Paper Cowgirl swaps

The grands have gone back home now but I've been a whirlwind of activity ever since....spiffing up my studio for the Where Bloggers Create party and mega-crafting for the Paper Cowgirl swaps. But I thought I'd come up for some air & share w/ y'all what I've created so far.

I've never made an ATC before but thought they sounded like fun so I signed up for the swap. We had to make 21 (22 counting me), which really sounds a lot harder than it was. Do them all assembly style & it doesn't take much longer to knock out 20, than it would to knock out 6. I'm not usually known for my originality but I'm pretty happy w/ my design. Welllll, actually, it's mine & my grandson, Connor's design as I enlisted some hired help to get them done. We glued an old book page onto card stock, burned the edges of some rose paper (Connor sooo wanted to help w/ that part but no way!) & added a border of that; sewed a layer of netting on top (it's a coarse net that reminds me of chicken wire), added a sepia toned picture of an old west cowgirl, text, pearls & tad bit of bling (the rhinestone I used in the upper left corner doesn't show up very well in the photo). I LOVE it! Wish I'd gotten a better shot of it...it's looks wayy better in person.


I thought about glittering around the edges of the cowgirl to make her "pop" some but while hunting for the glitter glue, I found a crackle medium I bought & never used. It's by Ranger & it's called Crackle Accents. It's a one step crackle process that leaves a glossy, cracked surface...isn't it cool?

I also had to make 16 blossoms. Yep, 16 of them! I just wrapped tulle in a figure 8 around & around & around; fanned it all out, then added a lace scrap, crocheted flower & a pearl center. Then I added a tattered silk crepe backing, turned it upside down & sprayed it heavily w/ spray starch, leaving it to dry upside down. The silk crepe firmed up nicely & it formed a "cup" shape around the flower.

Tonight I'll be glittering up these paper boots to present the ATCs in....all 21 of them. Making the boots was harder & more labor intensive than making the ATCs! But we were told to spare nothing w/ the presentation of them. Hope they pass the muster! Last year, AnnDenise wore pink, glittered cowboy boots to the art event.... I sooooo wanted to copy her & wear a pair myself this year. But there's no sense in advertising the fact that I am a copycat (not at an art event!) so I better not. ;o) I couldn't resist doing a mini, paper rendition though.

I still need to create a Rodeo Queen sash out of this satin & lace & turn the pillbox hat into something Joanna will adore. I saved the funnest projects for last...aren't I smart?

I can't wait to show y'all what I'm doing to some old cowboy boots I'm wearing to Paper Cowgirl next week. (Next week? EEEEEK!) They won't be as cool as AnnDenise's (it's hard to top pink glitter) but they'll be designed by me. *crossing my fingers I don't screw them up*

I'll be back on Saturday w/ pictures of my studio for Karen's Where Bloggers Create party...see y'all then!

Getting back to life....

Thank you for all your thoughts & prayers. Charlie was cremated & laid to rest this past Monday. His service was in Boston as that's where all his family is...I was unable to make it as I'm keeping the grands but of course, Shilah attended. She gave the eulogy & it was beautiful...I am so very proud of her strength, grace & dignity, even under such hard & painful circumstances. We will be having a private, family memorial BBQ later this month & then we will release Monarch butterflies in his honor. We'll exchange our favorite memories of him & I plan on doing a tribute post at that time. It still seems completely unreal that he is gone.

But as saddened as I am by his death, I must continue to celebrate life. Here's a video I took today of Baby Noah. I hope it will bring a smile to your face, as it does mine. Noah is getting so big & it won't be long before we'll have to stop calling him Baby Noah. ;o) Sorry to end the video so abrubtly but when I heard Noah say "down", I knew I better call it quits before he fell out of the chair.



I'm snowed under w/ responsibilities & trying to ready my studio for the Where Women Create party & also trying to get ready for Paper Cowgirl but I wanted to check in & let you know that we're doing OK...not good but I guess OK is as good as it's gonna get for a while.

In the arms of the angels....

I don't really know how to start this post so I;ll just wipe my tears away & get right to the point. My daughter's wonderful boyfriend Charlie was killed in a car accident last Friday & my family is devastated. He meant so much to her! And to the grands...they're taking it so hard! Charlie was one of the most together men I ever knew...plus he was smart, funny, loving, even-tempered & responsible....everything a mother would want for her daughter.

Here is Shilah & Charlie @ my birthday party last December....Shi said this was his favorite picture. I can't tell you how badly he will be missed.




I don't have it in me to give him a proper tribute right now but I wanted y'all to know why I'm absent from my blog. I'll do a tribute post later & share lots of pictures of Charlie. He was only a part of our family for one short year but he made himself very irreplaceable in that brief time. Please keep my family in your prayers. Shi & the kids are having a very hard time.... my heart is breaking for them & there is nothing I can do to help.

Happy Mother's day!

In honor of the occasion, I thought I'd share a couple of images. Don't remember where I found them but it was probably from one of the sites listed on my sidebar, under vintage images.

(Don't forget to click and enlarge to get the best quality image)

I hope every one of you Mothers gets a hug, a kiss & an "I love you" today...you deserve it!

