on them.  Dangling from the lid, also a watch face, is an antique watch with a vintage photo and a bit of bling.  glass beads also dangle from the lid.



Bottles created for Christmas using vintage trims, ephemera and jewelry

go to my etsy site to see other creations

http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageXpressions

Still life painted on wallpaper



One of many of my watercolors from my fairy collection,
recently published in SDP's Decorative Painter Magazine, 
issue No. 4, 2010