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http://mixedmolly.com/ways-to-follow-me/
Thanks!
Molly
I’ve moved!
I have recently moved the hosting of my website. To continue receiving my newest posts, visit this link and subscribe again. You must subscribe again or you will not receive notification of my latest posts. So sorry for the inconvenience.
http://mixedmolly.com/ways-to-follow-me/
Thanks!
Molly
Photo a Day Challenge
Leslie, over at a Recipe for Crazy shared the photos she had been taking using FatMumSlim’s Photo a Day Challenge. I’ve been using my new camera nearly every day, so I thought it would be fun to have a little challenge to work on. Above is the picture that I picked for February 1st. Below are some other random shots that I took and edited, adding some special effects.
So if you have a camera, and a few minutes every day, join me for the month of February. Don’t have a blog? Post your pics to MixedMolly Designs facebook wall for a chance to be featured next month!
Today’s Challenge is words. Hhhmmmm…….
Important Announcement
For the past week I have been working on upgrading my website. I will not be writing posts next week in order to complete the changes and get everything transferred over to my new location. My website may also be unavailable temporarily as some point. You can look forward to some fun new things coming to you from MixedMolly Designs, plus a new and improved website!
The “Unique” Metal Basket
I was looking for a bowl, or a basket….something cool to take to a local consignment shop for displaying my brooches and bracelets.
I found this:
It was not cool. It was not attractive. When I got to the register, the gentleman said this:
“We have some really unique baskets here don’t we?”
“Yes, you do,” I replied.
But I don’t think we were using the word “unique” in the same way.
Let me assure you that it is possible to have buyers remorse before you actually buy an item. I just knew this item had the potential of being a great transformation…or an epic fail. So after carrying it around for a few minutes, I decided $2.00 was worth the risk. Now it has been staring at me for a few weeks,wanting to be transformed.
The first step was to remove the metal rings holding on the rope. If I couldn’t do this without damaging the box, I was pretty sure that this transformation would end up in the trash. With a pair of needle nose pliers and a husband, I was able to carefully remove the rings, which were spot welded on.
I painted over the peach with craft paint and added the blue fabric along the top edge. I attached one of my handmade fabric flower on the front (on top of the peach) and glued on the buttons. Lastly, I added the line of paint on the bottom with a small paint brush. And now, I have a cute metal basket to display my brooches and bracelets in!
Transformation: Success!
The Evolution of an Idea
Idea’s never leave me alone.
They bother me when I’m riding in the car and have no pen to record them. They keep me up in the middle of the night after a child wakes me up. They distract me when I should be paying attention.
Sometimes one idea will come, then quickly leave. Other times an idea will stick with me, aggravating me until I create it, or write it or do something about it.
Often, when I am working in my sketchbook, I am thinking of what else I could do with image.
This idea started with a frame that I created and really liked in my sketchbook. I used my sharpie and watercolor brush markers to sketch this.
I took a picture of it and uploaded that to my computer. I used Photoshop and Illustrator to create a vector image. (Visit this website for more information on vectors and bitmaps.)
Once I had the vector image, I used InDesign to add the background, color and text. I ended up with a 5×7 to offer you as a new free download!
Click here to download a high resolution 5×7 jpeg for printing at your favorite photo developer!
A Week of Creating Daily (almost)
This week I haven’t exactly completed all of my assignments for the Create Daily class. But I have been creating daily, which is the purpose for taking the class.
Early in the week I painted a rock – which was actually more fun than I anticipated – and photographed a mysterious “monkey” that had gotten loose in the little boys bedroom.
Another day I made something to give away (see the “U R Super Cool card on the left of pic below. The Monkey had gotten loose again, and this time was joined by Dean-O doing the “Dance of the Karate Warrior”. I’ve found they’ll do all sorts of amusing things if I get my new camera out.
I worked on this in my sketchbook while we were driving somewhere.
