Alice is in the house!

My Alice tags arrived last week but I was waiting to post about it until Lisa @ Tarnished & Tattered & I exchanged our tags ( we wanted to make sure we had one of each other's w/out burdening Karla w/ special requests) but I had to cancel our get-together because of my back problems. :o( We couldn't wait to post any longer so I'll post about her tag when I receive it.

Isn't this tag book awesome! I am so proud of it!!! Thanks too all the contributors & especially to Karla @ Karla's Cottage, for all her hard work.

This is the cover, made by Karla. She hand drew the Alice & then photo-copied it for our tags. Check out all the wonderful details! The book page ruffle at the bottom, the rose out of vintage wallpaper....


the tiny, tiny, tiny "drink me" bottle, full of glitter....

And the wonderful door into Wonderland. LOVE it!!!

Isn't this next tag by The Gypsy Magpie sweet w/ all the flowers...it's like a bouquet!

And teh graphic simplicity of this next one by Melissa Sele @ Charm School Jewels is really charming, isn't it?

I almost went w/ a design much like this one by Suzanne Crowley (I don't think she has a blog). Too cute!

Jessica Rodarte @ Kids napping? I'm Scrapping! paid such attention to the details! Look at the stamped Alice ribbon & notice the tiny little A of hearts charm?

This next tag is one by Karla herself. When I saw it on her blog, previous to receiving it, I actually gasped, I loved it so much. I almost cried when I found it was in my book. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

I wish the photo captured the awesome craftsmanship this next tag has. Sandy @ Quill Cottage printed on fabric for the Alice & created her dress out of tissue paper. It's fabulous!!! I neglected to get pics of the backs of the tags but most (w / the excepton of mine *blushes*) are just as beautiful from the back as they are from the front. Hmmm...wonder if I over-looked taking pictures of the backs "accidentally on purpose" to keep from even more embarrassment in showing my unadorned back.

The next tag is mine. I can not tell you how honored & proud I am to display my tag alongside the works of such artists.

A friend & her teen age son recently came over & I was showing his mom some of my recent creations & he asked "are you an artist?" I answered, "yes, I guess I am." Pinch me, I'm dreaming!!!! ;o)

This has been a fantastic swap for many reasons....I loved creating the tags, loved getting the tags & the tag book is a wonderful treasure...but the best part about it was Karla. I have admired Karla's work in magazines long before there was even any blogging. And of course y'all know how fantastic her blog is! But to find myself friends & exchanging art w/ a woman I basically idolize (I love everything about Karla...love her style, love her home, love her down-to-earth goodness, love her sense of humor, love her relationship w/ her grand, love her open heart & I LOVE her talent!) is like a dream come true. And if you think I gushed about Karla a lot in this post, wait until you read a future tribute post where I talk about how long I've been an admirer of her's. ;o)

Have a good weekend everybody! I don't know if my back is any better but I've given in to taking pain pills so it sure feels better LOL...thanks for all your concern.

There's still time but you gotta hurry!

The butterfly exhibit @ the Ft Worth Botanical gardens will be over on April 3rd. And it's an awesome exhibit...a must see! Grouchy & I took our butterfly-loving granddaughter, Miss Caralyn last week & had so much fun.

Caralyn dressed appropriately for the occasion & wore one her many butterfly shirts. If isn't pink or has a crown or a butterfly on it, then she ain't wearing it. ;o) She really is crazy about butterflies. For Christmas this past year, I gave her a beautiful children's tea set...it's covered in butterflies.

This next butterfly is incredibly large...w/ a wing span probably of about 8". This side of it is interesting looking w/ the eye spots but the top sides of the wings are a beautiful iridescent blue.

I tried to capture a pic of the blue sides but never really could. This is as good as I could get...sorry!

Here's the cocoon house.

Lots of cocoons!

We got to see them release the "new" butterflies but this picture didn't capture them. Many of them dropped immdediately at our feet & we had to stay still until the butterfly guy picked them up. You are not allowed to touch any of the plants or butterflies in this exhibit...good thing we left Coleson AKA Mr Grabby @ home.

