Rustique Art

Vintage Feed Sack Pillow

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:21:00 +0000

What's happening over at the blog?

Check it out!

Stuff an old feed sack and blind stitch the end. Easy-peasy and you have a nice cuddly pillow.

Love is...

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:42:00 +0000

and more!

"Happy Valentine's Day"

Family Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:04:00 +0000

This little area got some TLC today... read more here.

peace.love.rust

Rustic Christmas Mantle

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:36:00 +0000

The vibrant red of the Poinsettia and the Pyracantha berries added color and texture of nature to our rustic Christmas mantle this year. >>>read more

Rustic Holiday Decor & More

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:57:00 +0000

Christmas is on it's way and there is no shortage of rustic cheer around this home...

read all about this Rustic Christmas Centerpiece over at Rustique Art Blog.

31 Days of Change: Before & After

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:30:00 +0000

Hey! know what? I've committed to blog everyday this month with a whole slew of awesome bloggers in the 31 Days of Change.

Come on over to Rustique Art Blog and check it out. I've made to day 11 and looking forward to 20 more fun filled "before & after" projects.

Are you wondering what you've missed so far? Come on over and find out.

Rustique Art Blog; 31 Days of Before & After

Blessings,

unfocused

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:34:00 +0000

Have you ever experienced designers block. I'm sure you have. You have components and materials all around you however the ideas don't seem to be coming to the surface. So you just sit, stare and wonder how you're ever going to create something ever again. It's a dark place to be. So I encourage you, no...I'm going to challenge you to make something.

Anything.

This is what I told myself last night... "just make something for goodness sakes".

So I did. I challenged myself to pick up some wire and make something. All that angst brought forth this...

It's about as bland and basic as you can get. Actually that's not true, it could be worse. At least I could pass it off as minimalist art.

I'm going to name it "unfocused".

And that is really quite funny when you think about it, because it took me 15 shots to get this photo in focus and it is still blurry. Like my brain...fuzzy.

Maybe it's the weather.

Anyone else having issues with focusing?

What things to you do to kick start your creative genius?

peace. love. rust.

just piddl'n

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:42:00 +0000

I walked by my work table the other day and two things came to mind;

1) it was a mess

2) something needed to be done

so I did...

does this count as getting something done?

my work table is still a mess...

but I accomplished something!

and now I have a new little ornament with a cute little heart dangle. I've had these little ceramic hearts for over a year and have never done much with them. the time has come to move them out. I have red, blue and a lovely tan with some awesome undertones. I'll be listing these in my Rustique Art Etsy and Zibbet shops this weekend.

they're kind of quirky, funky and just perfect for hanging anywhere your little heart desires. they would even be cute for adding to gift bags.

peace. love. rust.

Linking to:

Handmade In TX - Lone Star Showcase #2

Designing a Beaded Wire Cross

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:01:00 +0000

Dear Cindi,
A few months ago I admired your work on line, I would love for you to create a 7 inch beaded cross using shades of blue, pink, and lime green for a dear friend's daughter's confirmation. I have never done twitter, facebook, or blogs. I was wondering how I go about contacting you to see if this is something you would be able to do and if so how much would something like this cost.
Cathy

What a sweet email. I love getting this kind of mail. The client and me working together to create a one of a kind gift for a very special occasion in a young life. A gift that could last a the lifetime of the recipient and passed on to future generations. It gives me goosebumbs :)

So guess how she did get my attention? She found my email on my blog! Another great reason to expand one's marketing horizons into the land of blogging. Don't worry if you don't have anything to say, that will pass and if you really have nothing to say, then post photos of your designs and a short description and how to purchase. But make sure you also have a way for someone to contact you if they wish to place an order. Make sure your contact information is everywhere and remember, not everyone has a facebook or twitter page. Some just find you by doing a search on the internet and if your blog has all those lovely key words attached to it, you're more likely to be found.

We eventually got all of the business out of the way and settled on the colors, size and what she wanted her gift to reflect. And so it begins...

Designing for someone you've never met and only going off of a description from a third party. It's not as hard as you might imagine or maybe I've been at it for so long it becomes second nature.

First things first...wire for the cross frame.

From the emails I gathered this young lady was not the rustic type, so that ruled out rusty wire. In fact what I surmised was that she was active, artistic and like pretty things. So I went with the silver wire. Sometimes I will dull the wire for a galvanized look but this time I left the finish in tact.

Next it was time to gather some beads. This part is my favorite part of the whole design process. I could sit there all day playing in the beads! Love it!

I settled on what I thought fit the colors and description given to me by my client. Of course I have complete freedom to change my mind and I did, but only a few minor changes and I was ready to begin.