Every time I go to Jer’s shop, I eyeball his stash of sheet metal scraps. I got him to bend up a piece for me so I could experiment again with painting on the metal. I have previously tried to paint on it, but it scratched off easily. I did some research and tried a new technique that worked much better. I’ve requested some more pieces, so you will see more metal work in the future.
In honor of the impending Hallmark Holiday, I created this little piece with the metal he gave me to hang somewhere in the house. It is officially the only “Valentine-sy” decoration I have ever owned.
I’ve been working on some new brooches, including some “school spirit” ones for a couple of shops I am going to soon be selling them in very soon.
One day, our assignment was to get messy. I used a brush, my finger and three paint colors to create these two sketch book pages.
I took a picture of the pages, and used one of them as a background for this image. The flower is a one that I created in my sketchbook with paint, a medicine cap, and sharpies. I scanned it in and turned it into a vector image. Then I added he quote.
The Outdoor Fireplace that Called to Me
Over a month ago, I noticed that a run-down house in my neighborhood was being disassembled. Dumpster by dumpster they took the pieces of this house away and when they were finished this fireplace was left standing. For weeks I have been driving past it, standing alone on a leveled lot, and wanted to take pictures of it. Yesterday, I remembered to take my camera, and stopped on my way home from dropping the kids off at school and got some shots of it. I added some Photoshop Actions and did some other editing to them, and have included two for you to see today. I don’t know why they left this beautiful creation, or what they plan to do with it, but it makes a great photo!
Introducing Transformation Tuesday
I’ve had the idea for a while now, and I’ve decided to make it official. On Tuesday’s I will be recycling, up-cycling, re-purposing, painting, editing, cutting, pasting, or any other number of things. In one word, transforming.
I’ll be starting this series with the transformation of the necklace pictured below.
I started by removing the heart pendant. I created a flower using fabric, ribbon and two vintage buttons. Once I decided where I wanted to place the flower, I warmed up my trusty hot glue gun and fired away. I unhooked the shortest chain from the same side that I wanted to place the flower. I gathered the short chain, along with the longest chain up by the flower and allowed them to hang down underneath. I glued them all to the back of the flower and covered it with black ribbon. I ended up with a necklace that now looks like this.
I was able to complete this project in about 15 minutes and I ended up with a fabulous new necklace.
For tutorials on making your own fabric flowers, check out these ten at Skip to My Lou.
You can also glue a clip to the back of the flower to transform any beaded necklace you have by simply clipping on a flower. I wanted to rearrange the chains on this one, so I went with glue and ribbon instead of a clip.
Have other ideas for transformations you’d like to see? Want to transform something of your own and write a post about it? I’d love to hear your ideas! Leave me a comment below or contact me by email.
Now, Coming to You from 1941…Part Two
In my previous post, I shared some of my favorite images from a copy of Capper’s Farmer (November 1941) that I purchased at the Shipshewana flea market this summer. Today, I want to share the rest of my favorite things from that magazine.
The first paragraph of this article states, “Last year an old lady fell and within 6 weeks was dead. If this tragic mishap had occurred only once it would have been bad enough, but it occurred exactly 91 times in Kansas to women between 80 and 84 years of age. Besides that, 128 other Kansas women, younger, vigorous and useful, dies from falls. They didn’t topple from the silo or rooftree. They were safe at home. Their needless passing becomes a part of the distressingly large toll of human lives annually taken by home accidents.” (Rooftree is another term for the ridgepole of a roof.)
The article encourages women to be their own”safety engineer.” At the end of the article, the writer states that, “Home safety [is] still in its infancy…”
This is part of an ad for a baby laxative. Who wouldn’t find the dialogue at the beginning of the article amusing?
“Middle Age.” Chuckle. I have those symptoms some days and I don’t meet the age requirement yet for “Middle Age.”
And finally, some other random bits that I thought you might find amusing.
I’d love to hear what you have thought of these posts. Leave me a comment below.
Mixed Molly 