Finished Projects!!!!

WHOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!! I LOVE it when I FINISH projects!!!! But there is no time to sit around and revel in it all, I have to get them wrapped and into the mail!!!

First up is Mali's Padfolio! In a previous post I shared pictures of the glowing fabric paper that I was planning to use for this project. This ws new territory for this substrate for me. I have made my birds with it and covered other items with it, used it in books and made jewelry from it but nothing with such a large expanse of the paper, so Iwas anxious to see if this would actually work. Before I cut out the pieces, I put down three coats of gel medium to protect and seal in the finish on the top layer of the paper. By adding these caots of acrylic medium , the fabric/paper assumes the texture of leather.

Drum roll PLEASE!!!!

Well here it is!! I am quite pleased with how this turned out. It is large enough to carry an 8 1/2 by 11 inch pad of paper with a pocket inside for pens and memos. If you rmemeber I used text form many different languages (all recovered from discarded books) and then I asked my brother to provide several meaningful phrases in Swahili for inclusion. Now for smoe lessons in KISWAHILI for everyone! Madadiliko ya kuaminia= Change to be believed in (especially significant as Mali was so hopeful that Obama would win the election and because I worked so hard for the campaign here in VA); Tunza Mazingira = Protect the environment; Inawezikana = It is possible! ; tumaini = Hope. So now you know what these words mean when you see them used in the piece!!

Inside front cover with pocket for pens and memos.

The pad back slips into a very large pocket to be held in place.

Anf finally, the back.

Below you will see a close up shot of the closure. I made two buttons from the fabric/paper/interfacing sandwich and then topped them off with a pretty green bead. the piece is held closed by a ribbon that is wrappd around the buttons.

I am very excited about sending this off to Mali- I hope that she will be pleased!!

Finally I ahve had a chance to make up some earrings for my Etsy Shop!!!

It took me most of a day to make these pairs and I ws a bit frustrated with that till I thought about it and realized that it takes quite a bit of time to make each individual design decision !!

I call this pair Dancing Gypsy Colors and you can read all about them and see more pictures here! They "dance" because they are suspended from swivels that give them 360 degress of rotation. Such fun to wear!!!!

Here you see Mermaid's Treasures and you can find out all of the details here.

HEre is a pair that I call Sea Foam Sparkle. I have used some vintage handcut crystal beads in this pair. I know that they are hand cut crystals as I have had them looked at by a bead expert who pointed out the irregular shapes of many of the facets!!! You can see more pictures by clicking here.

Last but HARDLY least are Radiant Red earrings! THese would be a perfect gift for Christams or Valentines or far anyone who loves hearts and the color Red!! Who doesn't love RED??????

Anyway you can find out all of the details here!

Now , one more thing after this very long post! I must introduce you to one of my artist friends who does wonderful paintings on vintage roofing slate. Presently she is working on pendants that she is painting and stringing. She has salvaged the slates from an Historic Chruch in Fredericksburg VA. They are redoing the roof and as Elizabeth (great name ,eh??) is a member of that church she has access to the slate pieces. Elizabeth has a studio at Libertytown Arts Workshop in Fredericksburg and you can see her work by visiting her blog here.

Now I have to get to wrapping and packing to get the presents in the mail en route to Tanzania. The package will not make it in time for Christams but hopefully my neices will think it worth the wait!!!