Pumpkins and Psalms

I have been busy in my studio this weekend! 

Saturday I started cleaning up the house. I had the stomach flu this past week and had not accomplished anything! I still didn't feel great but figured since no one was home I could go at my own pace and get a few things accomplished. One of the things I wanted to get done was clean up my studio. It was a MESS! I had been trying to work on a class sample (that flopped) and had also brought some things in from the garage to take care of (and never did). You could barely walk in there! One of the things I wanted to do was take apart my first canvas I ever made.

 Do you remember this one?

I really didn't like it and decided I would salvage some of the embellishments I had put on it. As I started removing my treasures I ripped the actual canvas, which was no big deal. But as I finished my salvage efforts I started just tearing off the canvas and I fell in love with the wooden framework underneath. I decided to save it too and put it in the garage. A few minutes later it was back out of the garage and I was on the phone with Gary. He had to work this Saturday and that was perfect for me.

Me:  "Hey Babe, do you have any scraps of chicken wire on the job site?"

Gary "Sure do how big a piece do you want?"

I was so excited! When he got home that afternoon I was already in full swing on my project! I had this fake pumpkin Mom had bought along with flowers, leaves and burlap ribbon left over from the Girls' pumpkins. Now I had a frame and some chicken wire and I was thrilled! No running to the store, no spending money, just the bliss of creating something! 

This is what I came up with

The fake pumpkin is mounted on a 9x12 canvas board and then tied to the chicken wire. The chicken wire was of course silver and I wanted it to look older and warmer so I grabbed a small paintbrush and painted each wire with a mix of alcohol ink and patina to give it a more rusty look. The wooden frame is painted with several colors and I used my Ivory soap distress technique to make it look like barn wood. And of course the frame was not in perfect condition anyway since it was just the framework for a canvas. I also distressed my fake pumpkin so the whole piece has a very rustic and natural look to it. 

I made it just for something to do and figured it would be a good addition to my Fall decor, but I might keep it hanging in my kitchen all year long - who knows?

When I finished with the pumpkin I cleaned everything up - the studio looked so nice! Then I got to thinking about another project I had started a few weeks ago and never finished. I knew what I wanted but I just was stuck on the finish for the box so I just put it away. Saturday evening I KNEW what I wanted to do and at 10:30 pm I got it all out and went to town. I was having so much fun with it that when I looked at the clock it was 5:00 am!!! I crawled into bed and of course over slept for church. But at noon when I got up I got going on it again.  And I finished it all up Sunday night.  I am so glad I put it away for those few weeks because it turned out better than I originally envisioned. 

So here it is - my Psalms 119:105 assemblage box

This Psalm was one of my very first memory verses when I was a little girl in Sunday school. I used the KJV of the verse since that is how I memorized it all those years ago even though I never read the KJV of the Bible anymore. 

The box is one of those floating shelves. Bryanna gave it to me a while back and I just added a back to it. The inside of the box is lined with actual Bible pages from the Book of Psalms that have been crackled. The outside of the box is very simple. I wanted it plain since there is so much inside the box. One side of the box has 119 painted on for the chapter. The other side has 105 painted on it for the verse. The light bulb is a reproduction of an antique light bulb that was a "gift" from a friend one night while we were out to dinner.  The old pocket Bible I got while we were on vacation this year along with most of the metal pieces. The crosses, the keys and handle all came from my dear friend Deborah. And the cross necklace came from my daughter Bryanna's friend Chris who gave me a bag of old jewelry. The rest of the stuff was just in my stash. I put the actual verse inside a locket and used some JudiKins Fluxe to seal it in there. I bought that fluxe about 2 years ago and have never used it until now. It worked great and I just used a hot plate to heat it up. No fumes or smells or anything  - I would recommend this product. Again - no running to the store or spending money - LOVE THAT!

So that is pretty much what I have been up to - having the flu and creating! Now I have GOT to get my house cleaned up and get my class sample done!

Till we meet again. . .