So High

That's what I often tell people. I live so high up in the mountains that very often the clouds are below me.
Sometimes the clouds are so thick I feel like I'm suspended in cotton. Yesterday was a perfect example of clouds being lower then I am.

I am always in awe of the beauty that surrounds me here. I have lived in many places, visited many, many places and while each place I've been has a certain charm that captures my heart. there is no place in this country, that has the ever changing beauty or the peace and serenity of this place IMHO of course.
I managed to unpack several boxes I had stored in my studio. WOW! What a treasure trove of goodies I found. It pays to clean LOL
Then I worked a bit on several projects to bring them closer to completion. I did manage to finish the Wearable Notions charms.

I thought of many things, but I wanted to make a charm from some of my "Vintage" stash....not little charms of scissors or spools of thread I have that are new.

About 50 years ago I was given a bag of small spools. Someone found them behind a factory that made samples of something. There were thousands of the little things, so they were shared among many. I had forgotten I even had them until just recently. They seemed like a good base for a charm. I've been wanting to use this vintage trim I got from my aunt. She bought a roll of it in the late 40's/early 50's(she couldn't remember) since it is my favorite color she shared some with me when she gave me bunches of antique, one of a kind buttons she acquired .(not used in this project) So I painted the spools gold and wrapped the trim around the center. It fit perfect. Then I got out my Grandmothers button tin. I've been hording these things since I was a kid, it's time to let go. I managed to find some pretty clear buttons to use on the bottom of each spool and then I sized some out small, med. and large (lg being about dime size) some are made of bone, some of shell or mother of pearl, while others are plastic. Since all buttons fascinate me, I just staked them according to size and fed them onto copper wire which I then twisted and formed into a loop.
AS I always say, I never swap something I wouldn't be delighted to receive myself. It's a rule I have and trust me, there have been swaps that ended up in the trash because after seeing it and living with it a few days, it just didn't make the cut. Everyone I swap with may not be all 'party hats and horns' about what I do, but at least they know it wasn't thrown together in an hour and was given a great deal of thought in the process. I spend days thinking about a swap. More time sketching out what I think I might like to do, then time selecting the elements I hope to use. Putting it together is usually the easiest part.
Like I said, I've got a lot on the drawing board, 12 spools close to being done (they are pendants and much different then the charms) My initial...well someones initial LOL and the latest 4X4 chunky with the theme:
There's a WHAT in my garden? Already have some idea's on that one I think will be really cool so stay tuned. Thanks for stopping by......