new stuff

finally up in the etsy shop!

number 1

just sent out my first official etsy shop sale!!! Yay!

recycled road map

This super cute recycled idea brought to you by Design*Sponge. It's a DIY recycled road map cork board which is a great way to use something that I love: old maps! Check out their site for all the details. Happy weekend!

shag pillow

I had found this article on making a shag pillow on V and Co.'s blog and thought I'd give it a try. The article had said that you buy jersey fabric in such and such dimensions which would have made everything so simple. However, I always try to recycle stuff which usually just makes everything more complicated and time consuming. So of course I am trying to make it out of some old t-shirts. 

Which went fairly well except it got a little sketchy around the neck and sleeves. And the fact that it won't be all nice and uniform colored like hers. But I have a great pile of blue t-shirt strips in the meantime. I will keep you posted on how it turns out!

new...

necklaces will be in the etsy shop soon! The combination of vintage chain and upcycled accent pieces made these fun to work on. I usually second guess and make a ton of revisions, but I just went with my instincts on these ones. 

a sneak peek

of what's new in the etsy shop. Check 'em out!

building blocks

A couple of shots of what I get to start the jewelry making process with: pieces that are unwanted or are missing a stone or a bead, an earring that's lost it's match...yet they still have so much to offer. I love seeing the random pieces, imagining what they used to be or look like or who wore them or the places they've been. 

to do list

Finish reading this. Only 541 pages to go

Paint this for Eighth Ply Show

Finish making these

Pick a new quote for this

mission complete...kind of

The lamp wiring challenge has been completed! With the help of my wonderful dad & brother, I finally figured out how to get this guy going again. It took me about a hundred tries, but now I really won't forget how to do it. It definitely didn't come out quite as well as I had hoped...it's a bit wobbly and come to find out the base is a little wonky to begin with, the hole in the middle isn't actually in the middle...etc. I had hoped to make some sort of cool lampshade for it but at this point I'm about ready to send it back to the thrift store where it came from. Some projects just don't seem to be worth all the time that you put into them. If nothing else it has been a great learning experience.

new earrings

I just finished these the other day and am loving the color combination with the antique brassy/gold color. It's always a fun process to take apart old jewelry and put it together in a new unique way. Hopefully sometime soon I can put together a before and after post of what old pieces I took apart and reassembled to make into something new. 

Happy Wednesday! 

i love lamp

Another unfinished project lurking in my beckley office/junk room is this lamp. I saw this forlorn thing at a local thrift store and loved the simple contours of it's base and had to have it. Somewhere down the road I hope to give it a bulb and a lamp shade to round out the new coat of paint. However I sort of hit a road block.

In my focus on getting it all taken apart for the paint job (my favorite part) I snipped the wires. Now I have to rewire it but I don't remember which wires go where. I'm pretty sure which ones are which, however, if I do it and go to plug it in and they are wrong, I think electrocution might be a possiblity.

So in the meantime it just sits with this lovely high gloss black paint job. Looking lovely, although useless. And yes, that's my garage full of stuff-anyone want to buy a surfboard?

Art From Scrap

I think that a lot of my passion for recycled art and design came from my college years in Santa Barbara. On the search for some art supplies I happened upon Art From Scrap. To quote their own website, "Art From Scrap pfovides the community with a Green Schools environmental education program, an Arts Center, and a Reuse retail store." While I'm sure the Art Center and the Green Schools programs are great, I fell in love with the Reuse retail store.
It is a treasure trove of brown bins overflowing with all kinds of crazy things that have been donated by individuals or by local businesses, all amounting to thousands of pounds of materials that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill. They have things like shavings from the construction of skateboard wheels that look exactly like jellyfish tentacles in neon green or a hundred other colors (like the doll's hair here). Or maybe a thousand film canisters or small tiles. Just all kinds of inspiring and unusual materials that otherwise would have been thrown away.

I think ever since the first time I went in that store I have had a desire to do something similar-to not only support creative artistic expression but to do it in a way that will cut down on waste and make the planet a more beautiful place to live. So if you are ever in the Santa Barbara area-go check them out!!

Art From Scrap-302 E Cota Street-Santa Barbara CA
All images from their Facebook page here
Also this is a great list of centers for creative reuse across the country! So cool!

my magnum opus

is going to be this shirt. Not necessarily because it is the best work I will ever do but because it is becoming apparent that it may take my whole life to complete it. I finally put the last hem in and now it's time to just add a couple of details. But for being a pretty simple pattern it has taken exponentially more time than I had anticipated.

in my home: jewelry

With hazy morning conditions I decided to take some photos of two necklaces I have made and saved for my personal jewelry stash. Trying to build up an inventory on etsy has made it hard to keep anything for myself but I have held on to these two at least. 

Tribal Bits Necklace 

Concrete Sherbet Necklace

how time flies

I can't believe another week has flown by and artistically speaking I don't have a whole lot to show for it. My sewing project is inching towards completion but not a whole lot besides that has been accomplished. Below are some images I put together of jewelry pieces for sale in my etsy shop. These are all necklaces made from a mix of new and recycled materials. For the most part the only new parts are the findings (clasps, wire, rings, etc.) So finding beads like those chunky amber concoctions is always a treat!

WARM SUMMER SUN

These ones remind me of orange sherbet, popsicles and sitting in the hot summer sun. If only it would come out here! It's June gloom time :(

COOL BLUE WATER

These pieces remind me of lazy pool days, ocean waves & floating down the river. Check out the full jewelry collection, plus some other home items too at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/beckleydesign

Happy Tuesday! :)

new candles

Made some yummy smelling candles yesterday: Tropical Citrus and Vanilla Cake

Finished Vanilla Cake candles looking & smelling good!

 Love the teal glass container for the Tropical Citrus candle

The Vanilla Cake candles are already up and Tropical Citrus will be available in my etsy shop soon!

necklace collection

The other day I took some photos of the beckley design necklace collection. It was fun seeing them all together, the different styles, materials and sizes. Supplies are abundant right now so I hope to be adding some earrings and bracelets soon-maybe even a watch or two! Check out the full collection at beckley design on etsy.

slow and steady

Sewing is a slow process! But my latest endeavor is coming out alright and might be done sometime before my 50th birthday. At least I finally got a chance to use my new sewing machine-fun!

pattern making

A stack of lovely fabrics has been waiting in my beckley office (otherwise known as the junk room) to be turned into something. So I'm experimenting with making my own pattern.

I started by taking a couple of tops that are my favorites and sort of taking the best ideas from both, I created my own pattern on some tissue paper. I had hoped to keep it pretty simple (essentially side seams, hems and some elastic at the waist), however I ran out of fabric along the fold so I had to turn 2 pattern pieces into 4. I think it will add a bit of interest but we will see how it turns out. So far so good!

compromise stencils

I got a definite no on stenciling our kitchen table, but I figured vintage floral napkins would be a good compromise! This was the first one-trying some with black lettering soon. Maybe monograms?