Hand Painted Cup with Gnomes and Mushrooms

Yesterday I finally got around to painting a coffee cup with gnomes, mushrooms and flowers. I had been thinking about doing this for quite a while, but have never sat down and actually done it. So here it is. I am planning on selling it as part of a shaving kit, along with my cold process shaving soap and a red shaving brush, which might have white polka dots. I still have to test the cup, respectively the durability of the paint before I list it in my etsy store, because I do not want to sell any inferior products. The paint I purchased said that once cured, it would be dishwasher safe, but I find that hard to believe. I think the best way to handle the cup is to handwash it.
I am currently obsessed with gnomes, so if this paint meets my expectations, there will be many more cups featuring gnomes and other fairy folk.

New Thrifting Find, A beautiful Noritake Tea Set

I am quite excited to have found this beautiful Noritake tea set. It was made in Japan and the pattern is just called #5455. This pattern was discontinued in 1955 and seems to be hard to find. I was almost tempted to keep it for myself, but the box in which I store the items I want to keep is getting quite full and I have made the resolution that once it is full and I want to keep something else, an item from the box has to go to make space for a new one. (I think I have been watching too many episodes of "Hoarders" and it has scared me. Plus I am really more of a coffee person anyway.
So if you are interested in the set, it is for sale in my Etsy store

Resin Shaving Brush Handles Part Two

I did another casting of the shaving brush handle and it did not turn out either. This time I added more catalyst. The casting turned out hard, but very bumpy and unveven. It could be the mold release I put on the mold. So now on to part III of adventures in resin casting. Maybe three really is a charm?!
It better, because I am getting quite frustrated and the entire house reeks from the resin.

Resin Shaving Brush Handles

After a few failures, I finally succeeded in making a flexible mold for my shaving brush handles. The mold turned out nicely, showing all the fine details. So yesterday, I went and purchased casting resin, and cast my very first shaving brush handle. I followed the instructions closely, making sure that I used the recommended ratio of resin and catalyst. unfortunately, when I unmolded it this morning, after 18 hours of curing, the surface of the cast was so sticky, that it pulled resin strings. I don't understand what happened, and I am quite discouraged by the results and not just a little disappointed, especially since I can see the details cast very nicely. I guess I could try and clean out the now sticky, coated with uncured resin, mold and cast another piece, this time with more than the recommended amount of catalyst. It would have been such a nice piece! On the more positive side, I tried to achieve the look of ivory and succeeded and all the details are beautiful, so all I need to figure out is how to cast it without it being sticky.
In the photo you can see how sticky it is. With a little imagination, one can see the similarity to ivory. I had planned on applying a patina with a dark brown glaze to highlight the flowers and give it a more authentic ivory look. Well, hopefully the second time around will work.

New women's shaving items

A few weeks ago, I was semi-ranting about women not having enough choice in shaving products. Well, I have been working diligently to remedy this. Below you will see pictures of 2 new shaving kits, specifically for women. I hade made 3, but already sold one with a pink shaving brush. One of them (the silver one) is available for purchase in my Etsy store. The other one will be listed for sale soon. I am also making a gold, a baby pink and a medium blue brush. They are almost done and will also be for sale soon. The third picture is a cup I adorned with polymer clay flowers, to give it that feel of the expensive antique ornate porcelain cups. The fimo is triple sealed and securely adhered to the cup.
I have also made a prototype for a resin handle I want to cast and tried to make a mold out of plaster, but miserably failed. Back to the drafting table!

Pictures of Thrift Store Finds

As promised, here are some pictures of the latest finds. Unfortunately while cleaning and inspecting the dragonware tea set, I discovered that one of the saucers had been repaired. So now I will sell the set with 4 cups and saucers, instead of 6, because I think that if I sold it with 5 it would seem incomplete?!

