Vintage Blue Studio

Art Opera Pre-Party

I'm currently sitting here recovering from the Art Opera Pre-Party at Lisa's house.  I had a wonderful time meeting the ladies, eating goodies and working on projects for the event. 

Our hardworking group...

Lisa went all out converting Glen's "Man-Cave" into a frou frou wonderland.

 

 
 
 I commissioned my friend Christina to make a Charlotte Cake to surprise Lisa and the ladies...

Lisa is working so hard to make this event fantastic so she deserves a giant doll cake, lol!

Everyone refused to eat it and instead we all took turns taking photos with her.

All the ladies worked their bums off creating to make Art Opera a magical experience...

And we made sure to take time to chat, laugh and eat goodies!

 
To see all my pre-party photos check out my flickr.  

And if you didn't check out yesterday's post you should.  It's a tutorial on how to make faux-pewter charlotte doll pendants using UTEE. 

1 month till Art Opera!  Can't wait to meet all of you!
   

 
 

Faux Pewter Doll Pendant Tutorial

Hey everyone!  I'm going to Lisa's today for the Art Opera Pre-Party and I'm bringing favors for everyone.  I thought it would be nice if I shared a tutorial on how to make the favors in case you couldn't make it to the party. 

Materials:

• UTEE melting pot
• Mold N' Pour mold of a vintage doll head
• Black UTEE
• UTEE non-stick craft sheet
• UTEE spatula (Melt Art Kool Toolz)
• Metallic paste
• Krylon spray (glossy)
• Stickles
• X-acto knife
• Self-healing cutting mat
• E6000 glue
• Silver bail

Step 1: Melt black UTEE in melting pot

Step 2: Pour the UTEE into your mold.  Use the spatula to assist (as needed).  Notice the non-stick craft sheet is under the mold.  This makes cleaning up sooooo much easier.

 Step 3: Once the UTEE has cooled pop it out of the mold.  Then place it on a self-healing cutting board.  Trim any excess carefully with your x-acto knife.

Step 4: Apply silver metallic paste with your fingers to the doll's face.  Then apply metallic paste in color of your choice to the doll's hair.  

Step 5: Place the doll on a piece of carboard and take it outside.  Spray a layer or two of Krylon glossy over the doll. This will seal the metallic paste in.  Let dry in well ventilated area.

Step 6: Apply Stickles to the hair for a sparkly finish.  Allow the Stickles to dry.

Step 7: Glue a silver bail onto the back of the doll using E6000.  Allow the glue to dry in a well ventilated area.

Step 8: Package your dolls in a crafty and cute way using tags and rubber stamps!
Step 9: Give them to your friends!

Have fun making these and I'll return soon with lots of pre-party photos!

**03.07.10**-I've had several people ask me about the doll molds.  They are made from molding compound and one of my bisque doll heads.  You can purchase the mold material at Michael's near the UTEE.  These dolls are easy to find at antique stores, ebay, and etsy.  Thanks!

Silly Sunday

What a silly and fun Sunday I had with Lisa and Joan!  I went up to Lisa's a bit after noon and spent 8+ hours there shopping, chatting and working on Art Opera stuff.  Here is a random collection of photos from yesterday...

My ceramic packs for the Art Opera goodie bags.  I just dumped them all over Lisa's table when I got there, hehe.

Lisa picked out some pretty plates and napkins for the pre-party this coming saturday...

I got a sneak peek at some new pieces she made and I wanted to steal them all...

Humpty is my favorite!!!

Then after a few hours we got silly. I don't know why my crepe bandana is so low on my head...

The dog was NOT amused...

And if you are wondering about my "Glue Guns Greater Than Guns" shirt, it's from Mixed Species on Etsy.  That's hardcore crafting for you!

So all in all, it was a fun day that left me giggling all the way home.   

Making Spring

I don't know what the groundhog said but spring isn't coming fast enough.  Since I'm tired of seeing grey and white I thought I would create a piece that makes me think of spring.  Sorry for the stinky quality photos...

 

The flowers are from Cultivar and were bobby pins for a wedding.  After the wedding was over I wanted to be able to wear them again so I removed the pins and attached them to connectors from Bella Modo.  This blue flower is my favorite.  

 

Dyed pink seashells from a vintage necklace that I restrung.  I love these.  I'm hoping to find more of them.

A sweet little white and pink flower.  The chain is round brass and the entire piece looks so cute draped over a cardigan and camisole.

I can't wait until the weather clears up so I can start photographing my work outside again.  This indoor lighting near the window just isn't cutting it.  Oh spring, please hurry!

Snowmageddon II: Back with a Vengeance!