It was time to make the cross frame for the beads to be sewn onto. The dimensions to work with where simple; she wanted a 7" cross.

Any guesses as to how much wire was used to complete this handsculpted cross? About 8 yards of wire. I roughly measure about a yard per inch needed and add one yard, this is what I come up with.

Everyone has a method to how they create a design, for me...I begin with the focal and work my way out.

For this cross I chose a lovely pale pink quartz heart bead, it measures about 30mm.

I hand stitch each bead onto the wire cross frame with copper wire. This is kind of my signature. I've always sewn the beads on, always with copper wire and I never use plastic beads. Okay, maybe I've used one or two in my seven years of making crosses. As a rule, I never use plastic.

A few days of sewing and weaving, snipping, repositioning...and the cross is complete. I am always amazed at how lovely it turns out. All of the beaded wire crosses go through what I call an ugly stage.

And then it blooms into a beautiful cross. This can only be of God as I just let my thoughts go and allow my hands to be used.

As with all of the crosses I make, I will be a little sad to see it go. But I know it will bless the young lady who it will be given to. So with that I can surrender. Kind of like letting your children go, you just gotta trust that you guided them as they grew, with the Lords help of course, and now you just have to surrender them and know they are in His hands.

Blessings,

cleaning, organizing & new desgins

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 02:35:00 +0000

A Clean Canvas

Whew! I'm tired. As if cleaning isn't enough of a chore...rearranging, fluffing and stopping to create something that just popped into my head while I was in the middle organizing, you know I've found that you just don't get much done that way. But I'll be darn...here we are!

With fall right around the corner, I figured it was time to get my priorities lined up, goals written (I write new goals each season, it's just easier), map out my vision of some new designs and rework my website, blogs and online shops...see why I'm tired?

In my last post here I announced that I moved my blog over to WordPress, that is still the case. The reason I did this was to utilize this space for promoting new Rustique Art designs, bouncing ideas off of you for feedback, updates on promotions, contests and general rustique business stuff.

I came to the conclusion that trying to keep my website pristine and up to date was just wearing me down. I spent much more time in bloggyland as it is much more interactive, websites cost money, a blog doesn't. With blogger's new pages I can create multiple pages for various rustique topics.

There is still a lot to do and so much more rearranging, but I'm just ready to share.

So here's a quick look at some of the changes;

Took the Rustique Art.com website down, but it's still a functioning domain name that leads you to a landing page, customers can chose where they want to go from there.

Enter site (brings you here)
Blog (navigates you to RustiqueArtBlog.com)
Twitter (Rustique Art's Twitter page)
Shop (navigates you to Rustique Art's Etsy shop, working on adding the Zibbet link too)
Facebook (Rustique Art Facebook fan page)

Took down my ArtFire shop as I never promoted it like I should've and I didn't agree with the direction they were going, so I guess that's what they mean in the business world as "not being a good fit".

Imported the older blog posts from this site over to my WP blog. Ahhh! A clean canvas. :) It feels great!

I gave this site a fresh new banner, fluffed and fidgeted more than a old hen. *cluck.cluck*

Show & Tell

Now that graduation events, home projects, vacation and track meets are over, I've had just a smidgen of time to crank out a few designs.

Well new might be pushing it a bit. Let's just say I've taken some old designs and gave them a face lift.

Last week I made a 6" rusty gnarly wire wall cross with a lovely antiqued white turquoise heart as the focal.

It turned out so pretty.

I love it.

Then I beaded up a couple of fish!

a fish with turquoise blue heart...

and a fish with a red heart

and I have more lined up!

Even a few in the galvanized finish. Yum!

These three designs will be listed in my Etsy shop by this weekend, that is unless they get snatched up :)

Peace.Love.Rust.

moved and settled in...come on over!

noreply@blogger.com (Cindi @ Rustique Art) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:42:00 +0000

Hey! Missed me? I moved and everything is unpacked and looking real warm, cozy and of course Rustique :)

If you're a follower on this blog, jump over to the new Rustique Art Blog and join the fun.

Maybe you just found this blog and you're wondering what it's all about; jump over to the my new blog and get ready to love some rust!

Oops! You landed here by mistake? Don't leave...grab some iced tea and come on over for a visit! Just click to post it note above and be instantly transported to my new blog!

Don't forget about Facebook! Rustique Art has a fan page and we do have some interesting conversations over there...find us and "like" us so you can add your two cents.

Or maybe you like to tweet...got that covered too!

Okay I think that's it...I can't wait to see you there and show you around!

Blessings,