Exciting Thrift Store Finds

On Saturdays, I usually do laundry and clean the house in the morning. This Saturday, I really did not feel like it at all and when my friend Judy texted me and asked me if I wanted to go thrifing, I was happy to be able to escape my chores.
And it was a good thing I went, because I found the most beautiful teaset. It is a dragonware tea set, with a geisha lithophane on the bottom of each cup. The set has 6 cups and saucers, one tea pot, one creamer, one sugar bowl, and six luncheon plates and so far all of them seem to be in great condition.
I will give them a closer examination tomorrow, and I will also take some pictures and post them.
I also found 3 Royal Halsey tea cups in equally great condition. Pictures coming soon, too. Boosted by my success yesterday, I decided to stop by our nearest Savers today, and found 4 Otagiri goblets in the Horizon pattern, one Otagiri sugar bowl in the Mariner pattern and a porcelain cameo, depicting a couple. The front says Fragonart, and the back says "made in France, Limoges". A very nice piece, too.
In the coming weeks I will go through all my thrift store finds and start listing them in my Etsy store. I have accumulated boxes full of treasures and it is getting harder to part with them every day. If this keeps up, I will be one of the people in the television series Hoarders! I have a bunch of boxes in our bedroom, which is really not where they belong. I need to get the stuff out of the house and into my studio, which is a 500 square foot pool house. I have already partially built my office area, but then had to quit because of my arm surgery. I feel good enough to do at least some minor woodworking to at least finish the desk and shelves. I probably shouldn't, but I need to focus my energy on something other than thrifting, or we will be buried alive.
I also would like to build a 5 foot wide pantry area with wire shelves in the kitchen area, so I have a designated and larger space to cure my soaps. Let's hope my arm is up to it.
Well, enough for today. I have to get some rest, because I made myself tired with all that work I was talking about.
Like I said, pictures of my finds will be posted within the next couple days.

Honey Mint Soap

My Honey Mint soap is finally ready to sell. I will list it in my Etsy store within the next few days. I still have to take pictures, etc.

Women's Shaving Brushes

Today I finished the prototype or original for the resin shaving brush handles I am going to create. I used polymer clay and embellished the base with flowers and leaves. I was trying to create a look similar to handcarved wood or ivory. Tomorrow I will build the mold and then try and cast my very first shaving brush handle. IF it turns out the way I envisioned it, I will be able to cast handles in many different colors, based on the availability of resin colorants.
I will post a picture of the finished product soon.

Thrifting Finds

As promised here is a photo of most of the items I found while thrifing this past weekend

Starting at the front left: a bone china cup without handles. (It has undecipherable Japanese or Chinese characters as a pottery mark). Next, a cute floral design cup, made in Japan, three (3) porcelain spice jars, featuring the blue onion pattern. Even though, these don't have any pottery mark or identifying mark, they are almost certainly made in Germany, as the writing on the lids, Kümmel, Curry, Nelken (caraway, curry, cloves) is in German. I will not put these up for sale in my Etsy store, until I can find out some more info on them. Next to them, 2 vintage Trader Vics salt and pepper shakers, an Otagiri, Japan, large mug/stein featuring an embossed sea gull/ beach scene, a Royal Sealy sugar jar, featuring a pink and yellow rose design and lastly a footed, cup without handles with a pink rose and border and gold plated rim, without a pottery mark.
Most of these items will get listed in the near future in my Etsy store.

Pink Shaving Brushes

Yesterday I finally finished my first 2 pink shaving brushes. They turned out quite nicely.
The reason I started making pink brushes is that shaving items for women are very hard to find. Even though women are expected by society to shave, there are only a few products on the market, and if one can find something, it is definitely over priced. Just try googling "women's shaving brushes", or "pink shaving brushes" and you will see what I mean.
To obtain a quality razor, I always have to go into the men's shaving section, and the shaving store at the mall is definitely for men only. Men have to option to go without shaving if they feel like it, women don't have that luxury.
While in the last few years handmade women's shaving soaps have become more widely available, the other items, such as razors and brushes, etc. still have limited availability.
Because of this, I have decided to focus more on women's shaving items. In the near future I will have more colors and matching sets of cups and brushes and even razors available in my Etsy store.
Keep checking back for new products. Here is a picture of the 2 shaving brushes I just finished. They are not available in
my store yet, as I have not had the time to list them.

