I promised a glitter project last week ~ do you have your glue bottles ready?  This is a fun DIY Project that will possibly get you back in touch with your inner finger-painting child.  It also a great gift idea or decor idea for the holidays!

I was first inspired to do this project when I purchased a “glitterized” vintage picture at an antique store and bakery over the summer.  I found it at “Kathie’s Finds” in Wayzata, MN.  I love it so much that I made it the centerpiece of my mantel.  Glitterized Vintage Pictures have a kind of  “Anthropologie” feel, a little homemade-y, a little sparkly, a little fancy!  I thought that it would be super a super easy craft project ~ and it was.  There are no rules to glitterizing pictures.  Go with your gut ~ glitter where it makes you feel happy!  However, I did learn some things that I’ll share as we go.

Start with an impressionistic styled primitive vintage picture.   I found this in a thrift store.

Gather some glitter.  More is more.  Glitter is yet another art item that could lead me down another path of hoarding ~ sort of like ribbons, yarn or fabric has.  Glitter can now be added to my list of hoarding propensities.  I’m OK with that.  I like a full color palate to choose from.  It’s like spice bottles.  You never know what one you might need.  Plus, it makes me happy.  I think I mentioned that.

Find a place to work with good light.  I choose the floor by my front door.  I figured the glitter mess could be quickly vacuumed up.  I resisted the urge to buy the fancy special glitter glue at the local craft store, made by the lady who starts with the letter M.  Even though I was worried about it, turns out plain ole’ Elmer’s works fine for the is project.

When my teens came home from school and saw my sprawled out collection of glitter, school glue, and paper towels spread in front of the front door.  They were curious.  “Is that your new thing?” they asked.  “No, really…is this your new thing?”  It’s like they were getting ready to begin a glitter intervention.  My dog Roxy was not that interested.
Glue and sprinkle and do your thing.

Break some rules.  Get dirty.  You can use your fingers.

I got this.  And, I had to admit.  It looked amateur.  When you compare it all that amazing other glitter art.

So I consulted with my original amazing glitterized picture from Kathie’s and discovered that I was wrong.  More is not always more when it comes to glitter.  Less is more.  See how she just dabbed a bit here, a bit there.  Beautiful.  Not overdone.

While the glitter is wet you can still wipe it off.

Go in and make some edits and additions~

But I left some drips for character.

Final project ~ A Glitterized Vintage Picture!  A bit of a disclaimer.  It is hard to get a good picture of this project.  Trust me.  The glitterized Vintage Picture looks even better in real life.  Really it does.  It’s really quite charming.

Simple steps to Glitterizing a Vintage Picture:

l.  Find a simple vintage picture.  I think a primitive feel works best.  There will be enough going on when you add the glitter.

2.  Find project work space with good light. So you can be objective about where the glitter is reflecting once you start working.

3.  Gather tools:  Glue, Glitter, Paper Towels, Vintage Picture

4.  Glue, Glitterize, Dry, Shake, wipe and repeat if needed.

Enjoy!  You are officially ready to Glitterize!

(This post was shared with other creative ideas over at the blog, Censational Girl & I Gotta Create.)

I just shared a post about our LoveFeast friendship and journey you can check it out here.  One night, in fact the night before I flew home, Kristin and I were up to late.  We had gone past the point of productivity and were sitting quietly side by side at the table, sipping wine, and drifting around on the internet and twitter.  From time to time, we would comment on something to each other and somehow we landed on this video of Pink.  It’s so beautiful I wanted to share it!!  So artful, so inspiring!

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Have you ever thrown Glitter in the Air ~ That’s what we’re doing on our journey!  We’ll see where it takes us!!

And, stay tuned we are about to show you what we’ve been Glitterizing!!

What are you throwing some glitter towards in your life?

