Honey Girl Studio

Holly Jolly.....

2009-11-08T19:20:00.003-05:00

A new batch of Holiday Pendants you can find at Jingle All The Way Home!

I thought I'd try a Catherine Holman inspired painting on this little school chair. I encourage you to stop by her blog. Cathie creates the most wonderful paintings of houses that make you want to climb right into the painting, knock on the door of the house and go inside for a cup of hot chocolate. I often leave comments that I'd like to live in many of her paintings!

Here is my theory why so many children have learning problems these days.....the chairs are just too darn comfortable. This one is from the 1960s and you'd find them in just about every public school in the country. They were hard and uncomfortable and you set in them from the time you were in first grade until you graduated. So my theory is that when the chair is uncomfortable you focus more on learning to forget about your numb butt that has been glued to the hard chair for 6.5 hours!

I'm convinced that this is what snowmen do at night when we are all asleep......they have snowball fights and play snowball fetch with their snowdog. Yes, that's what I believe!

Hope you all had a terrific Sunday! Wishing you a great Monday (well, as great as any Monday can be).

Holiday Open House......

2009-11-07T18:09:00.007-05:00

My mom and I spent the day together. We hit a Christmas Open House, craft show, book store and then had lunch. Today was the Christmas Open House at the Time and Again Shop. It was a beautiful day and the shop looked great. Hazel, the owner, had a nice collection of new and vitage items. Here is some eyecandy from the shop. The Open House runs tomorrow and next Friday, Sat. and Sunday as well.Ruby glass and milk glass....what a beautiful combo!

Cookies? Cookies? Did somebody say cookies?

What a great gardening theme!

I want to talk a little bit about the artist that makes all of the fabric creations you see in these pictures. Her name is Chris and she's a magician with fabric and thread. Her attention to detail and craftsmanship is A plus! You can tell she really enjoys her craft and she's just a nice as she is multi-talented.

Oh! How I adore this snowman! He looks so forelorn.....but he has his friend the crow to keep him company.....everyone needs a friend at one time or another.

This is the stitichery that goes with the snowman above. Clever, eh?

I love all the colors in this piece.....

Stinkin' cute! That's all I've got to say about this snow guy!

Upcycled wool trees. What a wonderful trio of Christmassy goodness.
These two guys are hitching a ride to.....where else? A snowball fight.......

The colors in this wool picture just pop and the black frame really sets off the deep rich red....How cool is this pillow? Somewhere there is a very bewildered Santa looking for his coat!

This is the only shot I got of the tree decorated with my things. It was in a corner and hard to get a shot of. It's a "table top" tree so shouldn't it be on a table?

Hope you had a great Saturday!

Christmas Bird Pendants

2009-11-04T19:33:00.002-05:00

New Christmas Bird Pendants available in the Jingle All The Way Home Shop! Collaged and sealed with a glossy resin, these babies come on a black velvet cord necklace.

This just in.......I'm too stupid to decorate a Christmas tree. Hmmmmm, all that college education down the drain!

Holiday Open House......

2009-11-02T20:57:00.005-05:00

If you are in the Western Pennsylvania area this weekend, stop into the Time and Again Shop for the Christmas Open House. You'll be in for a treat with all kinds of goodies. Here is just a peek of the holiday offerings.........

Directions: 2213 Perry Highway on US route 19, 2 miles south of the intersection of routes 19 and 358. US Route 19 - 9 miles north of Mercer, Pa.
phone: 724-253-4901
Friday, November 6th from 11AM to 8PM
Saturday, November 7th from 11 AM to 8PM
Sunday, Noverber 8th, from 1PM to 6PM

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T21:57:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween to all my friends in blogland!

It's Open!!!!! Jingle All The Way Home Shop

2009-10-25T20:07:00.011-04:00

Well the web-doors to the Jingle All the Way Home shop are open! Yes!, it's the official kick-off to the 2009 Christmas Season! Can you smell the cinnamon, feel the frosty air and kiss of snowflakes on your cheek. Below you'll find a sneak-peek of some of the offerings. Just click on the picture and you'll take a cyber sleigh ride on over to the shop! Now remember to read to the very end of this post to sign up for the giveaways.

These little guys are made of cinnamon and smell great! They're wonderful as tiny ornaments or as a special embellishment on packages. Each ornament has been rolled out, stamped with a cookie cutter, dried and painted.
How about these tags that the cinnamon ornaments are on! I colored them with inks, distressed the edges and then stamped them with a Tim Holtz vitage Christmas advertisement stamp. I love the vintage feel of them.

