A little proud

 

... because my necklace is finished!

All parts are recycled and the 53 big chunky beads have all been made by

me!

 

 

Now to search my wardrobe for the proper outfit to wear it,

could be all kind of natural colors I guess

 

 

the beads are made of rolled strips of watercolor paper, glued with

Elmer's glue and a finish of matte Mod Podge

 

 

I can see lots of other possibilities for this, e.g. using

washi tape (that I mostly make myself too...)

 

Not annoyed yet after over a week of rain and even snow here on

the Spanish Costa Blanca...

and so very grateful for my parents that tought us how to

spend our time, to make things, to read

... the most beautiful gift you can pass on to your children I dare say (after lots of love of course...)

 

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

 

Regina

Inspiration

Hi!

 

I am almost recovered from a serious cold.

 It lasted way too long and therefore this morning

 I finally got out of the house

 to do 'something nice'...

In my neck of the woods, that is in this piece of

coastal Spain, it is

charity shopping!

 

 

I was very lucky today.

Ah, the inspiration I found there

The possibilities these treasures offer

 

 

 Look at those parts, the closures, the materials

 I can derive  from this necklaces

 once deconstructed...

 

 

And to end this post: wishing you everything from the digital collage.

You may need it, we all need it, everything, and more...

Happy Holidays!

 

Thanks for visiting,

 

Regina



Recycled, a present

This week I wrote about a new boiler in our motorhome.

When I saw my husband

dismantling the old one, I suggested that maybe we could use that for something, a fire drum for instance...

 

He took all pipes out, welded some support

underneath and here it is!

 

 

 

We do have chilly nights here in Spain, though not at the moment.

 

But once that time comes, we now have a safe place in the garden,

 where we can enjoy a cozy fire.

 

Thanks to my handy man with not two,

but countless 'right' hands

 

Happy weekend!

 

Regina

 



Fabrics

(yellow is white in real)

 

Hi!

 

It's been a while, again...

No excuses, just nothing other than that I was busy

 

 

Last week we went to a theater play and as this does not happen so often here in our village, I did my best to dress up a little.

 

I have a kimono jacket that I often turn to in these situations; it is of a black/neutral georgette, quite lovely as I may say so myself, but I have plans now to make me a new one!

 

There is a dark blue linen in the cupboard that is suitable for my design, but I would like to make it a bit more outstanding than just the solid blue.

 

So, this morning I visited our local charity shop, where I had seen a lovely georgette dress on a manequin last week. Fortunately it was still there and for 5 euro's it is mine now!

 

(the yellowish color on the right is white in real, other colors are dark and a lighter blue)

 

You probably understand by now why I love the design of the fabric; it has it all....contrast, dots, spirals in suggested stitches. I can imagine how it will look in a similar jacket as the one below

According to me the fabric as a whole makes a Japanese impression, the colorcombination at least looks like some quiltfabrics I bought long ago at a quiltfestival.

 

Making much art? Currently not

Making/restyling fashion? Yes!

 

 

Thanks for visiting, till next time!

 

Regina

 



What I did...

... is upcycling coasters!

 

These were coasters with a sturdy cork background, covered with very ugly, traditional Spanish images

 

Think bulls and fighting, think flamenco, think Madrid, just the kind of stuff that some people still think tourist want to take home (imho not) 

 

 

but I saw possibilities and in my ongoing attempts to beautify my surrounding

I cut out some pages of my favorite magazines

and just glued them on the coasters, let them dry and

put some heavy books on them for some hours

 

I then brushed on a layer of matte laquer as a finish and now they are ready for drinks!

 

 

they have become very me, I think...

the circles, the beads, the black and white, the natural colours

 

 

so far crafting

 

On the more artistic field I am working on a new painting that has to do with rust! It is quite a challenge, again, but after a difficult start, I am beginning to believe it might work out...

 

Later, dear reader, later...

 

Regina

Getting there

This is where I am now with the bootcovers!

 

Do you remember my  latest post?

