Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Charms and Challenge

I thought I would record the progress of my contribution to the Black and White Charm Swap. In case you missed it, Amber Dawn chose the two-sided elephant design (to my absolute delight, by the way). I have a few weeks to get the 25 charms done, so I've decided to take my time and (try) to do them right. :) The first step is getting all 25 (plus a few extra, cuz that's the kind of girl I am ... just in case, dontcha know) cut down to size and sanding ... sanding ... sanding ... I wanted to round the corners and want the edges to be smooth, so a sanding I've been a-doin (four are completely sanded and another 14 have the corners rounded, so I'm doin alright). I'm using 220 grit sandpaper - a little does NOT go a long way ... the pieces measure just about 3/4 inch square:



Once I have all 25+ pieces sanded to my liking, the next step will be painting one side ...
OK, so the other challenge was from my honey. Originally he had a due date of this past Sunday, but when he noticed that I was actually working on the beaded doll or the charms, he decided to give me an extension to this Sunday ... the "assignment" - hanging piece with one section painted, one section beaded and one section found object. I saw this:

on the lanai and asked if it could be the found object ... he said yep. :) I've got two ideas on how to use it ... guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Here's my paint shelf:

Sometimes just staring at the tubes can get the juices flowing. I'm leaning towards using a 6x6 canvas board (or two), but this could change ... can you tell that I don't have the whole thing mapped out, yet? I'm often a by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of human, but I have been trying to make an affort at planning projects ... at least a little.

Here's a bead shelf:


I know, not much, but don't let the space fool you ... there really are some fun little beadies stored in there. :)
and since I'm sharing ... here's the shelf above the beads:

It's got random items on it 4X4 and 6X6 canvas boards, tapes, small origami papers, sculpy, modeling clay, etc. and my favorite bear Zotti.

This is the whole bookcase:


I may not have a studio, but this bookcase houses the most often used art supplies and is in a common area. :)

OK ... time to get back to work.

Be well, ~M~

6 comments:

Sandra Evertson said...

Great little bead people charms down below!
Sandra Evertson

Danielle said...

Oh your space is so neat and organized, you don't want to see my space. No wonder I can't seem to find any inspiration lately!

Oh and that chain, did your honey find that at Shamrock? Can't wait to see what you come up with for the challenge : )

Cathie said...

What an awesome collection of goodies you have! I'd love to go shopping in there.

Janet said...

Sometimes when I need to sand something small I use emery boards. They usually have a fine side and a coarse side and they do the trick.

Your bookcase looks very neat and organized....and holds lots of goodies.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your art supplies are so organized! Do you want to come to my house and help me organize my stuff?? It won't stay that way, but it might be fun! =)

Can't wait to see how the charms progress. I love Janet's idea of using an emery board...I would never have thought of that.

3rdEyeMuse said...

lol - I guess it does look organized ... these are just the most used items ... you might be disturbed by the other boxes of random stuff stashed elsewhere. :)

come shop anytime, Cleveland. An emery board! simply brilliant, Janet. I miss VA tons, Donna, so anytime you want to fly (or Grayhound bus) me up I'll be happy to help organize (and won't hold it against you if it only stays that way for an hour or so).