Quick Five! Ceramics

 

Time for a Quick Five!  The Pinterest junky strikes again!  I love looking at all the new (at least new to me) creations from around the world.  Today, I'm highlighting ceramics.  ...and these aren't your Grandma's ceramics.  They're contemporary and quirky and useful for our lifestyles today.

 

I would say years ago we were stuck on achieving perfectionism, but look at the beauty expressed in this set of pink bowls. I've recently turned my attention to pink and so this creation caught my eye by color first.  The style however, is intriguing... not perfect... free.  You can find this item on Pinterest at amaisaigon.com.  Amai Ceramic has many similar pieces in a variety of colors.

 

We don't have an artist to highlight on this next photo, so maybe they'll see this and claim their art!  Again, the beauty to me is in the natural flow of the piece. The edges are imperfect and reflects real life.  The imperfections are perfect and the color draws you in!  Every Grandma needs a candy dish like this!  You can also find this on Babble.com, if you search for it!  I was unable to actually locate the original post.

These tree ornaments are made in Istanbul, Turkey by Hande Bilten and can be found in her store at etsy.com.  My link goes directly to the store.   I think she's done a fabulous job, don't you?  I don't know how green trees on a green tree will look, but perhaps you have a white tree... or better yet, a pink tree!  Yeah, I've seen those!  Anyway, I'm a sucker for ornaments.  Guilty!

 

Look at this amazing gadget!  JoAnna Buyert from Minneapolis has this great idea at her store, Fringe and Fettle.  It's located on Etsy.  This is perfect for small fruit!  I've used my hand many times and often wished I had a small strainer like this.  Great idea to solve this little issue.  This store has many interesting ceramic items for sale.  Way to go JoAnna!

Elsa Kettinger also has the inventors gene! From Rochester, NY, Elsa makes these pretty gadgets that make your iPhone easy to see while you're working.  I've often wished for this as well while cooking from a new recipe!  I've been afraid of my phone getting wet or having a splash of food on it.  Check her out at her store Elsakstudios on Etsy.com.  Geeze, why didn't I think of this!  Oh yeah, I don't do ceramics...

Well, that's it for today.  I love these items and can only dream about them and, of course, purchase my favorites from others... unless I get started making ceramics!  Maybe another day.  I might try salt dough, though, to see if I like it.  

GOALS

Hello World!

Do you have your New Year's resolutions made?  I usually break mine within two weeks, so I decided this year to make goals!  I started making goals when I was about 20 years old - not for the new year, but just in general.  Once I make a goal, I then determine the tasks I must complete to reach the goal.  Then, it's time to go with it!

I love the movie, "Julie and Julia," and was able to watch it last week.  Wow, she bit off a little more than she could chew!  But, she did it!  She learned so much and accomplished her mission!  And...she was discovered by many professionals - publishers, editors and news people.  I also love the beautiful story she uncovered about Julia Child!  Such effort put into something wonderful....food! 

I would love to be like Julie, but I just think a challenge to be filled every day would be too much and I would be laying in the floor like she did, crying about how hard it is!  haha  Instead I made goals I think I can reach at my age!

So....here they are:

• Post 30 items to the local online auction each week.  My husband and I have created a little income this year from this little auction and it's easy peasy and it will provide an extra income to be applied in different areas - hopefully my business!
• Refurbish and post one piece of furniture each month. I am way new to this, but I think I can do it.  I want to start small and then challenge myself with bigger or better things each month.  Maybe I'll eventually post them to Craigslist or an online site in the city.
• Post 7 items per week to the Etsy store.  I just think it would be nice to have an item to represent each day of the year.  I probably won't work on it every day though.  Maybe on one day, and then post on another day.
• Post 10 items per week to bigger online sites.  If I can group those posts to a particular time and place, I can make one trip out to meet my customers and possibly , because it will be larger communities, get a better price for them.
• Repair the building we own in town.  My husband and I have a building in town that we used for a pawn shop before I started working.  We hope to repair it enough to store all our items.  It has a bad roof leak and old items from the pawn shop.  No plans on opening the doors, just want to use for a warehouse of sorts.
• Quit my part-time job.  Scary, right?  Yeah.  I've been thinking about it for at least two years!  I think this is the year though.  I make good money, but went from full-time to part-time to take care of my mother.  Well, it's really hard to leave town now to go to work, so I need to do things so I can stay close to her.  So this should explain the the other goals above.  I hope I make enough to be able to quit my job...

Do you have any "goals" for 2017?  I'd love to know about them, if you want to send them in a comment below! 

Happy New Year!!!

VALERA GRACE

 

 

Find us on Etsy.com.  Just click on our name above

and it will take you right to our shop.

UPCYCLED - BIRD FEEDER

Well, look at us go!  We're off for a few days during the holiday season and it has been a great time to work on a few projects!  Remember last year during the city-wide cleanup?  Well, we have repurposed an old chandelier into an adorable bird feeder.  The great thing about this project, is we have plenty of extra pieces for some other ideas we are cooking up!

