For the vineyard in any room...

A friend loveth at all times.
Proverbs 17:17

The grapes on this vase make me think of how rich and juicy life can be sometimes.  A life full of everything you want and need.  Happiness everywhere.  And then as I think of that, my thoughts turn to just the opposite.  Sometimes our lives seem so dry and empty.  I have experienced both kinds of times and different emotions come with each.  Throughout all times in my life, people have been there for me.  People have shared in the joy of my accomplishments and my getting married.  They have been there for me when my grandmother passed away and my father was diagnosed with cancer.  During both kinds of times in the lives of others, I want to be there.  When marriages happen, when babies are born, when a kid I know gets a good grade.  When friends experience the death of a family member, when someone hears a mean comment, when someone is just feeling down for an unexplained reason.  For someone experiencing the exquisite and unmatchable joy given by God, I want to share in that joy.  And for someone who is too weak and too far into mental despair, I want to be there to pray for him/her and let him/her rest.  Together we can hold each other up. 

This vase was made for a room that was already decorated with wine glasses and bottles, and of course grapes!  Three different shades of green tissue paper make up the leaves of the vase.  It is accented with green wire and artificial grapes.  Topped with beautiful deep purple hydrangeas, this vase turned out to be stunning.  

Loves...

Andrea

I am so ready for summer!  Or at least spring!  Bring on the sunshine and warmth!  I am ready for new growth in my foliage and in myself!  

"For the winter is passed. The rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up. And the time of the singing of the birds has come."            Solomon 2:11-12: 

This sounds beautiful to me!  And as much as I want the visual growth of the outdoors.  I want to feel myself grown spiritually, mentally, physically (healthier), etc.  Girls on the Run is starting soon and I am hoping to motivate those girls, but can't wait to see what their spirit will show me as well!  Everything is a learning experience and this spring I hope to grasp at every opportunity I get for new growth.  

This vase is one of the brightest I have done so far and has reminded me of the bright sunny weather to come!  With lime green tissue paper with hand cut teal tissue paper flowers on it, this vase is accented with iridescent sequins for a little bit of shine!  Hopefully it brings a little bit of brightness into your day too!

Peace to you!
Andrea

My Mid-winter Break

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."  Phillipians 4:6-9 

With a lot on my mind lately, these verses seemed full of comfort.  Mid-winter break has brought some free time, but that is also time to think and dwell and stress and worry.  So to keep my mind busy on something positive, I have been busy!  Since Thursday I have made these 5 vases.  

The first, was a gift for my Aunt Anne.  She's always been there for me and a while back mentioned she'd like a purple vase that is heavy enough to hold gladiolas.  The tissue paper used has a fine purple print and adding the purple cutouts brings the color out more in person.

The second, a pitcher that has been hanging out in the office since I first started doing vases.  Done in yellow, accented with orange, I can picture a bouquet of white, orange, and yellow gerber daisies filling it!  I'm so ready for summer!

 

 This vase is smaller.  About 7 or 8 inches tall I would guess with a milk bottle shape.  Done in black and white plaid tissue paper accented with wide black ribbon and yellow daisy ribbon.  Imagine it filled with yellow and white daisies!  Too cute!

Oh chickens!  While visiting my Aunt Anne and delivering her vase, we were talking about her sister-in-law Judy.  Judy's birthday is tomorrow (Tuesday.)  Because of mid-winter break and all this extra time, I said, "Well, I think I should make Judy a vase for her birthday!"  I asked if Judy collects anything or what her house is like and we listed snowmen, porcelain dolls, and chickens.  Snowmen are seasonal, I'm not good with human features, so that left chickens!  I hope she likes it!

I think I am going to be doing more collages in the future...what do you think?

 

And just for fun, the latest, is the rainbow vase.  I went back to my days as a little girl!  What is more girly than rainbows, sparkles, and butterflies?!  I had so much fun with this vase.  Plus it shows off several colors of tissue paper!

Enjoy!  May God be with you today and always!

Lighthouse Collage

"But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." - John 3:21

This vase was a challenge for me.  It was a custom order and the girl who ordered it asked for a lighthouse theme.  That left it wide open for me.  I wasn't sure what direction it was going to take.  With a little help from the big man upstairs, I was guided to a collage.  This watercolor image by Derek McCrea was the basis for my collage.  

This vase was done in stages.  First I began with the sky, then the water, and finally the rocks.  Once that was looking like a landscape, I started to piece together the lighthouse.  

Finished with a  few details of seagulls and beach flowers and my first collage vase was complete!

Pot for Grandma's Cactus

We had purchased a plain terracotta pot for this cactus.  It was a cactus of my Grandma Novak's that was given to me after she passed away in September of 2006.  God's work has kept this cactus alive!  And it has been growing...so much that it is time for a new pot.  The little green plastic pot is just getting too small.  We found the wide-mouth pot at Meijer and thought it would be perfect.  We are going to replace the plastic green pot with another one similar in shape but larger in size and then fill between the two pots with decorative rocks.  I will definitely post an update when we do that!

As for decorating the wide-mouth pot...I started with plain brown tissue paper.  I wasn't sure what direction I was going to go from there, but knew I wanted to keep colors neutral.  I thought about cream colored tissue paper hand cut in a simple shape, and then started exploring some of my scrapbook paper.  I saw some tans, ivory, and orange.  I was going to go with orange, but as I have been not sure of the settings for the Cricut, I decided to do a practice sheet.  I found one that was about the same weight as the one I was going to use and went for that practice run.  Much to my surprise, the flowers cut quite well!  AND they just happen to match nicely too!  So practice run ended up producing some keepers!  Randomly, I placed them on the pot with a little extra Mod Podge as the paper is thicker.  Finished with some ruffly brown ribbon, this pot is going to be a great addition to our kitchen!  Todd thought the ruffles were a little girly, but I reminded him that I spend more time in the kitchen so it is ok!  I finally have a piece of my own handiwork displayed in my house! 

