Cris' Page

Bottle Caps, Bottle Caps and more Bottle Caps!

2012-01-09T19:22:00.000-10:00

Aloha! Think this will be a long post since I have so many pictures to share. Maybe that will make up for not posting in so long :) Lots has been going on but somehow I don't seem to ever sit down to share things with you...sorry about that!

I've been making several jewelry pieces but for now I want to share a combination of my two favorite obsessions.... my little grandson, Sammy and Bottle Caps. Last summer (check out the earlier posts) I had fun making some Sammy jewelry using Samuel Adams bottle caps. Since DH and I don't drink beer, I was having a hard time finding friends to drink enough Samuel Adams beer to have bottle caps to play with. After confessing I had poured some down the drain to get the caps, friends have been making sure I have enough to play with without ever letting that happen again!!

I find them at my front door....

(mahalo Rita!)

I find them on my lanai....

(mahalo Mary!)

and friends have hit up bars.....

(mahalo Bruce and Dave!)

and of course have my Art Charm Buddies sending me ones in the mail (mahalo nui loa!)

So now I have the bag above and....

this nice, big jar of caps to play with--Woohoo! Have quite a collection of different kinds of caps now. I've been putting them to good use too. Some, I domed then soldered together and some I left flat, added photos, sealed them in resin. I also tried a new technique I found in the Nov. Cloth, Paper, Scissor magazine on a few where they are domed and covered with rice paper. They're pretty cool too.

My favorites are the ones with Sammy photos of course!

And here are some of the things I made with them....

A bracelet and earrings for me and a set for Sammy's Mom, Keely.

And a necklace & earring set for someone special in Sammy's life - you know who you are :)

Have more braclets and necklaces in the works for other special people in Sammy's life too. So fun! Thinking I'll try making some key chains or something along that line... Dads and Papas need Sammy things too :)

So...thought I give you a couple of pointers in case you'd like to try making some bottle cap goodies for yourself. The first bottle cap balls I made were a bit smaller. I cut the ruffly part off with tin snips before I domed them with the dapping block. If you are using tin snips, please, please, please, be careful! I got so many cuts from those sharp edges! You could probably use a metal punch set but it would have to be a really strong one to cut that thick metal. Here is a pic of the dapping block in case you're wondering what the heck that is!

It's a clever little gadget usually made out of steel with several sizes of concave half circles. Using a hammer, steel punches of corresponding sizes are used to form a flat piece of metal into curved shapes. On those first ones, I started with the largest half circle and worked my way down until I had it domed to the size I wanted. Took forever! Later found that you don't really need to start out larger--just go with the size you want and go slowly. I tried some without trimming off the ruffle and think I like those better. Just so plump and fun! Next I held the two halves together and sealed the edge with copper foil tape and soldered them together just like you do when you're making a Stained Glass piece. (Always use solder that does not contain lead when you're using it in jewelry or anything that would touch your skin). Be sure to burnish the foil well to the metal.

I found a great tutorial on YouTube (sorry, I couldn't re-find it to give credit to the right person) on how to remove those pesky plastic liners from the inside the caps. She used a little hot plate like you use for keeping your cup of coffee warm at your desk and set the caps on for a few seconds each. For the ones she was doing, she left one cap on the warmer for 7 seconds and another brand for 9 seconds. Can't remember which ones she was using, they weren't ones I have in my stash, but I was surprised different ones took different times. Sure enough, each cap brand behaves a bit differently. One Hawaiian brand beer cap just kind of melted away, some just popped off easily, and others took a bit of tugging. Instead of using a coffee cup warmer (since I don't have one!) I used the heating plate of our coffee maker. I just put several caps down on the warming plate instead of doing them one at a time. Picked the cap with pliers after it heated up and grabbed the liner with a needle tool and lifted it off. The caps do get hot so don't grab them with you fingers! Got those liners off in no time!!

Hope this inspires you to up-cycle some bottle caps!

Aloha!

2011-10-11T19:14:00.000-10:00

Well, Bead Soup Blog Hop was GREAT! Can't thank Lori enough for including me in the Soup Party--So much fun! I can't imagine the organizational headaches that came with managing over 350 participants. Hope you had a chance to visit the blogs and see the awesome creativity of everyone. I have to confess...I still haven't visited every one's blog. Shame on me--and I do apologize for my lateness. I'm still visiting though--have to see all the beautiful finished soup!!

Right in the middle of the Hop, we took a 2 week trip to the East Coast to visit our little 5 month old grand son. Sammy's just the cutest thing ever!!! Oh yeah, we had fun visiting with his Mom and Dad and other family members too :)

Soup's On! And Blog Party Is Here!!

2011-09-17T02:26:00.000-10:00

Happy September 17th - Blog Hop Party Day and time for the big 'Reveal'!!

Lori Anderson organizes this wonderful event a few times a year and I was so happy to participate for this one. Over 300 people (oh my, the organization task this must have been for Lori!!!) are partying today and want you to join us by blog hopping to see all the lovely creations we've made with our partner's goodies they sent us. Here is the link all the partners....

