My latest creation is a 2 in 1- hand made leather vessel/bowl
Designed to be used either side for a different decorative look
A beautiful OOAK handmade vessel I created from soft leather scrap and reclaimed fabrics from vintage sources such as tableclothes and doilys. All moulded together with French 1950′s dressmakers ribbons.
I use mine to display my antique & vintage button collections, shells and French coins on shelves and tables.
Vintage 1950s nylon trim. Stunning, delicate and ever so soft vintage dotted trim, white with black dots. Wound on a large antique industrial wooden textile spool (bobbin) from Old U.S. Mill.
I’m so hooked on dyeing lately so here is my latest batch of cold water dyed fabrics and papers. I’ve had these dyes since the 70′s and they still worked really well. I was able to keep diluting the dye bath to get the very subtle tints. I’ve also been doing a bit of experimenting with rust dyeing and absolutely love it
On my other blog Outlook8studioI have a tutorial to share with you on rust dyeing
Over the years I have collected boxes of archival mount board offcuts from my artwork.The other day I had a bit of a play with them and came up with some French- inspired brooches. Each brooch has been fully made by hand even the cutting so there maybe some flaws which I think only add to their charm
On the front I have decoupaged some French paper with Mademoiselle’s wearing 1950’s “Mode Française” enclosed with my vintage hand- dyed doily scraps.On the reverse I’ve decoupaged some French word or words with a nickel free brooch pin. Each piece is fully waterproofed with liquid gloss resin on the front and several coats of acrylic sealant on the reverse.
Brooch size approx. 3’x 2.5” – 8 x 6cm.
Brooch pin nickel free.
Packaged in an elegant hand- made sachet with a jewel to adorn
You can buy my new brooches and other French- inspired goodies from my Etsy shop
CARING FOR A BROOCH
Each piece of archival board is hand-cut and sanded then sealed with liquid gloss resin and several coats of acrylic sealant on the reverse. Waterproofed, this will protect the piece for normal wear and moisture but still wear and handle with care as you would any hand-made item.
CREATIVE WAYS TO WEAR YOUR BROOCH
Pin a brooch onto an evening bag. This method looks best when the brooch is pinned onto a clutch or other small evening bag. Pick a brooch that matches a color or detail in your dress, and it will really help tie the bag into the look.
Want your outfit to have little French chic? Simply wrap a scarf around your neck and fasten it in place with a brooch. Very simple but effective. For a slightly more modern take on this look, place the scarf around your waist or hips instead to draw the eye downwards and accentuate your figure.
Another neat idea takes a bit more creativity. Use a brooch as a hairpin. Make a bun or french twist extra glamorous by pinning a brooch in your hair. This usually looks best in the back of your hair, but use your judgment depending on the style. You will need bobby pins for this technique, since brooches are decorative but aren’t great at holding hair in place by themselves.
Do you have a plain belt? Jazz it up with a brooch. You can either pin the brooch directly onto the belt, or for leather or delicate items, use a piece of ribbon to hang the brooch or tie it in place while protecting belt.
I love to collect napkins . These ones are very special to me and would have to be my favorite ones.Each napkin is covered in little rabbits, squirrels and reindeer with children playing in the snow, wearing colorful hats, coats and hand mittens.
Story behind these napkins…
I found these beautiful paper napkins in Paris. I bought them for our Xmas dinner at my son-laws parents in 2009. We had 11 courses of decadence consisting of colorful seafood terrains, Brittany crabs, lobster, chicken voulavents, duck, venison, deserts and to finish it all off, a huge chocolate buche covered with little ceramic ornaments. All this, while watching the Eiffel Tower lights twinkling out the window. Yes, I’m very spoilt when I live in Paris.
I am selling 5 of these in my Etsy shop Yes, I know thats not many but, they are pretty special to me, so I’m keeping some for a project and want to share out a few before they all disappear .Each napkin has 4 scenes for you to frame and also perfect to use or to use in decoupage and craft projects. You may just like to add them to your collection.
Size 13” – 33cm.each one
Paper Napkin transfers are fun too… check out this video
As a thank you to all my readers,you can download my 2nd Antique Cartes Postales collage sheet for free. Just click on the image and it will enlarge so you can print it out for all your art and craft projects
ABOUT THIS COLLECTION
A gorgeous collection of very rare images of Antique French Cartes Postales (post cards)dating back to early 1900′s scanned from my own large collection of original antique postcards and bits and pieces I gathered from my travels in France , Europe and Australia.I played around with this image and made my own design by adding an antique decorative French lock with found fonts.
Great for all your creative projects: Artistic booklets, Card making, Collage ,Painting Altered Art, Assemblage Scrapbooking , Fabric and Transparent Transfers , Jewellery and so much more.
TERMS OF USE FOR DIGITAL IMAGE COLLECTION
You are free to use the images in your personal art and/or crafts and for art and/or crafts you intend to sell. You MAY NOT re-sell the images in any form.Images may NOT be resold to others, as a collection or part of a collection, of any size in any format (digital, print, etc.)
My house and studio is stuffed with junk for my creative projects….
I have been collecting since I was born. I used to hide stuff under my bed in boxes as a child .As an adult I’m still putting stuff into boxes, plastic bags and other strange things. I view my collections as arrangements. They are all art installations scattered around my place as well as material for use in my art and craft projects.
Walking through the streets to the local shop I always come home with something foot- trodden. A piece of paper, packaging, a bright piece of plastic, glass, all will be used in my creations eventually. When I travel overseas (much to the sometimes embarrassment to friends and family) I often pick up off the ground, bottle tops, lolly papers, wires bright bits of plastic, even if an item disturbs me I’ll bring it home. On a tour once in Europe the whole busload of passengers collected bottle tops for me.
My stuff may brood for years in a dark space or cupboard till I come across it again sending me off on another project. On my last trip to Paris I came home with 40 kilo of junk. I collected baguette bags,packaging, bits of string,wire,tags, advertising, stones, free ad cards, labels from food items, torn posters, a book and papers from a bin.
I collect found photographs and make up my own stories about the images. I collect found images, negatives, scientific stuff,equations, wire,tin,bones, animal skeletons,fur, hair,watches, old mobile covers, eye glasses, shrivelled things,found numbers and fonts from keyboards, magazines and advertising,boxes, packaging,all sorts paper, vintage clothes, fabrics, wall papers,shells, driftwood, snowglobes, toys, childrens books,games and so much more.
Welcome and thank you for visiting
"Cottontail Craft & Vintage" blog and online Etsy shops.
I have spent most of my life as a creative person and would like to share some of my favorite things and ideas with you. I hope you enjoy reading my blog and please,grab one of my free collage pages for your next project. Rare French Digital Collection 1 Rare French Digital Collection 2
While your browsing you might also like to checkout my little collectionof unique handmade gifts and craft supplies or pieces of yesteryear from my my etsy shops
All designs and handmade pieces are created by Australian artist Jenny Davis, from her studio's in Melbourne Australia and Paris, when in France.
My Vintage 1920′s Solingen Scissors featured on Etsy Front Page Today
My painting “Yellows on Oranges on Red” featured on Etsy front page today
Outlook8studio
An exhibition of painting, drawing, sculpture, installation with updates of works in progress, thoughts, ideas,arts business tips & more