 

After I had stiffened the fabric, I cut and sew together the two halves. The thriftened boots were my 'pattern' so I cut out the leather parts and then used my old sewing machine, which initially caused a lot of problems with thread tensions. Though I like them myself I felt insecure and therefore showed them to a friend and my daughter via Skype. They encouraged me to move on and said they liked them very much...

The dubbing about some kind of closure started, which of course I should have tried before working with the final materials but I was too eager. I decided to close the back seam after all other embellishing has been done, so some more stitching, the upper seem needs a kind of lining and then the 'thing' can be closed. When it appears to be too tight to fit over my old simple brown boots, I will take apart the fabric part of the seam and look for some kind of closure (a leather string, velcron, snaps?) But for now I am going after a bootcover without closure.

 

Another thing I am not sure of is whether yes or no to attach studs, the fabric is kind of elegant with the glimmers and maybe studs are to bold in this setting.

Never  knew what kind of problems had to be solved with designing, but this is my 'learn as you go'-method !! 

 

 

 

Not sure if this will be finished in time for the new year, for there are many gatherings to attend, but more important is that I feel I'm getting there.

 

I wish you a very pleasant New Years eve and may all your dreams for 2016 come true!

Upcycling!

Hi there!

 

 

This is one of the paintings I made last year, I'm not sure if I showed it on this blog already

 

Anyhow, today it is here because of some relation with my latest upcycling project:

the boots

 

 

 

these are the boots that I wrote about recently: old, worn but totally what I had been looking

for a long time, a pattern of the shaft (no, I am not making complete boots, sole including, Mary Ann, but they will be worn over a simple pair of brown boots)

 

 

it did not hurt to simply cut the upper part from the sole, after which I made a paper pattern

 

 

I would have liked to use an old kelim for the fabric part, but they are way too expensive to cut up for an experiment and moreover it was impossible to find one at the thrift store, haha...

 

But this piece of fabric (a kind of runner, or tablecloth?) made my heart sing, I could imagine this as a replacement for the kelim. I fused some wonderunder and let it cool down completely, after which I could easily take of the protecting paper. Then I ironed the cloth on a very stiff fabric I still had lying around from a former challenge and now one part of the two shafts is ready for embellishing with leather.

For that I have to use my old sewing machine, because it works better with the leather. Until now the project is going smoothly, but of course much is possible and some challenges will follow...

 

Btw: the very tiny white dots on the fabric are glitters. In one way this seems strange on this kind of paisley pattern, I mean it makes no sense at all, but nevertheless it looks nice and festive.

My tolearnce for this modest glittering may have to something to do with the aproaching days of Christmas, but we'll see if I can stand them later. At least I will have more experience for future projects. Think bags....

 

Will be continued, enjoy your Sunday, I am going to enjoy a drink on our X-massy veranda

 

Bye!

Regina



Winter

 

 

Hello!

 

 

Winter in Spain means a grey, sometimes silvery Mediterranean...

 

Half of the restaurants and terraces in our village are closed in this time of the year. But that does certainly not mean that it feels like a dead place, oh not at all.

 

This morning I walked to the village centre which is about ten minutes from our home, I posted the Christmascards and after that went to a few of the charity shops. They are an addiction for me, since living in this beautiful country.And this time they again had some treasures for me, one persons trash is another's treasure it is called I remember.

 

For quite some time I have been searching the internet for a bootpattern, a modern kind of spat. I had seen a lady with a really gorgeous pair last winter and when I asked her how and where, she answered: Oh, yes, my aunt made these..! Because I am a maker and really believe people can make everything they want, my search started. But as far as the pattern was concerned to no avail. There came in this morning's surprise: there was a pair of old, worn boots that had exactly the form I want, so I bought them and will now take them apart to make my own pattern. I will see which parts I can recycle!

 

The other find was a tiny necklace, composed of cotton string with dangling metal circular charms attached. They will have a future life in a selfdesigned tribal necklace and maybe even in the spats.

Happy me on a Monday morning!

 

The digital collage above is a detail of a painting I started yesterday. The topic is Winter, of all topics. I have to say I hate everything cold and slippery, snow, ice, rain etc. and that is one of the reasons we moved to Spain... So my interpretation of winter will not be traditional and for now the painting consists of a big iceblue part with a warm and to me lovely heart. We will see whether I can get on the canvas what's in my head...