Lori Anderson's Blog Soup Party Partners! Click HERE!

There are so many of us this time around it will take some time to see what everyone was up too. Luckily the party will last all month. Several people will be having give aways and other fun things. I have some ideas swimming around in my head too so you might want to check back in a few days. Have fun!!

So....wanna see my goodies from Carrie Tahquechi????? She makes the prettiest lampwork beads and sent me 5 gorgeous ones; one large and 4 descending size beads in blues and white along with all sorts of fun and pretty beads to go with....even some pretty white ribbon! I always admire the pretty ribbons in some artist's jewelry but have never tried it myself. Perfect time to try new things, right? Tried lots of new things with my necklace! I used everything Carrie sent! Wanted to see if I could incorporate everything in one piece. I love what I made--Mahalo Nui Loa Carrie!!

Well, I talk to much! You've been waiting so patiently to see what Carrie sent :) Here you go....

Aren't they just beautiful?!! Okay... I won't make you wait any more.... Here is my necklace...

I really like my necklace! I especially liked trying new things! Thanks Carrie and a BIG thank you to Lori for hosting our party!! The only things I added were the dark blue hands and the little blue heart. They are some pretty beads I have been saving in my stash for quite awhile--they had been waiting just for this I'm sure.

Oh...and be sure and check out Carrie's Blog for her party favors!! And the other blogs of party goers!

Cool Stuff From Etsy...

2011-09-09T10:00:00.000-10:00

I've been shopping :) Etsy shopping! I love buying things on Etsy and especially from people I know. There are so many creative people out there making so many cool things. I love it! Here are a couple of the goodies the mailman has delivered lately.....

The first is from Debbie Metti at Kitten Creates--was going to say she's from Ohio, but she's living in Ohio and really a California girl and can't wait to get back! Debbie is in my Art Charms group and makes the coolest charms and bracelets. She also has great vintage jewelry in her Etsy shop in addition to her charms and jewelry But this is what I bought.....

Hand Dyed rayon ribbons! Aren't they yummy? They look so good on these old wooden clothes pins but if you go here you can see them on her Etsy off the pins. I just love the piles of these scrumptious colors! Debbie had sent me a giftie charm wrapped with her ribbon that I immediately used in a project and just knew I had to have more! Mahalo Deb!!!

And there's more.....

The other treasures the mail carrier delivered are these two lovely little drawings (along with a cool giftie drawing that I haven't framed yet--mahalo!) by Carissa Weber.

Aren't they fun? Had to have the Peacock of course and the little hummingbird was a perfect companion. My photos don't do them justice so you should go to her website at artlab23 to see her great artwork. In addition to selling her artwork on her website and her Etsy Shop she paints custom murals and you can follow her on Facebook to see where she will be selling around the Los Angeles area at Street Fairs and Art Walks.

Okay, now I have to tell you a little story about Carissa and why I get warm fuzzies when I see her selling her great designs (sorry Carissa!).... I've known Carissa since the day she was born--yep, my son Kyle, who was 3 weeks old at the time, and I were there when she was born to help with her two older sisters who were my daughter's best friends. Her mom, Melinda and I were pretty good friends too! And Melinda and I spent many, many fun hours and weekends sharing a booth selling things at Street Fairs with the Dad's entertaining all the kids! We kind of lost touch after the kids were off at different schools so it was great meeting up with Carissa on Facebook and to see what she has been up too. I keep telling Kyle he should start selling his artwork at fairs too! Make it a family tradition :)

If you have some time, check out some of the wonderful work offered on Etsy....and especially visit Debbie and Carissa!

Soup's On!

2011-08-29T06:11:00.001-10:00

Carrie has her soup and is cookin' up some goodies so I can show you what I sent her....

Here are some of the goodies spread out so you can get a better look....

Can't wait to see what she cooks up! My fixin's should be here today.... I'll be waiting by the mailbox!

Back From Hana...

2011-08-28T20:40:00.000-10:00

We spent the last 5 days in Hana at the lovely Bamboo Cottage What a nice way to celebrate our anniversary! Wendy and Otto who own the cottage have made it the perfect little get away spot. We've taken the drive to Hana on several occasions but haven't really spent much time there. It takes awhile, with all the twists and turns and stops for people to pass on all of the one lane bridges. And then of course you have to stop to see the waterfalls along the way as well. So by the time you get there you have time for lunch and maybe a quick trip to O'heo Gulch, then it's time to head back so you don't travel in the dark.

This beautiful spot, Waioka Pond, was just across the street and through the cow pasture from the cottage. A waterfall feeds the ponds and there's a black sand beach where the pond meets the ocean. So many little hidden spots like this around the island.

At the cottage Wendy had yummy handmade soap in the bathroom. I had been thinking about making soaps when we're at Keely's next month using goat's milk from her little goats. Had to stop by Ben Franklin's on the way home from Hana and see if they had any soap making supplies. They had a little bit! Yay! Played with them today and used some flowers from the Lavender Farm and essential oils. Made Lavender, White Ginger, and Plumeria scented coconut soaps. Too cool! Here they are...

