Roger

Oh, Roger. Who... are you?

Behind blue eyes.

This is a crazy quickie doll I made for my adored sister. She's been a Who fan, and a Roger Daltrey-o-phile since the age of 11, when I took her to see the movie, Tommy in 1975. That's all it took. She attended her first of many live Who shows not long after that, and adorned her bedroom walls with posters of Roger. (She might still, if she could get away with it.)

On my last birthday, she surprised me with tickets to Fleetwood Mac… one of my all-time favorite bands. So how could I possibly match that? Only if The Who went on tour, which they thankfully decided to do, just for me! So, her birthday gift this time around was a ticket to their 2015 tour… "The Who Hits 50!", next September.  Since we have to wait ten months till the actual concert, I had to do something else extra special. And so I presented her with Roger.

Full-tilt hippie 1970's Roger in full fringe.

The jacket. Challenging but FUN to make.

Romney wool ringlets dyed with some blonde Nice 'n Easy.

Felt hippie moccasin boots. I want a pair.

He never wore a shirt. Did he?

Research… research. *sigh*

My generation, baby...

Has Daltrey ever been made into a Doll-trey? I'm sure he has. But this one is still one-of-a-kind.

In A Heartbeat...

This beautiful red glass bracelet sold so fast, I barely had time to turn around. I should have known it would immediately speak to my good friend Bj, who works closely with the WomenHeart Coalition.

Vintage molded glass buttons from the early 20th century… with one dazzling little red glass faceted rhinestone mixed in. This one took my heart and left me breathless, too!

The Adornment of Wrists

I can't stop making button bracelets. I adore them! I love wearing them almost as much as I love making them. There is something wonderful about a lovely piece of jewelry that you can look at while you're wearing it, without needing a mirror. Having something shiny around my wrist is just exactly the perfect thing. Here are a few recent delights, some of which are still listed in my Etsy shop.

This one surprised me by becoming my favorite, despite the fact that I never wear yellow!

That one gorgeous Victorian faceted steel button takes my heart!

Dramatic, sexy, elegant, classic. 

What's not to love about black glass plus rhinestones?

SO loved this collection of green gems!

Someday, I'll need to hire a fresh young wrist to model these bracelets.

More black beauties!

Open sesame! This should do the trick.

A Little Deliciousness

Some things are small and delicate… and yummy. This is another crocheted loop and toggle bracelet made with vintage buttons. Some are gorgeously detailed brass colored metal and some are molded glass that is the color of amber. So sweet!

These buttons are at least 100 years old.

More precious than silly old diamonds.

The toggle button has a nature scene with flying bird.

Simple, unique and easy to wear.

China Doll

Poor little China Doll…. she was looking sad and forlorn for a while.

She sat alone in the garden for hours. Inconsolably sad.

I asked her what was wrong… and other than being upset that she missed the Cyndi Lauper concert, she finally admitted she was just lonely. "You never have time for me", she sniffed… "You just dress me up, paint my cheeks, knot my hair ribbons and leave me alone." Poor little party girl!

I could see it in her eyes. It was time for her to take a trip. As soon as I told her about my idea, her toes began to wiggle. She could barely contain her urge to dance!

I helped her pack her bags and paid her passage for an exotic adventure… to beautiful Ohio. 

"Do I look okay?" she asked excitedly... "What are they wearing these days in Ohio?" I assured her she'd fit right in, and helped her with her luggage tags.

Then I noticed… she was finally smiling! Beaming and bright.

She's now rooming with a dear friend of mine who will keep her entertained with stories of her world travels and exciting adventures. 

I'll miss you little China Doll. Your quirky ways made me smile for a little while.

{Our dear girl is a stuffed cloth folk art doll… and sports a vintage plastic bow button, vintage ribbon, rickrack and lace.}

Father Time: Assemblage

Father Time is a mixed-media assemblage, meant for hanging outside & made as a birthday gift for my eldest. I've been carrying some of these elements around for years, waiting for the right project. Since my son recently bought a new house with a couple of lovely wooded acres, I'm hoping he hikes out into the middle of it all and finds a nice tree to hang this piece on. There he will stay, deteriorating naturally over time and eventually melding with the forest itself.

Father time has a working compass in hand, just in case you get lost.

Knobby hips and a vintage Cub Scout button.

He urges you to "Save the Whale"… just one whale.

Yes, as a matter of fact, those are Cupcake prosecco corks.:)

L'Air du Temps Redux

This tiny perfume sample bottle made a simply cool pendant for my 12-yr-old granddaughter. She picked out the bottle, a vintage L'Air du Temps bottle by Nina Ricci, and let me work it up… just for her. I loved this one so much, I need to make myself one just like it now!

Deep garnet red glass beads fill the bottle just part way… so they can move and shake. Making their presence known. The bottle is wrapped with aged copper wire and it hangs from a length of antique brass colored mini-ball chain. With the wire wrap, this pendant measures 1 & 1/2 inches tall.

All that's missing is a photo of my darling girl wearing her new pendant.

Flower Button Bracelet

This one is chunky and kitschy. All vintage plastic flower & ball buttons, crocheted on C-Lon cord.

Can't Find My Way Home

This mixed-media collage was created as a gift for my son's birthday. It was done on a box framework... the front and all four sides are collaged.  The two focal elements are the vintage photograph of the "scout" which I bought at an antique store, then copied and cut out…. and the vintage key. Other elements include vintage newspaper, typed and handwritten text, postage stamps, direct image transfers and paper ephemera. The entire piece was coated with a thin layer of beeswax.  7" x 7" x 1.75"

     I started working on this piece about three years ago, starting out with just the photographic image and the key. From there, I knew I wanted to use vintage papers as a background, then found the hand-drawn map image in a National Geographic magazine and felt it just belonged to this story somehow. Then I got stuck, set it aside and really couldn't get moving on it until recently.

This time, as I worked, the story began to tell itself and it took on an ecology narrative… about how we modern humans have "mucked" things up in our thirst for money and power. Sub-texts include the theme of being lost in the wilderness, of our polarized society and the things we are not paying attention to as the healthy balance in our precious world slips through our fingers.

The more I look at the finished piece, the more it tells me.

The "Peaceful Valley" brings to mind that mythical place… that perfect Eden, our home… that is lost and gone forever. Meanwhile, we keep striving and dueling it out to achieve and acquire ever more, but at what cost?

As I was finishing the collage, the last task was to punch holes and wire on the key. I had the radio on, listening to old rock and roll, and wondering what the title of this piece was going to be. I was literally holding that old key in my hand as Blind Faith's song, Can't Find My Way Home came on…  "Come down off your throne and leave your body alone. Somebody must change. You are the reason I've been waiting so long. Somebody holds the key",  and BOOM…  I had my title. That song has been a favorite of mine for many, many years and it could not have been more profoundly right for this work.

"Well, I'm near the end and I just ain't got the time. And I'm wasted and I… can't find my way home."