I'm still here!

Hello!!! Hello, hello, hello!

Gosh, my poor blog has been so vacated that it seems to have developed an echo. LOL Bet y'all are surprised to see me, huh? Can't believe I haven't blogged in so long. No real reason as to why I haven't. I keep planning posts in my head & I've even taken pictures in anticipation of doing a post...but then I don't follow through. ??? I sometimes take a self-imposed exile from my blog but my recent, extended absence can't be attributed to that. I just haven't gotten around to it. I know, I know....it's been 6 months! But you have no idea what a procrastinator I can be! I've been planning this post for almost 2 months!!! *blushes* Anyway, good to be here again...let's see if I remember how to do it.

I'm sure most of y'all heard about Cassandra Van Curen's Handmade Christmas Ornament swap...some of you even participated. I want to share the ornaments I made & received from the swap. I was fortunate to be paired w/ some mega-talent..so many incredible ornaments! I put them all on this little white tree in my studio & although it was a Christmas swap, most of the ornaments were more wintry than Christmas'y so I've just now taken the ornaments down. So I'm not actually as tardy as I appear. ;)

These first 3 ornaments were crafted by Jeannie Ryan. Jeannie doesn't have a blog but she does have any etsy shop. Sweet, glittery chapel!

Nested bird on a snowflake....

& a glitzy tussie mussie! Complete w/ candy but I ate it before I took the pic.

She included this sweet tag too so I hung it on the tree also.

These next 3 ornaments were crafted by Becky Swartzlander @ Rebecca Rose Designs Lovely soldered ornament!

And this adorable Colleen Moody inspired snowman! Love it!

And this pretty little stocking.

These next 3 ornaments were made by Robin Sanchez @ Once upon a Pink Moon. Isn't this snowman clever???

And this little snowman cup? Too cute!!

LOVE this altered doll!

These next 3 were crafted by Cassandra herself. Loved this sweet "sugar cookie"!

And an adorable paper clay bird.

We kind of had a theme going w/ snowmen & birds....love this nested bird, also by Cassandra.

These next 3 ornaments are the ones I crafted. Didn't do much for this first one....just foof'ed up some vintage birds I bought @ Canton.

I bent little spoons & filled them w/ a nest of tinsel. Mine's a bit different than theirs though as I didn't have 5 spoons the same. I like theirs better but mine's cute too.

I made little hot air balloons out of tiny vintage shiny brites, an old thimble & a frozen charlotte.

Lot of crafty creativeness on that tree, huh? And even though I've taken these ornaments off & packed them away, there still is. Robin, Becky, Jeannie, Cassandra & I were all so thrilled w/ our ornaments that we agreed to do a Valentine ornament swap & my tree is currently bedecked w/ beautiful handmade hearts. And I participated in another Valentine ornament swap also...I promise I'll be back w/ pics of those before Valentine's!

I've enjoyed my little tree in my studio so much that I have decided that it will be up year-round. Wonder if the girls will be game for swapping through all seasons? We've already agreed to do a Spring swap so maybe so!

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!

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!!!

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!!!!