Doesn't coral make a great soap holder? Can't wait to get more supplies when I'm at Keely's!

Bead Soup - Party's On!

2011-08-25T08:22:00.001-10:00

I joined Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party this year. Something I've been wanting to do for ages. 362 people signed up for this one!! Lori has her hands full matching us up with partners and keeping everything organized and on track. We each send our partner a package of 'Soup Ingredients' then they get to play with makings to create jewelry beauties! On September 17th everyone posts on their blogs what they made and we start blog Hopping!! Party Time! Party goers are already posting their soup ingredients as they get them so you might want to check out some of the lovelies on their blogs before party day. (you can go to the list of participant's blogs at 'bead coup blog party')

My partner is Carrie Tahquechi from Santa Cruz, CA who makes wonderful lampwork beads and beautiful jewelry. Can't wait to see what she sends me to play with!

Here's what I sent her.....

hehehe...can't see what I sent? I know!! I don't want to spoil the surprise for Carrie--she has to be the first to see....but these are the little boxes I sent the goodies in :) As soon as she lets me know they've arrived I'll show you what I sent.

We are away from home for a few days and I bet mine are waiting for me now. I'll post a photo as soon as I get home.

My 'Charm A Day' photos for July....

2011-08-12T11:28:00.000-10:00

Finally got all of my charm photos for the July challenge in an album on my Picture Trail so you can all see what fun I had :)

Still making charms in August but now for 5 swaps....some with over 20 and some with only 5--lots of charms to make!

A Charm A Day....CAD

2011-08-01T08:40:00.001-10:00

Happy August 1st!

For the month of July my Art Charms group had a challenge to make a charm each day. It's been wonderful to see all of the cool charms everyone has been making. Seems that all of us has a little (or should I say BIG?!) stash of special or orphan beads we have from our travels and many of these have been used for our CADs--beautiful beads! Another fun part of the challenge has been to see all of the special and diverse talents we all have. This has inspired several members to try new things--me included! I'll share my first charm of the month here and the last.....because they have photos of my little Sammy :) Think I will do a Sammy charm each month for his first year so I can bore everyone with a new grand baby pic wherever I go. That's a Tutu's main job, right?

Here's Sam's 2 month photo charm....

Sam's photo is in a Samuel Adams bottle cap with resin over the photo. I added a little glitter around the edge and some star sequins before the resin. Since the 4th of July was coming up, I added a few of the charms I received in the 'Patriotic' charm swap. Just LOVE this necklace!

Here's the back.....

Added the 'Macalister' :) Made one of these for my daughter and Sam's other 'Grammy' too.

And here is the charm I made with Sam's 3 month photo.....

He is such a happy little guy! The photo was taken at a park playday. So glad he is getting out with friends lol! (this is one of those examples of us in the charms group being inspired by other charm groupies--Trish shared her way cool bottle cap beads and I just had to try one...mine aren't quite like hers but I like the way it turned out anyway)

And the back has a photo of his first day at the beach at Grammy and Grampy's in Rhode Island... (isn't he lucky to have two sets of 'beach' grandparents? and such different beaches too!)

Gotta run--have a great day!!

Dancing Sam!

2011-07-19T14:44:00.000-10:00

Thought you might enjoy this video of a Skype with Sam and Keely yesterday with Phil playing 'Island Style' (John Cruz) on the Uke!!

Up-Cycled Quilted Turtle Pillows

2011-07-08T05:48:00.000-10:00

Aloha! Haven't been posting but I've been busy! Have been making lots and lots of charms for jewelry and for trading with my charm buddies at Art Charms--one of my favorite things to do--but have been trying to spend time doing other fun art things too. My friend Pam in Maine volunteers at a thrift shop during her summer teaching break. She came across this great Turtle quilt square pattern kit for a quarter--what a deal!! Of course she thought of me :) How fun! (Mahalo Pam!) Went right to the closet when it arrived and pulled out my big bin of fabrics I've been saving. Found a few old Hawaiian shirts of Phil's, bits of an old dress of mine and some batik strips of fabric that would all make perfect turtle quilt squares. Ended up making four squares and wondering what I should do with them..... a full quilt came to mind... realistically I knew I'd probably never finish it. Pillows--yes! And sea turtle pillows would look so nice in our condo since most everything is sea related. But four pillows? They would mostly be on the floor.... Two pillows and a table runner? Yes! Back to the fabric bin.... I shortened some pretty yellow/gold silk curtains for Kyle's condo last year and couldn't bear to toss the 'scraps'. The 2 foot strips were just right for backing and accents. I suppose this only will encourage me to keep saving things :) but I do love it when we can recycle all those little bits into something new and special. Thanks Pam for inspiring me to dig out the sewing machine!

Here is the first pillow.....

And the second.....

Don't they look great on the couch with Kyle's octopus painting behind it?

Here is a close up of one of the squares for the table runner....

