Swinging on a Star Creations by Shari Valicenti

Significance of the Name

My Blog’s name is a tribute to my Dad & my Husband. My Dad because he used to sing the song to me, "How 'd You Like to Swing on a Star?" It's about reaching for your dreams, you can stay where you are & be safe OR YOU CAN SWING ON STAR. Stars also refer to a difficult night just after my husband died. I was talking to him (I often do.) & said how I missed his "I Love You's". That night he gave me a dream... a gorgeous, bright blue night sky filled with thousands of stars, in the middle the stars formed an "I LOVE YOU"....such a gift on so many levels.

So "follow your own path, & don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest”

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Beloved Pets

I'VE WRITTEN BEFORE about doing these Wedding or Event Bulbs.

They are quite large and I receive requests to make them as gifts. I have shared with you in the past how I have stressed over these because the represent such a huge emotional and special event in a person's life.

They have always been for a wedding or shower gift.

I recently received a request for one of a very different nature.

BUT FIRST here is an example of one of the first ones I did.....

Anyway...I was asked to do one as a gift for someone whose sister had just lost her beloved cat Breezie. Don't you love that name?

I was particularily moved by this request because I had just lost MY beloved black lab...Chance.

(Often referred to as "Chance the Wonder Dog".)

So it was particularly important to make this so very special for the person who had suffered the loss of HER beloved pet.

How we all love our cat or dog or horse or gold fish...... as the animal may be and it was important to honor her love.

I asked the person about the sister's likes (colors, collections etc) to try and find some inspiration for the motif to sit the cat in. I was told ANGELS, she loved angels. There it was.... AND it was one of those times when I immediately have the composition flash into my head. It truly appears in a flash. It is so odd how this happens to me.

ANY WAYYYY... I saw Breezie nestled in the wings of a child angle among clouds......

So here is pretty much what I saw.....

She was a beautiful cat....

I felt good about this one and the person that was giving the gift was very pleased...I was so relieved!

Here are a couple pics of my beloved Chance I will share with you.

As you may already know (see my profile regarding the name of my blog) I lost my husband and dad several years ago and Chance had become even more devoted to me and I to him since then.

A PEEK AT CHANCE:

If I cried or was sad, he was at my feet. He never left my side.

He waited at the top of the entry stairs like he always did for my husband the night he (my husband) passed....he seemed to know and.....he slept by me every night since.

I had to put Chance down this past November. As I was blessed to have my Fred in my life, I was again blessed to have such a precious, loving, devoted dog in my life at a time when I truly needed him.

Most importantly as I share this with you all....while we all experience these losses in our lives.....we take and are given many, many lessons and blessing through them and we should be grateful to have had these people and animals placed in our lives and for that I AM truly grateful to have been be so blessed.

Enough of that though.....Isn't he just the most handsome darn dog?

That's my daughter Dani...she's pretty too!

He was always dressed in my favorite clothing color...black.

And put up with our silliness..the bow, what a ham!!

Just after we got him at 6 months. Cocked head....could he pose or what?

Look at those big feet...he did get big too!

Everyone loved his big, beautiful head. He was an English Lab....very calm Labs.

He was always included at neighborhood picnics....here he is posing yet again!!!

I think perhaps as many writers experience, this was very cathartic.

Thanks so much for listening and maybe relating as well.

PLEASE don't hesitate to share your pet love in a comment, I'd love that so much.

Shari

Please Visit These Links for LOTS of Inspiration:

French Country Cottage

Savvy Southern Style

Blah 2 Beautiful

Cherished Bliss

The Shabby Creek Cottage

Beyond The Picket Fence

Delightful Order

The Brambleberry Cottage

Wayward Girls' Crafts

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Cloche love inside and out....more inspirations!

I have this thing about cloches....I just love finding new ways to use them.

I suppose because I am a person who loves change they are perfect for me.

