Kenney's Birthday Treasury

I realize this it's not yet Tuesday again, but this is a very special treasury to honor the birthday of a good friend. Here you go, KB!

'Kenney's Treasury' by PomelyGrove

A treasury in honor of my friend Kenney's birthday. Sure, it would be better if I bought these things instead of just making a treasury, but this will have to do. Happy birthday, KB!

Men's Suit - Grey W... BrooklynTailor... $695.00	Beer. Hops, barley and ... toybreaker $30.00	Butternut Knit Chucks PrettySneaky $100.00	iPhone - iPod Case/Slee... gadgetarmour $24.00
American of martinsvill... moxieapparel $140.00	Handwoven Scarf- Mr. Lo... AMIZANTI $70.00	Soviet Russian wristwat... ClockworkUnive... $57.00	Mr. Moustache Mens T-Sh... theboldbanana $12.00
Vintage 70s Mens Sungla... LovelyVintageE... $35.00	Get ready for the exped... laurelinsailor $45.00	Peak Lapel Vest MacheteNSons $165.00	Mid Century Modern Dani... AustinModern $500.00
ONE DAY SALE Mid Centur... vintagehomerec... $55.20	Knitted Laptop sleeve M... martice $35.00	Dark Brown Leather Jour... ALineofHerOwn $30.00	Just a Strange Blue Box... bohemianstorm $14.95

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Treasury Tuesday: Autumn Leaves

I think I'm going to start doing these once a week. On Tuesday, in fact. After all, I do love alliteration.

Fall is definitely sneaking up on us here in the mid-west. When I stepped from the house this morning, I was greeted by the cool, crisp air that marks the end of summer mugginess (not that it gets all that muggy here). The weather right now is darn near perfect.

On my drive to work, the changing leaves caught my eye and I put together this treasury, inspired by all the colors.

'Autumn Leaves' by PomelyGrove

A treasury inspired by the changing leaves I spied on the way to work this morning!

REAL SUGAR MAPLE LEAF I... ArtisanHandcra... $27.00	Psychedelic Eye Necktie... ScatterbrainTi... $28.00	Sale- Little Flared Dr... JRoseAtelier $165.00	vintage hat- AUTUMN COP... tamallama $30.00
BURGUNDY WINE bordeaux ... maryandangelik... $85.00	vintage 50s Upcycled Ha... littleveggievi... $26.00	Strapless Golden Embroi... ritney $60.00	Fall - Copper Sterling ... AndewynDesigns $45.00
Size 10 Vintage Shoes O... thepuddingstor... $34.00	Carnival Glass Sugar an... OldCoot $19.99	Vintage Samsonite Train... VintageDomesti... $26.00	Scattered by the wind 8... sunshineartdes... $15.00
Dark Cranberry.....Ruff... JANNYSGIRL $	Group of six wheel thro... blueroompotter... $243.00	Men's Cuff Style Fi... awkward $28.00	Autumn Harvest Flower a... DeedsandPetuni... $32.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Trying Out a Treasury Tool

I came across a tool for posting treasuries, which automatically creates all the links. Let's see how it goes!

'Camel - For Hump Day!' by PomelyGrove

Camel - The color and the animal

Panama Red and Camel St... TheMillinerySh... $210.00	Camel - Plain Pocket No... Ciaffi $9.50	Train Case, Save Me Spa... CoralCastle $26.50	felt necklace, felt bal... frankideas $19.00
camel hand stitched reu... woodroots $48.00	vintage CARAMEL KILTIE ... ScottieinaCano... $25.00	Camel Mobile giggletree $20.00	Two Small Clay Birds in... iktomi $15.00
Petite Acorn Earrings w... ShySiren $26.00	PENCIL SKIRT STRETCH CO... MoonHalo $53.00	Organic Cotton and Silk... broodbaby $132.00	SHOPPING DAY CAMEL CAPE... LarasFawn $33.00
Dromedary - men's s... heckfire $18.00	Rustic Waistcoat for a ... MKTdesign $28.00	Small, soft cashmere fe... ClassyWedding $22.00	Witches Duster Jacket fromthefigtree $80.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Craft Crush: Alisa Burke

Welcome to a new segment of the blog called Craft Crush! The idea behind Craft Crush, is to recognize those artists that I find inspiring. Crafters so fantastic they make me strive to be better.