 

I'll keep you posted, bye for now,

 

Regina

Painting lanterns

After we moved to our current house, the men started the renovation.

It was a time of much noise and dust, the tiles of our complete floor

had to be removed in order to install a new concrete layer

to enable the solar energy pipes and system to work.

 

At that time there was not yet much participation needed from me

 (or so I thought)...

 

So, inspired by this idyllic picture

 

 

...I remembered these storm lanterns that we brought to Spain from our house

 in the Caribbean.

They had been left behing by the former owners of that house

 and I have a tendency of always taking with us something of the past.

 

The red color of these lanterns never spoke to me and I started with one

 of these to get rid of the red paint: dissolvent first, then sanding, buf buf, and halfway this job

 my DH saw what I was doing (while he was working that hard, oh my)

.......

 

and he suggested to wait with this until the house was finished

and I reluctantly had to admit that he might be right,

 

so I put the lanterns away

 

This week I rediscovered the lanterns

and since I have this new hobby to renew, repurpose and recycle

I started with the one lantern that was half stripped of paint and

 the other half rusted, haha!

As for me letting them completely rust would also have been an option, but DH hates rust...

 



 

I probably have to put on at least one more layer

of the black anti rust paint

 

 

but this is how it looks

after this morning's job

 

Happy Painting..!

 

Regina



Pillow makeover

Remember the dress from this post?

There were some remnants after I made yesterday's scarf...

 

 

and this pillow definitely needed more contrast, after being bleached by the

Spanish sun

 

 

so I auditioned the remnants by simply putting them over the pillow

 

 

... and then chose this piece.

Simply stitched by hand without ripping out any previous stitches,

the easy way

 

Enjoy the weekend

 

Regina

A different medium

Many years I have succeeded in refusing to work with different materials than fabric and paper...

 

It is not that I did not want to try, but knowing myself and my enthusiasm, I expected it to disturb my focus. I thought I had to make choices and thus it was fabric (quilts, sewing, art quilts) and paper (collage)

 

But about a year ago I let this selfimposed regimen go!

 

And started painting, more on that in future posts...

 

I have to say that it is nice to feel free to experiment with different media, so when I recently saw the decoration chain on this blog, I decided to give it a try.

 

 

 

there was a package of air drying clay left from our Caribbean period

(you see I was tempted already back then!),

and fortunately this material is also available in Spain

 

 so I made over twenty big beads, let these dry during two days and then painted them twice

 



 

the clay was white and I wanted it to become more or less concrete coloured. Then I remembered I had seen these little sample tins in one of the paint stores...

 

Most of their stock were empty tins (it looked so organized and impressive to me!), but there was one colour Down Pipe present in this size

so I now have completed this huge decoration chain and will certainly find a place for it, will show pictures then, ok?

 

 

and last but not least: this is how the recycled dress from this post turned into a scarf. I wore it with a sense of elegance (the drape is gorgeous!) yesterday on our 43rd anniversary diner in a lovely 'chirinquito' near the sea.

 

That's it for today, thanks for reading and enjoy your Wednesday!

 

Regina



After my 'sabbatical'

Well, dear followers and other readers of this blog, I am finally back!



After what seems like ages, but in fact is over a year, I am ready to restart blogging again. It has been, among very much activities in other areas, a time for me of hesitating. Should I close my blog? Let's wait some more...No, I am not ready for such drastic measures. Is someone missing this blog when nothing 'happens'? Not really either. With everything that is already being written on the web, with Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook etc., it sometimes felt like I really did not add anything interesting at all . But, while I regularly had a look at former posts I also felt like I myself was missing something: the journal aspect of Mostly Turquoise. I no longer can look back at my life, what I did then and there, and what I created at certain moments. And this is a big one for me!

 

So, after all this considering of pros en cons, I decided to give it another try.

 

Our life in Spain has come to a point that everyday life has gained a kind of rhytm again, and there seem to be less things that have to be done first, with the renovation of our house completed.