Sometimes you'll have a great idea and you think "wow I think I could make 20 of these!", that is until you finish both the first and last one you'll ever make. That was the case with this Santa made out of a piece of slate. The slate was very difficult to cut into the shape I wanted, so folks, this is the only one I made!
I'm pleased to introduce you to "Star", he's Jingle's brother from a previous. How many snowmen do you know with a rhinestone belly buttton? hee,hee,hee.....

This is Star's brother, "Flakes". He sells snowflakes of ever shape and size. If you purchase him for your tree he'll promise not to create a blizzard in your living room!

Now that you've decorated your tree, how about decorating yourself with these one of a kind metal Snowman Dog Tags? Measuring 1.2 inches wide by 2 inches wide they are just the right size to stick on a chain and wear with your coolest black turtleneck!

Don't forget to check back as new items will be added on amost a daily basis! Oh how I love Christmas decorating, how about you!?!?!?!?

Now for the giveaways!!!! If you are already a follower of the Honey Girl Studio Blog just leave a comment and say you're already a follower to enter into a random drawing for this pop bottle cap pendant. Hmmmm, which will get you thinking.....have you been naughty or nice so far this year?

To be entered into the drawing for this 5 inch tall snowman ornament just click on the "become a follower" on the right side of the blog, leave a comment saying you're a new follower and ta-da!, you're entered! Don't forget to leave your email where I can reach you if you don't have a blog.

It's Almost Open.....

2009-10-24T18:43:00.005-04:00

(Insert Walking In A Winter Wonderland here.....you know, just play it in your noggin'). It's almost time for me to open the Jingle All The Way Home website for Christmas goodies. Tomorrow the web-doors will fly open with all new goodies for the season. So check in tomorrow because there will also be a give-away as well. I've been working hard in the studio like a good little elf. My 2009 series of Fresh Vintage Christmas ornaments are very cute this year.

The studio smells of cinnamon which is radiating from the newly created tiny cinnamon ornaments. Unfortunately, they are not edible due to the a secret ingredient in the recipie called glue! This makes me a little sad because I never met a cookie I didn't like. Cinnamon is one of my favorite smells.....it reminds me of Christmas! When I make a cup of coffee at work I always sprinkle a little cinnamon in it and the kids say "Mrs. Ustik's drinking her Christmas coffee!" I guess the fragrance of cinnamon makes everyone think of Christmas.

For those of you who follow my blog, you are familiar with Toodee the studio mascot. He usually is getting into some sort of hijinx! The week before Halloween, Toodee always gets a little sugared-up and ultra creative. I made the mistake of leaving a full bottle of sweet tea by him last night and found him in this state this morning with a very cool snoman metal dog tag around his neck (notice the tea bottle is empty). That Toodee! By the way, he shared with me how he made the tag and it will be available in the Jingle All The Way Home Shop tomorrow.

Halloween Nugget Purse Favors and Apple Fennel Salad

2009-10-19T18:35:00.004-04:00

How cute are these little Nugget purses? They're made out of orange cardstock and are just big enough to fit a Hershey's Nugget inside of it. They're simple to make! Do you want to know how? Scroll down.......

Cut a piece of cardstock 5 inches long by 1.5 inches wide. Draw lines across it at 1.5 inches, 2.5 inches and 4 inches. Fold on these lines. Round over the ends of the flap. Punch holes in the top fold. Tie a knot and pull the ribbon through the one hole, bring down through the other hold and knot. Glue the top flap over to the front of the purse. Embellish with decorative papers, brads, rubber stamps, etc. You can also watch the video tutorial for it here.

I want to share this delicious recipe with you! It's apple fennel salad with toasted pecans and asiago cheese. This salad is so fresh, crunchy and delicious with the tart and sweet apples and fragrant fennel.

Apple Fennel Salad Recipe
Chop up one Granny Smith Apple

Chop up one Honey Crisp or any sweet apple

1/2 cup toasted pecan
1 cup of finely chopped fennel bulb

1/4 cup of Asiago cheese cut in very small pieces

Dressing: 2 T. of lemon juice, 1T of olive oil, 3 T of honey

Mix dressing ingredients and toss with apples, fennel, cheese and pecans.

Hope you all had a happy Monday!

CD Envelope

2009-10-16T11:35:00.004-04:00

I made this CD envelope the other day to put a blues CD in as a gift. The girl stamp is from Lost Coast Designs stamps. I love their stamps, they're artsy-type stamps. I used color core cardstock to make the folder. It's blue with a black top layer and when you sand it on the black side you can make the blue color come through like I did around the edges. It makes a neat "distressed" effect.

