Patty Van Dorin

happy mothers day

Happy Mothers Day to all.
There are times when we are all mothers to someone in some form or function.
Today, I was acting as cat patrol until this little guy was able to fly away.

destashing the stash

Just added a bunch of stuff on my Etsy shop.
Big lots of stuff from paper to vintage linens.
I will be adding a few more boxes of destash stuff tomorrow.
click here for more details

spray paint journal

Lately, I haven't been working in my journals. I have been forcing myself to work in two of the current journals that I have but I hate them. HATE them, Hate working in them, nothing inspires me and I dislike everything about them. I am sick and tired of them.

Sometimes, this just happens.

Even though I HATE them, I am obsessive when it comes to completing a journal. I will finish them but I won't like it. Then I can move on. But it is interesting how my dislike of this book is showing in the pages I make. This is a good reminder that sometimes you just have to go with the movement of making something even if you don't like the results. It's all part of the creative process.

Here are some pages.

a big destash

Between moving to a smaller house and closing my scrapbook store, I have tons of great stuff, far more than I can ever use.

I decided to have a be destash sale and I have filled medium flat rate postage boxes full of good things. Each box will be slightly different but all will include:

a big bunch of ledger paper
vintage photographs
bag of beads
rubber stamps
Basic Grey ribbon spools
rub on transfers
fragment of an old quilt
paper
old poloroids
a mix of paper napkins (great for semi-transparent layering)
and a lot more.

Some of the items are new/old stock and some are lightly used but all items are clean and from a smoke free studio.

Each box will be packaged full and the price is $25.00 plus medium flat rate postage.

I have made 12 of these boxes and have them listed on etsy.

click here to go to my Etsy shop

color and patterns

This weekend:

The dining room light fixture was painted and hung.
Since repainting this room, I have been without a ceiling fixture. I just couldn't find the one I liked and one that was affordable and would work in a very tiny room.

Last week, I found this vintage 60's/70's era black wrought iron hanging lamp at a yard sale. It was a cheap and easy fix for a ceiling fixture and I just love it. The boldness and the scale of this lamp is just right.
Power washed, primed, spray painted with nickel paint, a light glaze of antiquing and new wiring, all for under $30.00.

It fits nicely with the modern Moroccan theme in this room that has quirky items that I have accumulated over the years, like the caffeine cat oil painting in the background.

A box turtle stopped by for a visit and lunch.

Isn't the pattern on the shell incredible!

A few new pieces made and added to my etsy shop. I love the beads on this choker.  I had been saving them for years and I love this piece. The largest bead has the best candy cane type ribbon lampwork detail.
Necklace 142

glaringly obvious

I took this photo below because I love this shelf in my studio so much, I though that it is so fine that I should share it on this blog.

But then once I had the picture on the computer, I wasn't so happy with it.

Sometimes something looks good only until you take a step back and look at it with a different set of eyes.

As much as I loove this shelf, it just wasn't me.

Thanks to Ralph, (not Ralph the Dog but Ralph Lauren) I was able to do a quickie transformation.





Leftover wallpaper and a couple of dots of hot glue made a fast transformation.

I like it.

Now if I only had better light so the pictures were better, but you get the idea.

gardenia and pansies in a planter box

in love with the window boxes this year

lime tree in a pot with lavender and diamond frost

a kitchen garden in it's early stages of construction
now that the irrigation is finished, there is no holding me back with the gardens

My timing was good and I was able to get two tomatoes planted despite having the yard torn up during irrigation trenching. There should be ripe tomatoes next week. There are big plans for a fall vegetable garden.

and back to the studio with a little vignette of favorite things
altered books
rhinestone bottles
a jar of special beads
vintage Christmas corsage
jar of buttons
collected shells

happy monday

Baronne Henriette de Snoy

keeping busy without much to post about

3 B's

Big Bead Bangle

love these big lampwork glass beads

I am thinking an armful of these big bead bangles would be fun.

large tribal beads from etsy, click here if you need some big beads

These would be interesting on a journal or any kind of mixed media, they have large holes so I can picture them laced with leather. All kinds of possibilities. In this mix there are a couple of pendant foil glass beads (with a single top drill hole).  So I am thinking.....