Made by August

From the looks of the last few entries you'd think all I've been doing this summer is all-kids-all-the-time with the random friend visit and family vacation thrown in. Amidst it all I've managed to make some stuff, which I tend to promptly put away and forget about. A few weeks later I look at these things again and wonder why I spent so much time immersed in / obsessed with that project. For me, I've found, the process is more important. I got a little hopped up on Mod Podge last month and made a few things, like this mirror:

and this one: and this box to hold my buttons:

all of which were inspired by the vintage Women's Day magazine pictures, pattern pieces and Mod Podge messing up my studio while I was making these:

(and that's only half of them) but that's another story altogether which I'll tell another time.

Then the urge to make a purse hit me, so I made this:

and this:
because I'd recently acquired these awesome velvet tapestries and decided they needed to be turned into something practical. I just love petting these, they're so soft and furry, plus I'm pretty proud of my flat bottoms too.

One day, ironically at the American Way, I was buying this:

to replace our tattered one. Don't get me wrong, we're neither rednecks nor Republicans, but for some reason the two houses we've owned have both had giant flagpoles out front so I feel compelled to fly Old Glory. Oh yeah, and I love my country too. But as I was checking out I noticed there was something stuck to the flag's hanger - a vintage corkscrew linen with a "Made in France" tag still attached. It was cute enough, and only $1.79, so I went ahead and bought it and came home and made this:

It's hard for me to plan what I'm going to make because the things I acquire determine it for me. It's more fun that way. When I try to mass-produce things I think people will like, I get bored. Now that the economy is in the toilet I figure people aren't interested in buying odd handmade one-of-a-kinds anymore, so I'm not even trying to "market" them. I'm just making them, and trusting that one day they'll end up with someone who appreciates them.