Cabinet of Curiosities ~ A Different Locket

Sea Captain's Keeper ~ External Memory Open Locket 

with Visible Windows to the World

M designed this Open Locket recently and I tried to take a decent picture of it but failed miserably. 

She graciously took some photos for me so I could post it on my Etsy shop to sell for her...personal gain...haha.

Aside fro my joking she really had a great time creating this little masterpiece and I really like how it turned out. ... very impressed by her lovely design and work. 

What is especially intriguing with this sort of locket is that it stays open but the way Emma has placed the soldered rings with the suede cording threaded through creates a natural enclosure and surprisingly enough keeps whatever you place within the two glass heart panes stays enclosed. I also love the idea that whatever is within the heart is no secret but visible to everyone.....both sides of the heart the glass is see through,so this is for the world to see....an open book of your thoughts sort to speak.

The necklace has a lovely circle and bar for clasp and wire wrapping two sections of the black suede cording. 

She sculpted some ocean waves along side the heart in keeping with the theme of the sea. 

One  side of the heart has a clear water glass with texture and if you look closely it has tear shaped water drops melted within the glass. 

On the other side of the heart she has used a sea blue glass. 

Approximately length of necklace is 50 cm.The depth of the heart is 1cm and measures 3.5 cm across.

If interested in purchasing click this link.....


http://www.etsy.com/listing/70925312/cabinet-of-curiosities-a-different

So this to me goes into my cabinet of curiosities for it is a curious piece and one of novelty and uniqueness.

Well done M!

Hope you like what she has done.

Oh and a big thank you to my lovely models Karson and Grace...very patient indeed....much appreciated.

Until next time happy :) creating Annabelle  >^..^<

Cabinet of Curiosities~ Our Delectable Assortment of Unusual Arts and Crafts

Welcome to the Cabinet Of Curiosities; A Delectable Assortment of Unusual Arts and Crafts that my daughter and myself have created in the past week. Some finished and some in the middle of completion and others just at the beginning of their creation.

First off,  I will grace this post page with my most recent painting in progress ( just at the beginning )for my submission for "Paint Party Friday".The image I had visualized early in the week was of a complete and so perfect in every detail winter scene but it takes time for someone like me who isn't a painter to transform a blank canvas into a visual retreat and I have done very little of  this medium to feel comfortable and knowledgeable in applying the little tricks to recreating the picture I had vividly seen  in my mind so unfortunately it has taken me a week to get this far. But like the song playing...."I  have no fear " in trying to recreate my dream in a foreign medium.... eventually I'll climatize to it....I hope, I guess.....definitely will !!

...So Sorry for the delay, I have every intention to finish the landscape of my dreams , so here it is.

Recently I read a quote that I must keep forever in my heart ; it pretty much tells you the secret ingredients in achieving one's goal.

"If your mind can perceive it,

And your heart can believe it,

Then your hands can achieve it."

Thank you Victorian Rose Palette for those lovely words of wisdom.

Now with those powerful words in mind I'm sure I will reach my goal; may not be a Michelangelo but a whimsical naive  painting by little old me I can most definitely guarantee will transpire in the coming weeks...haha! These things take time.....

 And now for the other arts......

Sea Captain's Keeper ~ Eternal Memory a locket to keep notes, reminders of the day or week , pet pics or lover's pics whatever you like

My daughter M designed this heart when inspired by some roughly cut hearts she had seen in my stained glass stash. It is quite unique in that it is a locket which always stays open (on one side) with the suede black cording of the pendant keeping whatever note or photograph snugly enclosed within the two glasses.

You'll have to excuse my pictures and writing, I have been detained on some important matters today so running behind on stuff. I will post better photographs and more art work tomorrow.

Quite impressed by M's soldering and design abilities she has demonstrated in the past week. It was too late to take  proper photographs of her locket (External Memory...haha ) Sea Captain's Keeper and her beautiful fairy creature she created in stained glass ; will post tomorrow, better in the natural light.

And let me introduce you to Her Royal Highness Princess Maxine Payne..A Black Widow Spider..MAXIMUM PAIN!!!.....literally...HAHA! Beware of Maxine she doesn't keep her suitors very long:(

When I was sculpting her just about everything went wrong , ultimately breaking one of her lovely Victorian glass eyes; luckily I had more. She was a Royal Pain to construct...Thanks M for giving me her name, next time think of a nicer name ...haha!

This is going to be Maxine's new home...I will be sculpting her a lovely web which I will adhere to the back of this Hand Painted Victorian Matt with romantic violets.

Not sure where Maxine wants to sit but once her spidery bed is made I'm sure she'll know.




