Author: Belinda Botzong

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Nostalgia

Nostalgia
Remembering the past
Idealization of times gone by
Days of old
Bittersweet memories
Nostalgia
Childhood freedom
Unrestrained laughter
Swinging and hiding and seeking
Discovery and dreams
Nostalgia
Longing for what never was
Aching for a past never experienced
In the way it’s remembered
Reminiscing
Leaving out the struggle
Nostalgia
Faded valentines
Handwritten letters tied in paisley ribbon
Envelopes with abbreviated addresses and one cent stamps peeling at the corner
Albums with velvet covers
Sepia toned portraits
Hiding stories of days gone by
Frozen smiles or frowns
Everyone dressed up in their Sunday best
Portraying ideal families in ideal situations
Their own nostalgia created on a tin photographic plate
Someday someone will long for the days of old
And they will mean today

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Art Guild

So fun to attend the Whatcom Art Guild monthly meeting tonight.
Got 4th place in Artist of the Month for our candles. Antique insulators and bobeches filled with scented soy wax.
so many beautiful and creative projects presented by very talented people. The theme for the art challenge was “monochrome” so I entered Rust&Roses. This is antique cork taken from old life jackets. I used barbed wire for the rose stems and real dried roses.

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Old Things are Beautiful

These are old things in my otherwise modern home. They are things from my childhood or things I acquired somewhere along the way. Some things I made while others I collected. Enjoy!
Apple Head Dolls – made in about 1974 with our very old neighbor lady Mrs Van Mater

These were given to me when I was little by another elderly neighbor lady Mrs Pate. I love old grannies!

My great aunt Fanny gave me this vase as a wedding gift and this is her family photo album –

This was given to me by another old neighbor lady when I was a child and is still beautiful

And here are several things from my great aunt Margarett, my Grandma, and others:

I have been blessed with treasures from the past which have inspired my life and given me an appreciation for the beauty and details of history and craftsmanship and especially for making beautiful and fun things by hand. Thank you Mrs VanMater for countless hours spent with three little neighbor girls letting us stitch and craft and bake. To my great aunts, grandma, and my own mom for spending time with me and always encouraging me.
Blissful and blessed
©Belindabotzong2017

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Dollar Tree

I know money doesn’t grow on trees
But at Refind Creations sand dollars do!
Sand dollars are one of my favorite Refind Nature sources. The intricate details were created by my favorite Artist! I just embellished those perfections with acrylic and gold pigment to create a unique ornament that can be displayed all year. Mine hangs on my rearview mirror to remind me that the creator of the universe took the time to include minute and magnificent beauty in the details of a simple sand dollar. He loves texture and patterns and leaves his unique fingerprint on every design, as seen below. If you’re out shopping for unique gifts this month please stop by. They are $5 each!
Whatcom Art Market

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Gold Dollars

My latest project .. a Nature Refind Creation.. the original design is my favorite artist in the universe.. I just embellished His amazing handiwork!!
These will be featured as ornaments but for year-round display. I have mine hanging on my rear view mirror.. let me know if you get one how you display it!

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Home Sweet Home

Be it ever so humble
There’s no place like home ..
adding Refind Creations home decor with one of my favorite themes .. Home Sweet Home and Heartstrings..
For sale in our booth starting next week

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Light Your World

I will place 30 candles to our space at Whatcom Art Market. Fragrances like Home Sweet Home, Peppermint, Lavender and Bergamot Citrus will fill your home with beauty and comfort.
If you’re out shopping and need some unique gifts come check out space at Whatcom Art Market in Fairhaven
10% of all candle sales will be donated to Lighthouse Mission in Bellingham.

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Sunflowers Galore

These beauties make me very happy. I enjoyed every step in the process. I found some antique cork floats months ago at one of my favorite “junk stores”. I had no idea how they would want to be Refind –what they would want to become — until a few weeks ago when I woke up one morning thinking about them and suddenly I knew– they want to be sunflowers!
But how, I wondered? I suddenly visualized the petals. I had recently been given a box of pine cones and wondered what project they might fit into. Sunflower petals of course!
And the seeds.. how could they be realistic and artistic? I had a box of upholstery tacks that worked perfectly and are soothing to push into the cork.
After this part of the journey I started thinking about leaves and stems of course! So a trip to my happy place — the vintage lighting store! And my other favorite “junk store” led me to beautiful bobeches for the most perfect leaves! And randomly found rusty tire irons for the most awesome stems!
Lots of hours of creating later, here is my final product:

Each one has been so much fun to make. The sunflower stand is open for business! Booth 33 at Ferry Street Antique Mall is open seven days a week!
The sunflowers are coated in acrylic and can be posted in your garden or displayed in your home. The price of $35 reflects the antique items used in their creation. All my Refind Creations include antique items that have been repurposed for beauty and unique design.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them!
©Belindabotzong2017

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Corks, Keys, and Roses

Who would think that antique cork floats could be a refind?
I am absolutely in love with this as a creative material.  These old cork floats, taken from very old life preservers of all things, have become one of my favorite projects.  The beauty of the grain, textures, and colors all delight and inspire me.
I have transformed what was originally a life saving, though very bulky and uncomfortable, material into my own Refind Creation inspired by these beautiful antique brass doorknob plates and keys
I am always impressed by the creativity of things created a hundred or so years ago.  Those who crafted items that were made for every day purposes took the time to make the details so very beautiful.  Many of the doorknob plates were stamped brass but also the cast iron which takes on such a gorgeous patina.
I combined all these things in several different projects.  I love the old keys – even the keys were so much more beautiful than what we have today!  I hope you enjoy these items and I hope you will come down to our space at Whatcom Art Market in Fairhaven WA when you are looking for unique decor.