chimesblog

I’m really excited because this Saturday (June 18) I’ll be teaching a class at Reiman Gardens in Ames.

I’ll be bringing some adorable mugs I’m collecting for this and we’ll be painting flowers, butterflies and other things that Reiman Gardens might have to offer.

You should probably sign up for the class. I would LOVE to see you.  And it’s all skill levels — I don’t draw — I doodle. I’ll teach you how to doodle up your old ceramics. Also, it’s not super early in the AM.  10 is pretty decent.

Here are the deets:
Garden Ceramic Painting: Making Old Ceramics New
Saturday, June 18, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Instructor: Calee Himes
Join artist Calee Himes, owner of chimesdesign, as she shows you how to create whimsical illustrations of plants and butterflies on old ceramic mugs. You can use this technique to create permanent illustrations on your own, dated ceramic dishes. This unique approach to re-using and recycling will bring a smile to your face each time you have a cup of coffee! All materials are included and all skill levels are welcome.

Cost: CoHorts’ members: $24. General public: $30. ISU students: $20.40. Pre-registration and pre-payment by Wednesday, June 15, 2011 before the class required. Register online.

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Don’t worry — she’s 2. She’s not going to read my blog. If she does, then I’m more than proud of her.

I had cut up my prom dress from my senior year of high school a couple months back for my birthday party, but had failed pretty miserably. So I had a TON of tulle lying around. And what could I do with tulle? Make my niece into a little fairy princess for Christmas.

This was my original dress, BTW. I don’t have a photo of the monstrosity that it turned into, unfortunately (well fortunately for me).

I found a great tutorial on instructables and went to work. Here’s what I came up with. I think I need to put together a few more things and give her the whole fairy princess package.

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I’ve been drooling over some of these amazing statement necklaces that Anthropologie has been charging hundreds of dollars for … but would never spend that kind of money on something I could easily make myself.

I didn’t realize just how easy.

This necklace was cobbled together using some of my old jewelry and fabric scraps.  After picking the pieces, it took about 1.5 hours to assemble.

How’s that for resourceful?

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It’s been a really long time since I’ve painted dishes.  I quit for a while a few months back because I have a pretty large inventory and it was taking up most of my kitchen. However, a few of my girls and I were antiquing one day and I found some really great dishes that I just had to snatch up.

Needless to say … whoops!  Especially since I’m moving in less than a week … but, oh well. I’ve got more cute dishes!

I found a pretty complete set of pyrex grey dishes, so I’m working on making 4 place-settings with a dinner plate, salad plate, saucer and teacup.  I just received some teacups that I ordered off ebay — so I’ll be painting those soon.  I have about 12 additional plates to the ones that will make up the 4 place-settings.

My little birdies pattern looks really cute on this set of dishes. It’s simple and not over-powering.  It’s also something that can be easily replicated on several pieces so it looks pretty consistent across the board.

I toyed with the idea of making each dish have a different pattern, but I think that idea’s going to go on the backburner and I’m going to try working with a cohesive set first.  I also thought about adding a small quote on the pieces, but people are so subjective about text that I thought it best to just stick to a pattern for now.

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This is heinous, but I had to start somewhere. I’m going to probably tie quilt this beast and give it away or use it for a camping blanket ( in case I ever get to go camping again!) or a picnic blanket. 

Care Bears, LGBT, Spiderman and Bob Ross CLEARLY belong together.

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