Trick or Treat? Jingle Is Finished!

2009-10-12T18:09:00.005-04:00

Jingle the Snowman is finished as I promised yesterday that I'd post a picture of him. His face is sculpted from paperclay. His body was cut out of 1/4 inch wood.

I like his rhinestone belly button! I'm working on his brother, Snowflake now.

These little girls are all dressed up and ready for Trick or Treating! To find out how you can adopt one or both of them visit the All Hallows Evening site.

Pumpkin Collection & New Christmas Ornaments

2009-10-11T21:09:00.009-04:00

I collect terra-cotta pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. They are around the house here and there but the smaller ones are in my pie safe.

My friend Donna made this "Abracadabra" tag. Isn't it cute?

I'm working on my new line of Christmas 2009 ornaments. Say hello to "Jingle"! First I did the sketch, traced it on 1/4 inch birch, cut it out with the bandsaw, sanded and painted it.

Next I sculpted his face from Paperclay and it's drying as I type!
Then I cut out and glued on his hat, pants and shirt embellishments.
Added the bells, scarf and his tiny rhinestone belly button!

Tomorrow I'll paint his face and then glue it onto his head. There's a lot of work in making just one ornament. I don't think people who don't craft realize the time that goes into making each one. Then, they seem to think that you should sell one for $2! Oh well, I think he's turning out pretty cute and I'll post the completed Jingle tomorrow.

Esmeralda and Baby Ruth in a Bottle

2009-09-29T19:20:00.004-04:00

Looking for a tasty Halloween treat to concoct with only 3 ingredients? Well today is your lucky day. I girl I use to work with would make this every October and bring it in for us to feast on....however be warned, it's like the candy equivalent to a highly addictive drug because you'll be hooked on it after one handfull. It will drive you to raid Walgreens late at night prowling the isles for candy corn and dry roasted peanuts! Seriously, it tastes just like a Baby Ruth bar if you get some peanuts, a piece of candy corn and a few chocolate chips in your mouth all at once.

Baby Ruth in a Bottle Recipe

1 large bottle of Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts

1 large bag of Candy Corn

1/2 bag of Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips

Mix all together, stick it in a bottle or bowl and enjoy!

Meet Esmeralda! She's the coolest witch around plus she's quite a flexible gal! She's available on Ebay right now. Click here to view her.

She's one tall drink of water...... 14 inches tall.......

with great balance.....

and flexibility.........

Ok, now she's just showing off!

Hey! Hope you had a great Tuesday! Be sure to stop into the Honey Girl Halloween Shop for more goodies!

Saturday Quilt Show

2009-09-26T22:04:00.005-04:00

My mum and I went to a little quilt show that we've attended for many years now together. The collection is small, but there were some beautiful quilts. This one is my favorite, I believe it was called Seaside Wheel. Just check out those colors! I love blue and brown together.

I thought this little snow guy was so cute!

Here he is in the quilt.

How about this one? All black and white and red all over. It kind of makes my eyes go all crazy!

I purchased this cabinet card last week at the antique show.

I copied the card and made this little 5 by 7 Halloween collage tonight.

She doesn't need a broom, she's got her own wings.

Burton Antique Show.....

2009-09-19T21:08:00.007-04:00

Today my friends Rita, Dar and Roberta went to the Burton, Ohio Antique Show. We started the day with breakfast at a little diner called Times Square in the tiny village of Kinsman, Ohio. Do you know the equation for a perfect day?
Blue skies + sun + warm weather + fun friends + lots of antiques = Perfect Day

I have never seen so many antiques and yes some junk in one place! Here I'm standing (yes with my eyes closed, what's new?) beside an art deco chair and table. I think people were smaller back in the day b/c everything looked small, of course I'm tall so maybe this just looks miniature.
And heeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrsssssssss......Retro Rita. She really liked this 1950s style chaise however we couldn't figure out what it was stuffed with and it would have had to be recovered. My suggestion was that it was stuffed with horse hair.

There were a lot of vintage hats! Really, how much fun are hats? I love them. I look like a dork in them but never the less, love them. Here Roberta models a purple fur one and Rita dons a black velvet with some sort of bird feathers. The girls look fab, don't they?