Beach anyone?

This globe reminds me of the beach.  From the deep blue sea to the white clouds in the sky, this globe is accented with shades of blue beach glass and white sea shells.  Fill it and use it as a pen holder, or as shown here, place a candle inside and let it accent your beachy bathroom.  Some nice warm thoughts to go with the "Snow eating breeze" that is flowing through the area!  Have a great week!

Spring is coming...a new release!

Spring has sprung in my craft room today!  It may be freezing, snowing, and blowing outside, but there's lots of warmth in here!  

And when I think of spring, I think of Easter.  And when I think of Easter, I think of our awesome Lord that has risen for us!  Sometimes when life is dark and dreary like the middle of the winter, it is hard to remember that our Lord is always with us!  Today from these bright and cheery colors, I am reminded (in around about way) of this!  "He is not here, but He has risen...!" - Luke 24:6  Oh the excitement that fills my heart to think of Jesus' rising!  I hope you are able to feel the excitement as well as we prepare our hearts for the upcoming Lenten season!  And when you look at the white snow falling this weekend, think of the linen wrapping falling as He rose for us!

Red and Classy

 

Nothing says classy like formal red gown right, well these vases have the same feeling to me!  Two of them are displaying elements with Swarovski crystals.  I didn't know such fun things existed until I started doing this!  For all of us girls who like sparkles, these are the details for us!!!  They add just the right touch to each vase and make them catch anyone's eye.  

Take a look.

The vase above is tiny.  It stands only about 5 inches tall and accenting are red and white Swarovski crystals.  The swirled design makes the flower look wrapped in beauty!  A great accent for any flower.

 

The vase below is large, standing more than 12 inches tall.  It is accented with gold Swarovski crystals.  For this one I used Gold Shimmer Mod Podge instead of the plan which, comparing it to the one above, brings a completely different look.

 The vase on the left I made with strips of ripped red tissue paper.  It brings a whole different look to the vase.  It allows you to see stems or the filler that may be inside.  It is accented with three white roses.  A great Valentine gift.

Enjoy this class red collection!

Chic and Sassy 2

More from the Chic and Sassy collection!  These pieces are my small pieces in the collection.  The trio of candle holders is about three inches tall and the center one has hot pink aluminum wire wrapped around it.  The single holder is about four inches tall and accented with a fun red flower and black wire.  This one looks great with a candle inside it or fill it with rice or coffee beans and make it a pen holder.  See these and more of the Chic and Sassy collection at display at Michigan Optical on Wilson just north of Lake Michigan Drive.

Chic and Sassy

These vases have that chic look.  The top and bottom pictures are cut pieces of the patterned tissue paper, while the middle vase has one large piece of tissue paper wrapped around it.  Putting the large piece on was much harder to execute than I expected it to be.  Since then, I have stuck with the pieces.  The black accents to these vases give them that sassy finishing touch!  The accent to the top vase is actually a hair clip made with rhinestones and feathers, the middle vase a necklace pendant, and the bottom a gerber daisy with black wire. 

I love being able to just let my mind flow and do what works.  There have been so many times that what I do varies greatly from my original idea.  It's all about going with the flow and doing what looks best!

Peace friends.  May God bless you with a wonderful week.

Browns, Neutrals

Brown and cream.  Gold and tan.  Brown is such a natural color.  It can make the perfect accent piece for a room.  Subtle, yet stunning.  Yay brown!  Not too wordy today......just brown and simple.  :-)

Think Pink

 As I get ready for Girls on the Run coaches training this morning, I thought I would highlight the pink vases I have made.  I really thought there were more, but this is all I could find!  I think I will start working on more pink!

The vase on the left is a small-medium vase.  I used light pink and white torn tissue paper with a brushed silver flower pendant and silver aluminum wire.  The swirls in the wire took a little bit to learn how to do, but they're worth it I think!

The vase on the right is a medium-large vase covered in hot pink.  This is the only vase I have ever had with this shape and it is a great shape to work with.  I am keeping my eye out for more.  On the front, I placed two orchids.  They're the kind at Hobby Lobby in the bridal section.  That makes it nice and simple to attach them.  No trimming necessary.  :-)

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10  

Hopefully He will guide me though this journey so that I can be a good and positive influence on these girls at such an impressionable time. 

Now that I am pink inspired this morning, it's off to learn how to be a coach!  I'm excited and nervous at the same time!  It will be really different working with 3-6th graders rather than preschool...a breath of fresh air I think.

Enjoy!

Snow Wonder

"He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’So that all men He has made may know His work, He stops every man from his labor."  ~Job 37:6-7

As I sat out in the snow tonight after playing with the dog, I couldn't help but admire the beauty that was all around me.  This blizzard was quite the "mighty downpour" of snow.  I had a soft cushion of snow under me that was more comfortable than any chair.  The sky was clear and stars were just peeking out for the night.  Molly was running around bounding through the snow.  Thank you Lord for all of your creations!

In the spirit of the snow, I post a vase with snowflakes!  I used my Cricut Expression to cut the snowflakes and they were placed on top of light blue tissue paper.  A perfect wintry piece! 

Enjoy the snow!

For your viewing pleasure...

For those of you who aren't Facebook friends of mine, here is a photo preview of several of my vases.  I have so many to write about, I couldn't hold them back!  So, until I write more....for your viewing pleasure!