elmers glue crackle eggs are finished and looking quite easter-y

oh boy was today a lazy day.  the hubby and i spent a good part of the day with each other in bed watching tv and talking, taking turns on the computer.   i would start to feel guilty for doing nothing when there was so much to be done...but there is always so much to be done, it will be there tomorrow and we needed some serious togetherness and there is no guarantee that either of us will be here tomorrow.

finally the bed worked its' magic on the hubby and he was snoring and so off to the studio to finish the crackle eggs i started yesterday.

i knew what ribbon i wanted and that i wanted some type of charm for each egg.  i have not soldered in over a year.  soldering and decorative painting are the two things that i have to get my groove back if i don't do it for awhile, but i was pretty surprised at how quickly i started to....well get my groove back. 

i don't do perfect pretty soldering.  maybe someday.  i hope to be able to take a sally  jean online class....if she still has them by the time the hubby is employed employed and we have the extra funds to spare for the class and a new soldering iron.

yea...i should have left the dots off this one.  doing dots on a piece like this is not easy when you don't have the right clippy dohicky to hold the bottle in one place.  mine broke last year  and i did not realize what a wonderful 3rd hand it made...... but i tried anyway. 

this little charm has a vintage applique under glass.  

this one has vintage book text.

after i soldered the charms i gave them a vintage-y look with patina.    the child proof cap that was originally on this new bottle of instant aging magic about drove me insane!   i knew if i could only find a small child the cap would come right off.....but my oldest son came to the rescue.   he left me with words of wisdom....mom, now make sure you are really done with this stuff before you put the cap back on.   i did one better, i found a bottle of nasty solution i rarely use and i traded caps! 

wah-laaaaa and ta-daaaa.....here they are.

i still need to easter-up the last egg.....i am thinking i need to break out the glitter for that one?!  whaddaya think?

thought i would leave you with this.  found it while going through some stuff today.  i think this is one of the best fortune cookie fortunes i have ever had.....except for the one that told me i would be rich beyond my wildest dreams.  

this arty girl is actually feeling tired already and it is only 1:04 a.m.  i am about 3 hours ahead of schedule. 


sleep tight.  mwah!

do-dadding up papier mache easter eggs

finally i am back...what ever crud i had kicked this arty girls butt in a big way and made the beast (meniere's vertigo for those who are new here) cranky.  but i am back. 

i still need to finish the other bunny necklace, but i really wanted to work on something easter-y today.  i really don't have many decorations for easter.  i dunno why.

and yes, the bunny necklace is easter-y....but i just didn't wanna work on it....ok already?

 what vintage decorations  i have i loves......

these bunnies were made with my mom.  16 years ago we were going to get into the craft business, but i had a newborn at the time and it just never....happened.  probably a good thing because when sewing these i wanted to jab the scissors in to my body repeatedly....i just can not do repetition.

and i just hadda put my bunny ears that my daughter recently gave me to good use.

the big bunny is just a few years old...i bought it from at a craft fair a few years back.  to the right is an art doll i made a few years ago....and yes she does have ninnies...... made from polymer clay. 

so i am pretty puny in the decorations department for this holiday.  a few weeks ago when cleaning my studio i came across 4 large and 9 small papier mache eggs.   the other night i came up with an idea for the small ones....and i have to say they turned out just like i imagined them!  squeeeeee!


i decided to work upstairs in the kitchen because (a)  i did not have enough open space on any of the tables in my studio and (b) the weather started out beautiful and i thought it would be great for snapping photos of the creative process.  the weather quickly changed from sunny to cloudy and rainy then back to sunny then back to rainy...and the photos reflect it.

since i did not have enough acrylic paint, i 'borrowed' from our trim stash of creamy off white latex paint. 

and because i am an a1 slob when it comes to painting i made sure the entire kitchen table was covered.  i also wore a junky shirt because the inner kindergartener in me,  still, without thinking, wipes her fingers on her shirt.


i  wore rubber glubs, because i just did my nails the night before and did not want to ruin these beauties.  normally i do not paint my nails very often, and normally my hands are stained with some arty medium.   my daughter found matte polish for me.....loving the matte nail polish, and loving that the sparklies stay sparklyyyyyy.....ok...so where were we......

the 'before' photo....

i wanted the eggs to look antique and well loved.  i played with a couple of different methods of removing just the right amount of paint. 

this one i  painted a light coat of paint and then held the egg for a few minutes.  when i removed my hand it took some of the paint off with it.

the other method was rolling the egg when the paint was slightly tacky on newspaper.  it actually ended up working out best when i crumpled the paper up and then wrapped the egg up in it and removed it. 

a sampling of eggs done both ways....

next step, i stamped them.

to get a bit of exercise in, i took 3 eggs down to my basement studio at a time. 

i love, love, love these.   i remember a bit ago that i have a vintage wire egg basket and i may just transfer them in to that and keep them in the kitchen after easter. 


for the large eggs i decided to try something that has been pinned on pinterest on several occasions.  using elmers glue as a crackle medium.