I'll play with these today and actually have a project DONE!! No UFO (un-finished objects) hanging around longing to be finished! (we had a fun swap in my BadBabyArt group a long time ago--we sent a partner one of our UFOs, no instructions, they finished it and sent it back....fun seeing how others finished something we started)

Hope you have a fun, art filled day!

Welcome SAM!!

2011-04-23T16:37:00.000-10:00

Samuel Adams Macalister

Isn't he the cutest little guy ever? This is my new grand baby Sam when he was about 15 minutes old!! Born last Monday, April 18th, on Keely's birthday! Tristan snuck this pic with Keely's cell phone even before he got weighed and measured. Thanks Tris! We head out on Saturday to meet him. We've talked to him on the phone but it just isn't the same :)

Aloha--Tutu Cris

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T11:46:00.001-10:00

Aloha! My Art Charms group had a 'Celtic' charm exchange last month and the charms are amazing!! Such wonderful, creative charm makers in the group--Thanks everyone for the great charms! I took a few of the longer dangly ones and put them on a pin for something a little different. The rest are on my work table being made into a bracelet and necklace. Here's a pic of the pin....

Have to get back to the work table so I can wear the rest of my collection today!

Later....

Happy Birthday Sis!!

2011-03-17T07:48:00.001-10:00

It's my big Sis' birthday! Hope you enjoy your little gift Sandi :)

Found this little heart shaped sea glass and thought of you! Have a great day!

xoxo

Another Great Whale Day!

2011-02-19T16:09:00.002-10:00

Whale Day Parade 2011

Enjoy!

Whale Day Today!

2011-02-19T07:50:00.000-10:00

Happy Whale Day Everyone! Every year on the 3rd Saturday of February the Pacific Whale Foundation has a Whale Day celebration at Kalama Park just a couple of blocks from our condo. It starts with a parade at 9 am that runs up S. Kihei Road and ends at the park where there will be whaley things to do, like the Whale Regatta race - little rubber whales (like rubber duckies) racing down a track and the winner gets Hawaiian Airline tickets to Maui - Woohoo! Great music all day, crafts food, Made on Maui Artisians. Fun Day!

But my favorite is our hokey parade! Anyone can be in the parade - just sign up! So you get preschool classes with little kids that make cool sea life hats or the skin diver's bus covered with blow up sea life floaty toys. And then there's the float with the Mermaids...like the Rose Parade's Queen and Princesses. And I'm sure Cooleio and Chilly will be in the parade this year as always--the sunglass wearing dogs that ride around in the back of their Dad's truck. Oh yeah, and the Maui Humane Society brings their dogs to be in the parade too and there is an adoption truck at the park so you could even make a new friend today! And of course our new major, Alan Arakawa, will be the Grand Marshall. If you're on Maui today - don't miss it!!!

Here's a pic of my neighbors and I waiting for the parade last year....

That's me in the middle and Maile (with the pony tail) and Coco (white with ginger spots) on the right. Nikita (fuzzy, black fur) and her Dad, Norman on the left. Coco has a new sister this year, Bambi--it will be her first Whale Day Parade--how exciting!

Meet me at the corner at 9 am!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T12:15:00.001-10:00

My jewelry for today.... courtesy of my 'Art Charms' swap buddies.....

Mahalo Nui Loa (thank you very much) everyone!!!! I think there are 50 to 60 charms there, can you believe it? And each and everyone is wonderful!! Peggy and Chris cut off the Valentine's swap at 30 but so many more artists still wanted to participate they opened a Valentine 2 swap. Several of us couldn't stand the thought of missing out on any charms so we joined both! So glad I did!

Here are my charms....

The first is a little collage in a metal bezel with bee on a flower and a little 'mine' text added. I added a two part resin to fill the bezel for a glass affect. Love the Envirotex Resin--looks very cool and it isn't too stinky to work with like regular resins. I was really hesitant to use the stuff--think I had it setting on a shelf for a year or so before I finally got the nerve to try it. So easy.... what was I afraid of?? :) Had my hubby take pics when I was making these so I can put together a little tutorial to show you how easy it is in case you are nervous about it like I was. (I did drill a hole in these and add a jump ring but for some reason can't find the pic of the finished piece--sorry about that)

My second heart charm is made with copper wire. I twisted a little stylized heart then pounded it with a rounded hammer to flatten the wire and add a texture. Then I used Liver of Sulphur to patina the copper since this swap was to have 'gun metal' colored wire. Added some glass beads for a little glitz. Funny--two other people, Emily and Nancy both used wire and glass beads to make stylized heart charms too! I think the 3 compliment each other nicely on the bracelet!

Thanks again for the fun jewelry everyone! And special thanks to our fearless leaders, Peggy and Chris! BTW, Chris and Peggy have a great book out, Mixed Media Art Charms, with lots of wonderful instructions to get you started in this fun little art endeavor!

Whales at Ma'alaea....