 

There is one thing that has come to full bloom since last year. My love for thrifting! After our Caribbean period, we are once again living in an area in Spain where there are few shopping possibilities, let alone fabric stores. But: we do have charity shops, thrift stores, and these are the places one can find real gems with some luck (and an artist eye, I think).

 

The dress below is my most recent find. It is sewn on the bias, so one size fits all...

And it fits, but of course does not flatter me at all, I am feeling like a pig in it. But the fabric is beautiful, for me it has the right contrast, favourite colours black and neutral, the kind of cotton is perfect for decorating. My first idea was to cut it up and sew some pillows (but there are already tons of these...), then a scarf came in mind (the same here, but a girl never has enough scarves is it?) 

 

 

 

the dress like I bought it

 

 

this detail I immediately loved

 

 

on the table after I cut it open.

 

This is where I will start from. First I have to find the threads where there is no bias (don't know the proper word for it, ont the grain or something?) and then cut it in as big a size as possible.

 

This was it for now, I am happy to be here again and hope you can appreciate it too. Thanks for your patience. One big, final THANK YOU for Rayna, you know why...!

Recycling

(images are clickable)

 

Last week I found a necklace at the charity shop in our village. I saw possibilities in the disc...

 

as I prefered a more reddish copper tone to the yellow brass, I decided to paint the disc with acrylic. But first I used black, to emphasize the details. Then the dismantling of the old necklace began. Over the years I have gathered many, many beads and that came in handy when I made them into a new necklace, the one in the last picture:

 

 

Sometimes I still feel like a little girl, so happy with a new adornment!

 

Do you recognize this feeling? Let me know if so...

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

Regina

 

 



Back, finally

Hi!

 

I have been away far too long, I know that...

What exactly was the reason for this period of silence, I don't know myself. I had the time to blog, but preferred not to, did not know for the very first time what to write about. Can you imagine?

 

So, what else did I do? Help finishing our renovation, painting doorknobs, sewing curtains and reading, lots of that too.

Since a few days I am feeling more energized and I slowly feel the inspiration get back to my life. I feel it on my daily walking tour, when I see the flowers and grasses, while crossing the vineyards near our village. I feel it when I walk the rocky path that runs beside the sea, all that natural beauty seems to help and direct me back to creativity.

 

 

 

This piece of textile is from a book about Indian decoration

I am planning to make some brightly coloured cushions for our naya (veranda) and this style attracts me at the moment, not for the first time though...

This time I won't make use of shishas, but the cowrie shells will make a nice accent border on these pillows.

 

 

For the cowrie shells I had to visit an unusal place: the thriftstore. We have three of them in our village and this morning I was lucky too find two necklaces that offer these shells!

 

 

So my next job will be to deconstruct the necklaces and then the creativity can take place. Fabrics are neatly stacked in piles, so it should not be too long before I can show the results.

 

Till next time, thanks for your patience!

 

Regina

Work in progress...

 (image is clickable)

...but where to find it?

 

 

The first picture of this dyptich shows a project that I was working on at the time we made our move from St. Maarten to Europe. It consists of strips of recycled fabric hand sewn on a cotton basis with embroidery yarn; I was inspired by the lovely panels that Judy Martin makes. It is such a splendid way to recycle all kind of fabrics, the many fabrics that we all seem to have lying around...I am fond of recycling, and you??

 

The only thing is: how to find it? I am pretty sure that it is not in the boxes, but might linger somewhere here in the apartment. So I start my search tomorrow, for it could be the perfect project to continue and maybe even finish while waiting for my studio to be renovated. Slowly I am getting more time for my passions, my interests.

I'll keep you posted!

 

Regina

Vintage find

 

Finally something textile related...

 

Yesterday I went to the local charity shop. They were busy closing the shop, but I could have a quick  look nevertheless...

 

My eyes found a stand with scarves, on which this beauty was hanging

 

 

Not necessary to beg me: "take me home!", for I fell in love with every little detail ...

the colours, the design (must have to do something with the patches, don't you think?)

