Sand-tastic Give aways !

I am joining with the always amusing

and fun crafty girl from the

{oc cottage}

AKA the author of the soon to be published

( PLEASE GOD )

Lazy Girl's Guide To...

Crafting From Your Couch...

with summer fun and lots of goodies

to divert your attention from the heat.

From Summerland Cottage's cluttered studio

I have gathered these items for the give away,

a fabulous straw purse to hold all your beachy necessities...like say...

oh, I don't know...an amazing best-seller aka The Help!

Some of my own studio creations...a charming little birdie stopper,

assorted shells in a rainbow of pretty colors...

a sweet little shell bowl to hold your keys

or this summer's collections of beach glass...

a heart-shaped frame to hold a picture of whoever holds your heart...

and so much more...everything you see pictured!

and if you pop over to {oc cottage} you will see

she is giving away the coolest stuff !

I really LoVe this number below !

click over to {oc cottage} and get your smile on

leave a comment to be entered in both give aways !

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post before midnight {pacific}

saturday, august 27th

winner announced sunday, august 28th.

anyone, anywhere welcome to enter...if you don't have a blog

A N D THE W I N N E R S...

French Laundry ! & Petite Michelle Louise

Congratulations !

Simple Summer Slipcover

I needed to cover the classic white sofa in the sitting room,

the solution...

created with the purchase of 2 matelasse king size quilts

( I chose the matelasse because it was so thick and durable )

brought it home and laundered in very hot water

and then dried it on high for major shrinkage,

and sent it out to the upholsterer to create this slip cover.

He did a great job on fit,

and the best thing is

it washes and dries beautifully

and no ironing is needed

and it slips right back on !

Perfect for summer entertaining!

New floral dish designs created

.

with inspiration coming from the floral bursts of color

popping up in my cottage garden

I am truly blessed to have the gift of being able to create my own dishes!

A day in the garden...

The JOY is in sharing

How blessed am I !

One of my all time favorite ceramic experiments

( partially because it didn't go amok )

and because it was exactly what I had hoped for and

envisioned when it came out of firing

and is like nothing I have ever seen

has been published in the latest issue of...

I LoVe creating and designing.

I LoVe that "I" become lost while in the process.

I enjoy and appreciate the outcome.

But for me the real JOY comes in sharing it with others.

Thank you Beth, and Stampington

for giving all of us the opportunity

to inspire, delight, teach, encourage and be a blessing !!!

Crochet and clay

.

Vintage crochet top beginning to unravel...

is dipped into wet clay

and successfully transformed

into a treasured new ceramic vase !

For this project I had been experimenting with cotton string

dipped in liquid clay and attached as a design element to a piece,

it was quite fun and successful.

So when a favorite vintage crochet top was beginning to unravel

and I didn't have the matching yarn to repair it

I chose to repurpose it.

I began by cutting off a bell shaped scalloped edge sleeve

that I could shape into a design over a tall vase form,

and having covered it in slip I then carefully pulled it up over the wet clay form.

Next I gathered the raw edges of the top of the sleeve

and created a base to tuck them inside of and give it a finished look.

The inside and base were glazed after the first firing to make it water tight

but I chose not to add glaze on top of the crochet section on this one.

I wanted it to still have the look and texture of

the original cotton top.

Some may say this is an example of repurposing at its best,

I am thrilled with the end result !

and grateful to share the joy!

.