I was partial to the aqua feather one. See I told you I look like a dork in a hat! I should have bought this one to wear to the grocery store! he,he,he

I bought a few vintage shell buttons, a cabinet card photo and 3 skeleton keys. Dar bought a little table, Roberta a $4 vase and Rita bought nothing. We had a great time, laughed a lot and decided to make it an annual pilgrimage.

A beautiful sunset at the end of a beautiful day. I hope you had a fun Saturday!

Here's Edgar......

2009-09-15T21:46:00.003-04:00

Edgar has started his trick or treating early and is now on Ebay!

Here he is as a pumpking fairy. Notice the pumpkin book he's holding....it's full of pumpkin growing secrets! Check him out on Ebay.

Frick and Frack and the Harvest Moon....

2009-09-12T22:20:00.005-04:00

By the light of the harvest moon, Frick and Frack, two nuts in their own right tell jokes to each other and sway with the oak leaves in the autumn wind. These guys were painted on a small vintage school chair, you know the kind from the 1960s. My butt spent many years perched on a chair such as this one in elementary school! If yours did too, then you will recall how uncomfortable they were!They were painted with acrylics and sealed with a glossy spray.

They look pretty wide awake for it being the middle of the night, eh?
Smiles!-
M

Pumpkin Buckets!

2009-09-06T21:21:00.002-04:00

I painted these guys yesterday and today. They are made from old galvanized feed buckets. I love painting on metal, it's so nice and smooth and galvanized metal takes acrylic paint really well.

You can find these buckets at the Time and Again Shop.

Bye Summer.......

2009-09-05T19:30:00.003-04:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend! What a beautiful week and Saturday it's been. The weather has been picture perfect here in Northwestern, PA with blue skies and breezy sunny 75 degree days! I had a really terrific summer but now it's time to say....."Bye summer, see you in 3 more seasons"! I hope all of you in blogland had a good summer and I'm wishing your a great Labor Day Weekend.

I did a little bit of my part to help the economy along today.........bought a few Halloweenie stamps and a few sheets of paper. I love the colors of autumn, especially orange. I think my favorite stamps are the ones by BoBunny (the one on the left). Click here to see the BoBunny Blog, they have some cute ideas.

Hey! How about that full moon last night? So big and bright! Gary and I sat on the back porch for a long while watching it.

This is the moon as seen though my glass of Twisted River Late Harvest Riesling. It's delicious, if you've never tired it. Sweet, light, fruity, yummy! Alright then, Gary and I are off to get a hot fudge sundae........listen I had a salad for dinner so don't the two sort of cancel each other out? HA!

Autumn in the air........

2009-08-26T19:16:00.006-04:00

Although it's still looking like summer there is a certain nip in the air, a familiar breeze that whispers of autumn. This is a picture of a corner of my back porch where I plunked myself down and wiled away many a delightful hour reading. I can recommend these books I've read this summer:
Heartbreak Cafe and The Blue Bottle Club by Penelope Stokes....she has the same authors voice as Fanny Flag so if you're a Fanny Flag fan then you'd like her.
Something Blue by Emily Giffin is a chick lit book....easy read, pretty good story.
Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani.....great story about an Italian family and the main character Valentina is an apprentice working with her grandmother making custom wedding shoes. She is about to lose the family company that has been in business since 1903 when she takes trip to Italy and.........well I don't want to tell you the whole story!
Water, Stone, Heart by Will North......oh how I loved this book. It's about an American professor who escapes to Cornwall, England to learn to build fieldstone hedges and to find out what he really wants out of life. This was my favorite of these 5. I'll post more books I've read and enjoyed this summer later.
Although I adore summer, I'm getting into the fall mood as you can't beat the beauty of fall in Western Pennsylvania. Here are a few new pieces I've been working on......

Toodee found the witch shoe I made the other day and decided to make it his home for awhile. He begged me to make smaller ones for him but I told him "no" as he would most likely end up eating them.

This shoe was made from black cardstock and decorative pumpkin paper. You can make your own witch shoe with the template found here. I embellished mine with a piece of ribbon and a white button. Here are a few tips for putting it together: use a few tiny clothes pins to keep it together while it's drying and use a scoring blade to score the lines on the template as it makes it easier to get precise folds. I use the cutter bee bug score blade, it works great.

Here is a vintage wooden domino I collaged and turned into a pendant. I'm obsessed with putting pointed hats on birds...........don't worry it's just a stage I'm going through and if I could get away with it, I too would probably walk around with a big pointy hat on!

