Bottle Caps

A new project....because I can!

Glass Houses

Seeing a sample of a completed project at Mrs. O'Leary's stopped me in my tracks and I was thrilled when the owner told me a class was coming up soon.  Today, I attended the class and it took about 7 hours for me to complete my own tiny glass house.  It was a lot of work to construct but thoroughly enjoyable.  I learned some new soldering techniques and was in total awe of her work room of many tools.  I'm going to use it to hold my rosary.

   

Table Rock Lake Getaway

My sister-in-law has a lake house in Shell Knob and we rented the cabin next door to them for the weekend.  It had a killer view and after finding it's for sale I found myself fantasizing about retiring and moving into it after falling in love with the heated tile floors, refurbished wood skating floor throughout and refurbished wood bowling alley countertops.

An eagle flew up the balcony as I sat drinking coffee this morning.

I hiked along the water's edge and picked out some driftwood to bring home to make a souvenir rustic tree for my front porch back home.

Halstead Fine Arts and Crafts

I answered a request for a spinning artist to give demonstrations in Halstead, KS at their fall arts festival.  I took all my (free on the side of the road) cotton and spinning supplies to showcase how a fiber can be hand processed, carded, spun and knitted into useful objects.  Turns out it was a good excuse to spend a day at one of my favorite crafts.

Artisan Market

I guess you could say I've been taking the summer off from knitting.  Instead, I've been thrilled by the hunt of vintage Levi's and sewing denim reconstruction projects like headbands, aprons and cut offs.  I designed crochet thread inserts for the shorts and find pleasure in making perfect fray holes.  It's just the right kind of meticulous summer project that has struck my fancy lately.

Then braving the summer heat to showcase my latest collection at The Workroom Saturday Artisan Market.

 

Yarn Bomb a Chair

So, remember that flea market chair I found in Texas a few weeks back? 

Since it's the right height for my spinning wheel I though it needed to be somewhat fiber themed and yarn bomb came to mind.  For comfort I decided just to milk paint the seat and then used leftover yarn to wrap around (with mod podge to secure) the pegs on the chair. 

Absolute Vintage Boutique

There's a resale shop on the west side of town that inspires me and has my heart.  Not only do they have all kinds of repurposed, crafty good stuff, but they offer paint classes and outdoor markets.  I always leave inspired to make something.  This time some milk paint for a ratty antique bed stand and sparkly german glass glitter for some recent flea find antlers. 

DIY's make for a relaxing, fun weekend!

MLM @ the March Flea

I gave the Flea another go this month and now I'm done for the summer.  Knitting projects got me through the winter and now I'm ready to put the needles down (mostly) for outdoor travel, sports and adventure.  What's left is packed up in a suitcase for sales at a later date.  Thanks for supporting Miss Lanora's Miscellany and I'll see y'all in the Fall.

Headbands

I woke early this Saturday morning with the idea in my head to sew some headbands.  I drew up a template pattern, dug out some stash fabric, elastic and got to work.  In no time, I had a pile of headbands to take to the flea market (and some to keep) tomorrow.   

DIY: Boho Boots

Here's another project inspired by my travels.  I saw a pair of short repurposed belted cowboy boots like this in an upscale boutique in Dallas.  They were my size but I just couldn't justify spending several hundred dollars when I knew I could make them on my own so I tucked that idea away in my mental creative To Do list.  Then, this weekend, the inspiration kicked in.  For $47 in accessories at Forever 21 and a pair of old boots and one of my Harley belt buckles, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and made these rock 'n roll, cowgirl, biker boots. 

Now I'm looking at my old pair of brown boots...

November Flea Market

I pulled together a nice inventory of hand mades to take out to our monthly flea market setting up next to a fun friend and her collection of antiques -- and we ROCKED the flea.  I had the Pistol Annies playing the back ground and I sold soooo much of my stuff.  My things tend to have an edgy western flair from cowgirl train cases, repurposed western shirts, pendants and my hand knits.  And boy did those hand knits sell like hotcakes!  Everything from fingerless mitts, boot cuffs, hats and scarves.  It was a huge success and we are signed up to do it all again next month so I gotta get busy on a new inventory!

Jewelry Shrine

I have jewelry strung all over my bedroom and need a big display.  So when I saw a rustic window frame backed with chicken wire at market, my mind went into creative mode. I struck up a $20 deal and went to Lowes for some hardware.  I don't do power tools so I had my husband attach some curtain rods, a hook, metal shelf ($5 flea market find) and some glass drawer pulls for what turned out to be a nice jewelry shrine for most of my favorite pieces.  Having it all visible and in one place makes getting accessorized in the morning a breeze.

Miss Lanora's Miscellany

I've got a handmades inventory, some business cards and a logo rubber stamp.  I guess you could call it a business venture.  Really, I just need to down size and make room for new stuff.  I knit and craft to wind down and relax from a stressful work-life so being able to make a little money off of it is an added bonus.  This month I will set it all up at our monthly flea market and give it a GO!

More Reconstruction

I'm on a roll sewing these reconstructed western shirts lately.  Some for me and some as gifts.  They are so cool, comfy and girly.  Just perfect for the summer that I don't want to let go of.

Reconstructed Western Shirt

Cool temperatures and rainy days has me spending a little free time in my sewing room. I found inspiration in a reconstructed western shirt tie top I purchased in Canton Texas and then I made my own from one of my grandfather's snap shirts.

Milk Painting

I had a houseguest this weekend.  Melanie and I went to the lake, rode around in our Jeeps, to the drive-in to watch zombie and superhero movies and finished our busy weekend with a milk painting class at Absolute Vintage Boutique.  It's a shop packed full of old stuff made new again and they have painting classes on the outdoor patio.  With the right mixutre of the retro milk paint, we painted old, outdated chairs with a base coat, then a second coat of a different color and then sanded until the base coat came through.  I have intentions to repaint some bedroom furniture like I did my chair but all that sanding (even with electric sanders) plum wore me out.  I may just have to tackle one piece of furniture at a time.

Beach Bag

My knitta, Jackie, always inspires me with her cool projects.  We met for breakfast and she was working on a crochet beach bag for her daughter and I had to go straight home and start one for myself.  It's too hot to do much else than sit in the shade anyways.  The bag is stretchy with plenty of holes to allow sand to shake out or carry my yoga clothes to work.  Quick and easy!

Leather Carving

I've been wanting to learn leather work for quite a long time.  Embossed leather is my favorite so I decided to take a leather carving class at Tandy Leather.  I even talked my good friend, Melanie into going with me.  We found it's not as easy as it looks.  It will take skill to have just the right tap on the tools to get a uniform design but I think it's something I can do with practice.  If only had the time to devote to another hobby...

Decoden iPhone Cases

I'm on a roll embellishing iPhone cases with charms, beads and rhinestones.  Doing just one led to four with the purple one a gift for a good friend.

Antique Chandelier Earrings

The knitting needles continue to sit on the sidelines while I find inspiration in making other things for a change.  I found inspiration in some chandelier-type earrings that I saw on Pinterest and made them my own.