Today, Brooke tore into one of the two chandeliers we found.  After disassembling it, she reassembled it into a new creation.  We found an additional piece for the large seed holder and also added a chain for hanging.  Look at it now!

She literally spent $0 on this project.  The Hubby had some extra paint from an old project and he always has nuts and bolts for us to pilfer through!  We are just in love with it and actually would like to keep it for ourselves. 

Hope you like it!  It's a great motivation to get started on some new projects for the new year!

You can find our store, Valera Grace, on Etsy.com.

 

RESOLUTIONS

Oh my goodness!!!  We are nearing 2017! 

I'm so thankful for all the blessings we received in 2016.  However, it was a little depressing to see the passing of so many celebrities as well as friends and family.  With the changing of the year, I'm hopeful for good things to come.

Each year, I try to review what the year brought.  Let's take a look.

• Remodeled the rent house for my Mother
• Regulated Mom's meds
• Reinvigorated my blogs
• Completed many crafts
• Held on to my part-time job
• Completed surveys, focus groups, transcriptions and coding for work
• Attended (or sent my husband to) many auctions
• Sold many items on the local auction site
• My son (Nicholas who lives in Maryland) came home for a wonderful visit
• Saw my son (Jaydin) marry the love of his life
• Watched sons and daughter-in-law (Jaymin, Jaydin and Miranda) graduate from college
• Enjoyed my grandson (Mattox) during the week days
• Met my daughter's future husband (he doesn't know it yet)
• Oldest son (James) landed a job within the state, so now he's close enough to come home quickly
• Drove my dear friend to western Oklahoma
• Hosted music sessions for my husband and his musician friends

So, it was a good year after all!  I'm just so happy that I'm here on earth and able to see the family growing and, at the same time able to enjoy the simple things in life that I have longed for.

 

But, I'm a dreamer... I dream about my future life at my home out in the country.  I dream about gardening and enjoying the sunshine.  I dream about creating and making things with my hands.  I dream about selling my beautiful creations online because I have too many pretty things.  I dream about my children coming home with their children to enjoy a long weekend together.  I dream about the future grandchildren and the music they make when they laugh.

 

I'm ready to welcome 2017!

TRASH TO TREASURE

Every year, my town has a clean-up day.  Each homeowner can haul all their unusually big trash to the curb for the city to pick up.  These are items that they otherwise would not be able to place in the regular trash cans during the year.  Each year, this is my family's adventure!  We cruise the town (population 2,500) to find items we think we can upcycle.  This year, my daughter and I went together.  We giggled so much as we found several items to redo.  There's just something about digging through other people's trash that gives you the giggles.  Maybe it's a twinge of fear that someone will catch us!  ...or maybe it's the thrill of finding something we think still has value.  ...or maybe it's the fact that there's no price tag on the items on public display.  At any rate, this year we had an absolute blast!

Being the procrastinator I am, I'm just now getting started on the hard part of one of my projects.  Here's what we found in June.  Isn't this loveseat and chair just lovely.  When we saw it, we immediately saw good bones.  Once we got them home, we realized the seat was in great shape too!  


The first task we completed was taking off all the dried-up plastic/wicker from the arms and the back.  Easy-peasy! 

Next, we needed to locate something to replace the backs of the chairs.  Well....it just so happened, the hubby just attended a local auction and purchased two huge wooden speakers for $1.  He purchased them for the wood.  He buys wooden objects cheap and then takes them apart to make bee hive boxes.  Well, these speakers had a strong mesh that worked perfectly for our chair backs.  With an electric drill, the hubby quickly applied the mesh by wrapping and screwing them into the metal frames.

We walked one block to the local Dollar General to buy a few cans of black paint....and a few hours later...walla!  We immediately liked the result of the black paint!  Even the mesh took the paint well! 

For a few weeks, we studied the arms and realized we needed something that looked similar to the plastic wicker.  ...but we didn't want plastic.  We wanted something strong that would hopefully last a little longer.  We looked high and low.  Pinterest didn't even have any real ideas of what we wanted to do on the arms.  However, Pinterest did have a few chairs with woven seats out of nylon rope. So, after much deliberation, we decided to buy some nylon rope.  We went with an 4mm craft cord made by Bonnie.  Since the chairs were black, we went with a black and white cord, hoping that would give us some flexibility with color for the cushions

Fast forward to November....  Okay, so a lot happened between July and November!  I fit it in when I can...don't judge me!

Anyway, on a lazy Saturday, I pulled my cord out of the closet and thought I would try out weaving the arms.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I thought long and hard about it every night before falling to sleep, so I kinda came up with what I wanted to do, but didn't really know if it would work.  It would definitely be a "test." 
What do you think?  I first applied long lines of cord parallel to the metal frame.  I looped them around the breaks provided about every two feet.  Then I took the rest of the cord and wove it through the original cords.  I couldn't fit the whole ball of cord through the spaces, so I had to cut shorter lengths to pull through.  Each time I added more cord, I just tied a triple knot and made sure it fell on the underside of the arm.
 
