Steampunk Frozen Charlotte Doll Leather Purse

Once I had this vintage leather pouch in my hands with the awesome hardware and aged brown leather with great  texture I knew it would be a great foundation for something extraordinary.  I have had the pouch for several years in a wooden Black Walnut box that my Dad made for me...waiting to be repurposed into art.

This frozen Charlotte doll with one of her tiny hands missing was very interesting to me and I knew she would be an interesting element so she was added to the leather pouch as a focal point.  As an expression of the feminine and as a way to counter balance the leather and metal of the piece.

I added the vintage text...1801 to satisfy my fascination with vintage paper and numbers.  I then added a tiny rhinestone button as a bracelet for her wrist.  Charlotte was then given wings to fly.  Her wings were riveted in place on the leather pouch.  A heavy brass chain was also added to the pouch so I could carry it as a purse.  It's the perfect size for keys, credit cards and lip gloss.

This is my favorite Catholic charm from Italy of the Holy Mother and Child that I added to the heavy chain along with the Saint Patrick charm my dear gal pal, Marcy carried home to me from a trip to Ireland.

Two vegetable gardens and a flower garden expansion have been so much fun to plant over the past few weeks.  I just found passion flower seeds that I brought home from Italy that I have to plant tomorrow...yippee.

I hope you are enjoying the growing season.

Blessings - Julie

Frida Kahlo Inspired Belt Buckle

The American Royal is in full swing in Kansas City and has inspired me to think about using buckles as a canvas for another mixed media piece.  This one inspired by Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo continues to inspire me...  I will watch the movie, thumb through books or stumble upon something she was rumored to have said that will resonate with me from time to time.  Her work is passionate, raw, beautiful and sometimes painful.

A quote I read recently is the inspiration for this buckle design.

"There were two terrible accidents in my life...one was getting hit by a bus, the other was when I married Diego." - Frida Kahlo

She seemed to be more in love with Diego Rivera's talent and celebrity than the man himself.  He was horrible at being married and was a notorious philanderer.  Breaking Frida's heart again and again throughout their marriage.  He was also a talented and charming painter.

 

I added a hand throwing dice to this buckle to symbolize Frida's life and the inability to control circumstances.  I chose the color red for her injuries and the reoccuring theme in her work.  The bird represents her spirited approach to life and her love of animals.

 Frida in her studio...

The dove and the elephant...her mother's description of Frida and Diego.

I hope you enjoy the buckle as much as I enjoyed creating it...

Blessings - Julie

Shabby French Nude Inspired Belt Buckle

In honor of the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Month I chose a vintage image of a French nude as the focal point for this belt buckle.  A tribute to the female form in all her beauty.  One in two women will be diagnosed with cancer in her lifetime in the United States.  This is a terrifying statistic and women are being diagnosed seemingly at younger and younger ages.  The female form is lost due to the ravages of treatment for this disease and only after many painful surgeries can she once again regain her feminine form.  She will be forever changed - scared physically and emotionally.  She will be stronger, hopefully wiser and in tune with her body like never before...but what a price to pay for this wisdom.  It's just too much.

Mother Nature surrounds us with visual clues of what we should be eating to live a healthy and happy life.  Take a moment and look out your window.  What do you see the most of right now?  Green grass, green leaves in the trees, green shrubbery....lots and lots of GREEN.  Why are we surrounded by all this green?  Could it be a cue or is it just there to feed the inhabitants of this wonderful earth?

What do the animals of this lovely planet eat the most of....why it's green things!  So, take your cue from nature and add greens to your daily diet.  Find ways to enjoy green salads, spinach, broccoli, peas, kale, cucumbers, celery, parsley, peppers, onions...then add in deep colors like beets, sweet potatoes, peppers, carrots, beans and some white vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, and onions.  For dessert and snacks - lots of fresh fruits peaches, apples, oranges, bananas, pears, grapes, strawberries...yum.

Eat like your Life depends on it!

Once you feed your body what it needs you will have loads of energy to get sweaty everyday doing something that you love.

AVOID these things...they are detrimental to your health.  

Avoid high fructose corn syrup, anything hydrogenated, avoid eating or drinking from cans (they are coated with cancer causing resin), never microwave food in plastic containers or drink bottled water that has been frozen in the bottle or that has become super hot in your car.  Share this information with every woman and girl you know.

For this buckle, I added loads of vintage rhinestones around the edge for sparkle and a rhinestone broach to the top of the buckle to put it over the top.  Vintage lace was added around the edge held in place with black leather cording to give the buckle a shabby French feel.

A sweet floral broach was added to the front for a golden glow and a coating of resin was added to protect the image and to hold it all in place.  What do you think?

A few more things you can do to protect yourself from cancer...

Drink 3-4 cups of green tea daily.

Take Vitamin D and low dose of aspirin daily.

Limit red meat to once per week.

Avoid fried foods.

Loose 10 pounds.

Limit Sugar

Limit Caffeine

Blessings filled with wishes of health and happiness.  For those of you enduring cancer treatment you will be in a better place this time next year.  For those recovering from cancer treatments put your health first and give yourself time to heal - you are on the road to recovery.  For those women who are fighting for life you are beyond brave and please know that you are loved beyond measure.

Blessings - Julie

LiveArt Giveaway - So Beautiful....

I am a huge fan of Linda Iverson's work, a very talented artist in Norway. I found her blog and became mesmerized by her work. It's colorful, imaginative and a little edgy at times. Don't you love that?

I joined in a giveaway Linda was hosting at her blog LiveArt - it was a very generous giveaway. The lucky winner would be given the opportunity to select any art from her blog - can you imagine??? I was one of the lucky winners - I was so honored to be chosen even if it was random - I felt so special and was very pleased to be selected.

This is the work I chose from her lovely blog. This mixed media work reminds me of "me and my little dog, too" aka - Molly. She is my rescue, Jack Russell terrier from Animal Haven. Molly and I have a unique relationship. If I agree to buy her treats - she will agree to perform tricks for me..... And to be held like a baby in my arms whenever I get needy. I know, I know, that's really a terrible thing to do to a little dog - it's very undignified - but, I spare no expense on Molly's treats so she tolerates it quite well and doesn't seem to mind....too much.

Ms. Molly performing her "sitting in a tire swing" trick so I can take her photo at the farm this Summer. Isn't she the cutest little girl? Having said that - she has a definite "bitchy" side to her nature as well and has been known to scare the beejeebies out of grown men with her snarls and growls. Much like myself in my younger days..... tee hee. I have mellowed with the years, as I hope Ms. Molly will do so also. I used to be quite the spitfire back in the day.... of course, my husband would still insist that I still have quite a bit of spunkiness, especially when it comes to my kids, my friends and family and my sweet pups. Loyal to a fault - that's me.

Just try to take a treat away from Molly..... at your own prevail. I'm like that with chocolate.... She is a small, but mightly little terrier weighing in at 14 pounds. She's small, but has the heart and courage of a Rotweiller.

Linda is so generous that she included a few extra goodies for me to enjoy like this one - don't you just love it???

A closer look at the detail of Linda's work. Linda is another of those fellow artist that I adore and haven't met except through our blogs. The blogging community is the very best, filled with talented and caring people who are willing to share their work and glimpses into their lives and hearts.

Another bonus: A geisha themed work that I didn't do justice in photographing - it's gorgeous. All of Linda's work lives with me now in my studio. I look at it each day that I am in the studio and think about this wonderfully generous artist that lives so far away - I feel a kindred spirit tangling our lives together, it's like I have know her all my life.