BirdSong tags...

Taking a break from the grands to share the BirdSong tags I made for Karla's tag book swap. I made all 7 of mine the same so I'm just sharing pictures of one. I used a technique Lisa, from Tarnished & Tattered, recently shared. She taught us how to use deli tissue sheets as transparent overlays. I printed a Bird Beauty sheet music cover on the deli tissue, then layered it over an image of a bird on cardstock. I glittered up the words Bird Beauty (although it doesn't show in the pic) & I trimmed them out w/ lace.... adding a bead adorned twig like I made for Karla's journal page. (you can see the journal page I made here)

My grandson Connor (he's 13) wanted to play along so he made this BirdSong tag...all by himself! The only suggestion/direction I gave him was to print the sweet picture he chose to use (it's one I took of a mama dove & her babies) in sepia instead of in color. Everything else was totally his ideas & his design! I'm even prouder of his tag than I am of mine....didn't he do a great job? He gave it to me to add to my tag book when I receive it. I've said it before but I'll say it again....grands are the greatest!!!

I know I haven't had much time for blogging...my summer days w/ the grands are full of kiddie flicks, bowling, coloring, parks & ice cream...lots & lots of ice cream! I'm taking lots of pictures to capture the fun we had & I'll do a mega-post on it @ the end of the summer. But until then, here's a fun picture of my Fab 5, enjoying their afternoon ice cream.

Hope you're managing to stay cool...temps have been in the 100's here in Texas for almost a month!

A songbird for Karla....

I'm working on the tags for Karla's BirdSong tag book swap & it occured to me that I never shared the journal page I made for Karla. There was a journal swap for BirdSong ....I was too intimidated to sign up but the pages were so wonderful that Karla expressed regret that she had not signed up for teh swap herself. So Laurie & Beth thought it would be a wonderful memento if we made a BirdSong journal as a surprise. It was for Karla so of course I had to brave up & contribute.

And I'm glad I did....I'm pretty proud of my page! I used a tattered photo frame, scrap of lace & a sweet, vintage image of a songbird...layering them all on an old book page, packed w/ cardboard & sheet music.

I let the bird sing from atop a bead-adorned twig.


And I used the same quote I used on my stands for the Frilly Paper Bird swap...another BirdSong swap. "A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."

You can see all of the pages plus the beautiful cover that Beth did here.

I'm also busy spiffing up my studio for the Where Bloggers Create party...are you coming? They're always such fun & it may be the one time all year that my studio is clean. So I'll be sure & take lots of pictures to document the occasion. LOL

Finally...a Paper Cowgirl post!

I can't believe I've been home from Paper Cowgirl for 2 weeks & haven't posted about it yet. But talk about fun, fun, fun! LOVED the cowgirl prom ...it was soo fun to see everybody in all their finery. I didn't get but a couple of pictures @ the retreat though. Don't know why...guess I just didn't feel like lugging my camera around everywhere. Sure am regretting it now though cause I only have my projects & vendor night goodies to share. :(

First up is my project from Sandra Feazel's rose painting class. I strayed from her class example by using another color palette & adding a bit of text though. I LOVED this class & I'm setting aside some time next week to practice painting my roses. I am determined to use more "art" in my artwork.

Second class was Lisa Pace's shadowbox class. I copied her class example almost exactly. This looks a LOT cuter in person!

My 3rd & final class was Karla Nathan's dress form class. Talk about fun! It was so much fun that her students bought up all the kits she brought for vendor night. We couldn't wait to make more! I adorned mine w/ fairy wings & a banner w/ "beautiful fairy" written in French. She has an online tut available here ....so you can make one too!

I am so glad that I signed up for the charm swap...there are so many wonderful charms! And I jingle-jangle the whole time I wear it. Like I'm not loud enough already!!! LOL My altered cigar box partner, Bonnie, is having some health issues & was unable to attend Paper Cowgirl. :( Please keep her in your prayers!

Vendor night shopping @ Paper Cowgirl is incredible.....INCREDIBLE! You wouldn't belive all the vintage goodies & mixed media art supplies...& all @ great prices! Look @ my score!

Box of chandelier crystals...all w/ flat backs so I can add pictures to them. 25 cents a piece from Jamie's booth....

Bronze painted baby shoes (they're not actually bronzed just painted to appear to be so...gotta love the thrifty creativeness!), old picture mats, tiny Snow White & Bambi playing cards.....

A wonderful ledger book (nearly all the pages have writing on it...it's grom a general store in the late 1800's), aged doorknobs, & optical lenses....

A vintage needlework catalog w/ wonderful graphics.....

Crepe paper ruffles & bits of bling.....

I got several rolls of vintage wallpaper...it's all very old & brittle. Rusty keys, old cabinet cards, a glittery bowl....

A French letter from 1792...wayyy cool!

A beautifully painted leather cuff by Sandra Feazel.

And a little handmade journal by Karla Nathan. LOVE it...it's so pretty inside that I don't know that I'll be able to cover it up w/ anything.

I'm kinda sad that it is over. There probably won't be any more art retreats for me until A Wicked Tea in October. I'm keeping the grands nearly every day this summer; so that I can get as much time w/ them while they are out of school, as I can. But we have been having crafting days & ethy're fun too...I'll share pics soon.

