Nail Polish Rack from a Spice Rack

My nail polish holder (former spice rack) is finally finished!
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Finally finished. Lightly sanded it, couple of coats of gesso, more sanding, then 2 coats of paint. Just a dab of super glue to attach the shells on. (There are little pearls in the far scallops just for a bit of glam. LOL) Total cost of the project? Zero, since I had everything already. If you want to do something similar, make sure the nail polish will fit first. Luckily, because it was a spice rack originally, the shelves are indented and wide.

Sharpies My Shoes

I experimented on an old pair of canvas tennis shoes (faux Keds) from Wal-mart, using red & blue Sharpie markers. They did bleed a little, perhaps the thinner markers might not? I'm pleased with the results. Unfortunately, my WM does not sell these any more, so I'll have to find a new source.

Setting Sun

Setting Sun
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Beautiful view of the sky over the inter-coastal waterway.
Gamble Rogers State Park, Flagler Beach, FL

Sacrificial Wheat Men

Sacrificial Wheat Men
Originally uploaded by topazcat

01Aug10 - JPPA's Lughnasadh/Lammas Ritual

Made with a cookie cutter and Publix's Italian 5 grain wheat bread, they made a delicious little sacrifice.

Goddess and Child

Goddess and Child
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Made for my best friend for Yule. I'm giving it to her today, hope she likes it. The robe is black but the lining is opalescent white pearl. I tried to make the coloring of both the Goddess and Child the same as my friend and her daughter. (I even painted the toenails pink. lol) If you can't tell by the detail shot, it's a triple moon on her forehead.

These are old resin statues I found at a deep (deeeeep) discount store. The sculpts themselves are rather nice, but rough (need some sanding) but since they were mass painted in China, the details are usually not very good and even if one liked it as is, it has to be retouched.

I altered one before and it was auctioned off successfully at a PPD fund raiser.

My new Instructable!

Recycled Denim Cell Phone Pocket - More DIY How To Projects

Miniature Asian Gardens

Miniature Asian Gardens
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Taken of the bridge and bilding in the Asian Gardens section of the Jacksonville Zoo. Photo altered via http://tiltshiftmaker.com/

Miniature Waterfall

Tiny Waterfall
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Taken of the waterfall in the Asian Gardens section of the Jacksonville Zoo. Photo altered via http://tiltshiftmaker.com/

Relax...

Relax...
Originally uploaded by topazcat

A wooden sign bought at a dollar store. I painted it and affixed the butterfly to it. It's my Mom's Christmas gift - to remind her to chill out and relax - something she has a hard time doing...

Halloween Ornaments

Halloween Ornaments
Originally uploaded by topazcat

I made these with Sculpey and Wilton brand mini-cookie cutters. Painted with acrylics and glittered.

Yule Gift - "Antiqued" frame

Frame after
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Painted it in baby pink, let dry a bit, then wiped off gently with paper towel. Wasn't as simple as I thought it would be, the paint came off a lot easier than I wanted it to. LOL

Acrylic paints, acrylic top coat, and inexpensive wood frame, most likely from Walmart.

Moon Ornament

Moon Ornament
Originally uploaded by topazcat

My handcrafted gift to all The Woman INSIDE retreat participants this past weekend. Made of Sculpey, acrylic paint, and glitter.

Halloween Wreath

Halloween Wreath
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Here's the Halloween wreath I made this year. Picked up all the supplies at Michael's crafts (on sale!). Black wreath, some black flowers and eucalyptus leaves, some tan grain looking stalk thing (lol), dark burgundy roses, feathers (look like pheasant?), and a ribbon that is black with silver spiders and webs. I'm pretty happy with it.

Petunia's "Mom" Doll

Petunia's "Mom" Doll
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Well, she had a Dad doll, so of course she wanted a mom doll. Took a lot of liberties with my appearance here. LOL

Teresa doll (possibly a beach doll), repainted eyebrows, eyes, lips and "beauty mark".

Petunia's "Dad" doll

Petunia's "Dad" doll
Originally uploaded by topazcat

Formerly an unknown Ken, Petunia wanted a doll that looked like her Dad. Well, if her dad was 12", buff, and had no grey hair. LOL

Painted brown eyes, eyebrows, sideburns, mustache and goatee.

Cosmo

Cosmo
Originally uploaded by topazcat

I painted this for Bear as his yearly ornament present. I got the eye colour right but you cannot see that I painted the tiny white hairs (3 of them lol) on his chest.

Gabby

Gabby
Originally uploaded by topazcat

I painted this for Bug as his yearly ornament present. For some reason, it does not look as good in the picture as it does in person. Since Gabby is a mutt, I used the closest breed resembling her to repaint - a German Shepard, so the body and legs are a big stockier than she is in real life.

Handpainted Chloe

Handpainted Chloe
Originally uploaded by topazcat.

