De plane! De plane! Stranger Islands Joanie Wolkoff welcomes you to her Oasis!

Stranger Islands . Joanie Wolkoff . www.strangerislands.com

AGE: 31. 

HOMETOWN: Toronto, Canada. 

CURRENTLY LIVES IN: Brooklyn, where she sings and co-writes for Stranger Islands.

How do you describe you own personal style?
SW: A harmonious blend of Dr. Quinn medicine woman and Tracy Lords!!!

LOL!!!! Who inspires you?
SW: A handfull of people that I know really well, and from a distance anyone who appears to be showing the rest of us how it’s done.  I’m inspired by the way Annie Lenox, Christine McVie and Alla Pugacheva sang at the beginning of their recording careers.  And I'm inspired by anyone who makes a living doing what they love!

What is your favorite beauty product?
SW: I/m so glad you asked because when I'm not fantasizing about natural disasters or the apocalypse I'm usually thinking about LIPSTICK & PERFUME!!!!!!!!

So then you must tell us what your faves are!
SW:  My friend Jelena gave me a wonderful rose scented Anna Sui sheer lipstick that I have worn down to a nub.  As the years go by I tend towards less shiny lip products but its good to do yourself up with a little gloss at night!  I’ve decided that I cannot wear powder anymore...looks MORBID on me!!!  I try to be honest and wear as little foundation as possible, but you will rarely see me without MAC  concealer on my East European eye circles!  I use to be loyal to one perfume for years at a time, but I went to the darkside and have a dozen! 

Tell us about your ethnic background
SW: Speaking of Polish Pigmentation I am half Polish/Jewish, a quarter Danish and the rest is a Euro Stew!

A quick little piece of advice from you before we end this babySW: Eyes Peeled, Ears Open!


Thank you to my dearest Joanie for this interview!  She is beautiful, talented and an amazing human being who I am proud to call my friend! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo Love You!

Jeannine

Our Photoshoot! 

Building with bits & pieces!

building with bits & pieces

After 4 years of art college, sculpting was never my forte but I do enjoy gathering scraps and building something!  I'm like a kid with Lego's!  

Even though I constantly frequent antique shops, Home Goods and other home interior shops for great finds, I still find myself making home crafts!  I wanted something for a mantel piece that I created myself.  This what I ended up with:

 

WHAT I USED:

2 octagonal wood trays

an antique glass lamp

6 wooden dowels

twine rope

1/4 " sewing trim

an old finial

metallic paint in bronze and antique gold

Martha Stewart crackle

and my old reliable glue gun! 

HAPPY CRAFTING!!!!!

A Crackle a day!

I have been obsessed with Martha Stewart Crackle paint for awhile now...using it is a habit that I cannot seem to kick!  

Project 1:

The first project I want to share is my candlestick makeover!

I found this is my grandmothers house.  They were silver and had crystals hanging but a few were missing so I completely got rid of them all together.

Here are my steps!

I painted a base coat of Martha Stewart Primer. 

When dry I painted one light coat of crackle followed by a thicker coat in which I used a putty knife.

The next morning I used a dab of light metallic bronze paint mixed with varnish.

After it was completely dry I took a blade and scraped off some paint on the edges for a rustic feel.

I decided to replace the crystals that were missing with antique swarovski crystals from a chandelier that my mother once had.  

Here is the end result:

Project 2:

My second project was a little more tedious and I found using the crackle more difficult than usual.
I had these cute pieces from Home Goods that I purchased maybe 10 years ago. I didn't want to abandon these so I left one the way it was and crackled the other.  Here it is!

I used Martha Stewart texture paint as a base coat and then used the putty knife for the crackle.  I put about 3 heavy layers on.

The Trashed Chair Project!

One mans junk is another mans treasure...I highly stand behind this saying!  

A couple of months ago I found this Gem of a chair in the trash by an apartment building in Brooklyn.  The cushion was ripped apart and it was a mess, but nothing a little TLC wouldn't fix! 

I brought this baby home and immediately brought it to the backyard where I performed upholstery surgery! I stripped it completely of all fabric, cushion, nails, springs and tacks.  It took me a good 2 hours to remove everything and bring it down to just the frame.

I purchased gorgeous fabric at $3.99 a yard.  I purchased 3 yards and probably used about 1.5 yards total on this.  I used about 200 upholstery tacks as well.  I made a template for the seat and had it cut out of wood.  

I painted the entire chair with antique black paint, I made sure I got every nook and cranny of the details.  When completely dried, I then used a dry brush and lightly painted with metallic gold paint and then metallic silver on certain spots. I made sure to only paint the outer parts of the wood so that the black would show giving that antique feel.

 I drilled the seat on, added foam cushion which cost about $2.00 and also I added a feather down pillow for comfort. The next day I sewed the material to the cushion for the top backing of the chair.  

