redid the redo!

I wasn't so happy with the end result of my little magic box so I simply resanded (twice!!) just the bottom of the box.  I covered the top in a ziplock  bag and taped the legs.  Finally when it was nice and smooth I sprayed (twice!!) and when the gold was smooth and shiny I taped out the pattern again.  A friend picked me up the most beautiful pearl violet lumiere paint from Opus in Kelowna.  It's so much better than what I first used.  So this is a lesson in perseverance for me and I love the end result!

a magic box!

This little box was an interesting and challenging project mostly due to the paint job.  I rushed the layers a little to much and some peeling occurred.  I sanded the front down again and repainted.

 I wanted to layer the legs for interest and dimension.  Plastic buttons worked well to add a layer to the bottom and to the top of the wooden legs I had on hand.   Gold spray paint unified the different elements.

 To create a design I masked off triangles on the sides and painted over the gold metalic with purple acrylic. I had to use three or four layers to achieve the colour I needed.  There is a special metalic spray paint I found awhile back that is sort of opalized and I thought this would match with the mica powder effect better than the flat look of the acrylic.  Lots of layers.....probably needed more drying time. :)

 Before the legs.   You can see I use every square inch of my apartment for workspace.

I used the same purple acrylic and metalic opalized spray paint on the middle part of the legs.    The triangles are a bit rough but I think it was a good experiment,

Pretty!! Two of the imprints are buttons and the rest are made with jewelry except for the letter stamps.

I made a small rectangle with polymer clay and created a hole in the centre to thread wire through..  Then I created a bead chain to dangle from the handle.. It's a beaded tassle!

I have decided to give this box to a friend for her birthday and it has a small present inside.  Interesting wrapping eh?!

new project ...funky found box

I found this little box in Value Village....one of many that I have found and reclaimed but this is the first that I have documented.

It doesn't look like much but lets see how this turns out  when I clean it up and glam it up !

2nd project ..new colours

This is the second mirror using coloured polymer clay and dusting them with the closest colour mica powder.

Same paisley stamp ...I want to start collecting different paisleys and do a whole project in paisleys..maybe a table top :)

 The message in this piece says " Love heals your heart"

  My Goddess pin stamped over musical notes....she is a beauty.

  Same...but different!

This is the first project I have documented step by step after finding these cool mirrors outside the dumpster.

These look interesting!  Mirrored glass is expensive..there must be something cool I could do with these.

First I cover the mirror with masking tape and then spray paint the ugly pink colour to a nice gold!

Voila!!  Now I think I will make some polymer clay tiles and glue them in the outlined area,

I like to press buttons and stamps or anything with dimension into polymer clay  and then bring out the pattern with beautiful mica powders.

I have some pretty square beads that fit across the top to add interest.  Then I used buttons for the next impressions (three in a row) The next tile is an impression of a pendant I have and under that is a button.

I love paisley and recently purchased this stamp on sale at Michaels.  After that I used a pendant for the corner heart with other small objects pressed to fill in a design and beside that I used an angel pin as well as a flower earring that was my mother's.  So you get the picture.  I now look at all jewelry to see if it could make an impression in clay.

I like to use letter stamps to create a message in the piece.  This piece has the phrase |Life is Magical.

I trimmed the whole piece by gluing seed beads around the entire edge.

She is finished!   In this piece I used white polymer clay and coloured them with the mica powder.

In the next piece I am going to use coloured clay and dust with the same colour powder to enhance.  We'll see how that turns out in the next post.

In the beginning

In the beginning

I live in a neighbourhood populated with students, many of them international students, and this provides me with interesting dumpster finds at the end of the month and especially at the end of semesters.  There is a great deal of pleasure to be had in creating with found objects whether it be from the dumpster, the thrift store or from stuff I've collected from garage sales over the years.  My small apartment offers minimal storage, therefore, I prefer small items to play with. 


Glitze and glam are not my fashion style but creating art with shiny objects is definitely a passion.  Beading was part of my teen years during the sixties.  All things bohemian :)! Stamping when my children were small in the eighties and nineties was an outlet for creativity.  One of my biggest passions, however, is buttons.  From the moment my grandmother's button collection was given to me, childhood memories of games played with buttons and clothing worn by my grandmother came flooding back to me.  A new appreciation for these little artistic creations was formed and has blossomed to an eclectic collection of buttons, beads and all things shiny.  Everyting came together when I discovered a book by Laurie Mica who creates mosaic art with polymer clay tiles and mika powder.  Here I found an avenue to use stamps and buttons for imprinting and beads could be incorporated for more interest. Another important feature I weave into the pieces is my love of all things Angelic and sacred.  Sacred symbols and pictures mixed with this eclectic style ties together my belief system and my passions.


In this blog I want to explore the process of recreating/recycling interesting pieces using found objects with a 
view to making artful or at the very least crafted objects of desire. I hope that others will enjoy seeing the process and the outcome as much as I have