even before my hubby lost his job 10 months ago i cringed at the cost of the different crackle paints and mediums out there.  well now there is just no way, so needless to say this girl was as happy as i  could possibly be when i saw the tute on pinterst.  

only problem was i did not have enough elmers wood glue, and no white glue...but i had this

this stuff is a bit more pricey than good old elmers, but mixed with a bit of water to give it the consistancy of elmers it worked just fine.    i am a now now now instant gratification kind of girl....ants in my pants kind of girl so there was going to be no waiting until later in the evening to get some elmers. 

the first egg i did not basecoat.  the other 3 i gave basecoat in pink, green, and purple.

i put the glue on with a sponge brush, and gave it a pretty gloppy thick coat....

you need to let the glue dry just enough so that it is tacky, or sticky.  i found that just dry enough was when you could touch it and it would hold your finger print there.  you then want to load your brush with enough paint to make one long stroke if possible.  make sure you paint in one direction, as in from top to bottom of your project.  do not put the paint on too thick, and do not go back and add more paint...unless it is immediate.  the link for the elmers tute is here .

being that instant gratification kinda girl i grabbed the space heater and used it to speed up the process. 

there is one drawback to using this cheater-cheater method

nope, my easter egg did not develope a zit.  but you do need to pop it.....ewww gross.  sorry. 

it is a poofy bubble of air due to the glue and paint becoming a bit too warm.   who knows...maybe if i was to do it even longer it might've burst in to flames....so....if you are antsy like me and choose to use heat to speed up the processing of all of this be careful. 

i still have more schtuff to do to these guys, and should have them done by tomorrow.  i will post pics when i am done, and the pics will be better.


while digging for these eggs in a super huge plastic tub o'stuff i came across about 20 or so of these.  most still unpainted.

cute little buggers aren't they?!  i had forgotten all about them!  so like i said...most still need to be painted.  remember....i am not much of a repetition type of a person.  i figure i will start on them in july or august to put in the nest feathers shop. 

i am self taught at everything i do.  i saw the snowman face on a painting magazine for ghosts and adapted it. 

i am so thankful for donna dewberry.  that woman knows how to teach some painting.  her books are just perfect for someone like me.  learning disabilities and blonde, and i tend to over complicate things...all handicaps!  *snort* 

i am still so proud of what i painted on our 1930's  kitchen table...so proud i'm just gonna show it off again! 

well...that is pretty much all the show-n-tell for now.   if all goes as planned i will be back tomorrow to show off the finished bits of the crackle eggs.

sloppy smooches and squishy hugs to you....

oh clouds, how i love thee

no new art to play show-n-tell with today.

all day i could not get going and figured it was just me dreading being stuffed  down in the basement studio and away from the beautiful weather....and all of the trees in full bloom to fall in love with....wow what a difference a day makes in the bloom-y-ness of it all.

well, i finally forced myself downstairs, sat down in my spinny chair and gorked out till i was nearly drooling in front of my tiny ancient tv for about a half hour.  maybe i was just dreading making bunny necklace number 2.....since all the fun of creating was gone with the first one.....no adventure in it when you know just what you are doing and it is all figured out.

finally it hit me....i feel like total crap-on-a-cracker.  i am icky sick.  i am guessing it is allergies with all of the pretty blooms and all.  once i realized what my problem was i got to work and started on bunny necklace number 2. 

a bit later steph came home and had a crummy day at work and we talked, then i went outside to check on the hubby who was working outside.......and then i saw them!

anyone who has known me for any length of time knows i have a love affair with clouds. 

the sky is nature's canvas.  almost a bit etch-a-sketchy.

i took over 60 photos...they are all so neat, but i am restraining myself and just showing a few.

now look at this one below....do you see it??? do you see the face poking through the clouds....the lips and chin to the left ....see it?

this cloud kept expanding and changing, and eventually turned a bright pink with lightning in the middle.

this is the upper part of that cloud with the lightning in it....neato.

this is probably the culprit causing my ickiness.  but it is so pretty!


nature sometimes is a bit too invasive....

since it did not get cold enough during  the winter, the ants are back in full force.  they love our bathroom.  you know the saying 'ants in your pants' ?  i now know where it comes from...one sits down to.....well you know...and at some point the boogers jump on and five steps out of the bathroom you feel them.

and then the spiders....the other night the hubby and i were snuggling and i spied one on the ceiling.  normally if they are on the floor i scoop them up and put them outside where they belong.  the creepy crawlies get to run in the basement to eat up the other little critters as long as they stay off of me. 
ceiling spiders don't get to experience such luxury....they get death by tissue.

so i screeched, the hubby smooshed...he swears he smooshed.   i trusted him to check the tissue, i  assumed he checked. five minutes later we were snuggling and then i felt 8 tiny legs strolling across my cheek!  eek!  next time i know to ask him to show me the proof!

i am off to crawl in bed and am hoping that i wake up tomorrow feeling unstuffed, unsniffly, unpoofy.

smooches to you all.