Auction Find to Art Display

I have a great brother-in-law who often has horse related finds for me.  Most recently he brought me an old leather horse fly blanket. 

It definitely had seen better day...  but still quite a find.  I had never seen one before.  I suspect it was used to keep flies off working draft horses.

I spent some time imagining ways I could use it and knew I wanted it to be a wall hanging.  And realized it might be a fun way to display some of my horse photography.  For this project, I used sepia tones.

My horses are Honey and Love.  (I always feel the need to clarify that I did not give them these barn names, but that they came with these names.  And even if they are fitting, it is almost embarrasing to have them both with names that are such sugary terms of edearment... )  And it is great to be able to use photos of them.

 I added beads or buttons on the pictures to help me display them.

And added beads, baubles, and wire to fill in holes and add a bit more interest.

 It really was a fun project that turned out much the way I imagined it. 

And here is the final project, in all its messy re-used glory.

And some of my horse photos that I used for this...

Linking up at a few parties:

Christmas Tour

A quick tour of Christmas around my home...
            short hours of daylight and full-time work schedule mean very poor light for pictures.



Precious little one

Spending the weekend caring for my precious granddaughter Lydia.

With every new stage and experience of family, I am amazed that the joy and love continues to grow.

Precious moments and the pleasure of being part of a new family, a new life and new history unfolding.

 So very precious...

Hope you are enjoying some time with loved ones this weekend, whether it be family or friends.

Remnants of summer

We have the possiblilty of snow this weekend.  Fall is short lived in this part of the country.  The trees have been bare for several weeks.  But in the cycle of seasons, the end of fall means spring will surely arrive after the pleasures of winter....

Messing around with book covers..

 One of my graduate school professors once called me a Renassaince woman--I am pretty sure that referred to the fact that I have a wide variety of interests and activities  (and only a few skills that are truly mastered as  a result).    So once again, off in a different direction!

         I have a pile of book covers from the old books I have dismembered for decorating purposes.  And    

        this one in particular simply called for something special to happen.  I love the central panel and its aged weathered look. 

                                                

    I added some birds cut out of vintage paper...

And a canvas twisted rosette.

 

 Stamped words on canvas cover the original title and author printed on this cover.



A bit of timeless inspiration to hang on the wall in the corner by my desk,

Quick yard decor project

We live in the country, in North Dakota. Think strong wind and snow will fall soon....  Which means no fragile yard decorations...  Ane we live a long a fairly busy road with traffic passing by at 60 miles on hour so if I wanna impress the neighbors, small won't catch their attention.

I decided I wanted to add a little halloween to my fall display.   So as I thought about what I had available, I came up with this idea for an owl...

I used packing tape  (should hold when it freezes overnight)  and took the corner of a black garbage bag and taped one corner over the middle of the top of the bag.  Then I pulled two corners around front and down a ways to make wings.   I cut circles from the ends of a bag of bird feed for the eyes.  I also taped a bit around the corners of the white bag so the ear tufts stayed a bit more pronounced,  And although it does not show up well, I used duck tape to make some wavy designs on the front for chest feathers.  Quick, easy and kinda cute!  The ghosts are a white garbage bag cut in half with some fiberfill stuffed and tied in the corner.  I tied bolts to the bottom to try and keep them from totally blowing away but the wind is pretty strong today.

I'd love to know if you make yourself a yard owl and see the picture!








 

Being a Grandma is awesome (even if I feel too young to be one..)

This is Lydia. The most perfect granddaughter ever.   She is almost three months old.

She wakes up smiling and giggling.  She is so very happy and content.

Who knew that each stage of life and family is a wonderful as the last?

and a touch of humor

I have a very large (like 110 pounds) lapdog. Max loves to curl up on the couch next to me. But Max and the couch did not get along.

My beautiful leather couch got destroyed by Max enthusiastically jumping off when he had things to do. 

At least he has the sense to look a little bit guilty.  The answer is probably to train him to stay off the couch but I really like when my dogs are curled up next to me on cold winter nights.  And I am a pushover for a sad puppy face so keeping them off the couch is not likely to happen.

And so I came up with another temporary no cost fix.

I made a patch that makes the couch useable and a bit less ugly with a touch of humor thrown in,   And now to go do some research and see if my couch can be repaired.  I wish the cushions were removable and seperate rather than sewn into the couch.  >sigh<  It would have made life so much easier.  Because of the way it is made, a seat slipcover just would not stay in place.

I just don't understand why some people don't like sharing their living space with animals.....