Until next Paint Party Friday......Have no fear    :) Annabelle

Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars and Other Oddities ~ Inspiration Found in Glass and Wire

Where are the Spiders ???

I have been busy soldering and doing some stained glass in the past week. As some of you may already know I have an infinite affection for Spiders and Their Webs. I intend to capture their lovely homes in my garden or else where with the coming of Spring; by then hopefully I wouldn't botch up the picture and know how to take a good one. Of course with the warmer weather there are other ventures that I am particularly anticipating on doing such as taking more pictures of the Giant Wild Carrot growing haphazardly  on a country roadside, Queen Ann's Lace, Yarrow, Roses, Rock Walls and Steps, Moss, Fungus , Birds , and but of course not forgetting to go fossil hunting and using my new toy, the metal detector the family bought me, actually two of them so I will have some company along side me to keep me sane....haha! With this basket of  scrumptious goodies I'm sure to have plenty of elements for future art endeavours. So I have much to keep me occupied and I better gather up some books from the library and online book stores for me to study. 

Well here they are........ but there're not from Mars although they could very well be from looking at their appearance......that's if there is life on Mars...haha!

Daddy Long Legs or War of the Worlds...M named him that....can you guess why?

Vintage Crystal Spider Wire and Solder Art

 A Pen/Pencil Holder with Spider Soldered on it's edge

Another wire soldered Spider....These are great on door screens or window screens as well as so many other places.

Then I got this vision of a web hanging on the edge of an old antique portrait frame ....what would it be like....well this is it! I adore how it turned out...I have another antique frame that I'm working on in a much larger size and it has the most lovely painted Victorian Violets....can't wait to finish it.

Then there was this little bottle looking to have something adorning it...well Spring brought the nest back out and a little blue feather from Bandit our Love bird.

Love how tiny the feather is.

I guess you can tell I'm thinking of Spring and summer weather...yup Damsel Flies, Dragonflies Sun-catchers, all in green..... should have posted them for Saint Patty' s Day.

This Dragonfly lost it's head , or should I say I did. I used an antique Victorian cut metal button, even has the back for hanging.

And this is a Victorian Heart Flower...a heart within a flower Sun-catcher sculpted the solder as well in this one piece.

For some of you visitors this is a pendant I made a few weeks back.I hope to get the "Catch the Fallin Star" done soon.

This is M's most recent Dream Catcher...two Dream Catchers in one....Sure to catch all the good dreams for sure!

 This one is very special, she used a crystallized fossil we found on our fossil treks last summer for the centre of the circular Dream Catcher and then she created another dream catcher inside  the antique key. It is magical and so very whimsical. She even dyed the feathers and string to match the key and ring colors....somewhat like an old relic. I will be posting all of this art work on my Etsy shop soon.

Until next time Happy Creating in all Art Forms.

Paint Party Friday ~ Catch a Fallin Star

Thank you Eva and Kristin for hosting this Friday Inspiration Workshop; I'm sure many of us will benefit from this community of painters. I'm not a painter but I have done a few paintings and sketches in the past and would like very much to paint more of whatever I feel the inclination to capture on canvas. In  time, hopefully get better with the practice; especially when I've committed myself to participate and create work in this medium for coming Fridays.....certainly have every intention to make them good. So I've decided for starters that I would use this old image of my moon for this week's Paint Party Friday entry. What I did initially was digitally cut out the moon and stars from my painting and incorporated them into a digital collage with the gothic arches and angel and forget me nots and universe. I was pleasantly surprised to see how lovely it turned out for me considering I didn't really visualize the picture before I started the venture and I actually liked it better than my original painting. In the future I hope it will be the reverse in some occasions. I  actually want to better myself in this art form as well as DG. and photography and so many more mediums...ahh art is so much fun! Definitely, very therapeutic.

I will apply the image to fabric paper and then seal it behind glass with silver solder. I have been wanting to make some pendants with this moon for some time now and this PPF has helped me get started. I will try to take some pictures of the work as I create the pendant. In the meantime I will start my other moon picture in a winter's landscape.

Until next time, Happy Painting.
Hope I have inspired you a little.

Charlotte's Web ~ A new soldered bottle for a new shop

Quite often I pick up a certain book,an old dear friend of mine in spirit you might say and slowly commence to turn the pages one by one; each a revelation of life's simply beauty found in friendship and love.

He is a friend who sheds light on what is truly important in life,having family and friends and sharing one's earthly space with God's creatures great and small.He patiently explains what the important things in life are worthy of concern to us; that of compassion,loyalty and unconditional love are part of the woven fabric, the secret to a lifetime friendship cemented even in death.

Learning to let go and accepting loss isn't an easy thing to do but remembrance is our fortitude and solace.