I purchased this dog ornament and repainted it to match my Mom & sDad's dog, Chloe, for a Yule/Xmas present.

Handpainted Tyson

Handpainted Tyson
Originally uploaded by topazcat.

I purchased this cat ornament and repainted it to match my Mom & sDad's "Snowshoe Siamese" cat, Tyson, for a Yule/Xmas present.

Happy Holidays Cards

Happy Holidays Cards
Originally uploaded by topazcat.

I created these "Happy Holiday" cards for friends of mine in an online group for our snail mail card swap this year. They might look plain, but I couldn't do too much since these are on the back of USPS pre-stamped postcards. The Santa Claus graphics are courtesy of Lisa Vollrath (www.justprintsomething.com), the word stamps are from a Seaside Stamping Inc kit, and I don't know who made the snowflake punch or the glitter. *smile* It took a lot of work to make these (50 of them!) but I enjoyed every moment and put a lot of love into it.

Goddess Statue for Auction

Here is the goddess statue I painted for the silent auction benefitting Pagan Pride Day here in Jax. I am very proud with how she turned out and she went for a bid of $27! I hope her new owner gets plenty of enjoyment out of her. I also received a commission to paint two more for friends.



I wish I had thought about taking her picture before the auction, but as usual, I forgot until the last moment.






I painted this sign as well, but it didn't sell. No biggie, I wanted to keep it anyway. *smile*

Mom's Birthday Pots - Final Results

Using fingerprints for the body, Petunia painted dragonflies...

...Bug painted bumblebees...


...and Bear painted ladybugs.

Mom loved them and will be putting some little silk plants in them this week.

Mom's Birthday Pots

I lightly sanded the clay pots (purchased cheap at Kmart) and then painted with acrylic white.

I then painted the pots in colours to compliment my Mom's living room.

The kids had a blast with this part - lightly sanding the pots to "distress" them.

Finally, a coat of watered down black acrylic to make the pots look "dirty".

Handpainted Frame

This started off as a cheap dollar store wooden heart frame and the "protective coating" was already coming off. I sanded it and then painted it to match my mom's living room - placing a picture of her parents in it. It was one of her Yule gifts last year.

Mom's Mother's Day Card

It reads (on the front) "3 Little Fae Came to Say" and "Happy Mother's Day" (inside). I used pics of my children's heads (only blurred for privacy on the 'net), the wings are from a Lisa Vollrath freebie a while back, and the bodies are from a Dover sampler of 1912 Children's Costumes. Fringed green paper made the grass and I used punched paper for the flowers. My mom loved it...

AB-3

Sunflower Deer, magazine cutout and sun-shaped sunflowers cut out with a stamp. Wilderness breaking out of the words...

AB-2

A modern Green Woman, collage with old magazine prings and cut out leaves, markered vines.

My AB - 1

I have started my new Altered Book, formerly An Outline Survey of Journalism, a trashed library book so it's missing the title page, estimated printing date - probably late 1930s, and according to the Prefatory Note, it is a second edition. My first AB was the book I gave to my mother for Yule, a book about my Grandmother (her mother). This book is all me: about me, by me, etc. This may not be the most professional thing I have ever done or the most attractive, in fact, it might be kind of childish and stupid to most. I honestly do not care. LOL So much of my art is done for other people, as gifts or to impress someone, etc., that I rarely do anything for MY pleasure.

This is a collage on the first opening page, using images from magazines (recent and old). The cat in the mouth started off as me being silly but as I worked and found other things to add, seemed to fit into a theme of a couple of my obsessions - my sight, my taste (puns intended) and my desires. *wink*

Postcards 4 Peace

Here is my contribution for the Postcards 4 Peace project. It's my first one, and I am content with it. I will mail it this weekend...

Computer Art - Venus' new outfit

I made a new outfit for Venus to wear. Simple, but I think it works. LOL

Pep Boys Pumpkin

Many years ago, my husband worked at Pep Boys and wanted me to carve a pumpkin to sit on the front counter in October, as part of the Halloween decorations. I decided that a carved pumpkin wouldn't last very long in the store, so I drew "Manny, Moe, & Jack" on a pumpkin, freehand, with an ordinary Sharpie marker. It's still one of my proudest works, even though this picture is the only thing left of it. LOL

Goddess Box

Front, left side (Click on pic to see larger version)

Front, right side

Top front

Bottom

This is the Goddess box I made for my best friend as a Yule present. I used an AOL CD box that I received in the mail that was made of pressed sawdust (?), Mod Podge, clipart found various places, and little words from Lisa Vollrath's Advent calendar. I chose pictures that were of women that reminded me of C, either in looks or doing things she likes to do or for no apparent reason except I thought of her when I saw the pic. The words were all positive words that reminded me of her. It's been a month and a half since I gave it to her and she is still thanking me for it and tells me how much she loves it.

My Art Space

I've created this second blog for my artwork only. You'll have to visit me elsewhere...