The Castle Door
I thought of an image of an old castle door that had been weathered, with a big door knocker, a brass knob and big hinges. I searched Ebay and found this large old key that is used for the hanger here; I also found a few old skeleton keys to add in here and there with my newer keys and heart shaped locks. The base is machine pieced and machine quilted. The charms, keys and buttons are attached with embroidery floss.
Happy Stitching! ~Christen
Group of Butterflies
Friday’s Favorites today as you can see is all about butterflies, a few moths may have crept in here and there, but their shape is just as lovely. I love the shapes, colors, and variety that you can find both in real life and in the wonderful things that I can use in my art such as charms, buttons, beads and lace.
embroidered butterfly
Here is a variety of just those things, whether they be sequined or beaded; carved from bone, jade, or mother of pearl; whether they be copper, brass, gold, or silver; enameled or painted I love them all.
The necklace in the middle as you may imagine is called Enchanted Butterflies and is worn with the ensemble Madame Butterfly this embroidery here is from the sleeve of the jacket.
Speaking of Madame Butterfly we were lucky enough to watch a simulcast performance at the movie theater of the taped version from a Met performance. WOW is about all I can say except for truly amazing!
I'm NO Wallflower
This is a close-up of the work on the jacket called “I’m NO Wallflower.”
Here we have a copper and brass butterfly pin, a brass charm and a paper mache butterfly charm. These are all sitting amongst ribbon flowers and silk ribbon embroidery. Even the background fabric which is a Hoffman print is strewn with happy butterflies flying free.
Butterfly Jewelry
These pieces of jewelry are made from vintage sterling reposse charms that I believe are from China. I think that these are probably moths, but they are lovely and detailed. I glued a pin back onto the larger charm and wire wrapped the beads for earrings.
A Mid Summer Night's Dream
This close-up is from the jacket of the ensemble called “A Mid Summer Night’s Dream“.
The jacket is crazy pieced in sections which are later stitched together on a foundation piece with ribbon.
Each section is embellished with silk ribbon and traditional embroidery stitches using cotton, silk and metallic threads; ribbon worked flowers and leaves rest here and there and are adorned with vintage sequin appliques, vintage and new buttons, glass charms and beads. Here the butterflies take form in dyed lace appliques, metal charms and glass beads.
We have also planted many Lantana and bougainvillea plants to entice these wonderful colorful ephemeral flying beauties to our yard. Fly free, love what you do and see you next Friday. Enjoy- Christen
Through the Fairie’s Window
I started with a cardboard box from my face lotion which I had taken out the clear cellophane window. I gathered three greeting cards and cut, painted and cropped until I got the right length for each image. I glued these onto the box along with bits of vintage lace. I then added a clear glaze which crazed wonderfully (but I don’t think that it was supposed to!). The box is 6-1/2″ tall x 3-1/2″ wide x 1-3/8″ deep.
I added a vine of fabric leaves along the edges; a vintage celluloid pin of pink roses; vintage paper roses which are peaking out of the inside of the box and the top of the box; vintage painted glass leaves; mother of pearl butterfly charms; gold dragonfly charms; plastic fairy charms; a glass lady bug; and handmade flowers made from vintage ruffled ribbon.
Peering through the garden’s window
Amongst the roses and the garden vine,
I see you are already waiting there for me
Fairy fare dear friend of mine.
Who is looking through your window and asking you to play? Enjoy your day! Christen
Old Tin Boxes
Well I am a sucker for boxes whether they be wooden, paper or old tin advertising boxes. I love the colors, and the faded scratched qualities. I have taken individual pictures of the boxes, and please feel free to download the large jpgs. (click on the image for the larger view). These are for your personal use only, use them for challenges, wallpaper, or whatever you wish, but please no commercial use for these pictures.
Most of the boxes pictured here were found at my grandparents house, others in my travels. Pictured here from the top:
Tetley's Tea
Cookie Tin
Toffee Tin
Cuban Seal Cigars
Player's Cigars
Swedish Tin Box
Group of tin boxes
Enjoy! Christen
moonshadows
Inspired by the song by Cat Stevens as inspiration and many years of gazing up and greeting the man in the moon.
I drew, doodled and mused with five sizes of Sharpie and Prisma pens. What fun, I felt like I was back in high school. I think that I channeled the Grateful Dead poster artists, Peter Max and for that matter the entire groovy “60’s culture here.
Happy day, Enjoy! ~Christen
Sunrise over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains
My favorite time of day is the morning, so fresh, so full of possibilities.
When our relatives lived in Corrales New Mexico this magnificent range was to the east of their home. I am usually up very early, and I would sit with my morning coffee at the oak table, in front of the huge glass window with the view of these mountains in front of me.
We visited during the summer and the fall, but I would have to say that my favorite time of year was winter. The view between the bare branches of the tree in their backyard, the open field with mist rising off the chaparral and behind these the view of sunrise over the snow capped mountain in all of it’s glory.
Lovely.
The background of this wall-hanging is machine strip pieced, the rays machine appliqued, and the bottom strip machine crazy pieced. The entire piece was machine quilted. The rays have hand embroidered details and the vintage shisha mirrors are hand embroidered. The rays are adorned with vintage apple juice celluloid buttons. Dimensions 20″ W X 10″ L.
Enjoy whatever time of day is your favorite! Happy Stitching! ~Christen
Celluloid Buttons
Today we will talk about the celluloid button. This necklace is part of an ensemble “Deco Drama” that I just finished. The base of the necklace is a vintage French ombre ribbon, ruched, with a silk cord stitched for the tie. As you can see celluloid was definitely the theme here, using many of my favorite types of celluloid button.