2011-02-09T03:47:00.001-10:00

Well, 2011 is starting to pick up..... Didn't start off so well with a bad cold as soon as the kids left after the holidays that turned into pneumonia. It's been hard to shake but I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel--oops--not that light! Haven't been out much but have managed to spend a few mornings parked at the sand to watch the whales. Just can't tell you how cool they are! Something you have to experience for yourself. So cool you can watch them right from the beach.

Ma'alaea Beach at dawn....

Mom (on the left) and baby spy hopping

Baby practicing it's tail slaps...that's Mom's pec fin on the left

Hey look--kayakers--let's say 'Hi'!

'Look what I can do!'

Some cute little green sea turtles came by to say hello too.

The Whales are back!

2010-12-12T08:53:00.007-10:00

Well, yep, the hardest part of November's 'Create Every Day' was posting what I made! Seems that I pretty much do create every day so that wasn't so hard. As you can see by my number of posts...I'm a terrible blogger! I think I read on Peggy K's blog one time "it's much more fun making things than writing about making things" or something like that...how true for me too! Mostly for November I made jewelry, jewelry, and more jewelry---earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and pins! I keep putting my beads and metals away to make room for other projects, then I'll see something that gives me an idea of something new to try and I get it all back out again. But that means I have lots of new things to post to my Etsy shop--Yay! Hopefully I'll get to that later today--tomorrow at the latest. Stand by--I'll let you know when they're up.

But back to the topic....

Winter is my favorite time of year here on Maui. Yes, you can't beat having 80 degree weather, mostly clear sunny days all year round which makes for happy, friendly neighbors and visitors, but this time of year we get special visitors--Humpbacks! Every year they travel from Alaska to visit our little island to enjoy our waters, have their babies, and make more babies for next year. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be driving down the road and see these magnificent animals the size of a school bus leaping out of the water!! And of course when you run into them unexpectedly....

This is a pic our our daughter, Keely on her trip out year before last. She heads to Maui every winter from Connecticut on her teacher's break. LOVE this pic! We were paddle surfing at Cove Park, across the street from our condo and ran into a Mom and her new calf. I'm sure the escort was around but we didn't see him. You always stay 300 ft away from the whales but if they come up to you, you should sit and wait for them to leave. That's called being 'mugged' by the whales. This Mom seemed to be showing 'people' to her baby.

This part of the mom's back above the water is only about a third of her--they're pretty big! I'll try get some breech pics this week and post them. Our friends at our vacation rental saw three day before last right out in front of Makani a Kai. Way cool! The water in Ma'alaea Bay is shallow and the Mom's have their babies there and hang out for a couple of weeks until the babies are a bit bigger. Love Ma'alaea!

Found a great little book called "What's New Cupcake" at Lowe's of all places. Hubby was returning some things and I was carousing the book shelf. What a fun book! Used some of their tips to get ideas for a desert I needed to take to a friend's for a dinner party. Aren't they perfect for a Maui winter dinner? :)

Enjoy your Sunday!

10 Days of Creating.....

2010-11-17T10:59:00.008-10:00

Well, here's what I've been working on...... Charms for my 'Art Charms' group's "Blue, White, and Silver" charm swap! These are made on cute little dominos. I drilled holes in the top - stamped a snorkeling kitty with 'stays on' ink (a great permanent ink) - used a couple of shades of light blue chalk inks for background water, backs, and around the sides and heat set the inks with my handy heat gun. They seemed a little plain so I added some charms to some, others I added beads to, and some I glued some button (with the backs cut off) sea stars and shells. Couldn't decide which I likes best and then realized I liked them all and it didn't matter that they all weren't the same -- except for those that signed up twice and might want to use them for earrings....you'll just have to be asymmetric!

I love how creative people are when they are sending off their charms in special little packages so I've really been making an effort to come up with different packaging ideas. This has been working out well since I've been going though all of my old magazines (I'm talking like 10 years worth--gads) and tearing the articles with techniques I want to try and then passing on the mags to my young, budding artist friend Maile next door. Little packages for trades are the perfect way to try out new techniques! Here's one I think was being used for a match book card. (ps: now that I have all these loose pages with great things to do someday, I'm putting them into plastic page protectors and then will put them in binders according to mediums -- oh I'll be so organized!!)

Used rubber stamps to decorate some extra large tags and folded them to make the little packets to hold my charms......

Aren't they cute? And last night I finished putting little ribbons on the tags and here they sit waiting for a padded envie to send off to Chris....

Isn't the mosaic table a nice background for photos? :)

Off to try more new techniques....or maybe an old one! 'Til tomorrow....

Aloha!

2010-11-17T08:39:00.004-10:00

Well, I was right....the hardest thing about 'Create Every Day' isn't the creating.... it's the posting about what we create! For me anyway :) I know that isn't part of the challenge but something I wanted to challenge myself to do... I'll keep trying!

It's been over 10 days since I've posted but I haven't not been creating. Before I go on to what I've been up to I wanted to share with you the two tables that inspired my friend Brian to want to learn how to do mosaic tile and glass work....

