It all started with this.....

It all started with an antique quilt given to me by my Uncle Cliff in 1985. It was made by my Great Grandmother using original fabrics spanning from the 1860's to the 1930's, in a string quilt pattern. All strings were hand pieced. All fabrics were loved. I can imagine Grandpa's shirts, or Grandma's housedress or apron. And now I'm the fortunate steward of this wonderful bit of family history........all made by hand.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Happy feet......happy studio....

Now that my work space is back in order, I need to be more productive, right? There's no excuse with such an inspiring space.....unless all I want to do is daydream.  I hope you know I'm not bragging, I'm just so happy to have this space.

The exciting part of my new space is lining up the many projects in queue.  What to do first?!?!?!  I decided to dust off the paint brushes and re-purpose an old pair of leather mules.  They were very comfortable, but being well worn they needed a bit of TLC.  Now.....I can’t wait to wear them to my next quilting or artsy event. 

Here are the steps I followed to jazz them up, and give them a second life:

1.      Soak a cotton ball with nail polish remover and rub thoroughly over the leather to remove the shiny finish, then let dry thoroughly (see photo). This prepares the surface to accept the paints. 


2.    Using opaque acrylic paints, paint in your base coat colors as desired. I choice Daniel Smith artist grade because it’s somewhat elastic which will help reduce cracking once I start wearing them, its viscosity, plus I already had them.  Let dry thoroughly.

3.    Using the same paints and permanent paint markers draw in your design (see photo). Take your time as this can be a bit tricky due to the curves and how porous the leather.



4.    After everything has dried overnight, fill the inside of the shoe with newspaper to hold their shape and spray protective sealant such as spray polyurethane over the entire painted surface.  Let dry, repeat.  Let dry another 24 hours before wearing.

5.     Happy Feet!  Pretty cute, eh?!

Next I decided to give a primitive wooden plate a new life by added Zentangles(c) to it.  I love the simplicity of tools……pens and a surface to draw on, and a spray sealant to finish it.  I can feel the BP lower just working on it.  You can Zentangle(c) practically any surface, so put your thinking caps on!


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