I know, the title is lame but really will it ever be spring?!? 

This is what I woke up to...

After cleaning off the cars I decided to torture myself further by making another snowman.  This one is smaller and lame compaired to the last one.  But hey, at least my neighbor gave me a giant carrot so now I have a Pinocchio snowman.  He keeps telling me that spring is almost here.  Liar.

 
Tomorrow I'm aiming to post photos of some spring necklaces because we could use some cheering up after all this gloomy winter weather. 

Happy Snow-Crafting!

Walnuts and Earrings

Walnuts and earrings?  Yes!  One of the wonderful things about working in clay is that you can press pretty much anything into it...and that includes walnut shells! 

These disc earrings were created out of a brown clay with a walnut shell pressed all over.  After it was bisque-fired a nice warm brown glaze was applied and fired again.  The earwires were formed out of 20  gauge sterling silver wire.

I've also been making some interchangeable earrings with my ceramic charms.  I use pre-made sterling silver kidney earwires (easier to buy these than to make them) and then wire-wrap the small charms with some beads. 

The pair of above is made from my new favorite watercolor glazes and vintage lucite beads.  I'll probably wear these at Art Opera!

Here's the same earwires but with a different set of charms...

 
I'm considering selling some interchangeable sets in my Etsy shop when I have my grand re-opening in April. 

Ok, I'm off to work on my swaps since Snowmageddon II is coming down outside and I'm not going anywhere!

Happy Crafting!  
  

Art Opera Matchbox Swap Teaser

As Art Opera gets closer I need to get working and finish my swaps!  I still have half of my torch-fired enamel charms to work on and I need to complete the inside of my matchboxes.  I thought I would show you just a teaser of my matchboxes though...  The complete boxes of all participants will be revealed right before the event!

The theme for the matchbox swap is "The Ocean", hence the little seashell. 

A little bit of Twinkling H20 paint and some velvet ribbon on top of vintage paper...

Layered blue tissue paper that was decoupaged on using matte gel medium...

Just a hint at the gift inside the box...

 
Can't wait to see what everyone else has created!  

New Glaze Results!

So Carla called me the other day and told me to come up to the studio to pick up a new batch of charms.  Well almost all of them came out fantastic.  I also tried a few new glazes and wanted to share the results with you all...

These are the very bold glazes I purchased at Pearl Paints...

I will need to apply the clear overglaze different because it didnt settle properly.  Next time I'll brush it on.

Then we have the watercolor glazes I bought from Ceramic Supply.  I painted these on, three coats each and then a clear overglaze.  I'm REALLY happy with how these turned out.  I have an entire palette to experiment with.

I have a huge pile of charms and pendants that need to be bisque-fired.  Once those are done I'm going to use a lot of the watercolor glaze.  So you might find yourself receiving one of these at Art Opera. 

Also, I'm hosting one final swap on the Art Opera yahoo group.  This one is the "Fill an Altoid Tin and Make a Friend" swap.  Check it out!
 

Moo!

No, not moo as in cow, moo as in Moo cards.  My new Moo business cards arrived yesterday and I thought I would show them off.  I designed these specifically for my ceramic charms, pendants and beads.  I forgot to photograph the back but there's a pic of a pair of ceramic earrings.

 
I used four different photos this time but plan to use even more on the next batch.

These will be going in my packets for the Art Opera goodie bags.

And I'll be more than happy to trade them with you at the unofficial official Moo card swap!

Happy Crafting!  

Parcel and a Winner!

So on Saturday, I met up with Lisa and Joan at Parcel in Montclair.  I was also introduced to some of their other super nice friends!  This is a really cool shop with all kinds of funky, vintage stuff.  It's like a stationary store gone crazy but in a really really good way.  It also happens to be in one of my favorite places to hang out in the summer.   

Now sadly, my camera battery was dying so I only got to take a few photos and out of those photos I only look half decent in this one...

Hopefully I look less scary in Lisa's photos!

Now we seem to have started a trend where we bring each other gifts each time we hang out and this time was no different.  I brought a bag of goodies for Lisa and she did the same.  Not too long ago I mentioned how I loved the two-headed doll she had made and how I also LOVE Alice in Wonderland.  So with that in mind, I give you Lisa's Alice's Wonderland Spell doll! 

I love her Lisa!!!

And she happens to go perfectly with the Cheshire Cat spool doll I custom ordered from Danita Art.

It's like I have my very own Wonderland!

Now I feel like I'm ready for the new Alice movie!

**And Congratulations to Trayna!  You are the winner of my One World One Heart giveaway!  I will contact you so I can ship your beads and charms out this week!  A big thank you to  Lisa Swifka for hosting this wonderful event!**