I just love these tables. They are on our lanai at our condo in Kihei. The table tops make me smile when I see them since the tiles and glass pieces are special... A friend gave me some small pretty blue tiles left over from a tile job he did and the fish are from our kitchen backsplash in Redondo Beach, saved from a remodel. The little white tiles (the coral) are from leftovers my mom's house found in the back of a storage closet when I was cleaning out her house. Round glass and other tiles sent to me by an art friend. The little sea glass pebbles were collected by friend Mary from Lake Erie. When another friend was commenting on the bottom table after I posted it on facebook, I realized she had sent me the glass stars long ago. Don't you just love it when those things you've been saving forever happen to all come together and get up-cycled?!

btw.....I'm thinking I like the green grout best....think that's the little something extra our table needs Brian. Pretty sure I can seal the grout with some metallic paint right over the top...I'll let you know how it works.

Yeah!! The table is finished!

2010-11-06T22:03:00.008-10:00

And it's about time isn't it!

Next step after gluing all the pieces down is to get the grout in all the groves and around the edge.

Looks like a muddy mess but it will be pretty -- not to worry!

After the grout sets up for a bit, you start taking off the extra with a wet sponge. It takes a few times to get it all off. Tomorrow I'll seal it and it's good to go.

Now off to other projects.......have about 40 charms that need making!

WooHoo - The table is glued!

2010-11-05T20:50:00.003-10:00

Day 5 of Create Every Day.....

Finally finished getting the tiles on the table glued. I'll let it set over night and it will be ready to grout tomorrow--Yay! Here's a pic....

Okay, so it doesn't look so much different than the first day when we were planning out the design....but now it's glued down! And we started the grouting there on the bottom before Brian left so he'd know how to do it when he starts his project back home. I just love teaching people techniques so they can do art on their own.

That's all for tonight...Happy Arting!

Day 4....

2010-11-04T18:48:00.005-10:00

Happy Day 4 of Create Every Day!

Don't have a photo of today's art again since it would still look the same so thought I would share this nice sunset from our lanai. Isn't it pretty? :)

My art for today was gluing down the tiles on the mosaic table top....man, the gluing takes a long time! Still not done so will be finishing up that tomorrow. Thought the designing was the most time consuming part of mosaics. Brian--come back and help me!!

'Til tomorrow!

No pic today....

2010-11-03T19:33:00.004-10:00

Aloha Everyone--

Create Every Day....Day 3

Still working on the mosaic tile....just a quick bit of art today. Brian left this afternoon to head back to the mainland but got a quick lesson in how to grout tile on the mosaic table top we started. Only got a small portion grouted so I'll take pics tomorrow of the finished (I hope!) project. I've been wanting to do a mosaic on that table for the longest time. Thanks Brian for getting me started on this and for your input to the design--it was great being your art teacher again! (I was Brian's art teacher during Elementary and Jr. High School at Riviera Hall in Redondo Beach....another life time ago! And now he has a Doctorate in Math--even those left brainers need art!!)

'Til tommorrow--

Cris

Day 2...

2010-11-02T22:16:00.007-10:00

Ahola! Day 2 of Create Every Day and I'm posting--woohoo! Like I said yesterday, the hardest part of 'Create Every Day' will be posting everyday and here I am posting at 11 tonight--still the second here in Hawaii :) Today has been busy busy.... Voting ... off to the North Shore to see the big waves ... stopped by the Sugar Museum on the way back ... started a mosaic table top (the art for the day!)--worked out a great design with friend Brian visiting from the mainland who wanted to learn how to do mosaics ... off to the West Side for a sunset Luau complete with Fire Dancers ... back home and glued down half the mosaic design so I can show Brian how to grout it tomorrow before he heads to the airport.

Brian showing his mom, Carolyn, how to cut the glass tiles.....

Brian and I working out a design....

Just about there.....

Come back tomorrow for the grouting!

Aloha, Cris

Create Every Day!

2010-11-01T22:00:00.005-10:00

Aloha!

Peggy our fearless leader at the Art Charms group mentioned she wanted to create art everyday during the month of November. Several others of us decided to join her. This is my first offering -- still November 1 here...but well into tomorrow for most of you!

We have friends visiting from the mainland so things are a bit hectic. Went to one of our favorite snorkel spots, Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve this morning and saw quite a variety of sea life. So nice to see this area recovering. Lots and lots of fish and even the coral looked like it's coming back. Always when I'm snorkeling I have great visions of coming home and doing watercolors of the beautiful fish....never seems to happen. Didn't get to it until this evening when we were watching the DVD, "Riding Giants" to give our friends an idea of the waves we expect to see tomorrow at Ho'okipa. Should be 25 to 35 feet--woohoo! Wonder if I can paint a nice little watercolor of that for tomorrow's art :)

Until tomorrow....

(I think my biggest challenge for this month will be posting everyday--I'm such a bad blogger!)

More Charms!