Stay cool...we've had the hottest June in 30 years!!!

Happy birthday to my furry little heart!

My Sonny Boy turns one today! My baby is growing up!

YEAHHHHH!!!! ;) I like to say that many dogs will hold a piece of your heart but very few will be your heart. This one is mine...all wrapped up in fur & cute as can be.

I made him a birthday hat (it coordinates w/ Rudy's but isn't exactly the same), served him french toast for breakfast & he'll have steak, mashed potatoes & peas & a birthday cake for dinner. I wish all dogs were loved & appreciated as much as these 2 are!

I'll be back soon with Paper Cowgirl pics!

Another big event!

I'm leaving straight from Paper Cowgirl to another exciting event...my granddaughter Caralyn (she's 5) is having a dance recital @ Will Roger's Coliseum today! I'm so excited about it that I've made myself a necklace for it. Yes, I made another resin spoon charm... this time adding a vintage ballerina from a cupcake topper.


Wish my baby girl good luck...I hope to have a video to share w/ you all later in the week.

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!!!!

Yee Haww!

Time for me to mosey on down to Waxahachie & have a boot-scooting good time w/ the rest of the paper cowgirls. I am sooo excited!

I typically don't get excited about these events until I am done w/ all that I need to do. And since I am typically a procrastinator & am working right down to the wire, I don't have time for much excitement to be built up. But I've been done w/ Paper Cowgirl preparations since last Saturday & I am about to explode w/ excitement. I didn't think Thursday was ever gonna get here!


Would you believe these boots used to be red, black & white? I bought them @ a garage sale last year for a dollar. I'm not a red, black & white kind of gal but they were only a dollar! I thought that maybe I'd do something w/ them & if not, I was only out a buck. ;) After seeing some altered shoes in a Somerset publication, I got the idea to paint them (using fabric paints so they'd flex). But they looked really artificial so I hit them over & over again w/ brown shoe polish...wiping it off & letting it settle into the cracks & creases, making them appear to be old leather. Then I stuck some glittery letters on them & added rhinestone anklets & now they're "cowgirl chic"! (cross your fingers for me that the paint doesn't scuff off but I've brought a spare pair, just in case)

And isn't the purse cute? I made it last year for Paper Cowgirl. I think it used to be an old 45 record case. How many of you are old enough to remember them? I am! *blushes*

I'll be back tomorrow w/ swap pictures...come see!

Bet y'all thought I was done w/ Birdsong posts, huh?

I dang sure should be...it was over a month ago! But things have just been so hectic around here with Mother's Day, Connor's birthday, Memorial Day, Stacie's birthday, out of school parties & trying to get ready for Paper Cowgirl. But before I jaunt off to Waxahachie for another fabuous artsy weekend, I just have to share the wonderful projects & swaps from BirdSong.

I'm not going to take the time to link up to everybody...sorry! That's the reason why I have delayed in this post for so long...it takes sooo long to link up to everyone. So you'll just have to forgive me. ;)

This is the awesome crepe paper tree I made in Carol Spinski's class. She's providing an online tut soon so do look her up!

One of the lampshades I made in Deb Dusenberry's class.

LOVE my nest banner, taught by Karla. (she says it was her first time teaching....true to form, she's already a master @ it!) Doesn't it look good on my hutch? I decorated the whole hutch w/ BirdSong stuff. It'll be that way through summer so I'll share it later.

And the woven pouch from a class taught by Lisa McIlvain. I copied Lisa's original design somewhat & used it for a "gift bag" for silhouettes I made for Mom for Mother's Day.

One of my favorite part of these art retreats is the swaps. LOVE doing them & always sign up for more than I should. This frilly paper bird was crafted by Lisa Stanton. Too cute!

This one was made by Karla herself.

Mine...

Sherry hosted the swap & made us a pair...a Mr & Mrs Dandy.

This adorable bonnet-bedecked bird was made by Laurie...she included the cute bird flashcard in her packaging of it.

This one was made by Gail...

And last but certainly not least (cause it's one of my favorites!), this one by Sharon.

If you recall, I also signed up for a matchbox swap....Nicki crafted this wonderful box for me out of lovely, hand-dyed velvet.

And filled it with all these goodies! I ADORE the vintage French trims & the page from an old French beauty book.

I wish I had the time to share pics of all the wonderful, talented ladies I had so much fun with but alas, I don't. But I do need to share this photo of Karla & I. Knowing my feelings towards her, she created this frame for it & sent it to me. I can't tell you how touched by her thoughtfulness I am. I have told her many, many times that she is my idol (said it here plenty of times too! LOL) & it's this kind of sweet generosity of spirit (coupled w/ her immense talent as an artist and as a decorator) that put her up there on that pedestal.

And I'm gonna see Karla again this weekend...I'm taking her dress form class @ Paper Cowgirl! I'm so excited!!!!! I'll be back later w/ pictures of my projects for the 3rd annual Paper Cowgirls Art Retreat....the best little art retreat in Texas! Yee haw!!!!