I got together with my friend Carole.   Normally this is our quilting get-together time but Claudia couldn’t come.   So after a bunch of begging I got Carole to have me come over anyway.  It’s always good therapy to hang out at Carole’s house.  She always serves something delicious that involves chocolate.  So I packed up my buttons to make some charms while we chatted.   In my box was an assortment of old keys that I had been playing with to make them into charms.   I had tryed alcohol ink but didn’t like how they chipped when the keys hit each other.  So I used leftover cans of 3 spray paints and came up with this white/silver/blue look.   As Carole’s daughters came over to see what I was doing they spotted the keys in my box.  I took out a few and layed them on the table.   Carole’s eyes opened wide!   She started laying them on the table in all kinds of configurations.   Kind of looked like the same way she designs quilts.   Did I mention that Carole makes 9 patch designs in her farm on Facebook?   HAHA!!

I figured I would feed into Carole’s excitement and pulled out all the keys and locks onto the table.   Next thing you know she had a ruler and was measuring them.   They were lined up like little soldiers on the table.   I was watching the ideas forming in her mind with these keys.   I had sort of lost my inspiration for them after all this painting without the “look” that I wanted.

We had fun identifying all the keys.  Notice the large oval Ford key – the trunk key for my old 1988 Escort.  Oh the flashbacks a small piece of metal can bring.

It became apparent that a mobile was going to be created.   What should we use that would make a hanger for the keys?   Well you may recall that Carole is my ‘curly willow’ friend.  She has the most gorgeous tree in her backyard.   Last year at trimming time I went over to help gather the branches to make wreaths.  So outside we went – in the dark – to give the willow tree a little trimming.   After a few short jokes and a willow leaf mess we had the makings ready.  Carole quickly formed the willow into a wreath about 6″ across.

Back inside for more measuring and rearranging.  The keys were tied together with quilting thread (as if there is any other kind of thread for such a purpose).  Carole finally had the wreath she had envisioned.   The lock made for a nice hanger at the top.  The keys jingled happily together.

This got Tuffi’s attention.  Tuffi is a cute dog but extremely hyper.  Most times she is in the garage when company is over but for some reason Tuffi likes me.  LOL!   Perhaps I don’t panic at her leaping and holloring and just wait until she calms down to pet her on the head.   She really liked the key chime and had to investigate closely.   Personally I think she was just showing off her new haircut and neck scarf because she knew the camera was out!!!

Here is the “Key Chime” all completed.  The curly willow will slowly turn brown as times passes.   It is now part of the decor at Carole’s house.  She wanted money but I assured her that I wanted to continue eating her cookies and drinking her tea.   Payment was not allowed.   Off I went to eat the last cookie.

Now that these keys have a new home I have a reason to gather more old keys and try re-creating again.  

As usual the buzz word for my blog is recycle.  I may not reuse every single thing I come across but I come pretty close.   I love turning recycled objects into art.   Since I am a avid collector of stuff it helps me with my stash management as well.     In a way it has truly turned the key that has unlocked the direction for my creations!!  

Thanks for reading…your comments make my day!!!

Well this was my first big weekend with my modified table display for doing shows.  I was really pleased with how things turned out.  My creations never looked better.  I am really getting the hang of this and liking the new direction my recycled creations is going.  My displays worked great.  Here is Elmer (my fiesty and curious cat) who decided that the first thing my display needed was for him to sit upon it.

My friend Carole assures me that Elmer was just expressing his approval.  Hehehe – she is in Elmer’s fan club.   I am fortunate to have a boss who rehabs houses.  He had seen my chicken wire display and mentioned that when he took out all the windows in an old house I could have them.  I quickly said “oh yesssss”.    He saved 12 of them for me in assorted sizes and the best part is he had the guys smash all the glass out over the dumpster.  The glass was a big mess and I was so careful not to get it everywhere or wake the neighbors with all the noise.  So that was a huge help.   Perhaps the posty notes I left all over his desk saying “don’t forget windows for Holly” was a good idea too!!!   So I just had to clean them up and do my re-creating tricks to make this spiffy new display.  There is ribbon across it so I could attach my greeting cards with clothespins.   Another display at hardly any cost and it worked really great.  I have considered offering these type displays to other artists and crafters.    I really enjoy taking all these stray pieces and putting them together into something useful.  Plus they are light and easy to store in my car.

Remember my curly willow blog and the wreaths that I had made with them?   Well, I finally found a great way to use the wreaths.  I made some bows out of scraps of wine fabric, attached some fake grapes and corks to make these cool decorations….

Here I am in my new space.  I really liked having the tent and found all kinds of ways to attach items for display with bungy cords and zip ties.  So I have some plans to further improve how my creations look at future shows. 

Plus I have decided that new tablecloths are the next order of business.  The tablecloth in the middle will be my inspiration to get 2 more to match.  Those are 2 of my favorite colors – Eggplant Engy and Forest Green – plus there are leaves all over it.  That combined with a few more displays and a sign to hang in the back of my space will be great additions in the future. 

The thing I didn’t take a picture of was my little car.  I have a Saturn and it was jam packed with stuff.  I couldn’t fit another tub or table in there and still see out the back window.  It worked out great though and I had plenty of room for what I needed.  Next time I will take a photo of that to share with all of you.  The logistics of packing the car was kind of funny.  It only went in a certain way but nevertheless I got it all in there.

Again, thanks for reading.  Your comments are always appreciated and offer great encouragement!!!

 Remember – buying handmade items made locally helps our economy where we need it the most!!!!

My friend Carole let me know she was trimming her curly willow tree this week.  I had been over her house awhile back and branches of the curly willow had fallen on the ground.  She explained how the branches made great all natural wreaths.  Of course this piqued my interest as I am always looking for new craft ideas, especialy those related to nature.    I stayed outside long after eveyone else had gone inside to enjoy a cig and make a 8″ wreath.  I thought that was the coolest thing.   So at last the long awaited semi-annual trimming time had arrived.

Both of us are busy and neither had evenings available this week for me to come and collect the curly willow.  So this morning (I am not a morning person but this was really important) at the start of my day I ran over to her house to gather it.  Curly willow was everywhere!  Large branches had to be taken off before the rough winter weather arrived.  Carole was busy with the pruning shears when I got there to fill 3 trash bags full of it.  The leaves were still on  the branches but already starting to wither.   The best part is that when it is fresh cut the branches are still green and much easier to maneveur into any shape I wanted.  I will blog later so you can see how that happens.   Then off I went with the 3 bags in my back seat. 

My first stop was a visit at Abbie’s.  She was puzzled as I came up her front steps with a trash bag in hand.  I told her where I had just been and thought she’s be interested too.    I made her a little wreath (about 3″) and put it on her mailbox.  Abbie was instantly getting ideas too.  With the Handmade Faire coming up on October 25th, we are looking for fresh fall art projects made by hand.  See the website for more info:   http://www.handmadefaire.com/

A few hours later when I got back in my car it was like getting into a natural air freshener bubble.  My whole car was full of the scent of the fresh cut curly willow.  Why would people buy those little cardboard pine trees sprayed with yucky fake perfume?    I much prefer the smells of nature.    Another lesson I have learned from lawncare from a big tree in Carole’s back yard.  Who knows what other inspriations I might get as I continue driving around with 2 trash bags of curly willow in the back seat of my car!!!

So the moral of this story is to keep it green! Weave it into wreaths while it is still green! Give thanks for all the natural air fresheners around us and friends who like trees!   Thanks Carole for the best smelling car around and inspriation for many new creative projects to come.