Celluloid was invented in the 1870’s and was one of the most versatile and the first of the man-made plastics. This lightweight material is thinner than Bakelite, though some of the same techniques could be used such as molding, stamping and machine tooling; but unlike Bakelite buttons they could also be created by pulling, hollow blowing, and extruding. The coloring of the celluloid button was often more diverse than that of the autumn and vibrant coloring of the Bakelite buttons. The versatility of celluloid made it extremely popular with manufacturer’s, however the serious drawback to this material was that it is flammable! For further reading may I suggest a book I use frequently: Button Button Identification & Price Guide by Peggy Ann Osborne.
bracelets made from vintage celluloid buttons
Here are a series of bracelets that feature vintage celluloid, Bakelite and glass buttons. I made these over the summer using simple sewing techniques and materials so that the buttons would shine as the stars that they are!
ribbon bracelet
This last bracelet is made using grosgrain ribbon and an old measuring tape. These were woven together and backed with interfacing. I then stitched vintage glass, celluloid and Bakelite buttons for decoration. I stitched snaps down for the closure.
Deco Decadence
This brooch was made to be worn with “Melon Balls“ jewelry ensemble and Hat, which is made using a variety of vintage and new buttons and beads in colors of melon and black.
The pin boasts a lovely display of “buffed celluloid” buttons. I just adore the black and tan combination. It took many years to collect the right sizes and colors for this brooch. The ribbon worked flowers are made from a vintage ribbed cotton ribbon and the leaves are from a taffeta ribbon.
The ribbon buttons and flowers are attached to florist wire wrapped in sating ribbon, and sit in a vintage jacquard ribbon vase. A pin back is stitched to the back of the vase.
So what is in your button box and need help with identifying what’s in there? Christen
Sorry that this post is late, I have been busy and have not had the time to take proper pictures of my favorites. So to make up for the past two weeks, I have posted one before this, and will be on time for tomorrow!
old friends
Dolls, I think that all of us have a favorite or two, some may even have been around as long as we have, longer in some cases. This is a group photograph of my oldest friends. They have all been with me these many years, some have faired better than others, but no matter because they certainly don’t mention the pieces and parts of me that have not faired well!
The little Swedish girl actually was handed down to me by my grandmother Ellen Matilda. It was a gift given to her by my dad when he went on a holiday to Europe. My teddy was a crib gift from my other grandmother Evelyn. The little boy was a gift from my godmother Aunt Murt (her middle name was given to me as my middle name). The troll doll came to me much later, perhaps I was eight or nine. I tried out some of my very first fashion designs on her, and she is why I decided to go to school for fashion design.
Pretty good friends wouldn’t you say?
new friends
This is a group of a few of my new friends, they can all be seen here in my gallery “Dolls of Distinction”. These are all dolls that I have designed and created with a pillow or two peeping out from here and there. The dolls as shown are:
If you love to make dolls and are interested in a unique and fun doll, I have just designed a doll CuddleNots for Joggles.com which is on the schedule for the end of September.
Hope that you too can count your old and new friends, and recall warm memories! Good wishes and thoughts to you, Christen.
Sorry that this post is late, I have been busy and have not had the time to take proper pictures of my favorites. So to make up for the past two weeks, I will post two today, and be on time for tomorrow!
abalone galore
group of abalone shells
Abalone shells have always been a favorite of mine. The coloring is always so fantastic, and unexpected. If the shell had seen a little action, then the back may also have been worn away to reveal the coloring. In California we mostly saw the black, green and red variety.
Growing up in Southern California, 1 mile from the beach certainly was a good thing! We often went to the tide pools below the Palos Verdes cliffs, and to the long strip of sand that outlined the closely connected beach cities of Redondo, Torrance, Hermosa and Manhattan.
Sadly I think that the shells are fewer to be found, due to over-harvesting and global warming perhaps. It was not until recently that the Pua shell has been used for many things that the abalone shell would have been used for.
inlaid abalone lid
The Pua shell is a thinner shell, and the coloring is more vibrant tending to the turquoise and deep purples, where the abalone is known for the more subtle tones of pink, green, and lavender. Both are favorites for me.
This is a close-up view of the incredible work that was done on this little box door. I bought this as that thrift store as is, just the door.
I also bought the fish, with scales of abalone and the egg at the thrift store. The open fan has inlaid abalone on the end spines and detail on the inner spines, the folded fan just on the ends. I bought both of these on Ebay.
jewelry made from abalone
Once a “surfer girl” always a “surfer girl” as my friend Tina would probably agree.
We both loved the Beach Boys, and even went to a few concerts of theirs! We went to all of the surfer movies, because we of course were avid surfets (watchers of surfing type boys!).
On the weekends we would ride our bikes to the “strand” which was a cemented sidewalk that ran the length of the beach cities. Sometimes we would lay-out to tan and sometimes we would grab a soda and a hogie, watch the boys and the waves and enjoy the fact that we were young. We of course had a favorite bead store that we frequented often and bought shells and beads to make necklaces to wear so that we would be “oh so cool”.
abalone pin
Well Tina, as you can see I still am wearing this glorious shell. The two leaf pins (the maple leaf was my grandmother’s) and the bracelet are vintage. The necklace and the two bracelets are made from abalone and pua shell beads and buttons. The flower earrings are made from Pua shell, and the other two are made from abalone.
My dad also loved abalone and Mother of Pearl, he used both as the details on the frets of his banjo that he made and restored. He helped me to make this pin when I was in high school. I cut out the palm-tree from a shell that I found, he cut left over ebony into the oval shape and routed out the outline the we filled it with epoxy colored with ebony dust. This will be a treasure that I will keep always.
Enjoy, thanks for looking… Christen
Christen's Creations 