MY HUGEST HOARD - IS HUGEST A WORD?

So glad to see all the comments on last week's post! I went over to the Flickr page but didn't add anything to it. Not yet, I'm just too busy to do anything artsy-crafty right now. Although I do need to finish a sweet charm bracelet I'm working on for my niece who graduates on the 12th.

My hugest or largest hoard is...

Bottle caps. Why, you say? When we moved here to our mfd. home in an adult park, I asked DH if I could decorate the side of the little building out back. That little building was like a blank canvas to me. At first I thought I would decorate it with vintage yard and/or garden tools. So I thought about that for awhile and awhile longer and then some more... I guess I didn't really want to do that or I would have started that project. 

Then one day I got the bright idea to decorate it with a mural...made of bottle caps. Pop bottle caps, milk jug caps, water bottle caps, etc. These are not normally recycled and I thought it would be a great "green" project as well. So I saved and saved and saved and all of my sisters, children, grandchildren and friends saved and saved and saved. I even told them I'd pay 1 penny per bottle cap so I could make it fun for the kids.

Now I have so many bottle caps that I can't possibly count all of them! My dilemma: we are moving away from our little mfd. home in the park! And I have all of those bottle caps, still. I haven't done my project yet. And now I won't do it here, but I still want to do some sort of a mural or design with it at some point in time, somewhere!

What is your largest stash? Make a comment to let us know! Is it unusual? Why did you start saving that particular item? How many do you have?

IS ANYONE OUT THERE?

I try to be faithful about my writing assignment, i.e., to write a blog entry here every Wednesday. But I'm not feeling the love, people! Is anyone out there? I know Sinclair is around, she has a new job and she isn't able to check in as often as before. I know the attic elf was here two posts ago. Anyone else? I hope so. We have something good going here. What can we do to garner more interest or more participation? Any ideas, peeps?

We are supposed to be working on an art journal. I must admit that I ordered mine but I haven't used it yet. I was disappointed in the size for the cost, but no matter, I should have done something in it by now. Alas, I have an excuse, we are moving to the beach. Now if my muse is silent there I will be surprised! I've just been busy ordering pots and pans, silverware, dishes, etc., etc. (We're setting up another household.) And a daughter is getting married June 26th and I've been trying to find a dress to wear and I have favors to make. So I have excuses, I'm sure we all do. It's a busy time of year! Our gardens beckon, our children and grandchildren are playing spring sports, etc., etc.

So, let's see if we can make a comment here now and then, do a page in your art journal soon, and be thinking about how we can get more participation, etc.

HAPPY SPRING!! (I think it might finally be here.)

This is the view from the deck of our beach home. It is also the view from the living and dining areas and the master bedroom.

VINTAGE HATPINS

I love vintage costume jewelry. Actually, I love all jewelry~the good, the bad and the ugly~and it doesn't have to be costume. I just love jewelry. I have several books on the subject and just picked up another last weekend. This one is about plastic jewelry and though it is copyrighted quite some time ago, it helps in identification and is enjoyable to read. One can pick up these guides for a fraction of the price at second hand stores. Often times collectors will purchase a newer version and sell their older version. I have several up-to-date books for valuing and pricing but older ones help in identification and colors, etc.

Thumbing through the book I found a section about "pins," i.e., hatpins. I have a small collection of hatpins and two hatpin holders so I was interested in this section. I found it very interesting that a pin-making machine was invented in 1832 and after that pins became very popular. Prior to the invention of the pin-making machine, people were taxed to pay for the Queen's pins! Another anomaly was that if caught stealing a pin, a person would be hanged! Yikes! Pins were so treasured and valuable they were bequeathed in wills and could only be purchased on New Year's Day. Have you heard of "pin money?" Yep, hatpins.

I also learned that there is a difference between hatpins and hat pins. Hatpins are pins used to anchor a hat to a woman's head. A hat pin was a badge or type of ornament worn by men on their hats if they were a prominent man. When a man met another man, he could tell by the hat pin whether he was of lesser station than the other and would therefore tip his hat first.

Do you collect hatpins? You might be interested in the American Hatpin Society. Click the name and go to their website.

Are you worried about buying fakes? Learn from the American Hatpin Society about fakes by clicking here: article on fakes at American Hatpin Society.

Hatpins can be found on eBay but "buyer beware." According to the American Hatpin Society, 10% of all hatpins for sale on eBay are legitimate and 90% are fakes! Hatpins can also be found on Ruby Lane and other shopping sites with antique and/or vintage categories.

JUST A BRIEF NOTE...