Chris Ann was here in Baltimore last weekend for a working, inspiration weekend. What is that, you ask? It is part of our “working culture”.  We get together, visit fun places, meet with friends, look for art, fun new finds and of course, eat delicious food and sip on wine.  There is no agenda, other than to be inspired.  We spent the first night at Germano’s Cabaret watching my oldest son perform with arts exchange students from London. The rest of the weekend was spent meeting with potential new vendors for LoveFeast Shop, lunch with friends Ashley and Donna and shopping in Hampden.

We rounded out our evenings with dinner with our favorite men.

There is inspiration all around. Here are a few shots from an alley in Baltimore. We pulled the car over and had to take a few shots. Where do you find inspiration?

It was a chilly, windy day and the clouds were threatening to rain.  My mom and I were not to be hindered from making it to the Washington City Paper’s Crafty Bastard Show.  The lineup was enticing, the possibilities for creative inspiration, endless.  I tried talking Chris Ann into flying in last minute to go with us.  But, being the mom of four, her time is rarely her own. But, she was with me in spirit and via texts!

There were so many creative, talented artisans.  My mom (who is an artist as well) and I lingered at favorite booths taking in the subtleties that set each artist apart.  My mom was well aware that  I was on a mission to find products to put in LoveFeast Shop.

Leather Cufflette

Chris Ann and I love the thrill of discovering true artists.  Those people who hone their craft and treat each item they make as a work of art.  For some who attend craft shows, they see every vendor as such.  But, when you really get to know an artist, there are those who are “crafters” and those who are “artists”.  I think what sets them apart is originality and craftsmanship.  There are so many tutitorials online to create this and such, which is fun! (We use them.) But, when we weigh whether an object is perfect for LoveFeast Shop, we look for a few things.  We look to see if the product is original…are the elements unique to the artisan?  Is each product created with the same care and attention?  Does the object speak to us?  (Not really a measurement here…just a feeling and typically, Chris Ann and I have the same heart response to items.)  And, does this product reflect our journey?

Leather Cufflette

We just added these leather cuffs to LoveFeast Shop.  About two years ago, Chris Ann was at a farmer’s market and discovered a gal turning vintage belts into cuff bracelets.  She bought a couple for herself and a couple for me.  We fell in love with cuff bracelets.  When I discovered these babies at a craft show in Baltimore last year, I knew they’d be a great fit to our wardrobes shop.

We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!  There are plenty to choose from and would make great Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers.  We are excited to say, there are new items we’ll be introducing over the next few weeks, so keep checking back.

This past weekend, I attended a conference and one of the breakout sessions was titled Beautifying Through Art.  Two of my favorite topics, beauty and art.  The facilitator introduced herself then began to share attributes of beauty.

Florence

“Beauty is unpossesive~we are drawn to beauty in a non-selfish way.”  There is no ulterior motive for enjoying beauty, other than to purely enjoy it.

“Beauty is unselving~it takes us out of ourselves.”  We forget about “me” and get lost in the mesmerizing effect of beauty.

“Beauty tends to be unprecedented and incomparable~it has a sense of being new.”  Beauty always seems fresh, unable to be captured in it’s full essence.

“Beauty is life giving~it quickens your heart and if it leaves, it retracts your heart.”  When we partake it beauty, all of our senses are engaged.  If the beauty, like a sun set fades, so does our beating heart.

“Beauty evokes in us a desire to protect.”  We protect by placing beauty in museums, in photographs on our refrigerators.

“Beauty evokes a desire for us to share.”  We can’t wait to tell someone about what we just experienced.  We want the reach of beauty’s hand, to extend.

“Beauty points to life, reconciliation and justice.”

Pieta

She quoted Iris Murdoch, “The enjoyment of art is a training in the love of virtue.”

I know right?! I’m still digesting the idea of exploring the virtues of art and beauty.  And to think, this was just the first 10 minutes of our session.  We went on to talk about the universal language of art and how beauty can transform the ugliest of places, oppressed cities and even awaken sleeping souls.  What are your thoughts?  I’d love to hear your response to any of the above statements.

In one of the last weekend of the summer,  I had the opportunity to go out with some friends who also happen to be local Minnesota bloggers.  Cate happened to know about a gathering at the Orchard Art House, the amazing studio and shop of e.kate designs.

