January 20, 2013

Zen is for the birds!

minimaldecor

And here is a perfect example.

Big, empty shelf…three, tiny birds.

Very Zen.

I just finished painting the room yesterday and after rearranging the shelves for the umpteenth time today, decided they were just going to have to remain empty – I simply could not find an arrangement I was satisfied with.

Then I remembered these little birds.

Until this weekend, the shelves held all sorts of things – but now that the shelves are covered in Crumb Cookie (that’s the name of the paint) they command much more attention. And that’s when the trouble started.

Most people would consider this the perfect opportunity…a perfect place to display anything and everything. (And I have LOTS of anything and everything!). But for me its suddenly all about juxtaposition.

And I can not create an arrangement (even temporarily) that doesn’t feel right.

I’ve had this problem for a really long time. Either I find something that I love or I leave the space completely blank. There is no middle ground for me.

I have the same problem with throw pillows too.

And blank walls.

And table tops.

And counter spaces.

And shoes, and purses, and belts, and scarves… (but that’s a whole other story)

Now, this isn’t to say that I won’t change my mind next week and decide that the birds must go…its just to say that, for now, it works!

And in case you need a refresher…

BEFORE

beachy

AFTER

minimaldecor

January 4, 2012

Have Dremel…Will Travel

So…I’m all about making jewelry these days…

I bought a strand of beautiful silver, freshwater potato pearls at my favorite bead shop (Beads of Splendor) this weekend and couldn’t wait to get them home to see what I could do with them. I was so excited seeing all the beautiful colors and variations of pearls and other semi-precious stones that I forgot an important thing…unless they are specifically ‘big hole’ pearls you can’t string them on anything but really fine wire or thread. Typical pearls have teeny tiny holes! These pearls would look wonderful on silk or wire but I had envisioned them on leather instead. I love that juxtaposition!

Fortunately I’d picked up a neat little tool the last time I was there…a diamond reaming bit for my Dremel. I say ‘my Dremel’ like I’m on personal terms with it but I’d never, in fact, even turned the thing on…yet.

I considered just stringing the pearls on silk since I had plenty of silk and had just recently taken a class on silk knotting – so that wouldn’t be a bad idea…and that’s what most people do with pearls anyway, right?

But I’m not like most people. And I really wanted to see how they would look on leather.

I’m happy to say that I gave it a shot and ‘reamed’ five pearls. It takes a little effort and a fairly steady hand, (wear safety glasses!) but other than that…its really pretty easy!

And I’m now over the fear of the Dremel so there is no telling what I will attempt next!!

The moral of this story…look outside of your box…you never know what you will find!

Image of dremel with flex shaft attachment with diamond reaming bit.