And even growing old never meant to stop believing in the magic for what would life be if there wasn't any of that fairy dust ?

Charlotte's Web is a perfect whimsical story that brings magic to one's life upon their opening it's pages. It is a children's story that is meant for young and old alike for it transcends time and age. It is a Treasure Book and keeper of my dreams.

I suppose E.B. WHITE is my favourite author after all! 

In remembrance to Charlotte's Web I envisioned a soldered bottle , etched with gorgeous victorian flowers with Charlotte's web adorning it. Of course a crystal grey silvery spider, the heroine of the story , climbing it's neck, much like Garth Williams' gorgeous drawing in the book.

This is a bottle which was long over due. I had always carried the idea in mind but never brought it to life until now.

 I adore spider's webs but I must say I adore Charlotte's Web the story even more, makes it that much more Magical!

A sparkly web in silvery light with dew drops of crystal and a dangling thread of glittering drops for Charlotte to climb to her lovely home.

Charlotte is an old spider I made sometime ago but I refurbished her by giving her a new set of spidery legs.

Weaved within the filigree silver web I placed antique crystal beads for dew drops. These are just magical in the light.

And keeping with the theme "for beauty and purpose" I have left the silver stopper in the bottle unsoldered to place whatever secret notes one might like to place within Charlotte's enchanted glass home.I just might add a few of my own before Charlotte finds a new home.

P.S. If you haven't read the book, hard to believe although possible for many reasons, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy next chance you get at your nearest library or store….worth every penny, I promise !!!!

Oh and I have opened up an Etsy shop today,on my birthday "Hush Sweet Charlotte" , a combination name after the book and the gothic movie "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte"; both loved stories. Charlotte's Web Soldered Bottle  will be the first Item I will be listing there.

 This shop will be my Magical Fairytale shop and I will keep Angelifioriblu "Tansy" for Digital Designs and eventually add photography when I get good enough..so many ideas not good enough yet...though I hope to be someday.....hehe!

Fairy Dust Bottle

The Story of the Cottingley Fairies is one story that most of us who adore Fairies already know of and for those of you who don't know the story, I'm sure whether you are a believer of Fairies or an aficionado of photography you'll be inclined to read a bit about the journey of these two young English girls who lived in Cottingley, England during the early part of the 1900's . 

Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright loved Fairies , playing in the garden and just being typical little girls, in hindsight, not so average after all for they became world renown for their illusionary images of Fairies they had taken with their camera, confounding photographers and paranormal investigators around the globe. 

Their pictures created a stir in Britain, causing many to prove their photographs to be ingenue and manipulated;to think they didn't even have photoshop then! Just as many wanted to disprove the pictures , many others wanted to believe including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes Detective Mysteries.

Being an adamant believer of the Spirit world, he was definitely convinced the pictures were truly not fakes and eventually went on to publish "The Coming of the Fairies" in 1922. 

Interest in this curious tale continues to this day, why?

Because we all love to believe in the FAIRIES!!!!

And so this brings me to this Art Bottle I just completed…..

Recently I purchased a light crystal with a Fairy riding a dragonfly for my daughter M.

It's utterly magical in its composition and prismatic light and I do believe it is probably an image of Arthur Rackham . Anyway, you know how it goes, our minds subconsciously retain information, visual and auditory in which at a later date presents it self to you like a revelation totally new but somehow at that moment upon questioning the inspiration you begin to recall past events that ultimately brought you to this point of creativity.

I suppose this bottle is one of those creations, only realizing now after it's evolution that somehow I was inspired by the crystal ;I'm glad I was! 

Fairy Dust Bottle

AliStar the Dragonfly Guardian of the Fairies' Dust 

  The perfume bottle is a purchase of mine I bought about a month ago . I adore the way the glass reflects iridescent colors. It still retains the lid, although not so sure it belongs to it but it fits. 

I had some of this very very old gold architectural moulding that I had stashed away for special projects and have only used it for the second time so far , so happily I still have more to play with for future art projects.

I filled the bottle with ultra fine sea sand and added a sprinkling of German silver glass glitter shards and tiny whimsical gold stars.

I wanted to create a bottle not only for beauty but for a purpose, so I didn't solder the lid, besides it is too beautiful to cover up. Whether a keeper of  dreams , notes of love, tokens of  affection, tiny treasures,  AliStar the dragonfly will be their keeper and watch over them in this whimsical vintage perfume bottle. I will be posting it on Etsy soon.


p.s. Kiki I just had to photograph my amethyst crystals with this Fairy Dust Bottle, it just seemed appropriate and so very whimsical.  After seeing your pictures I was inspired but your photographs and crystals are way better! Thanks!