I received my journal in yesterday's mail but sadly did not start it yet. I had quite a busy day today! I may have purchased my journal "too small." I write in a journal frequently, not daily, but often. I've been doing it for years so this new challenge will be different for me. I have lots of journals but they all have lines so I ordered one on Etsy without lines.

Have you started yours? Have fun with it, that's what its all about, right?

(The design is from a Dover sample.)

LET'S DO SOMETHING...A NEW CHALLENGE

I read blogs of others and read about what they did that day and usually there is something they did that is artful or crafty. And then there is me. I go along and don't do anything artsy or craftsy for days at a time and start to feel out of balance.  We haven't had a challenge for awhile. I remember we did have one after Christmas and another in February, I think. So it's time. 

My challenge to you is to get a journal with blank pages and a coil binding and doodle in it. Write down what ideas come to you. Cut pictures from magazines with colors you like, or flowers you like or pieces of artwork that inspire you. Glue them into the journal. Or use your markers and sketch something. Draw. Paint. Write. Fold. Do a little something in the journal every day, even if it is to write that you didn't have time to do something creative. And why. Or if your muse was silent, write that down.

Choose a journal in a size that won't sabotage you immediately, i.e., 11"x14" might be a little much for a "first timer" in art journaling. Or whatever it might be called. I think a 5"x7" might work for me this first time out. Set a time or a place to do it. Same time every day? Or fit it in where you can? Its up to you...

The size, the time of day, the medium, etc., are all up to you. You can share your work with us, or not! Share with us once in awhile, though. I'll give you a few days to get the journal or make one.

By May 19th lets each try to post a photo in our Yahoo groups of at least one page of the journal. Sinclair, can you make us an album for "Journal Pages, May 2010," please?  Thanks! 

Ready, Set, GO!!

 

SPRING LEAVES AND RUBBINGS

I had been wanting to do some leaf rubbings for awhile but had to wait for spring! Here are the steps to doing the rubbings.

• Select several leaves to use. They should be veined and have a lot of detail.
• Select the paper to use. I used tracing vellum which came in tablet form.
• You will need a paperweight and colored pencils or crayons.
• Place the leaves under the vellum in any design that you would like.
• Put the paperweight on the vellum where it will help keep the paper and leaves in place. I might suggest to tape the paper to the counter or tabletop to hold it in place. It tends to slip even with the paperweight and my other hand holding the paper down.
• I used colored art pencils. Use the side of the pencil tip to do the broader parts and the tip to do the narrower parts. Gently rub the pencil across the leaf. You will get the feel for it. I had an eraser handy, too, to erase the color that went "out of the lines." As I did more, I got the hang of it.
• Do not use the same leaf more than once. I did. I made a mess and some of the rubbings don't look as good as the others.
• This was my first attempt, done on 8-1/2" x 11" vellum.
• I used a red Japanese maple and a mauve colored pencil.
• I tried a house plant leaf, an Angel Wing Begonia, it didn't work. It has too much moisture in the leaf.
• I don't care for the rubbing of the leaf with a crayon. There isn't enough definition of the leaf veins. I also prefer to use the darker colored art pencils.

What to do with the final product?

• make a greeting card or a note card
• frame it and hang it on the wall
• make a calendar using different leaf rubbings for each month

I clearly need more practice before I do anything with the rubbings.

I don't know what the other leaves are. One was on a flowering plant which showed up in our flower bed voluntarily. The other was just a leafy plant which also just happened to show up.

Have fun making your rubbings and be sure to let me know how they turned out.

Handmade Marketplace Sites

I have shared this post on my personal blog, but also thought it would be a good fit here. Though Hoarders Unite originated as an Etsy Street Team, I do not feel that we are in any way limited only to Etsy. I want to encourage members of the team to sell wherever they choose (or not to sell at all) and know that they can still be a part of this group.

I thought I would create a post that will list all the handmade shopping sites I know about. As I find more, I will add them to this post, and share a permalink in the sidebar. So, here goes...

Handmade Marketplaces:

1. 1000 Markets
2. AnticGift (based in Turkey)
   
3. Artfire
4. Dawanda (based in Germany)
5. Etsy
6. Folksy (based in the UK...thanks GirlIndustries for this info!)
   
7. Just For Keeps
   
8. MadeIt (based in Australia)
9. WinkElf
10. Zibbet
    

Sites showcasing and indexing handmade items:

1. CanaMade (featuring items made in Canada)
   
2. Down the Handmade Path (featuring primitive folk arts and crafts)
   
3. Handmade Product Marketplace (blog)
   
4. Poppytalk Handmade (a monthly "street market" curated by Poppytalk)
5. Try Handmade

Hybrid Sites:

1. Bonanzle (handmade and commercial items)