Red Lead Workshop

I had the opportunity this past weekend to take a workshop at Red Lead Paperworks in St. Louis. It was called "The Teeny Tiny Mica Metal Book Lace Workshop." It was so much fun get to shop in the store in person. I had the pleasure of meeting Chris and Sharon who own the shop and are the creative pair behind all the wonderful creations there including their own line of gorgeous, whimsical rubber stamps. I spent a couple hours Friday afternoon wandering around the store looking at all the art work and treasures, asking questions and peeking over their shoulders...it was wonderful! The workshop on Saturday was attended by a great group of women...some I have come to know through the Red Lead Yahoo group. It was a real treat to meet in person some of the people I've been trading ATC's and charms with. The workshop was great...Chris shared her recipe for adding patina to copper and I learned so much about working with metal and mica. Plus, I just love the way the book lace turned out! Chris and Sharon were such fun and gracious hosts, everyone had a great time and turned out some beautiful pieces...I can't wait to be able to go back again!

Blog Award

Beth at the Salvage Studio was sweet enough to bestow on me this blog award. She was so funny in her note to me saying..."they're like Oscars...you can never get enough!" She's so right and I'm tickled to be given this by someone I like and admire so. Do go visit Beth and Lisa and Amy at the Salvage Studio if you're ever in Edmonds...it's a trip that'll change the way you look at things for sure! In the mean time check out their site and blog here. I'm going to ponder who to pass this on to for a bit...there are so many of you out there who I peek in on routinely or by chance who inspire and amaze me! Thanks for being out there creating in your own corner of the world!

Soldering Party - Part 2

Here are the pieces I made at the soldering party in addition to the large house shaped piece I showed you a few posts back. I didn't get all my pieces soldered...too much chatting and probably one too many trips to the dining room! But, now I have a feel for it and can solder them here at home when I have a free afternoon. Plus, now I have all sorts of ideas for new pieces! Thank you again Cathy for such a wonderful day!

Soldering Party

I finally had a chance to get the rest of the photos from Cathy's soldering party off the camera and on to my computer. This was by far the most fun I've had in ages! What a great bunch of women... some I was meeting for the first time. From the moment we arrived though, it seemed like we'd always known each other. Cathy and Jo graciously opened their lovely home to all of us and the fun began. There was delicious food, good conversation, lots of concentrating on wrapping copper foil, a crash course on soldering and using patinas, laughter, a burnt finger here and there and of course...tiaras! Here are some random shots from the beginning of the party. Once we got started we were all so intent on what we were doing I never picked up the camera again! There's something so magical about getting together with a group of people all intent on creating. There was a constant buzz of energy the entire day! I can't wait to do it again!

Trust Your Wings

This is a collage piece I made at Cathy's birthday party this past weekend. Cathy provided the gorgeous house shaped beveled glass...it's 4 in x 6 in! As you can see here I have the copper foil on it and it's all ready for soldering. My problem is I really like the look of the copper foil with the colors in the collage so I can't decide if I want to solder it or not! Hmmm...I'll just have to keep looking at it for awhile. For fairy woman in the collage is from Divas D 'Este. Be sure to take a look at their site...they have some wonderful collage images. More on the birthday party later...

SDA Halloween ATC's

What a fun week I'm having. The atc's from the SDA September swap were waiting for me when I got home today...aren't they wonderful? Halloween is one of my favorite holiday themes and it's so much fun seeing the variety of interpretations...I love it! In my group there was one swapper who chose a harvest theme (there are multiple theme choices each month) and her card is the bottom right...isn't it lovely?






Kris, Alice, Louise
Lyneen, mine, Pam
Sarah, Kathleen, Julia

Message in a Bottle

I joined Lisa Vollrath's Message in a Bottle mail art project a few weeks ago and now I've received my first bottle! The bottle was sent by DaNelle in Phoenix...thank you so much DaNelle.! It was such fun getting this regular plastic water bottle in the mail...my first piece of mail art! Sadly, I was so excited to see it that I forgot to snap a photo of the bottle before I tore into it! Ah well...As you can see it was filled with all kinds of goodies...a 4x4 page, a post card, a cork, stamps, charms, collage bits, fibers, flowers, beads, metal thingies, an inchie and a playing card! How fun is that? Now, I have to make up two bottles of my own to send out. If you'd like to play just let me know and I'll include your name in one of my bottles and one day soon you'll find a message in a bottle in your mailbox too!

Artsy Autumn Swap

Here are the photos of the basket I received in the Artsy Autumn Swap...isn't it something?! This is the first round of swaps in Linda's year long A Swap for All Seasons. My swap partner for this round was Julie from CupcakeDD. She created this gorgeous basket filled with edible treats, luscious yarns, vintage goodies, a beautiful hanging card and the MOST adorable little happy baby!! Sign-ups for the next round begin on October 1 if you'd like to join in the fun!






















Isn't the Happy Baby just the cutest??



















Artsy Autumn Pendant - a gift from the hostess!

Red Lead School Days ATC's

Here are the wonderful School Days atc's I received from the Red Lead swap. I love the cards with the actual school photos on them. Doesn't Eddy Smith have the most adorable face?













Linda Smith, Liz Friedmann, Denise Mitchell
Helen Stevens, Debbie Metti, Chris Schwartz
Kim Solinas, Sally Paul, Becky F.

