a mermaid & her flock

while my sewing machine is in the shop - and cursing my name for making it sew all that paper...i've been busy with other creations. these are the fruits of last nights creative clay session. chloe joined me and set about making the mermaid, while i made the birdies. each birdie has it's own personality, they're really quite charming. chloe said "make one with a big head, it will be so cute." she was right, it's our favorite.

recently i had an idea to use my collection of vintage capodimonte flowers, roses, and leaves to make some smaller, different style mirrors. i've always loved the vintage balboa mirrors, and the design of these remind me of them. the mirrors i've made have been made out of broken china plates for mosaics, with a few flowers or roses added in, like this one. this time i'm using just the flowers, filling in the gaps with a few bits of china, i think, and bits and pieces of vintage jewels. that's the plan anyway. i've started laying out the groups of flowers; pink roses, wildflowers, and tulips. i use both the porcelain and clay capodimonte, i like the clay ones best because they have fingerprints in them. it's the imperfections that i find endearing.

i'll post more pix when theis project is complete.

xo heidi