Dorothy is in the house!

My Dorothy tag book arrived a couple of weeks ago but I've been remiss in posting about it...partly because I have a confession to make. I was late getting my tags to Karla (long story) & she had already mailed them out when I realized it. Anyway, I didn't know how to handle it.... should I just shrug it off & hope she didn't remember me signing up?

Nahhh, not really my style, I'm a confronter by nature. ;) So I emailed her, admitting my over-sight & apologized profusely...never expecting her to send me a tag book. But you know what she did? She gathered up the leftover tags that she couldn't understand why she had (hmmmm...wonder if my tags not being there threw off her accounting? *blushes*), made another glittered shoe, added one of her own tags & told me she was happy to oblige my tardiness. Now that is true graciousness!

Thank you so much for your understanding Karla...you really are the best! And look how cute she packaged the book...wrapped in actual pages from a vintage copy of The Wizard of Oz.

I've already hung my book from my inspiration board, right next to my Alice tag book.

Look at the wonderful cover Karla made! It has so many details.....

with beautiful drawings by Karla herself...


...and a Toto, who slips in & out of the basket...

...and a red glittered shoe. Isn't it adorable?

There is some incredible talent in this book!

LOVE the tin man!

This tag was made by Karla & it is gorgeous! LOVE it!!!

And how clever is this tag....w/ the house tag on the witch's legs tag that slides into the There's No Place Like Home tag. So cute!!!

And this Toto is just too sweet!

This is the tag I made. I used some of the techniques I learned from Karla & Beth's Romantic Gothic ezine (they have a new one for Christmas too ...check it out!) & wrote "Follow your dreams" on the back of each tag. I kept one for myself but Karla sent one of mine back in my book so I have an extra. Leave a comment on this post if you'd like to win the extra tag....that's all just leave a comment & I'll draw a name next week sometime.

Speaking of give-aways, my friend Lesley Venable @ Flatwoods Folk Art just opened a new etsy shoppe (you can find her button on my sidebar ...it's called A Vintage Season) & she's having a FABULOUS give-away to celebrate. And I do mean fabulous...the prizes are a Santos head on a stand & an Infant of Prague. Go grab her shoppe button & sign up here. Good luck y'all...or should I say "me". ;)

Hope, Faith, Love....

Our secretary's daughter was recently re-diagnosed w/ breast cancer & she underwent a double masectomy. I haven't delved much into the art of jewelry-making but wanted to make them matching mother-daughter bracelets. I'm pretty pleased w/ my creations but jewelry-making is tedious, frustrating work & I may not be cut out for it so this may be my one & only endeavor in that realm. ;)

I used large pink pearl beads, vintage opalescent beads, sterling word "beads" & added a strand of vintage rosary beads in a fabulous shade of pink. What do you think?

Hope,

Faith,


and Love...they'll carry you through the darkest times.

Please keep Tricia & her family, in your prayers...thanks!

The Wicked Tea was awesome in every way!

First off, I gotta warn y'all about the amount of pictures in this post...there's a lot! So grab a cup of whatever, take a potty break & prepare yourself to be wow'ed...by the many talents behind Paper Cowgirl's A Wicked Tea.

I'm unable to copy & paste website addys (think it's a stupid trojan that I can't get rid of) so I'm not gonna embed links to blogs in this post. But you can google any blog name that you are interested in.

First up, the decor...oh my goodness, was it over the top fabulous! Ann Denise from Whim & Fancy Designs is known as being teh crepe paper queen but after this event, I think she earned the title, Queen of Everything. She not only taught a wonderful class but handled the decor & the food!

click on any picture & then click again to enlarge for details

I took this next shot before the cupcakes were brought out. But she transformed a chandelier into a cupcake stand...pretty clever, huh? (and one you will probably see me copy at some point LOL)

Candy bar...full of devilishly good treats. And party favors made by Ann Denise.

The breakfast station...AD made fruit salad, coffee & scones. She also made us a wonderful lunch w/ pasta salad, broccoli salad, chicken wraps & corn chowder. We ate good!!! ;)

Rose petal scones...they were fabulous!

And the teachers were as fabulous as the food...from left to right, you have Lisa from Tarnished & Tattered, Ann Denise from Whim & Fancy Designs, Cindy from Yapping Cat Studio ( Cindy is the backbone of Paper Cowgirl) & Lesley from Flatwoods Folk Art.

Here is one of the students (Grace came all the way from NY for the retreat!) in front of The Pink Cottage...the venue the Wicked Tea was held in. Quaint, quaint, quaint!

And the students...well let's just say there was a lot of snorting going on! LOL I knew most of them from previous Paper Cowgirl retreats but made a few new, cherished friends.

My table (the loudest table LOL)...from left to right; it's Jennie from The Pretty Pekingese, me, Grace from Grace in the Pink City & Jan, from Just Me Jan. I knew Jan already but we all clicked from the get-go...I couldn't have asked for better tablemates.

And now on to the projects. First up is Lisa's Coven Book class.

I strayed a bit from her class example, using a black bow & pearls instead of the tiny, old book of poems she provided us. That book is wayyyy cool & I just couldn't bring myself to glue it down. Plus, the hint of glam suits me & my style.

She showed us an awesome technique of using liquid resin (I think that's what it was... I may have to email Lisa & ask her)...it looks so cool "dripping" down the book.

I also went w/ a different image than Lisa provided....using one of a witche's tea party that I found in our goodie bags. How appropriate, huh?

And I realllly strayed from Ann Denise's class example. She taught us how to make noisemakers out of paper clay. Her's was really, really cute but it was painted in bright colors & I'm trying to stick w/ black & white for Halloween. So I used rhinestone buttons for eyes, gave it all a coat of crackle & then went over it w/ a watered-down burnt umber paint, wiping it off so it only stayed in the cracks.

I know it looks like a cross between an alien cat & a pig but I don't care...I love it! I added a pipe cleaner tiara & turned her into a Princess.

I glittered the back of her head to add more dimension.

And I wrapped the stick part w/ a strand of sequins & glittered the ball end. I LOVE my Princess Boo Kitty! I even wore the witche's hat I made & carried my Boo Kitty w/ me trick or treating. I drove everybody nuts waving the "wand" & chanting "Hocus Pocus, Dominocus!"

Lesley taught the Wicked Crone Necklace class....I loved it! Loved the class & I LOVE my necklace. I have worn it often since the Wicked Tea & have received many compliments on it. I'd like to make a couple more & am ordering more molds from Lesley.

Thanks so much to all the teachers for making it such a wonderful day. And a special thank you to Cindy, our head cowgirl. ...you're the best Cindy!

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*