I'm still not finished with the project...for one thing, I ran out of cord.  Again, I had no idea how much cord I would need!  So, we'll be ordering more soon.  And then there was the matter of the cushions.  I priced cushions at JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby, but, since this was an upcycle, I thought they were too expensive.  For a nice 4" cushion, it would have cost me about $80.  So, I went to Facebook and asked my friends if they knew of a couch with removable cushions that anyone was trying to get rid of.  I knew I could cut them down and recover.  Low and behold, there was someone giving a couch and chair away!!!  I couldn't believe it and certainly didn't expect it!  ...and the awesome thing is the cushions fit the chair perfectly!  Now all I have to do is find some free fabric and we'll be good.  In the mean time, this works for me!

 
This project has been so much fun!  I still have to weave the loveseat and cover the cushions, but I just couldn't wait to share this project with you!  Maybe by Spring I'll have an update on the completed project!

Quick Five! Christmas

Well, it's only October, but Christmas is coming on fast!  I went to the store today and caught the bug because of all the Christmas items that are out already!  Well, the funds are slim this year, so...I found a few cute things on Pinterest today that I want to try.  So simple and a great way to use what I have!

Don't you just love this modern twist on a door wreath?  With a quick splash of spray paint and a few decorated ornaments and ribbon, you can turn a discarded frame into a fabulous Christmas display.  I love this and it will be a great project to work on with my Mom.

Since we are living in a smaller house, how about a smaller tree - a skinny tree!  There's a slight possibility I won't have to move anything out of the living room for a tree like this.  The featured tree was made by the owner, so...no tree purchase!  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.... 

I love these cute ornaments!  Do you have some canning lids and an unused  flannel shirt that can work for this one?  Plaid is in, so this project is a perfect one for this year

I also love these beautiful heart ornaments too!  Well, let's just say I love all kinds of ornaments!  But these might be some of my recent favorites.  They are so sweet and dainty.  utilize those old broaches in your costume jewelry box and spruce up your tree with these treasures.

Now let's not forget the grandchildren in all this celebration!  I have Mattox, my two-year old bundle of unlimited energy with me most days and I think this would make the perfect gift for his parents.  He loves doing things for others and he will be so proud of this one for Christmas.  It's never too early to teach the kids how to give.



Well, I hope you enjoyed my quick five for today!  Now all I want to do is get started making some Christmas cheer!

EXPECTATIONS

And so....my expectations have been low.  I love creating, blogging, and posting items to Etsy, but didn't expect anything until I work it at all levels.  I just made an online sale last week but didn't expect to sell anything else for a long time.  Then "BAM," sold a wood sign today!  It gives me hope that Etsy actually works!  Thank you, if you read my blog and/or ordered my product.  It's much more than a sale to us, its a hope for the future!

Downside of Being New to Etsy.com

Good Morning!

Being relatively new to Etsy.com is not easy!  We've actually been on for over a year...just haven't gotten much action.  The downside to Etsy is its really hard to get some momentum going!

By reading the Etsy Blog, I've learned that I must post something every day!  I've been working on this blog, Facebook and Pinterest, so everything is in place.  I think God is telling me to get more active on Etsy, because we sold a bracelet yesterday!  Whoohoo! 

Time to get moving!  Post, post, post!

Quick Five! Jewelry

Time for a break with a Quick Five!  I've been working on a lovely quilt I can't wait to finish, but wanted to touch base with the blog before time gets away from me again!

Today, I'm admiring upcycled jewelry!  My sister recently designed her very own beer cap necklace for a beer fest in Texas!  I loved the idea and she received many comments about the inspiring piece!  Maybe I'll get a picture of it some day to post here! 

I wanted to start off with this cute belt buckle necklace.  Adorable with the little charm in the middle, don't you think! You can find this and much more at  braceletsfor-all.blogspot.com.

A simple, but lovely idea, is using worn items found on the shore.  I love how the artist placed the jewels with coordinating colors next to this lovely blue piece of worn sea glass.  It's simple and classy.

You can find this and many more sea glass creations on Etsy.com.  The selection is enormous!





Can you believe someone saved old watches and harvested the faces?  Well, someone did and they are so cool on this layered necklace.  This one was found on Pinterest and was posted by Anthillantiques.com.  Try the website out to see some fantastic designs!




Another amazing artist can be found at KayAdams.com.  This necklace is a "one-of-a-kind" work of art with layers of vintage jewels!  The amount of time to collect all those bits and pieces must have been extensive.  Kay Adams' collection is extensive and a must see for vintage upcycled jewelry.


And finally, we arrive at an original Valera Grace design.  Just wanted to prove a point that we can design a piece of jewelry with just about any type of material we have or find. 

This one is by Brooke - simple, yet charming.  We are only limited by our imaginations!  Hope you have a fun day crafting!  Can't wait to see more creations online!