This woman was pregnant & must have been releasing some pheromones that made the butterflies want to land on her.

The most beautiful butterfly in the garden!

Not gonna be many butterflies flitting around today though. It was a beautiful, warm 74° yesterday & today the high is only 39°....but it's supposed to be back up in the 70's next week. That's Texas!

I won! I won! I won! I won! I won!

I won Karen Valentine's fabulous give-away! She recently had a give-away to celebrate her 500th follower & I won...how lucky am I? Just look at all this loot!

Doilies, rub on letters, old leather gloves (wait til you see what I do w/ them!), her fabulous magnets & I neglected to get it in the picture (cause it's sitting on my nightstand) but she also sent Sandra Evertson's book, Fanciful Paper Projects. I highly recommend this book...I've seen it @ Michaels & on Amazon so pick you up one.

Look how cool her magnets are. She adds so many wonderful details...layers & layers of images, lace scraps, buttons, scrolly wire, etc.

Here's another one of teh magnets. I actually received 3 but my daughter in law was here when the box was delivered & she fell in love w/ them so I gave her one. Not sure what the wood thing is (does anybody?) but it'll be cool in a vignette.

Look at the tag Karen made. I love how she layered pattern paper over the images...LOVE it!

And I adore this box! Karen is one talented artist, isn't she?

Look at all that was inside...sepia toned rose cards, lace trims ....

and all this too! Karen, you are too generous! Love the old key & the paper roses...

and of course I love this crown barrette (who wouldn't!).

But I think my favorite treasures in teh box are the metal roses. They remind me of a funny (now!) childhood memory. I was about 9 & the apartment complex we lived in, had metal railings all around & up the stairs. On the railings, were these metal flowers (very much like these that Karen sent me) that a certain little girl decided would be really awesome, if they were painted & turned into necklaces. Never one to be satified w/ just one (I guess I've always been a packrat), I did my best to pry as many of those flowers off as I could. Some were welded on pretty good though & a couple cut me but I managed to gather quite a few. Enough for the apartment manager to notice & to track down the culprit. In my defense though, I honestly didn't know it was stealing. I was very surprised & very embarassed when I was told that it was.

The manager confiscated all my flowers & my dream of seeing them reborn as a necklace was never achieved. (I guess I've always been a procrastinator too! LOL) But I think I am going to live out that childhood dream w/ a couple of these fabulous roses...waht do ya think? Wouldn't they be awesome as a necklace?

Karen recently started an online shoppe....you can check out more of her work here @ Valentine Studio.


Hope everyone has a great week-end! Spring is in the air.....

My snowbaby figurine

Hi y'all! I've had this inspiration pic in my files for many years (it's from Country Living 2001!) & have always wanted to make it. After my recent success w/ my paper mache heads, I worked up the nerve to attempt the project.


click on any picture to enlarge for details

I am soo pleased w/ my result!

I used polymer clay for the head & the only tools I used to sculpt it were my fingers & a vinyl covered baby spoon.

Not bad for a beginner, huh? I painted the face, added an umber glaze & then sanded it some. I draped tatted lace for adornment & then hit it in spots w/ Stickles glitter glue.

The snowball is made out of the paper mache clay recipe I shared w/ you in this post. I added a bit of Tim Holtz's distress crackle paint, an umber glaze & then flecked it in spots, w/ MS's vintage leaf glitter.


Dressing it in crepe paper was probably the hardest part of the project but I'm sure it will get easier w/ practice & experience. Her skirt was a little plain so I tried creating a border on the hem w/ scalloped scissors but of course they wouldn't cut evenly through the crepe. But the "torn" hem was exactly the look it needed, don't ya think?

This is the armature of the doll before I wrapped it in crepe paper. I made a wire body & then glued on cotton batting...shaping it w/ scissors.

You must admit that I am a dang good copycatter...not sure that's something I should be proud of though. LOL