2010-10-12T05:42:00.012-10:00

If you were following my old blog, you saw many, many posts of charms....still love the little mini pieces of art! Joined yet another charm group and sent in my charms this week for the first swap. Charm swappers just all seem to be such nice people! Peggy Krzyzewski and Christine Hansen are hosting this fun 'Art Charms' yahoo group. (BTW: they have a wonderful book fresh off the press... "Making Mixed Media Art Charms and Jewelry".... check it out)

Can't wait to see all of the charms that are swapped. There are 31 people in the 'Dangly' swap so there will be quite a variety.

And then there's Halloween coming up soon.....

Amber Dawn was so sweet and hosted a little mini, fast turn around Halloween swap for our 'International Charms' group. She isn't even joining the swap but is doing all the hosting for us. Thanks Amber!

Treasure Boxes!

2010-09-18T01:13:00.005-10:00

On my last post you saw a nice, organized studio....I have WAY too much good stuff to deep it that way! Combining my Redondo Studio with my one here made for lots of duplicates --think I have enough supplies to last 4 or 5 lifetimes. Thought I would offer some treasure boxes and share some of those supplies with you.

I have filled 5 medium size priority boxes, jam packed with lots of goodies you will love to use in your art work. Lots and lots of different treasures....buttons, ephemera, beads, game pieces, tags, cards, fibers....

$25 will get you one of your own Treasure Boxes -- postage included!!

Here's a sample of what you will find....

I also have some small priority boxes filled with just game pieces or fibers and ribbons. I've been collecting these for quite awhile, from all over. The ribbons are all at least 2 yards, many are longer so they will take you through several projects. There is a huge variety of game pieces that will keep your creative juices flowing! Great for making charms and for those special finishing touches in your collages.

$10, shipping included and you can have a small priority box packed with goodies too!

Email me .... crispart@yahoo.com

Aloha!

2010-09-13T11:07:00.003-10:00

Once again...long time no see :0 We finally made the complete move to Maui last January and in between making art, playing in the water and making numerous trips back to the mainland to visit family and friends, I have been trying to combine my Redondo Beach studio with my work space in my tiny little art room here. Have finally gotten to an organized, workable space -- yay!

Made this nice little album, Peacock Studio, on picture trail that I will share with you...

or you can click here to see a 'regular' picture trail album to see the images more clearly.

Off to spend time in my studio!

Aloha - Cris

Fun at Zinnia's

2009-11-16T21:50:00.007-10:00

Whenever I am back in Southern California, I always make sure to meet up with my good friend, Chris. Our favorite thing to do is to take a class together at Zinnia. What a fun store--GREAT people, lots of inspiration and lots more goodies to use in your art. Best of all fabulous classes to learn and have fun in. Here are the C(h)ris-es taking a class with Paul. Had a another wonderful class with Joe the week before making polyclay beads.

This is my canvas I made using an image of Keely the Farmer. I added a little Tristan on his tractor later. You can visit her website 'Dancing Frog Farm' and see her menagerie--it's a mini farm...mini goats...mini horses! There are 'regular' size animals too....BIG dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, lizards...a fun place to visit.

I'm closing my crispart.net site for now....

2009-11-16T21:32:00.009-10:00

so I thought I'd post some of my favorite artwork from there....hope you enjoy!

This was my daughter, Keely's birthday present this year...a little Hawaii for her on the east coast. We had fun filling the pocket's with touristy stuff. The sunflower fabric on the inside is from scraps of her bedroom curtains when she was little.

Love the way this turned out...

2009-10-28T07:22:00.006-10:00

A friend's daughter found this shell awhile back and wanted to do something special with it. She saw some of my sea glass jewelry and asked what I could come up with. Love the way copper looks with treasures from the sea!

Let me know how she likes it Karen...should be there today or tomorrow.

(the pic is taken with the granite countertop in our vacation rental as the background - - isn't it gorgeous? It's called 'Jurassic green' and comes from Africa. Picked it out at Jurassic Stone here on Maui -- they are the absolute best ever. Reminds me of tide pools)

350 Event at Zinnia in Pasadena

2009-10-24T08:07:00.004-10:00

Be sure to stop by Zinnia in Pasadena today if you are in the the Los Angeles area. They have put together a fun art show event for the day. Kyle and I contributed some paintings as well. Won't post photos of ours until after the event since the artists are suppose to remain anonymous until after purchases. (Zinnia is always a stop on my mainland visits--Great shop--Fun people--wonderful classes.)

Events are taking place all over the globe for the 350 event awareness so check out what's happening in your area. Here on Maui there is the Reef Check Hawaii Survey in Kaanapali and the Blue Line Project in Lahaina, Kahului, and Kihei.

And if you are back in our old home town in the South Bay beach area, looks like lots of friends will be having fun at the beaches as well. Hope to see some pics of the Amazing Waving Human Tide Line.

Have a GREAT day!

Aloha!

2009-10-21T14:44:00.005-10:00

Well, we are back from another trip to the mainland -- and no, escrow still hasn't closed on our Redondo Beach home. Think we will hold the title of the longest escrow in history. But we're close! And when we get to come back home to sunrises like this.....you just kind of shrug your shoulders and say 'oh well, it will happen when it happens' and go on to enjoy another beautiful day on Maui.

