Look What I Found!

Sometimes it pays to clean. Well not really, but it's surprising what you find when you do. I got one whole corner bookcase cleaned out this morning. That doesn't sound like much. It was jewelry findings and beads. Some of them had to be sorted from the last time I went nuts making jewelry. Tweezers and time is all it took. Now copper, silver and brass are seperated. I also found a couple of bags of beads that I bought at the gem show last year.......That reminds me. It starts next week! I can buy some more beads to lose or maybe even make something with them before I lose them this time.

Anyway, here's the proof for this corner. I know it doesn't look like much, but I am happy with the morning's work. As usual the monkey cheered and jeered while I was doing it. And Tessie didn't help at all!

Now for what I found. This is a lamp that my friend Jo and I made online together a few years ago. She lives in Illinois and we met when we both joined our online mini group. I went back to visit her for NAME State day one year. We had a great time.

We chat on MSN along with other members all of the time. Our group just celebrated our 10th anniversary. The membership changes from time to time. We have only 10 at any one time, but we all feel like we all know one another. I met 6 of the different members that we have had over the years in person. I even got to meet Ronnie that lives in England when we went to London for vacation one year. Ronnie and I had a ball wandering the streets of London, shopping and talking. Every time I have met members it was like meeting old friends. Ok off track again....

Jo and I were chatting one morning and got to talking about a lamp that we had both seen in one of the mini magazines. It was made of 4 picture frames glued together.

We decided that we wanted to do one with walls. I happened to have the materials that we decided on and Jo went out and got the things she didn't have in her stash.

This is what we came up with. The front is a 5 x7 photo frame. The frame itself measured 7 x9. I happened to have a couple ofdifferent sizes of the wooden plaques that you find in the craft store unfinished. We used those for the top and bottom. We built the walls from foam core. It could be built larger with larger picture frame and craft plaques.

We used a lamp kit that you can buy at a hardware or home store for the lamp part itself. I ran a little night light to the inside with a line switch so that it can be turned off seperately. I'm not sure if Jo did that. We kind of did them the same only different, if you know what I mean.

I stained the plaques to match the frame and painted the outside of the box black. The photo frame on the front slides in and out from the side.

Tessie insisted on posing so that you would have some idea of what it looks like furnished. I had it sitting in the living room for a long time. I put it away because it needed a new shade. When I ran across it today I remembered that a lamp died in the livingroom and I saved the shade. We're back in business.

Now all I have to do is get Tessie out of there. I don't think that it will be hard. She isn't fond of glass fronted cages. It's about time for her to start yelling to get out now. I guess I should go check on her and get back to work.

See you tomorrow.