Cowgirls have more fun!

I didn't sign up for as many swaps for Paper Cowgirl this year. I felt realllllly overwhelmed w/ the swaps last year & didn't want a repeat. ;) But I had a lot of fun w/ the swaps I did do. I've told y'all before how much I love box swaps so, of course I had to sign up for the altered cigar box swap, hosted by Shannon. Especially since I had just found a bunch of cigar boxes at a garage sale.

These boxes are a bit dfferent than the typical cigar box though. They are made of cedar but they're rectangular-shaped. And they were bright red! Several coats of paint remedied that though. I painted the whole thing white & then layered wallpaper scraps, crackle paint, shoe polish & some more dry brushing. I topped it w/ an image of a charlotte doll....blinging her out w/ a lace collar & rhinestone trim.

I covered the charlotte image in Ranger's Glossy Accent to give her a shiny finish, like a real porcelain doll.

I added a ruffle around the rim & trimmed it out w/ rhinestones too. You can never have too much bling!

I employed big glass beads as pedestals.

And added a few inspirational quotes.

I decorated the inside of the lid w/ sheet music that reads China Doll...adding a lace pocket for a frozen charlotte. Love how the ruffle frames the lid!

A blinged out paper clip holds vintage ride tickets.

Look at all I managed to get in that box! Although it was such a tight fit that I had to pull out the little roll of wallpaper you see at the top of the picture...I couldn't get the box to close!

I made a couple of resin baubles & backed them w/ filigree pieces.

Scrap of lace adorned w/ a vintage earring & a matchbox full of buttons....

I recently found some crown wine toppers @ Hobby Lobby. I bought several to use in projects & I'm sharing one w/ Bonnie. I'm also sharing one of the tiny, old leather bound books I found while junking a while back. Bonnie is a self-described paper freak so I know she'll love it.

I glammed up a spice bottle & inserted a few pages from a French to English dictionary.

I also glammed up a couple of birds since I still have BirdSong on my mind.

I always include a heart item in my swaps. For those of you who haven't heard me use the term before, it's a gift that makes my heart scream "Noooooooo! You want to keep me!". There were several items in this swap that my heart didn't want to let go of ...the tiny book & the frozen charlotte particularly. But it can't be something I have more of, or that I can (or will allow) myself to replicate. I have several of the tiny books & a few of the big frozen charlottes so even though my heart didn't want to let go of them, they didn't qualify as a "heart item".

So I'm giving Bonnie the necklace I made for myself to wear @ Paper Cowgirl. And my heart is screaming @ the top of it's lungs....."NOOOOOOOOO!" LOL It's made out of a matchbox & filled w/ resin (like the one I made for me for BirdSong) ... and it doesn't show up well in the pic but there's a beaded chandelier prism hanging from the bottom. I hope Bonnie loves it as much as I do!

I blinged it out inside & out.

The only other swap I joined was a charm swap...hosted by Trisha Louise. We made 12 art charms & will get back 11...one is for a very special cowgirl. ;) I made mine out of a resin bauble. They needed to be smaller than a quarter though so I couldn't use the paint pallettes I usually use as molds. I found candy molds that were the perfect size but they were a bit textured inside & didn't come out shiny & clear so I'm not completely thrilled w/ how they turned out. I added my usual bling by attaching a rhinestone to the jump ring. Cowgirls rule!!!

We also needed to make 12 filler charms. I made mine out of dangly rhinestrone strands.

Cindy works so hard at these gigs that I made her a little hostess gift...a Queen of the Cowgirls pendant. I used some of the beautiful, blue glass glitter I won at last year's Paper Cowgirl....adding a bejeweled paper crown & boots.

Yep, it's true...cowgirls do have more fun!!!!