This was such an easy and fun project to work on, and the end result made me proud!  In all I spent about $20.00 on this baby! 

I am very pleased with the end result and it is beyond comfortable!  I made an ottoman for it as well from an antique piece my mom had given me years ago.I will post that soon.

So the next time you see a great find in the trash and it's looking a tad dingy, take it, call it yours and re create it!

xoxo

Busy Busy Crafter!

Well this summer has been one of many pleasures...spending quality time with my children, husband, family and friends and spending whatever free time I have crafting!  I have been working on refinishing and reupholstering a charming old antique chair that I grabbed out of the garbage.  I will be posting before and after photos along with instructions on how to do this for under $20.00.
Craft on!
peace, love & paintbrushes!
~neen~

Spring-a-licious

The birds are a-chirpin', the sun is a-shinin'.

What glorious weather is ahead!  I love Spring and so should you!  :)

Mother Nature was very kind this past winter, I just hope that she does not get her revenge with a brutally hot and sticky summer!  I'm hoping for the bestest!

I took these photo's last year at this time at a nearby park.  Enjoy! xoxo

 

~ This was a mother with her little girl, they were priceless together! ~

Unconventional Family Scrabble

~ We love Scrabble ~

*CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

The kids and I decided to play our own game with the scrabble squares.  Actually it was more of a fun "Photo op" of course!

Anywoo getting back to our letter-y fun... 

We grabbed whatever embellishments the kids were already using from our massive scrap collection and went from there.  Here is what me and the kiddo's came up with.

This is a really fun little project to do with the family.  We even had them printed- now they need to be framed! xoxo  * CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

 

Vintage Goodies

I went to a church sale in the Long Beach area of Long Island this past weekend. 

I decided that I would limit myself to $20.00, which for me is somewhat a challenge!  I pretty much know the value of things from years of experience as a flea market junkie and I always do my research.

  Well, it was a successful shopping experience and I came home with quite a few goodies worth about $500.00.  

My favorite purchase was a huge vintage silver cruet set that has 6 decanter holders.  3 of the Red Bohemian glass decanters were with the cruet.  I love this piece, it is quite stunning!  Now I am on the hunt for matching decanters for the set!  I also found a lovely brand new piece of Kosta Boda Sweden glass that retails for over $100.00 which I scored for $2.00.  Another find was a lovely old wine decanter from the company Bischoff Cherry, probably worth a little bit under $100.00.  Next was a gorgeous vintage pewter lotus compote bowl with a 3 candle candelabra ( I cannot find anything similar on the internet so I have no idea of it's value but I would estimate it to be worth atleast $200.00) .  I collect lotus items so this was a major big deal for me!  The last purchase I made was a lovely milk glass bowl to go with my milk glass collection! 

I realize that I should have photographed my items before I packed them up for storage!
 
The value of the items is not all that important to me, because I never sell any of my finds.  I love the story that antique and vintage items tell.  

Tweenage party!

Okay so this post is a tad late, as my tween-agers birthday blast was in February. 

Turning 11 can be a rough one when in the "birthday party theme" thought process.  Too old for character and too young for a party bus cruising around Manhattan!  We kept it simple and threw a delightful "Rock n Roll" themed party at my mothers house as per her request.

I knew I wanted a candy bar, and I knew that I wanted that to be the main focus of the party.  I used the red, black and white color scheme for the most part.  I collected many jars, used my grandmothers old mason jars and also purchased the cutest jars at Duane Reade (cost was 2/$1).

I designed labels, printed them and stuck them on each jar and purchased colorful candy and treats to fill up all the jars.  

I love crafting so I decided to make 2 big lolipops!  I used foam plates, a sharpie, heavy cardboard (for the sticks) paint, and when they were complete finished them off by wrapping clear cellophane and ribbon.

I made tons of birthday related signs and created a banner for my moms fireplace:

To create the banner I printed out each letter on parchment, I dipped them all in tea for a more rustic look.  After they dried I cut around the borders and then glued them to heavy black stock paper.  I then went ahead and decoupaged them.  When dry I used a hole puncher for the ribbon holes, pulled my thin black satin ribbon through and wallah... you have a creative personalized banner.

~ You just CANNOT ever go wrong with paper lanterns!!!!! ~

Although I am not the best cake designer, I do love to bake and get creative with frosting, fondant and sprinkles!  I didn't use fondant on anything here, but later I will post my younger sons LEGO fondant cake!  I am a cupcake Queen, so I had to make both cupcakes and cake...actually my sister was kind enough to help me and baked everything, I decorated!

                                     ~ whats a party with the mustache? ~

The birthday boy had his cake, and ate it too!

I am so excited that his party was a success!  There were twenty something boys and girls plus about 15 parents.  We ate, drank (fruit punch) and were merry! xo

Mirror Mirror...