New Thrifting Finds

I went thrifting this weekend and found quite a few items, which I will post pictures of and write about in a future post. The one item I am really excited about is a HOBO International cognac leather purse, which is in pristine condition. The purse model is Hobo Lola in cognac leather. It retails for $158 and I found it for $2, yes, 2 dollars!!! It is exactly what I was looking for, because it is really plain, without any embellishments and it perfectly matches the color of my pair of Pappagallo woven oxford shoes. The reason I am so very excited about this is that I have a horrible time finding a purse I like, because most of them are too ornate. They have too much gold or silver, or too many tassels, etc. on them for my liking. I prefer classic, or as my daughters call it, a boring plain style, which seems very hard to find. So now I can finally retire my worn out black plain and boring Coach purse, which I have been using for years, whether it matched my outfit or not. I think the fashion police, aka my daughters, will be happy :)

Brooch Bridal Bouquet

This beautiful bouquet is handmade with silk and satin flowers and highlighted with rhinestone, glass pearl and aurora borealis glass beads. It is made by my youngest daughter, who has decided to make bridal items and sell them, so she can support herself during her last year of undergraduate architecture studies, and hopefully save enough money to pay for graduate school. Here is her Etsy Shop link: www.floweredsplendor.etsy.com
Please take the time and look at it. She will be adding more related bridal items soon.

New Soap!! Honey Mint soap made with Honey from Uppsala, Sweden.

Here are a couple of pictures of the soap I made today. It is honey mint soap, made with honey from the linden tree blooms of linden trees, that are growing in the backyard of a family friend in Uppsala, Sweden. The honey tastes sooo good, and I am sure it will be equally wonderful (just not tasty :) )in the soap. The soap will be unmolded tomorrow evening and cut into bars and then needs to cure for 3 to 4 weeks. It will be available for sale in my Etsy store in about a month, so check it out.

What's new?

Things are moving right along. I am able to use my right arm again. And even though it does not fully straighten and I am only allowed to lift very light things, I am happy to be able to type and and write and do other small things. In the meantime, while I was bored to death, I went thrifting. I found a bunch of stuff and will post pictures asap. I was also given a dining room table and chairs by a dear friend who moved away. It needs a remake and I found an example online of what I want it to look like. I also planned overhauls of the office area and the kitchen in my studio. Yep, lots of ideas and plans. That's what happens when one can't do anything and has too much time to plot. I will post pictures of my recent thrift store finds soon, and I will also document the new projects, once I start working on them. Can't wait to get started!!

Back in Business! New Pink Soaps.

Today it has been 2 weeks exactly since my surgery. Everything went well and I am on the road to recovery, even though it will be another 3 to 4 months until I am even allowed to lift even the lightest thing. My biggest problem, as anticipated, is extreme boredom. There is only so much one can do with the left hand only. I am sick and tired of taking it easy and reading and watching tv etc.,so today I decided to drive myself to a couple of nearby thrift stores. I also put my Etsy store back online. I made enough soap before my surgery, so I don't have to worry about running out. All I need is help with the packaging. I made several kinds of soap. Besides for the regular Prickly Pear, Tea Tree Oil & Shea Butter shaving soap, I also made a pink Pomegranate, Vanilla, Lavender shaving soap and a pink 100% Castile soap. Both are made with Pink French clay. The great thing about pink clay is that it is very mild and does not dry out the skin, so even people with dry skin will be able to use it. The pink clay makes the castile soap not only a pretty color, it gives it purifying properties for people (and babies) with even the most sensitive skin. I reformulated the pomegranate shaving soap and according to everyone I have given it to test, it has a more luxurious and silky long lasting lather than its predecessor. And let's not forget, it smells oh so good! Well, if you have read this, check out my Etsy store (even though the new soaps are not listed yet) www.xclusivedesigns.etsy.com

What to do with my time.