This gorgeous photo was taken yesterday morning on the beach in front of our vacation rental in Ma'alaea. If you are coming to come to Maui and need a place to stay, check with us for availability. Here is a virtual tour of our condo...

http://www.islandvirtualtours.com/593/

Fruit....

2009-09-13T14:07:00.010-10:00

Our neighbors, Mary and Maile left a bag of these pretty Star Fruits at our door last week. We had tried them long ago on a trip to the islands but I guess the ones we had weren't ripe---VERY bitter. Even the kids (who use to like to suck on lemons) wouldn't eat them. These were sweet and crunchy! Made my lips do the tingly, tongue swelling thing so Phil enjoyed the rest of them. (btw....how can you be allergic to something you've only had one other time, years ago?????)

Okay, I was the first of all my friends to ever eat an artichoke or an avocado and I've always I've shopped in odd markets looking for interesting foods all my life...at least to look at since I can't eat many things due to food allergies, but this one surprised even me! We wandered around the farmer's market at the Maui Mall after our movie looking at the pretty fruits and vegetables when we came across this..... Pretty, yah? Pretty weird! The thing was over a foot long and at least 8 inches across....all gnarly and twisted and spiky! Sent Keely a pic on the cell phone and she summed it up pretty well...."Looks like a giant pear from an alternate universe".

Found this web picture of it growing. Said they come from India......must grow it somewhere here on island too. The lady selling jewelry next to the fruit said, "well, it's an acquired taste...." Think we might be skipping that one!

Hope you are eating something yummy tonight for dinner!

Found my other photos..

2009-09-11T09:50:00.006-10:00

Here are some more lovely jewelry pieces made with sea glass....

Watch for more--have lots of glass to play with! And now that I have my package from the mainland from Diamond Bits I'm getting the hang of drilling the holes. So much easier with the proper sized diamond drill bits!

Sea Glass Goodies

2009-09-09T09:17:00.004-10:00

Have been watching for Sea Glass treasures on my beach walks and collected quite a few pretty pieces. Was showing my neighbors and they showed me theirs too.....Whoa!!! They've been here a lot longer than we have! And best of all---THEY SHARE!! (thanks Mary & Maile!) So now I've been playing....

Thought I had more pics downloaded from my camera but can't find them...oh well! Better post this now and look later or it will be forever until I add another post...I'm not very good about posting regularly in case you hadn't noticed!

Hope you're having wonderful end of summer weather where ever you are.

New things on my ETSY.....

2009-08-26T08:21:00.002-10:00

Have finally been posting some things on my ETSY site....jewelry, journals, and art supplies....check it out if you get a chance. Feedback welcome! Here is a little bricolage ( [bree-kuh-lahzh, a construction made of whatever materials are at hand: something created from a variety of available things) bracelet....

Won't find this one on ETSY though, my neighbor, Mary bought it up before I got it posted! May find one similar soon though. Will be adding more things in days to come.

New Logo by Kyle

2009-08-26T07:48:00.001-10:00

Hi there! Okay, so I'm not any better at keeping up with this blog than I was with my other...oh well! So anyhoo, son Kyle is visiting from the mainland this last week before school starts. Great seeing him and doing touristy things. My arms still aren't ready to get back out on the board but we've been swimming and snorkeling. Yesterday I was showing Kyle the artwork on the packaging (and the goodies of course) from my order from Artgirlz (way cool stuff btw) and how cute Allison and Tracy look and the next thing I knew he had a cute little picture of me too! Here's how I put it to good use......

Thanks Kyle!

Here I go again....

2009-08-01T17:43:00.006-10:00

Starting a new blog that is! Tired of paying for a blog that is hard to use when I see friends doing great blogs with freebie Blogger. Thought I'd give it a try before my contract is up next month with 1and1. For this first post, I think I'll show you a couple of goodies I just sent off to my daughter Keely for her husband, Tristan's birthday next week...huh??? Keely gets a present for Tristan's B-Day? Of course! We like to give presents in our family....so if someone is having a birthday, isn't that a good excuse to give everyone presents? Oh well, it makes sense to me! Here are Keely's goodies--won't show you Tris' since his need to be a surprise....

The bottom one is a little pin using a large vintage button from my Grandmother's collection as a base. Added the resin flowers and metal 'smile'. The little frog with the umbrella is a charm that we got on a past trip to Artfest together--I've been saving it for something special. Keely and Tristan live on a little 'hobby farm' called Dancing Frog Farm in Connecticut. The link is on the side to he left if you'd like to check it out. She raises Nigerian Dwarf Goats, Minature Horses, Ducks and Chickens in addition to the menagerie of granddogs and grandcats . She has a variety of Chickens and Ducks that lay, green, blue, brown, and white eggs. Saw these little chickie lampwork beads and knew she just had to have earrings with them!!

Well, that's it for today...we're off to the corner to watch the sunset....Aloha