You know most questions can be answered with one or two words. I think people talk way too much and this is coming from a speech-language pathologist! I call these pins my "Wise Old Owl" series. I cut them out of 1/4 inch Baltic birch with a band saw, collaged them, painted the eyes, embellished with black pigma marker, sealed with Diamond Glaze and lastly glued the pin to the back. They were very time consuming and that's why I only made 3!

Here are the questions they answer...........

What is something you should you never break besides a heart?
What should people do more?

What should you do upon a star?

I displayed them in this frame with a tree collage and moon. Maybe I'll make some more but I'll have to get real ambitious for that to happen.
Lastly, a giant flat back marble was turned into a pendant. My brother Jimmy and I always carved a pumpkin together and he would aways make me reach in a scoop out the slimy, wet, cold pumpkin guts! Yuck!

And the Winners Are............

2009-08-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

Good morning everyone! I picked the winner for the bird pendant but a curious thing happened while I was using the random generator at the random.org website to pick the winner..... I hit the button twice so being a only fair, I picked two winners. Those winners are: Lissie and Cathie H. Congrats ladies! Please contact me with your addresses and I'll get them mailed out to you.
Smiles-
Melissa

New Halloween Goodies.....

2009-08-17T21:45:00.002-04:00

I just posted these in the All Hallows Evening Shop! The above piece is on brass. The other pieces are tiny collages under 1 inch by 1 inch glass tiles.

Hey! It's a Give Away

2009-08-16T20:49:00.003-04:00

I had a great weekend and I hope all my friends in Blogland did as well. Thanks for all of the nice comments about the bird pendants. I appreciate it and really like hearing from you.

I'm giving away one of the birdie pendants. I picked this one to give away as fall is right around the corner. Leave a comment and you'll be in the drawing! I'm going to draw on Wednesday.

How much do you love sultry August evenings with the orange orb of a sun lazily sinking into the hazy horizon? I shot these pictures tonight at my mom and dad's farm.

Sunset over the bean field...............

The black-eyed Susans are in full bloom!

But there are these little bugs flying all over them. They don't eat the plant. I'm not sure what kind of bugs they are, can anyone tell me?????

Lastly I'm leaving you with Nanny and Pops giving Buddy The Wonder Dog a bath yesterday. He actually likes getting a bath. He was particularly dirty as he rolled in motor oil!

Oh yah! Here he is drying out after his bath. It was about 88 degrees yesterday so I'm sure he was feeling pretty good all wet and shaggy!

Now Buddy Blue-Eye is squeaky clean!

Here's wishing you a happy Monday and don't forget to leave a comment to be in the drawing for the birdie pendant!

Halloween Doodle Stik Pendants

2009-08-14T22:29:00.005-04:00

Long, skinny pendants called.........wait for it..........Ustik's Doodle Stik Pendants! (Ustik.....that would be me!)

Hey buddy, watch where you're pointing that pitchfork! It can get pretty dangerous during a tango!
GRRRRRR......trick or treat? I'll take the treat please! Preferably frozen Junior Mints.

Ever feel this way?
Ha! Well, by now you know the drill and where to find these Doodle Stiks so I won't bore you with the fine print! Click here.
Nighty-night!

Birdie Collage Pendants

2009-08-11T19:35:00.004-04:00

I loved making these little collage pendants. I've always liked birds and remember as a kid looking through my gram's bird book and sitting for hours drawing birds from the book (she was a birder). A few months ago I found the "Birds of North America" book at Borders and picked it up for a few bucks. I tucked it away and pulled it out the other day....was leafing through it and inspriation struck! Ta-da! Birdie Collage Pendants! They are backed on a thin piece of wood and the back is finished off as well. They measure a little over 1 inch wide and 2 inches tall. They are available at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

Some Things......

2009-08-08T20:19:00.007-04:00

Just sharing some things.

Something pretty.......a single huge hydrangea blossom at the farm.

Something yummy...... grilled peaches with vanilla ice cream. Did them on the grill tonight.

Something new........ I just made these 1 inch square glass tile pendants this week.
I call them "Little Bits"!

Something fresh....... corn salsa made from ingredients from my garden. Delish!

Something for charity......made this nest necklace for a breast cancer event.

Something orange......altered vintage domino pendants. You know I love the orange!

Something "hootie".....not a word but it is now! Owl pendant.

Something guilded...... my new jewelry display frame. I was so psyched when I got it for $6 at Hobby Lobby, it was 90% off!!! It went to the Time and Again Shop today full of new goodies.
Hope you all had a great Saturday and had interesting "some things" throughout your day!