Living in Seattle, it helps if you can come to an accomodation with rain.
Check it out! And take your bumbershoot...
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Using Vintage Flower Cabochons: DIY Embellished Sun (flower) glasses
We've been long enamored of Dolce & Gabbana's Autumn/Winter 2012-13 collection. Big accessories with even bigger jewelry makes this collection remarkable.
With spring vacation just around the corner, and the promise of warm sandy beaches in the near future, we got to thinking about some pairs of stand out sunglasses.
Inspired by Dolce & Gabanna and this and this, we whipped up a couple pairs of our own beflowered sunnies.
We pulled out a large box of flower cabochons and used glue dots to temporarily adhere the cabs to the glasses to plan out a design.
All of the vintage Japanese and vintage West Geman flower cabochons used are available at Bumbershoot Supplies.
When we were pleased with the arrangement of flowers, we used E6000 glue to permanently adhere the cabochons to the glasses. (Our pointers for working with E6000 glue here!)
Definitely wait a while for each piece to become firm before gluing the next piece on.
With these bright sunnies everyone at the pool will know that you're no shrinking violet!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
New on Pinterest: Easter Parade
Easter and Spring are just around the corner. With the return of those seasonal Cadbury eggs we're feeling very spring-y as well. On our latest Pinterest board "Easter Parade" we pulled together some of our favorite images. Check them out:
Source: marthastewart.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Source: etsy.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Spring Fun: Hand Carved Bumbershoot Rubber Stamps
Here at Bumbershoot we love rubber stamps. We use them in our mixed media art all the time. So we thought it would be fun to make our own stamps based on our logo, the little green bumbershoot.
We hand carved our stamps out of a block of carving rubber, but you can even use an ordinary eraser as a base. You can find a really excellent tutorial on how to do that here. Geninne's Art Blog did a whole series of interesting posts on stamp carving too! We used Speedball's block printing cutting tool for cutting and gouging the block, and ordinary scissors for trimming the completed stamp.
We experimented with different sizes and even freehanded this little stylized bell-shaped bumbershoot.
In the end we liked best the results we got from tracing the bumbershoot logo and transferring it to the rubber. We used ordinary waxed paper to trace and transfer.
Jim made this stamp! It is our favorite, with the really crisp lines and perfect size.
We had a lot of fun going through our stamp pad collection and trying out colors. Those test sheets are now a work of art as well. They would make great wrapping paper.
We had so much fun carving out little bumbershoots, and we're looking forward to sharing them with you. Watch your invoices - you never know when a colorful little bumbershoot may appear!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Bumbershoot Designs Supplies March 2013 Special for Newsletter Subscribers
Vintage Glass Bead Drop Earring Kit, free with purchase!
Our treat for March for our newsletter subscribers is a new earring kit featuring lovely emerald vintage Japanese glass bead drops and new pendants from our antiqued brass line.
During March, we will send all necessary components to make the earrings shown in the photo above, with any purchase at Bumbershoot Supplies or Bumbershoot Designs. See your March 1 and March 15 newsletters for details and the coupon code.
Also, don't forget your 1-time free shipping offer that you received when you signed up for our newsletter.
And YES, you can combine specials. So you can have the earring kit and the free shipping code you received upon signing up for the newsletter in the same order!
Not yet a newsletter subscriber? You can read past issues and you can sign up right here and get your free shipping and earring kit at your next purchase!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
New on Pinterest: When Irish Eyes are Smiling
As we say goodbye to February and enter March, our minds and crafts turn to the greenest of holidays, St. Patrick's Day! This is a holiday that is just so great to celebrate with a vintage flare. There are tons of fun Victorian Irish-themed greeting cards, pretty little rhinestone clover brooches, and lots of gorgeous kelly green to help you get a little closer to the old country. We've started reveling already on our "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" Pinterest board. Check out some of our favorite images and read more about our family's connection to the Emerald Isle here:
Source: etsy.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Source: Uploaded by user via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Source: mariedeflor.tumblr.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Sequins Through the Ages
We have some really great sequins at Bumbershoot Supplies,
like these vintage French metal sequins shown above, see also the last photo. I’ve been looking into the
history of sequins, and recently found an interesting blog post on the topic.
Threaded, a historical fashion blog by the Smithsonian,
provides an overview of the history of sequins from King Tut’s tomb (where gold
discs were found sewn onto garments) to Leonardo da Vinci’s sequin punching machine,
to the gelatin sequins of the 1930s (you can see some above and below, found at BumbershootSupplies) to today’s vast array of contemporary sequins.
I was fascinated to learn that gelatin sequins were introduced as a less expensive alternative to metal sequins, but were abandoned because they were not robust. They collapse into a rubbery blob in water (yes, I have tested this), and a dancing partner's hand on your back could melt them.
Check out the Threaded sequin post here for more tidbits of sequin history. For contemporary sequin inspiration (and a bit of glitter too), I invite you
to visit our Pinterest board, All That Glitters. So many sequins, so little time…
Saturday, January 26, 2013
New on Pinterest: Valentine's Day
As January draws to a close, it means that Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Lately we've been pinning away on our "Valentine's Day" board on Pinterest. Check out some of our favorite images:
Source: adoreyourplace.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Source: weheartit.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Monday, January 14, 2013
New on Pinterest: Color of 2013: Emerald
Pantone has just announced it's choice for color of the year 2013: emerald. We're excited about this choice because emerald is so well represented in the vintage palette. Lately on Pinterest we've been exploring Pantone's color of the year through images. From stairs to stoles, emerald is a smashing color.
Source: interiorsbystudiom.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Source: sheilaleah.tumblr.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Source: maliciousglamour.tumblr.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
New on Pinterest: Winters Gone By
Winter is a stunningly beautiful season. When the world is covered in ice and snow, it takes on a glitter. Here in Seattle, we're still waiting for our first snow this winter season, and while we wait, we have been pulling together some of our favorite vintage wintery images on Pinterest, in our board "Winters Gone By."
Check them out:
Source: marcusashley.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
Source: virtualvictorian.blogspot.com via Bumbershoot Designs & Supplies on Pinterest
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