Starshine Salon

Paris Mannequin

Just wanted to give a peek at my new favorite mannequin:

This is made from a great new print using grey on pink twill.  The back is a solid grey twill.  That way you can turn it around and have a solid background if you have something that won't show up nicely against the print.  Most of these are going on the road with Tricia Samsal of Vintage Bliss and a couple are going to Merchant Square in Chandler.  I have some more of the fabric on order, so if you want one of these, let me know and I can save you one.  There is also a version that uses a very pale pink ink on white twill.  I'll have some of both colors at the Art Unraveled Shopping Extravaganza in August, too.

Coming up: I'll show you some more of the fibers I've been hand dyeing.

Starshine Wishes,

Karen

Hearts for Valentine's Day

I have a new set of hearts for Valentine's Day and spring.  These are going to Merchant Square, just in time for this weekend's big sale. 

The hearts in the photos above are made from tea-dyed muslin.  The flowers are distressed paper with button centers and fabric leaves.  I also made a new set of French-themed hearts from burlap and tea-dyed muslin, with vintage trims:

And for those who prefer red for Valentine's Day, a set of bright red burlap and tea-dyed muslin hearts, as well:

Please join us for the storewide sale at Merchant Square in Chandler this weekend, and be sure to visit space 74!

Starshine Wishes,

Karen

Giveaway winner!

The winner of the Vintage French Pattern Giveaway is Barbara Jean!  Thanks to all who entered. I am so happy to meet others who share my love of vintage patterns and of French Inspiration.  Thanks also to the French Cupboard for their great feature.

 

French Inspiration Dominoes

I still have some of the gorgeous pink Paris Cavallini paper. There's still one large section, but there are several small pieces left over from previous projects. I got the idea for this project from CraftFusion. They are offering a domino project class this weekend. In fact, I just delivered some dominoes to them to sell! But I've never done a domino project myself. So here is my first one:

 

I put some gel medium on the smooth side of two dominoes, attached the paper, trimmed the edges and then sanded the edges. I originally planned to "antique" them by inking the edges, but they look so pretty like this I might just leave them alone. I may seal the tops with more gel medium, but I like the texture of this paper, so I might not! I do think I will add some magnets to the back and put them on the refrigerator!

Linking up to French Inspiration Thursday at the French Cupboard!

Starshine Wishes,

Karen

French Inspiration Giveaway

Posting this for French Inspiration Thursday at the French Cupboard.  I love these vintage French patterns!  I am going to give this one away:

 

This pattern was a supplement (either to a magazine or newspaper) on May 9, 1957.  The paper is quite aged.  Because of the way these were printed, all the pattern pieces are printed on the large piece of paper, overlapping each other so they would fit.  This supplement also includes some stitchery patterns, and a squirrel pattern, which I think is meant for applique. 

Here's how you can enter:  Sign up to follow my blog, or like Starshine Salon on Facebook.  If you do both, I'll enter you twice.  You have through Friday, August 19th to enter. 

Paris Journal: Handcrafted Blank Book

Today's French Inspiration Project!

 

I still have some of the beautiful Cavallini pale pink Paris paper I got from Mystic Paper, and thought it would be fun to have a Paris journal.  I just designed a fabric journal to take to the Shopping Extravaganza at Art Unraveled on August 6th.  But how to incorporate the paper into the fabric journal?  I made a vinyl pocket on the front cover.  Really, you could put anything in it!  Now this one is ready for embellishment.  The options are limitless.  You can sew onto it -- fabric, fibers, beads, buttons, ribbons, lace, charms, anything!  And you can paint on it, glue on it...  It's not smooth like paper, so not all paper applications will be equally successful, but I chose fabric because I wanted to be able to sew on the pages.  There is nothing like beautiful blank pages waiting for more inspiration:

 

What would you put in yours?

Starshine Wishes,

Karen 

Vintage French Sewing Patterns

 

Today's French Inspiration comes from some wonderful old French sewing patterns.  The lady with the dark hair has an Audrey Hepburn look, I think.

I have several other patterns, as well, and I'll be bringing them with me to the Art Unraveled Shopping Extravaganza in Phoenix on August 6th.  It is the best shopping experience of the year for mixed media and altered artists, so mark your calendar now!   There is always an amazing array of supplies, plus original art.  You don't want to miss it!  Visit the Art Unraveled website for more information on the Shopping Extravaganza and the great classes offered at the retreat.

"Tray" Parisien

 

Today’s French Inspiration is a really simple project, but I love the results. I braved the heat to go to Mystic Paper on Saturday, because I had to have the new Wizard of Oz paper. While I was there, I also treated myself to a beautiful piece of pale pink Paris wrap paper (I think it is by Cavallini). While the colors are muted, the design itself is fairly busy, so I wanted to use the paper in a simple way that would highlight the paper itself. My muse must be hanging out in the garage, or in the recesses of my memory, because while pondering the possibilities, I remembered a tray I bought years ago but hadn’t used. I think these were originally designed for displaying needlework. In any case, all I had to do was clean up the tray, distress it a little with some sandpaper and a little Tim Holtz Tattered Rose Distress Ink (also from Mystic Paper) and cut the paper so that the part I wanted to see would show through the oval. Et voila un plateau parisien!

 

Here it is, already serving its intended purpose! I admit it; even in the summer I like hot coffee and tea (so long as I can stay in the air conditioning).

Starshine Wishes,

Karen

Un petit oiseau

This metal tape technique is taught by Michael Putnam and Lesley Fisher of Jack and Cat Curio.  I have taken a couple of classes from them at Mystic Paper in Mesa, and I highly recommend them!  These two are very generous with their supplies and their knowledge, which makes for a wonderful class experience.  In the metal tape class, I decided to make my bird French:

 

While rummaging through the supplies provided for the class, I found the text referencing "les fenetres" (the windows) -- the perfect thing for my little bird to dream about!

Starshine Wishes,

Karen

French Inspiration

Sharing this for French Inspiration Thursday over at the French Cupboard.  I made this waxed canvas in a class taught by my friend, Tricia Samsal, of Vintage Bliss.  

 

Tricia makes lots of these beauties and other wonderful things and travels far and wide to share them with others in her Pursuit of Pretty.  And her classes are so much fun!