Gonna have a wicked good time!

Today is Paper Cowgirl's fall event & I am soo excited! This year, they're doing a Halloween theme & having a Wicked Tea....full of lots of treats & fun!

I had a lot on my plate w/ life & other swap commitments so I didn't sign up for any of the swaps (I'll be kicking myself about it later when they all exchange them though) but we were challenged to create our own name badges. Y'all know I'm a newbie at this art stuff & there is no wayyy I can compete w/ the talented ladies there (several are past teachers!) so I didn't even attempt to. I chose instead to decorate up my witch's hat & turn it into a name "tag". I dolled it all up w/ tulle, pearls, marabou & silk fabric roses; then added a gingham bow & rhinestone pin. I wrote my name on a black feather w/ silver stickles. Pretty clever, huh?

Wish it photographed better...it really is cute! I probably should have taken the time to find a spot, better suited for it than my wire mannequin, but time is in short supply these days. Most of the pearls you see are hanging on the mannequin, the ones on the hat didn't show up very well in this angle.

Now you can see that I went sparingly on the pearls....using just a few. But I used lots & lots of tulle; encircling & draping it off the rim, like a bee-keeper's hat. It looks really cool on.

The roses are silk/satin fabric rolled into roses, not the cheap silk roses from the floral department. I LOVE it...I feel hag'ish & stylish @ the same time when I have it on. It makes me want to strike a bewitching pose. LOL

I also made Cindy a hostess gift. A wicked cool hostess gift, fit for a cowgirl. ;)

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure we all have good morals; I know none of us is mean or smelly but mischievous? There are definitely some of us that fit that description. ;)

Ok, I gotta grab my witches hat, jump on my broom/blazer & head on out....we're getting an early start this morn. *cackling as she rides into the sunrise*

And they're off!

Whew!!! I finally got my 25 advent matchboxes for the Countdown Til Christmas swap @ A Swap For All Seasons, in the mail.... right smack dab on the deadline! It's been really busy around here (we'll talk more about that later) & I procrastinated as usual. *rolls eyes* But they're done & on time! *patting myself on the back*

I had originally planned on decorating all 25 matchboxes all in one style but then I couldn't decide on what, so I decided to do several. Each had to be numbered & had to have a hanger, other than that, I could do whatever I wanted. I wrapped them all in sheet music paper (actually hubby did...thank you Dear!) & used ribbons, lace, pearlescent flowers, stickles, beads, holly, cupcake toppers, buttons & vintage wrapping paper to doll them up some. I wound up making 9 different designs....here's four.


And here's the other five.

This one is special....it's the hostess gift for Linda & I only made one of it's style. I used a sweet, glittered bird & nested it in a bed of tinsel.

I had also planned on filling all the boxes w/ the same item but chose not to. (at the last minute of course!) But I made a tiny, little sumthin' sumthin' to go inside each one. I won't share the contents now, so as not to spoil the surprise for any of the swappers who might read my blog, but I'll share each number I gave, as I share the one I receive.

This swap was quite an endeavor but you won't hear me complaining. As I know how much work Linda is going to have to do to send them all out & I know how much fun they'll be to receive. An advent matchbox swap...what fun, fun, fun! I have a mini-aluminum tree that I'll place in my studio, hang them all from & eagerly await opening each one.