DIY: Free Lamp

About a month ago, on an area free Facebook page, I saw the most adorable Midcentury Modern lamp. I fell in love. I told myself I needed this lamp, and after 3 days of trying to get to this lady's house, I got it.

(the lamp in all it's glory)

However, when I went to pick it up, the lady also had another lamp. Squat, ceramic base and heavy with a cellophane covered shade. Very country and very NOT my style. Well, being the crafty person I am (and nice to a fault), I told her I would find something to do with it.

That ugly little lamp has been sitting in my car for at least 3 weeks.
Friday, I finally decided to do something with it.

I tried sanding the texture off of it (it looked like it had be "artistically" chipped away all over, like a scraped popcorn ceiling type of texture) but to no avail. Eventually I just decided to paint it white all over and start somewhat fresh.

The HORRIBLE shade covering was next to go. Whoever thought wrapping a lampshade (or anything not food-related) in plastic wrap should get their "designer" title revoked. What I was left with was a crumpled and thin shade. I went to my fabric stash and got all the grey scale fabric I could find, finally settling on a hounds-tooth print.

The inspiration for the bottom of the lamp was a graffiti covered church in Washington DC.

After randomly covered it with spots of pink, green and purple, it needed more to tie into the shade. That's when the sharpie came out. It started with random triangles placed on the base and then it grew into an awesome spikey pattern.

The result was possibly the most abstract thing I've done and I love it.

So I've been neglecting you...

And I feel horrible about it. I got a job and I put
everything I was doing on the back burner.

Since I last posted, I got an HTC smartphone (which I am very excited about) and a brand new, larger, laptop since my previous one was barely functioning.

Work is going well but it is a boring job, as making phone calls all day would be, but I have made friends at work and they keep me laughing during the day.

Now back to the reason for this post (yes, it's not just about me apologizing, you actually get craft news!), I went to a craft fair Saturday. I've been to other places where crafts were there but never solely a craft show. True, it was small (only about 12 vendors) but the people that were there were so talented. I cant wait to find a niche and start repeatedly going to them.

There were vast amounts of talent, from pottery and jewelry, to some very cool kaleidoscope art, a woman who turned rocks into animals (not to be confused with pet rocks) and an AMAZING felt artist.

Now onto the things I got! This first picture does not do justice to the beauty of this feather flower. It's compiled of iridescent brown/green feathers from a turkey, and crafted by a vision impaired Native American.

The same woman had these "feather fascinators" for sale. So many different colors and all gorgeous. The one I chose is made of Scarlet Macaw feathers which are blue/green on one side and a deep red on the other. It was so beautifully shocking that I had to choose it!

As you may know, I love fabric crafts, and since I've been having to take a bag lunch everyday for work, I've been experimenting with ways to take my lunch. It started with a run of the mill square zippered lunch box (a remnent from my brother in high school), but I've also made an ill-attempted lunch bag out of a tablecloth which lasted about a month, and I've also used Furoshiki (the Japanese art of wrapping with cloth) with a couple old scarves I have.

At this craft show, tho, there was a lady selling these sandwich wrap packages. It was so clever! The inside is a lightweight nylon for easy cleanup and the outside is sturdy (and adorable) outdoor fabric.

 It folds up so neatly and seals with Velcro. I cant wait for Monday so I can start using it!

I would like to thank you all for bearing with me while I'm getting this blog started. I do want to continue with it but until I get a routine down, the posts may be sporadic.