I suddenly remember seeing this kind of long rows of stitches in the early textile works of Kit Vincent...so there is a link with quilts somewhere! By now I also know that this surface treatment (or quilting two layers with long regular stitches without a batting in between is called Kanta work and originates from India

 

 

The stitches in long rows seem to layer a kind of haze on the fabrics, that also unifies the separate colours

 

 

And now, for 1 euro only, she is mine...and I am so happy with this new addition to my wardrobe!

 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!

 

Regina

 

 

My apologies for my long absence on this blog! Moving to another country and starting all over is a huge job, I knew and expected that. But this is the first time we changed our place of living to an entirely new country for both my husband and me. We were in Spain a long time ago during vacationtime, but as everywhere, living is quite something else.

 

So, what did I do when being too busy to blog?

 

. getting to know the villages and little towns, along the coast and more inland

. further refining our search which neighborhoods we liked to eventually buy a  house

. looking for houses (there are thousands for sale here!) on the internet

. once we knew the address first have a look ourselves: would our camper fit on the property? did the property provide for our hard demands? (we also had less demanding wishes...)

 

The result of this timeconsuming househunting is that we found a lovely villa within walking distance of one of the lovely beaches of Moraira!

 

You will understand there was no time for art, though I did make some collages in between.

Next we will visit the Netherlands and after we come back the house will be ours.

Then we have to carry out a pretty big renovation, since it is a fixer upper, though there will be help of a contractor.

I expect to be able to post every now and then, but not too often, in the near future. Hopefully you bear with me and will keep visiting my blog.

 

Thanks for your patience and for visiting today!

 

Regina 

Cards

 

 

and more precise: cards; that is what I have been making lately

 

I've felt the urge to communicate in person again with people, rather than posting on Facebook. It makes perfect sense, since we now live in country where the mailsystem is reliable and it does not take ages for a letter or card to reach its destiny, to start writing again to the people I care about. Not always letters, but cards, that totally is my thing. So I found the supplies here in Spain and in combination with paper from my stash of magazines and old posters, I let the inspiration kick in and now I have a good supply of beautiful cards, imho...!

 

Furthermore I am working on a project consisting of nine collages all around one theme. They are in the final stage of creation, so once the work is done, I will show it here.

 

That was it for today. Not much, but better than nothing...

 

As always: thanks so much for visiting!

 

Regina

Melancholy

This collage was made by me last week. I started with the piece of paper that contained the man, looking (at some far away distance?) Full of thought, it seems to me, full of melancholic feelings maybe... Anyhow, that's how the collage started. Then came the door, no words necessary to describe these, their beauty is obvious, yes I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but still...

The partial circular mosaic got a place too, here it was the tender colour, combined with the motives and material that made me choose this part.And then I finished it with some text and it is so funny while making this work, I noticed that even the text fragment seems to fit into the whole: son savoir?, plaisir a ses...?, did these thoughts evoke the melancholy in his eyes?

 

On the village square of our little Spanish village, right in front of the cathedral with also has these big impressive doors, a group of old men is gathering every day. When I pass them, they are always talking in a lively way, talking about 'their world' I assume. In my fantasy they have been sitting on the benches year after year, at least since they did not have to work anymore. Next time I will pay attention to the look in their eyes, but I do not expect much melancholy here, cause after these two months here, I have come to know the people as practical, of a no nonsense kind of friendliness...

 

talking about influences...

 

 

 

Influences 3

collage, 7.5 x 11"

 

recycled magazine on paper, glued and varnished

 

Have a great pre X-mas weekend!

 

Regina

Influences

It's been a long time since I have been writing so many letters...

 

Though the e-mail replaced the postman (except for Christmas cards),

I have been writing many letters to friends and family all over the world lately.

 

It was the right time for that, for catching up. In these writings I talk about our impressions, of the new country, our home in the mountains, the view at the Mediteranean at a 5 mile distance, but also about the friendly people we already met.

 

Somehow these new impressions and the colours that surround me 'soak' into my collages,

hence this series:

 

 

 

 

Influences 2

 

paper collage, appr. 8.5 x 11 "

recycled magazines on paper, glue, varnish

 

As always thanks for visiting

Regina