not all my 'art' has to do with bones 'n wings!

it seems like i'm always promoting my ForestWalk etsy site...
and not my FIRST shop, 'samura' !!

why??  WELL,  i guess i started to get more involved with BoNES...collecting and decorating...

but samura is where it all began...for me!
when i started getting alot of BoNE art on samura,
 i created the ForestWalk shop and moved all the 'nature/bone art' over there.

so today i thought i'd  'highlight'  a few of my  'creations'  at samura!

this one is a 4X4" sandblasted mirror, mounted on painted wood plaque.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/27235147/sandblasted-peace-mirror

here's another sandblasted mirror...SMILE...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/27235526/sanblasted-smile-mirror

i have a few more sandblasted mirrors at etsy...KARMA...PEACE...

spread kindness...Live, Love, Laugh set!

(((i had a post on here a few weeks back where i showed the step by step 

process of sandblasting. you can check it out here: 

http://forestwalkart.blogspot.com/2010/06/sandblasted-tree-mirror-from-start-to.html )))

at my samura shop, i also have some (recycled) champagne glass tea light candle holders...

decorated with pressed flowers!  you can check out my candle holders here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/samura?section_id=6377924

...with lights out...candle lit...

and sandblasted window hangers...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/samura?section_id=6377923

at samura, you can also find a few vintage and  whimsical jewelry items. all my art is original...one of a kind!

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.  ~Twyla Tharp

Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~ Albert Einstein

It takes alot of courage to show your dreams to someone else. ~Erma Bombeck

stay cool...

pax   pace  amani   peace   shalom   eace-pay   vrede   paz   paix

glass art - window hanger with wings 'n flowers!!

i had this 4X4" beveled  piece of glass.

ok, what can i do with it??  i have some pressed flowers and butterfly & dragonfly wings,

so i decided to decorate it with some...

then i gave it a couple of coats of 'mod-podge'...

let it set for a couple of days...then gave it a coat of clear acrylic spray.

then i ran some 12 gauge copper color wire around all the edges, front & back,

so it would hold the glass in like a frame.

twisted the wire at the top, making a loop...

and this is the back...

now it's ready to hang in a window.

of course, not a window that has direct sunlight as this will make the flower petals fade!!

this is something you can do with any piece of glass...even a pane from an old window! or a bottle!

(check out some of my vintage bottle art!)

be creative! have fun! and stay cool...   :]

new vintage BoTTLE ArT completed!

remember the vintage bOttle ART i was working on this past week?

you can see it at the end of  this post ...

and then farther along...at the end of this post ...

well...it's FINISHED and i just added it to my etsy shop

 check it out :]  when you have a minute...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/51858545/vintage-bottle-art-free-ship-usa

And what's a buterfly?  At best,

He's but a ceterpillar, drest.

~John Grey 

butterflies and trees

i slept in today!! well, i did wake up at 3:30, but when i saw what time it was...i told myself to TRY and get back to sleep. i didn't think i could. but i did. and woke this morn at 5:30! for me, that's sleeping in!!
yesterday i was working on the sandblasted mirror trees...painting them...getting the wood ready to mount the mirrors. i realized that since the 'etched' area of this tree design is so much more intricate than the 'words' i've sandblasted on mirrors...painting the wood plaque won't work! the colors don't show through the frosted tree! so i painted the back side of the mirror...over the etched design/frosted glass.

this is the back side/etched side of the mirrors:

this picture shows back side and front side. you can see the colors through the etched design.

i've painted the wood plaques...one a light blue, the other cobalt. today i'll clear coat the plaques, then after drying, will mount the mirrors!

here's something else i was playing around with while working on the trees. (sorry for the flash glare!) - beveled glass with butterfly & dragonfly wings & pressed flowers. i'll probably put some type of border on it and make it into a window hanger.  

front

back

It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. ~Butterfly Effect

some of my 'older' art

i went through some of my art...some old pic's of my art...that i 'created' and sold in a small shop in High Springs, FL...about 2 yrs ago.  i thought i'd post them here. they reminded me how much i like to do the artwork/design and stencil cutting...for the sandblasted glass and mirrors!  at that time i was also trying to do a little wood burning. i think the mix of paint & wood burning looks pretty cool. maybe i'll try that again too...

wood burn outline & paint ^^

this was a practice sandblasting! on clear pane of glass

                                                    sandblasted flower on wood plaque      

                                   wood burned outline and filled with acrylic paint on wood plaque

   ^^ a couple of experiments with pressed flowers and wood burning... ^^

sandblasted on purple glass...it was actually a candle stand from the dollar store...

                                                                                                           

   these mirrors and glass pieces pictured above were my first sandblast pieces...i was experimenting. well...both my husband Sam and i were teaching ourselves.  i did the artwork & stencil cutting, he did the actual blasting.  THEN i tried my hand at wood burning...some of the same or similar designs i did for the sandblasted pieces. i started to incorporate the pressed flowers...and VOILA!! then came the recycled-upcycled-thrift shop bought champagne glass tea-light holders. after i saw how BEAUTY-FUL the flowers look on glass, i started to decorate bottles.  THEN i got the bright idea to use the pressed flowers to decorate BONES!!  what a nice Homage to Mother Nature!!  

anyway...that's all i have time for right now...we're getting ready to go fishing...  :)  Happy Day!!

decorated vintage bottles

We used to have WOODS across the street...until they came in with bulldozers and knocked all the trees down!! what a shame!! pine trees...big old oak trees...GONE! so my husband Sam and i started riding the 4 wheeler over there and uncovered old...bottles...cans...a horseshoe...old marbles...so many treasures!!  it became (another) addiction of mine...to scour this field...in search of anything unusual. we started finding many vintage bottles...old medicine bottles...soda bottles. i cleaned them all up and started decorating some with pressed flowers and butterfly or dragonfly wings. (the butterfly bodies are painted)  i put a cork with crystal bead in top. i like to think we're doing our part by cleaning up the field of old debris...one man's garbage is another's treasure! UPcycled!! REcycled!!  

framed 'flower quote' !!

recycled champagne glasses

these are my (thrift shop) champagne glasses which i decorated with pressed flowers...and added words of inspiration to some. they look really cool at night...with a tea-light candle.