So tomorrow is the big day. I am finally having surgery on my right arm, which has been hurting furiously since May of 2011. After many doctor and specialist visits, many, many tests, physical therapy and cortisone injections, the medical community(and more importantly, my insurance company), have finally come to the same conclusion I did over 6 months ago: my arm is not getting better without surgery. Since I have multiple problems in that arm (torn tendons, bone spurs, ulnar nerve compression), I opted for having 2 surgeries at once, so I don't have to go "under the knife" twice. That way I have a scar on each side of my arm I can brag about. Of course this will prolong recovery time to at least 3 months before I can lift even something light :(
And unfortunately it is my right arm. By trying to prepare myself and using primarily my left arm, I have come to the realization that I might as well have a foot on my left wrist, because that's how bad my dexterity is with that left hand. Just trying to use the mouse on my pc with the left hand, makes me want to scream.
This means all project will have to come to a screeching halt, and let me tell you there are many! My Etsy store is in vacation mode and even though I made plenty of soap beforehand, I will need to wait until my youngest daughter comes home from college for the summer to do all the packaging and shipping for me.
So what am I going to do with myself? I cannot stand to stay in bed for longer than a day, and that is even when I am quite sick, so what am I going to do for 3 months without being able to work on my projects?
I guess I will dream up new ones, watch lots of home improvement shows and read a lot of books?! That will get old after about a week!
I started making a list of things to do while laid up, but could not come up with a whole lot of stuff that sounded even remotely interesting.
I also have been practicing to drive with my left hand only, which went fine, as long as I don't attempt to parallel park. Yeah, that did not go so well. I guess I could always just drive forward :)
Well, anyways the soap is made, and I now have all the time in the world to go thrifting.
So wish me luck, because the surgery is on a Friday the 13th, and even though I am not in the least superstitious, it is amazing how many other people are and have told me I would be wise to reschedule. There is a bright side to this: if many people feel like that, surgery volume for that day should be low and my surgeon will have all the time in the world to concentrate on getting things done right with my arm.
From now on posts will be shorter and fewer, because I am an impatient person and have no desire to have to type my ramblings with one finger.
But maybe I could get a secretary? :)
So if you read this and have suggestions and or comments, please leave them, because I am sure I will be bored out of my mind.

new soap supplies

I am going to make new soap this weekend. I finally received my orders in the mail this week. I bought Fench green clay from Portugal, and I also bought French pink clay, which is supposed to be the mildest clay.
The green clay I will use for the prickly pear soap, and the pink clay for the pomegranate shaving soap. I hope it will color the soap accordingly. That would look very nice. I am still debating if I should get the yellow clay for the dandelion root soap!?
I will have to make lots of soap before April 13th, so I have a lot in stock. I am going to have major surgery on my right arm, and will basically be out of commission for a few months. The doctor gave me a recovery time of 3-4 months, with NO use of my arm during that entire time. Not good!! That means no new jewelry, no mosaics, no painting. That is going to drive me crazy. What am I going to do with myself for that time period? I guess I will have to do a lot of thrifting, that is if I can drive myself. Looks like I better start making a list of activities I can do while laid up.
I am also trying to decide if I should close my Etsy shop for a while, but I think with the help of my family and friends, I can still run it and just have them package the orders for me. We shall see how that works out!
Oh, and I messed up one of the circuit board pendants shown in the previous post. As usual the resin ended up with a big air bubble in one of them, even though I followed directions to the t. I HAVE to find another resin besides the Magic-Glos. I tried to use the torch as suggested to get the bubble out, and all it did was mess up the pendant even further.
Well, nothing I can do about it now. On to making soap! Pictures will follow.

New jewelry

I made 4 new pendants out of circuit board. The green circuit board is from my old laptop, the purple board I found at a thrift store. I added Swarovski crystals and polymer clay to the circuit board to make the pendant less boring. The two square small pendants still need to be covered with UV resin, but it has not been sunny enough and too windy to finish them. The resin dome will enhance the single Swarovski crystal on it and make it sparkle even more. Once all the pendants are finished and I have had a chance to take pictures, they will be listed in my Etsy store

Past Artist in Residence Project

So I decided it is time to post someting other than soap stuff again.
A few years ago, when I was artist in residence at a local elementary school, I did some paintings on the walls in the media center. The paintings are in the shape of books. The books are curiculum based themes, as in "the rainforest, fractured fairy tales and the desert". To make them more interesting for the students, the books are "I Spy- books" with objects hidden in them for the students to find. I wrote a poem for each book which listed the things to find.
So how about it, can you find everything?