They can be used as holiday decorating, seasonal decoration, to show off a collection, a dinner table centerpiece and a great tool for table top decor or just an opportunity to show some creativity.

They can be serious, beautiful, fun, make a statement and so much more.

These beautiful cloches were found on Pinterest and have their own pedistol.

Another thing to consider is your own pedistol creations. Usually you should consider your cloche display and what you place inside from a 360 degree point of view.

I love finding my own pedistals. Sometimes a lovely dish, a candle holder, a cake pedistol, or even a pile of books. Sometimes inspirations strikes and you find something really unique.

Here I used a iron birdbath for my Christmas cloche in the center of my kitchen island.

You can be so creative with them.

These are examples of cloches on cake stands and one on a compote.

This one from Pinterest appears to be on a lovely trivet.
A great idea!

The fun thing about a cloche is that you can also use the exterior area of the cloche to enhance your theme. Here are a couple variations of using the exterior adornment to add to a cloche.
Variations of a Halloween cloche:

I suppose these aren't technically cloche's, but they work on the same concept.

I will tell you that before I purchased my first cloche I had this glass container and turned it and another I had upside down to make my own cloche.

This is a wire cloche I bought for my good friend, Jeanne. You might remember it was featured in another post.

This is the before:

This is the after:

Sometimes I find pedestals to display something that doesn't have enough substance by itself so I find something to display it on. This is brass candlestick holder. Notice I also added a berry vine to the outside top. Sometimes I use ribbon.

You can add a lot of loose items like my favorite fall/winter decorating item....pinecones, by turning your cloche upside down, fill it with items, place your plate or cake stand on top and flip. Abra Cadabra....

Here are some more CLOCHE INSPIRATIONS from My Pinterest

How about on a large tray with other items?

Notice these shells are displayed on candle stick holders.....these may have been painted black.

Aren't these beautiful? I'm wondering if we couldn't turn a pretty champagne glass upside down and add a glass plate on the base to support the cloche. Not sure, just doing a little brainstorming here.

Spring/Easter Cloches:

I'm working on my Spring/Easter Decor now and I will share with you some of my ideas soon which will include my cloche decor.

Hope you are having as much fun decorating for Spring/Easter as I am. I have a secret love of rabbits too. What are yours? Do you have any cloche decor ideas to share?

Shari

Sorry I haven't posted lately...there's a lot going on right now and will be for a while.

Please Enjoy These Links:

I Heart Nap TIme

Polish THe Stars

Craft-O-Maniac

Polly Want A Crafter?

Beyond The Picket Fence

The Brambleberry Cottage

Savvy Southern Style

Shabby Creek Cottage

Beyond the Picket Fence

The Brambleberry Cottage

My Romantic Home

The Common Ground

Wayward Girls' Crafts

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Gift Wrap Creates Excitement & Interest, A Little Pre-Gift Fun!

I DON'T OFTEN SPEND a lot of money on giftwrap,

but every so often I really love to do this!!!

The gift was for a wedding of a daughter of some great friends.

The gift was one of Michael Aram's beautiful trays.

I couldn't find the tray, but this is a sample of his work.

He does such beautiful things from nature.

So off to my source for exceptional giftwrap and ribbon.

I found this beautiful paper, I guess you would call it flocked

and this BEAUTIFUL MIDORI RIBBON!!!!!

It is quite different from our Michael's ribbon..'LIKE BUTTA" and so DECADENT!

I add a vintage flea market find to the center of the bow. EWWW La La!

Then I made my own gift tag from collaging the leaves,

adding Swarovski crystals and hand painting the flowers for color!

Attached it with some silver cord.

The giftwrap got great revues and I expect since the bride carefully stored every piece of the wrapping away to keep meant she also appreciated the effort put forth.

It certainly does not have to be expensive as you can see on my brown paper Christmas wrap post HERE to be beautiful, fun or quirky.

It just says to the person they are special by not just plunking

it in a gift bag and adding some tissue.