I absolutely love art and craft fairs of every kind.  Kristin and I have gone to lots of events like this and always find that we leave with our creative juices flowing and renewed inspiration.  Getting a peek into how other people see the world and find and create beauty is always interesting.  And, shopping for pretty things with the girls is well ~ let’s just say ~ if not diamonds, something pretty on the ear can be a girl’s best friend!  (Here’s a peak at our inspiring artsy evening!)

I loved the way the artist hand stamped and hand-tore each ribbon and hand tied each box.  She joked it was a “sickness”.  But, I think it was a gift of the heart, the final touches of her art.

“everything has meaning and can be re-purposed into something gorgeous. i guess that’s how i see tragedy in life too. that you can muster up whatever strength you have and build something beautiful with whatever it is you’re given. and there’s certainly power and redemption in that. ” ~e.kate

We all had a lovely evening enjoying each others’ company ~ having a GNO (girl’s night out!) is so important!  And, we all left with a little treasure or two in our pockets, a smile on our faces and some inspiration to take home and be creative with!

The gang~

Maggie ~ Gussy Sews, Noemi ~ Noemi Photography, me, Cate ~ Wild Ruffle, Jennifer ~ stella & dot

The scrumptious decked out interiors or e.kates working studio, Orchard Art House~

What I brought home~

And that is what we did and what we saw in a lovely little cottage in the trees by a lake!

Do you have any favorite artists or etsy artists that you’d like to share?  We’d love a peek at what you fancy!

While Chris Ann and I were staying at 21C Museum Hotel, we saw a piece of a collection called Cuba, that moved me.

Michael Easton is a world renowned photographer known for his contemporary photography that focuses on architecture and it’s textures of decay.  His photographs have a painterly quality to them, that leaves you wanting to enter in and pull up a chair.

They made me long to travel to untouched places, places frozen in time.  His paintings also left an indelible mark of wanting to know more about Cuba.  I wanted to know about the people that lived in these spaces and hear their stories.

Michael Easton is currently working on a book called Havana.  You can read about the book’s journey HERE.

Every photograph captures Cuba as it was and is, unchanged… and yet the picture requires you to react, to be involved.  I highly recommend if you can see one of his collections,  do so.   Also, order the book Havana at Amazon.

This coming weekend, July 24 and 25, there is a fabulous festival coming to Annapolis!  The Great Grapes Wine, Arts and Food Festival is an event that encourages families to come out and enjoy a day of tasting organic food straight from the farm, sipping wine and beer and listening to local musicians like The Kelly Bell Band and Junkyard Saints.   There will be over 300 international wines to sample and for the beer lovers, over 40 international brews to taste.

If you bring your kids, there will be a playground where your kids can run while you sip and there will be a market with crafts and culinary gift items to purchase.

For the foodies, there will be a Tasting Theater set up where you can learn from Lauren DeSantis how to make a summer picnic and pair the food with wine.  Wine Coach, Laurie Forster will also guide you through tasting wines and help you understand what you are looking for!

If you’re a blogger or a blogger in the making, I will be there along with an incredible panel of other food bloggers!  I was invited by my friend Dara Bunjon, Food Examiner, to sit on the panel and answer questions about food, blogging, restaurants and other fun facts!  This is a first for us here at LoveFeast Table!  We’d love it if you’d come out and support us!

We are so excited about this weekend, we have two tickets to give away!  The tickets are good for either Saturday or Sunday.  Please leave a comment, that asks a question, you’d like to hear answered at the Blogger’s Panel.  If you want a second chance to win, twitter this post and come back and  let us know you did!

The event is from 12-6 on Saturday, July 24 and Sunday July 25 at the Anne Arundel Fairgrounds in Annapolis.  Kristin will be representing LoveFeast Table at the Blogger’s Panel on Sunday from 1-2.  Make sure you stop by and introduce yourself!!

The contest ends Tuesday, July 20 at 5 p.m. Winner will be announced by Wednesday morning!