I'm blogging a lot this evening!  Okay, so here we have a very old vintage mirror.  I purchased it at a flea market for a dollar!  It was pretty ugly, the wood was chipped, and not in a shabby chic way at all, more like a "please help me" way!
I decided to shabby chic it a bit and I wanted to make the mirror look rustic.  I painted this all with acrylic paints, silver & gold antiquing paint and MS Crackle paint.  I have made modern mirrors appear antique in the past by using the "SILVERING GLASS" method but with my crazy late night crafting hours I don't like to use chemicals.  I will eventually blog about one of my mirrors done with silver nitrate, amonia, and more nasty chemicals!  We will wait until the windows can be open, or better yet...an outdoor craft idea!  For now, I will give you instructions on my safe method mirror!

 

Okay so basically like I said, this was brown, chipped, blah!

Here is what you need to make this very in expensive SHABBY-LICIOUS

mirror.  It's a great idea to always keep somewhat of a "stockpile" of paints and crafts if you love to be crafty, in the long run these projects will practically cost nothing!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• an old mirror or a new one if you prefer.  I like restoring old pieces because the wood is usually better to work with...paint seeps in nicely, and I love indents.
• acrylic paint- white, ivory or ecru, black, dark brown
• varnish gloss
• silver/gold antiquing paint
• crackle paint
• razor blade
• embellishments
• cotton balls
• painters tape

HOW I DID IT:

• clean the frame with a lukewarm rag if it's old to remove dirt or grease.
•  I start with the mirror first!  make a palette of a small amount of your colors.
• take the cotton ball and dip in a color and pat it on the mirror.  You should pat it on a paper towel first.  We don't want obvious globs of paint.  Move on to a different color, and so on.  You can see I also used a bronze paint in the center, and this is where the silver & gold paint comes in to play.  
• When your mirror is dry and you are satisfied with it, give it 2 coats of gloss and let dry.
• When mirror is completely dry tape the edges with BLUE PAINTERS TAPE.
• Now start on your wood... paint with a flat brush and go from color to color.  I wipe the brush so I don't have a lot of watery streaks.  Get creative, you don't have to work exactly like I do.
• When your paint is dry, add a coat of crackle.  I use Martha Stewart brand, but any of them are fine.
• When the crackle is dry,  CAREFULLY take your razor blade and scratch the frame so that the paint comes off and the original wood is visible.  
• When finished dust it off, carefully peel off your tape from the mirror and give the whole piece a light coat of gloss!
• I added some embellishments because I'm totally gaudy, but you can skip that part if you like!

 I hope you enjoyed this craft.  If you do this craft, please feel free to post pics to share! Have fun!!

kitschy kitsch kitsch

Okay so I was very excited about this set of 4 cups & saucers!  I purchased them at an antique shop I go to about 3 months ago.  I packed them up in storage until my house in finished but luckily I found a photo I had taken of them!

Here you go...

 

I just adore them!  The color is the same exact color as the Tiffany Box...I had them side by side!

Something about them just reminds me of Old Hollywood Glam!  The date on the bottom says 1956.

They are in mint condition, the silver is almost like a mirror finish.  They were practically a steal at...

da da da... $1.29 per set!!!!!!  A total cost of $5.16

i love photo's

most times a photo tells a story, so here's one from my bella

when boys grow up...

I became a "boy" mom twice before becoming a "girl" mom.  As a little girl dreaming about becoming a mommy, only meant being a "girl" mommy!  It meant dress up and tea time, Barbie dolls and the Town House.  It didn't mean matchbox cars, hot wheels and Rescue Hero's.  When I had my boys, I didn't think tea time was totally out of the question.  Instead we played restaurant and went golfing in the living room.  We played dress up in mommy's clothing, in which I took so many photo's.  When we look at them, it's non-stop laughter and great memories.  I took better care of the hot wheels than I did my own toys as a child. Nature walks and collecting sticks, rocks and acorns became my favorite past time!  When my oldest son was 6 and my younger son 4, I became that "girl" mommy.  I feel as if I have the best of both worlds.  I have such a special and unique bond with each of my children and now my oldest is 11 and starting to venture out into the world.  There are friendships and this whole world that I am not included in, but it's okay!  I never thought it would sit well with me when he was growing up but I giggle when I hear him on the phone or when I see him interact with his friends.  Private jokes, innocent secrets about crushes and test grades.  I love seeing the smile on his face with his buddies, and hearing the belly laughs when on the phone.  It's these little things that once frightened me that make me happy each day! 

And now I leave you with a photo I had taken today of my big guy!

little miss messy!

One of the things that I adore about my little girl is how she can be a princess in a tutu carefully deciding on which glittery shoe she should wear and the next minute she can be rough and tough. My daughter has discovered that the backyard at my grandparent's house is a great place to dig with her beach stuff. Her new obsession is digging holes and playing with dirt and I love it!  Here she is in action!