Today is a very special day...

it's the anniversary of the best thing that ever happened to me.... I became a grandmother! Today is Connor's 12th birthday...my gosh, how has he gotten so big so quick? *sniff sniff* Here he is @ the Jason Whitten football camp last weekend. It was an early birthday present from the family. He had such fun...they got T-shirts, goodie bags, a signed football, pizza, an autographed photo of Jason Whitten...lots of stuff & lots of fun. And Jason Whitten personally worked w/ the kids...can you imagine how thrilled they were?

He & I have a lunch date today & we'll be doing a combo birthday party/Mother's day celebration tomorrow. Just like the year we brought him home from the hospital. *sigh*

I love you Connor .... I know you've heard this a thousand times but you truly are, "the best thing that ever happened to me!"

Happy Birthday Connor!

All things seem possible in May!

Man! I'm gonna have to step up my swapping game....I'm not keeping up w/ the wonderful partners I've had. Just look at all that Christine @ A Work in Progress sent me for the May Day Tussie Mussie swap, hosted by Linda @ A Swap for All Seasons.

(it has been cloudy so I waited until a ray of sunshine peeked through teh clouds & took everything out back to photograph)

Her tussie mussie was beautiful! She made it out of vintage wallpaper & did things a bit differently by making it 3-sided...love that! You can't get any Springier than this, huh? She adorned it w/ tiny pearl strands, crepe paper ruffles & wonderful flowers.

This votive was the first gift I pulled out of the box & I instantly thought, "this will be my favorite thing from this swap" but that seemed to be a recurring thought during the gift opening. ;o)

Cause as soon as I saw this lace-wrapped clothespin, adorned w/ a vintage rhinestone shoe clip, I thought the same thing again.

And again when I saw the crown candle base w/ crown doo-dad. The base was thoughtfully filled w/ glass panes for me to solder into charms, a fleur des lis stamp & pink ink pad.

But I just knew for sure, when I saw this wonderful flower garland, that it would be my favorite.

Wrong again! Check out the wonderful graphics on the button card....awesome!!! Christine also included wonderful little charms, vintage seam bindings & a tin of buttons.

When I first saw this pattern for teh adorable children's dress, I thought "How cute! I want to make that for Caralyn!" but when I removed the pattern, I was confused...thought someone had stuffed it w/ tissue paper & that there was no longer a pattern inside. It didn't take me long (not too long anyway) to determine that it was indeed the pattern, it was just from back in the day, before they added all the seam lines, cut lines, etc. I'm not so sure I have the necessary sewing skills to complete this dress after all. *grins*

Love the roll of ledger paper as well as the images she included. And the velvet leaves are the most beautiful shade of blue!

Isn't the key cool? I plan on wearing it on a chain to Paper Cowgirl since Christine put a Texas star on it. And aren't the tiny, pink velvet millinery flowers sweet?

But I was absolutely positive when I saw the frozen charlotte that she would be my fave...after all, how do you top a charlotte?

Maybe w/ some vintage rhinestone hair pins? Yep... that'll do it!

But in the end, the last wonderful treasure that I opened was my fave. Isn't this charm bracelet beautiful?!?!?!? I love, love, love, love, love it!!!

Christine, I can't believe how generous you were to me....thank you so much! And I want y'all to know that Christine is just as generous w/ her friendship as she was w/ the swap goodies. You were an awesome swap partner & it was a pleasure!

Here's the pile of goodies I sent Christine although I added a couple of things after I took this picture. (it was cloudy that day too so I took everything out to the drop-leaf on my front porch, to capture what light I could.)

I made the tussie mussie w/ vintage wallpaper too (I know it doesn't show up well against the brick but it was the best I could do) & because Christine is a girl w/ a lot of class, I left it fairly simple...letting the beautiful wallpaper be the star of the show. I stuffed it w/ rolls of vintage wallpaper & old book pages.

Adding a bird cause Christine loves birds.

Inside the tussie mussie is a favorite May quote.

A vintage egg vase, packed w/ vintage hankie, dominoes, vintage children's game cards, seam binding & a button card. I also decorated a few clothespins w/ the color of the day & stamped them w/ inspirational words. And remember how I said that I always like to include at least one "heart" item in each swap? My heart was screaming for me to keep the gorgeous blue rosary beads ... I've had them for years & adore them but they really belonged in this swap, don't you think? I know that Christine will treasure them as much as I!

I hope this flower child didn't turn out too cutesy for Christine. She's another project out of Sandra Evertson's book Fanciful Paper Projects. The book was part of the give-away I won from Karen Valentine @ My Desert Cottage & I just LOVE this book. I've already made 3 projects from it.

Everyone is doing silhouettes these days. I shook things up a bit & stayed true to the palette by doing it in blue. The poem I added to the background reads....

'But I must gather knots of flowers

and beads and garlands gay,

For I'm to be the Queen o' May, mother,

I'm to be the Queen o' May!

I added a tuft of tulle & a vintage earring to the bottom corner of the frame to fouf it up some. I also sent Christine, her initial mounted on an old page from a french paperback & placed in a jeweled frame.

I included a small flower frog in the palest shade of blue w/ vintage images from a decoupgae sheet & another children's game card.

It is true...the more you give, the more comes back to you!