It's a lovely way of showing how special you feel about the person.

Maybe match the giftwrap to compliment the colors in the gift or if you use a gift bag add a unique bow or dangle to the side or use a brown paper gift bag and decorate it with lace or sheet music or what ever comes to mind.

HAPPY GIFTING, Shari

Enjoy These Wonderful Links:

I Heart NapTime ****Flamingo Toes****Craft-O-Maniac****

Creating Really Awesome Free Things****Crafts Keep Me Sane****

Sumo's Sweet Stuff****Creating Really Awesome Free Things or C.R.A.F.T.****

Polish The Stars****Polly Want A Crafter?***Not Just A Housewife****

Savvy Southern Style****{Primp}

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Repurposing and Thrifting with a Good Friend.....Life is Good!

AS YOU MAY KNOW, my good friend Heather of Larissa Hill and I often go on thrifting adventures together. Sometimes they really ARE adventures and
we often laugh ourselves silly at the predicaments we get into.

Our latest was a revisit to a large thrift store in Jeannette, PA called THRIFT KING. Let me tell you this place is great. It has a really large furniture area and huge array of household goodies....well priced and sometimes great sales.

I found these lovely Italian metal frames and loved them immediately.
While I love repurposing, Heather is always trying to get me back to my roots....my painting, pen and ink etc.
She gave me the spark to repurpose frames with miniature artwork.
I quickly placed them in my cart!

When I got home I tore off the backing (it was glued), cut new backs from cardboard and then covered the new backs with scrapbook paper.

I added swarovsky crystals to the frame.

I decided on bunnies as they are one of my favorite subjects.

This is the first... Guy in Gray, done in pen, ink and acrylic.

He has swarovsky crystals on the ears and tail.

Next came... Bunny in a Brown Fur with crystals in his eye and tail.

Added some green velvet ribbon for hanging.

Can't tell you how fun these were to do!

Each is signed.

I think they look cute as a pair.

I was so pleased with them I wasn't sure I could part with them, but started their Etsy page. My Etsy site has been sadly neglected, but the good news is I keep selling the stuff before I can get it on!!!

Took them into work to show my friend Kim. Her daughter is having her first grand child and she bought them on the spot...FOR THE NURSERY!
I totally missed that idea, whoa they actually would be great in a nursery and great news.... later would work in "grown up areas" like a powder room, etc.

I was so excited and pleased....made my whole week.
I am so grateful that these experiences keep coming into my life..so blessed.

Now this has given me the vision to do more of these. My friends, who are all starting the grand child phase of their lives, have been asking me to come up with gift ideas for babies. Isn't funny how if you just listen, how "Spirit" taps you on the shoulder?

Another Happy Tail...Shari

(sorry, once it came into my head, couldn't help myself!)

Please Enjoy these Links..

The Shabby Creek Cottage

The French Cupboard

Beyond The Picket Fence

The Brambleberry Cottage

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Baby Shower Fun.

FRIENDS OF MINE HAVE been so over the moon about their daughter being pregnant with their first grand daughter. While planning her November shower they turned to me and another friend for some help. They wanted to keep costs down and keep it fun. First I came up with these favor ideas.

I used these canning jars.

I cut the circular insert for the top from scrapbook paper

and inserted them in the lids.

I added a square of fabric and a little ribbon around the edge.

Then I made hang tags that I Modge Podged the same paper to tags I found at Michaels.

I edged each with a strip of green polka dotted ribbon and used pinking shears along the bottom.

Each said..."It's a Girl!"

Next centerpieces....

I was inspired from Pinterest to make my own version of these for each table. The terra cota pots are so inexpensive (Again Michaels). I filled each with a piece of floral foam and some sand to give it some weight. The "flowers" are baby wash clothes and onesies that we used those wired floral picks to anchor the bud at the center and then twisted and wound them using straight pins to secure. These were a little more labor-intensive than I had planned. Thank goodness I had my friend Angela to help and give insight.