My first Craft Crush was an obvious choice for me. As a professional artist and teacher, Alisa Burke does more than her fair share to make the world more beautiful and more fun. What I find most admirable about Alisa is her daring use of color and texture! I always look foward to her blog updates to see what new awesome-ness she is up to.

In her The Evolution of an Idea posts, she walks you through her process of finding inspiration in everyday things. A peacock handbag, for example, was inspired by a trip to the zoo. Maybe it's because I approach things completely differently, but I love seeing her sketches.

Alisa also blogs some fantastic tutorials. Check out this tutorial on pillows made from the letters and notes that she and her husband have written each other. It's a wonderful sentiment and so pretty!

On Alisa's blog, she also shares some amazing recipes, such as these spring rolls. I mean, seriously. They're almost too pretty to eat!




If you're interested in learning more about theory, technique and inspiration, Alisa offers online classes! Her latest class is called Color Your World, and is about "finding your voice and setting yourself free with color."



Alisa Burke is a complete original and a creative powerhouse. I'm sure you will find her as fabulous as I do. Now, go try out a color that you wouldn't normally dare to!

Links:
Alisa Burke's Blog
Alisa's Online Classes
Alisa's Etsy Shop

Note: All images are sole property of Alisa Burke and used with perimission.

My First Treasury!

Inspired by my friend Amanda's treasury, I decided to make my own. What a fantastic way to show appreciation and shine a little light on some wonderful artists.

A treasury, for the uninitiated, is a collection of items on Etsy that fit a theme. The purpose is to make shopping easier by creating a group of like things and to raise the exposure of all involved. The cream of the crop get chosen for Etsy's front page.

With Halloween on the way, I put together a list of items inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and his writings. Have a look!

As I was searching for the items, a couple of things occurred to me.

1. The pictures of the items, in order to be front page worthy, need to be works of art in and of themselves. This stressed to me the importance of perfect item photos, which I know I need to work on.
2. Whenever possible, I chose a seller with fewer sales. That's not true for all of the items included, but, when trying to decide between two items, I did my best to pick "the little guy."
3. Compiling a treasury is more work than you would think! "I'll just pick some stuff I like and be done with it," you might say. But a good treasury tells a story. Finding items to compel the story that have awesome images can require a fair amount of looking. Even when the items were chosen, I worked with placement to create a balanced group of pictures.
4. It was a lot of fun! I may try to do one of these once a week.

Let me know what you think! Regardless of what you think of my treasury, you should click on over and check out the amazing artists!

Cracking Up

I was able to cross one to-do off my lengthy list. These sandwich board signs (4 in total) are for a friend's wedding. Andy put them together, I painted them and now they've been handed off to the crafty bride for hand lettering.

The finish is ivory crackled over brown. I've done some crackle painting before, but this has been my best result. The first difference from other experiences was that I rolled on the crackle medium instead of brushing it on, which left a heavier coat. The second difference was the wood itself. This was a composite wood and the crackle seemed to follow the texture, making it ultra super crackly.

Love it! I'll have to get some pics of the finished signs once the lettering is complete!

Playing With Fire

I had some fun this evening burning fabric for flowers! This is my first time making these and, while I'm happy with them, I definitely need some practice.

First up is a tiny silvery-gray taffeta flower on a hair clip.

The second one is black satin and is practice for my sister's vow renewal ceremony.

I also tried to make a red one without much luck. The red satin I picked up was a slightly different texture than the other and it wanted to catch on fire like crazy. Lesson learned!