New Projects

Just give me some power tools and coffee and I can rule the world!

The finished product!

Wow! I've had this blog for over a month and I've only posted once! I can explain: I've been working on a book and it's (finally) finished. I've decided to take this week off and concentrate on some art projects I've had lying around and updating this blog!

I decided to expand my creative energies from book arts to something a bit different but o so needed (at least for me). For 5 years, I've been draping my necklaces over the top of our dresser. The mirror has a decorative piece at the top that allows one to put things over it (such as necklaces, hats, whatever) and that's been my jewelry holder. Can I tell you how frustrating it is trying to get them off! Seriously, I have had them tangle themselves up in the most peculiar ways. I had one necklace (which is long and does not have a clasp) get tangled around a chain and the only way for it to have happened was for someone to unclasp the chain and then wrap it around the other necklace. Needless to say, I have no idea how that happened!

As most people who know me can tell you, I'm addicted to magazines! One of my most recent acquisitions was Somerset HOME magazine. It's chock full of neat art projects. I spent an entire evening going through it and marking those I wanted to do one day. One in particular caught my eye: A jewelry holder made out of plywood. I have several pieces of plywood lying around. I "inherited" them from my grandfather. So, I bought some hooks and decided to give it a go.

(If you'd like to see the original article, please pick up a copy of Somerset HOME, Volume 3 2008, pg. 21)

I pulled out a board to my liking and sanded down several rough edges. I chose a tall board because several of my necklaces are really long. I did not, however, want it to be cumbersome to display, so I'd say the board I used is a little over 2 feet long (give or take a few inches-I've never been good at measurements and at the moment, my tape measure is no where to be found).

A coat of brown paint, followed by an overcoat of pewter grey covered up a folk art design I'd painted a year or so ago (trust me, it is no great loss). In the project picture, the artist used hand carved b lock prints on both her examples, then added a panel of collage papers. I considered following suit with my own block prints I've carved, but I decided to just create a collage. My mother recently gave me a stack of old music books and sheet music. They are by no means heirlooms or I would never have taken scissors to them! I cut up several sheets of music and placed them to my liking. Then, just for fun, I cut out a page from my sudoku book! After all, music is mathematical in nature. I glued the papers to the plywood and sprayed the entire board with a clear coat to seal it.

Once the glue and clear coat were dry (I sat it outside), I marked where my hooks would go. I used no highly technical process for this. I just figured out how many hooks I wanted, took a ruler and marked four dots at the bottom of the collage and then three dots several inches below those, staggering those three so that the necklaces wouldn't hang over one another. Using a 1/16" drill bit, I drilled seven pilot holes in the wood and then screwed the little gold hooks into place.

Viola! It is done! I'm so excited. I will probably, once we move, add either a hook on the back for hanging or I'll drill holes on either corner of the top and thread strong wire through it to hang on a wall. But for now, it looks lovely propped up against a wall, all my necklaces, at last, tangle free and ready to wear!