New Shampoo Bars

I made new shampoo bars today. This time, I made a bigger 4+ pound batch, because I spent yesterday morning building a mold out of leftover wood we had laying around the house. I adapted the recipe to fit the new mold perfectly.
The soap is a Pomegranate, Vanilla, Lavender shampoo bar and it smells so good.
It should be ready in about 3 to 4 weeks.
I am going to make Honey Mint soap tomorrow, as soon as I have unmolded this batch, so I can use the new mold again.

New Soap

I also made two batches of soap this weekend. Both batches are shampoo bars. One is a tea tree oil bar and the other a pomegranate, vanilla, lavender bar.
Both shampoos will be cured and listed in my Etsy store in about 3-5 weeks.

Exciting New Finds

I went thrifting on Saturday and found some very nice items.
A jar made by the Hermann Ohme Porcelain Factory. The pottery mark indicates that it was made in the period from 1895-1910. The Ohme factory was located in a town called Niedersalzbrunn, in Silesia. The area now belongs to Western Poland and the town is called Walbrzych. It is quite the find, because Silesia/Ohme pottery is a highly sought after collectible :)
The next find, a Noritake cup and saucer, are similar to the saucer I blogged about a while ago. This set is also white with the yellow band that is covered by an ornate hand painted heavy gold floral design. The set was made during the deco period from 1918-1921. By the way, the other saucer is even older and was made in 1908.
Of course I am thinking about keeping the cup and saucer for myself.
It seems the box with items I intend to keep is getting fuller and fuller.

oh so pretty!!

I found this pink glass tidbit today. I am certain it is vintage depression glass, even though I have not been able to find one like it anywhere online to see what it is worth.
Lately I have become obsessed with the pink glass items. I just love them, even though I am really not a big fan of pink in general. I think my daughters have infected me :)
Well, here is the picture. Isn't it oh so pretty?

Past mosaic art pieces

This mosaic piece is called "Celebrate Kids". The students of Palm Valley Elementary School each drew a picture of a child performing a task or having fun etc. Each class chose one drawing, which was then turned into a mosaic and mounted onto the center "fountain" in the school courtyard. Above you can see the entire fountain and a couple close ups of individual fields. This was my first major mosaic public art piece, which I completed with the assistance of the PVES art teacher.

Latest Favorite Finds

Here are some pictures of my latest favorite finds.
I love the little cactus salt and pepper shakers. They are so fitting for Arizona, even though they are vintage and made in Japan.
The cigar boxes are wonderful, too. I will put shaving soap, a shaving brush, and if the size allows, even a shaving mug in them. That will make a great gift.
The beautiful saucer is made by Noritake. The ornate gold decoration is dimensional and the photos do not do the vividness of the shine justice.
I also found 2 Salem Streamline art deco sugar bowls without a lid. I will post pictures as soon as I get around to taking them.

Doug Wiley Dolphin Mugs

Here are 2 beautiful Doug Wiley dolphin mugs, that won't end up on Etsy, because they are made in 1999 and do not qualify for the vintage category. That does not really upset me though, because I was thinking about keeping them for myself anyway.
My wonderful neighbor and friend, Judy, found them while thrifting in California and brought them back for me.

New Year, new projects

Happy New Year. So far, it is not much different than the old one, same old, same old. I have decided to start on a new, smaller glass mosaic. I took some photos of flowers while I was on vacation in Germany last summer, and one of those flowers was my favorite kind : wild bush roses, that grow on the side of the road. This will be the first time I am going to use just grey tones to create a picture. It will be approximately 28" by 28". That should be an easier sell than the big tropical glass mosaic I finished a couple months ago. Now if I can just refrain from re-doing it over and over again because I imagine flaws no one else can ever see, this mosaic could be ready in a couple months. The picture above is the enlarged photograph, in a grey scale.
Hopefully my mosaic will look as good.