"Upcycled" Portrait Work in Progress

You may call it "Upcycle", or "Recycle" or just makin' fun stuff out of old junk... but regardless of what you call it, for the frugal crafter/artist it's the way to go! Not to mention saving trees and keeping waste out of the landfills =).

Lately I have really been thinking about ways to make my art a little bit more "green". Finding ways to use something that may otherwise have been tossed away. Hubby and I are in the process right now of cleaning out our storage unit, and I am finding loads of treasures! Old baby books that were damaged... or chewed on. The board books will be especially fun. Books of poetry and classic stories that had been water damaged. An old dilapidated bookshelf that I have already had hubby cut into perfect canvas sizes and layered with gesso. The possibilities are endless!!

Right now I am working on a beautiful portrait.... but if you saw the "canvas" beforehand you would have thought I was crazy!

Upon going through the boy's old baby toys I came across several board puzzles with missing pieces. I was able to pry the top cutout layer off of one of them, leaving a lovely piece of sturdy thin particle board. (i'm pretty sure hubby thought I was crazy) The only problem..... it was covered with animals =).
After a layer of Gesso, this is what I had.


You can still kinda see the animals peeking out. I'v been working hard on her all day, and am really loving how she is coming out. She isn't finished yet.... but this is what I have so far. The background looks black... but it's really Burnt Umber.


I will post more photos when she is finished.
Thanks for looking!

Now on Etsy & Ebay

These are my offerings for the week on both Ebay and Etsy. You can click on the photos to see the description and more photos.
It feels really good to actually have some things up for sale again!
Be sure to check out my other items on Etsy, I have a couple of prints for sale on there right now too.

NEPG March Launch

It's time for another NEPG Group launch!! New England Primitive Gathering is a wonderful ebay group that i am in. We are in the middle of our second monthly group launch. If you don't know what a launch is.... it's when the group picks a theme and everyone in the group creates something that fits the theme. For March the theme is Bunnies, Birdies and Blossoms, Oh My!

Here is my contribution to the launch this month.



If you would like to see the other ladies offerings just click on the banner above. And as always you can click on my photo to go get to my ebay auction.

Second in Collection... St. Patrick's Doll

Well, i have finished the second doll in my "Bit of Vintage Whimsy" collection. She has been inspired by this vintage Ellen Clapsaddle Postcard...

She is my first St Patrick's doll.... i think ever. I guess i just have been so focused over the years on Valentine's Day and Easter that i forget about St Patrick's Day until it's too late. She is currently on ebay.... if you would like to see her full listing you can click on the photo.... and there are alot more photos in there to check out.

For the love of Polka Dots!

Well, i think it might be time to breath again. Christmas was wonderful.... aside from the fact that my 2yo and i were sick with the flu. And now we are into 2008!! Can you believe it?!?!?!

That means it's time to start thinking Valentines, hearts.... lots of pinks and reds... and polka dots?? Apparently that's what i'm thinking because alot of the new ideas i have for my Valentine prims have polka dots. I'll be putting some new heart bowl fillers on ebay, and on my site this week and i thought i'd give you all a sneak peek. I just LOVE how they came out!! I don't know how they will sell.... but i'm sure someone will love them.
If you want to take a peek at the listings once i have them on here's my ebay page. Don't forget to add me to your favorites if you like what you see.
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZandras*whimsy*prims
Here ya go! Enjoy!

Christmas Preparations

Well, there's only one week to go.... and i'm going crazy lol! I just wanted to share a few things that i'v got going on right now. Here's a pic of a really prim angel doll that i made for my SIL for Christmas. She loves the dolls that i have brought in to sell in the shop, and her room is decorated with a mix of prims, angels, and sunflowers. So i thought this would be a nice mix.
I just LOVE the way it came out!! I'm thinking i'll be making some Valentine theme angels like this for my site starting the beginning of the year.


Oh!!! You have to check out these cuuuuute little kitty ornies! I just bought 5 of them from Naomi of naomisnotions on ebay! They are just the cutest little things. I have them tucked into my Christmas tree and garland right now, but they will be staying out year round for sure! Thank you Naomi!!!

Christmas Memories

I have so many memories from Christmas with my family.... some happy, some sad, some laugh out loud hilarious!
Searching the tree farm for the perfect tree... we would run around the fields putting our mittens as close to the top of our favorite tree as we could reach, then we would all go around searching for the mittens untill we agreed on the perfect tree. We lost alot of mittens that way.... but it made for some wonderful memories.
My dad and brother playing with the hedge clippers in the living room...... that never lead to good things lol!!
Decorating the tree with my Mom, and FINALLY being able to put my great grandmother's glass ornaments on the tree myself! My Mom never.... to this day.... threw away the ornaments my brother and i made. Now my boys get to help her put them on the tree.
There was ALWAYS an orange at the bottom of our stocking..... to balance out the candy and junk food we would be snacking on the rest of the day i guess.... and a new toothbrush.
Mom would set the table in the good china Christmas morning, with crystal wine goblets for our orange juice sunrise (orange juice with a splash of grenadine). We would have bacon and eggs... an orange of course... and what we always called plucky bread. The BEST stuff in the world!!! I thought i would share the recipe with you today. I'll be making it for my family this Christmas.

MONKEY BREAD (aka plucky bread)

3 packages of buttermilk biscuit tubes
1 cup sugar (divided)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Take 3 packages of buttermilk biscuit tubes (10 per roll) and cut each roll into 4 pieces. Drop roll pieces into 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Drop sugar-coated pieces into a well buttered Bundt pan (don't squish roll pieces when placing them in the Bundt pan).

Put 1/2 cup of the left-over sugar/cinnamon mix and 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) into a small saucepan.

Bring this mixture just to a boil; remove from heat immediately. Carefully drizzle over the roll pieces.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Cool slightly in an upright position, then tip pan over onto a plate to remove monkey pull-apart bread.