Mail Art

As far back as I can remember I've always loved decorating mail. Whether it was with stickers, rubber stamps or doodles I just couldn't seem to let an envelope go unadorned. I think that's one of the reasons I always buy commemorative stamps instead of the ones that come in a book...they're just more fun! I mentioned to someone that I always decorate my boxes when I send out a swap. She asked to see one so I'm posting my two latest packages. These were the boxes I sent out for the Artsy Autumn Swap...one to my partner and one with a small thank you for our hostess. I bet you decorate your boxes too, don't you??

Artsy Autumn Sneak Peek

Today is the first day of Fall and the day we're supposed to mail our packages to our swap partners in the Artsy Autumn swap. Here are my two sneak peek photos. My package is heading out to Julie at CupcakeDD. Be sure to check out her blog and her Etsy shop...she has some wonderful Halloween things! I'm off to the post office....

Catching Up

Well, I've become a little lax in my posting I see. I've been working on all kinds of things with not too much to show for it yet. Here are a few ATC's I've made for swaps and a large arch I completed for an ongoing project.











SDA September swap




















Lunch group swap





















Faustino - sorry about the glare

New ATC's

Here are two new atc's I've finished for upcoming swaps. The first one is for a "Shades of..." swap. I chose shades of black and white. I used one of the new photos I picked up recently.













The second one is for the Red Lead School Days swap. I love this boy riding his fish and thought it would be perfect on my back to school card! This cute image was generously shared here.

Spreading the Love...

Linda, a blogging and swapping friend, surprised me by nominating my blog for this award. Thank you Linda! Linda's blogs, Grace Filled Moments and A Swap for All Seasons, are filled with constant delights and inspiration! Be sure to stop by and take a look. Now, I get to nominate others...up to seven... for the same award. Here are three blogs I'd like to nominate today:

Robin's blog: A Robin's Nest
Cora's blog: Paper Flowers
Cathy's blog: MudBay Musings

Robin has a great style. Cora is so generous with her vintage images and has a new stamp line coming out soon. Cathy is a wonderfully creative artist who has just started blogging. I'm sure you'll be inspired...take a look!

Latest Thrift Store Finds

I had fun visiting some new thrift and antique stores while I was in Oregon. I saw lots of gorgeous spendy stuff that I petted but left behind. Here are a couple of photos of things that made it home with me. I love my new doll head...it's the first boy 's head for me! Charlotte and Emily will be suspicious at first I'm sure but I know they'll come to love him too! Now, what will I name him...hmmm?



New instant ancestors!

28 and counting....

Well, we're back from our little trip to Cannon Beach. We had a wonderful time...lot's of walking on the beach and relaxing, good food and even a few thrift store trips thrown in! Time seems to slow down at the beach. Today is my anniversary...28 years. Quinn and I have "had us a time!" Through good times and not so good times he's always been my "right place." I don't usually post many personal pictures here but this is Quinn's favorite from our wedding photos. I know why...the ceremony was finally all over! Happy anniversary to my sweet baby...and here's to many more!

TMTA - Watches

I had just enough time today before we leave on our trip to Oregon to peek at the theme at TMTA and make a quick card. The theme this week is watches. I've always loved images of clocks/watches and a time theme. So here's my card...be back in a few days!

And More Charms

Well, August has turned out to be quite a charming month! The twice a year charm swap at the Salvage Studio was held yesterday. It was a wonderful sit down buffet of charms served up by Beth and Lisa. There was lots of laughter and sharing, oohing and aahing and even some cookies! The charms are gorgeous as you can see here. Everyone does such a nice job and it's so much fun to see the different techniques and styles. As Beth would say...it's a swell time! I can't wait for February!


Here are the charms I took to exchange. These are altered Scrabble tiles with a vintage bead and button dangle. I used a Scrabble Collage sheet from Tangie Baxter Designs.

















Here's a close-up view of some of the charms.

Charms

I received my three charms from the July RedLead charm swap. This is a great swap...three charms every other month and they're always wonderful! This month I received charms from Debbie Metti (our fabulous hostess by the way), Kathy Lee and Allison Revetta. Aren't they gorgeous? And the packaging is almost as lovely as the charm itself!

The Salvage Studio

Here's a postcard I received in the mail yesterday announcing the new book written by my friends Beth, Lisa and Amy of The Salvage Studio. Isn't that a gorgeous cover? The sentiment expresses the feeling I get each time I make a new ATC or any time I spend sitting on the floor cutting and coloring and pasting things together or creating something out of something else. I can't for the life of me remember how I stumbled upon the Salvage Studio but I'm so glad I did. I made my first ATC for a swap held there! I was just in the store this past weekend introducing a friend to it for the first time and it still holds the same fascination for me it did when I first walked into it! If you've ever looked at a potato masher and thought "picture holder" or a hubcap and dreamed of "garden art" this is the place for you! If you adore lovely old things, bins of doo dads, cans and jars of what nots, paper bits and re-purposed pieces of the past...you'll love this place. Ok...I'm blathering now but that's how much I love the Salvage Studio. You can pre-order the book here and here and you can take a look at the website here. If you're ever in the Edmonds area be sure to stop in...you'll leave with some treasures and perhaps a whole new way of looking at things!

School Days

This is for the SDA August swap.

Lucky me!

Now, I'm not one who usually wins things...but this month I got really lucky! Kris drew my name this month from our group of ATC swappers at SDA to receive a RAK. And what a lovely surprise package it was...take a look! There's tons of paper ephemera...collage images, bingo cards, faux postage, transparencies, labels, tags, even pages from an old phone book. Plus, she sent some lovely bird scrap, epoxy stickers and gorgeous gold and silver foil edgings, wings and windows!To top it all off, she sent along this fabulous ATC...Beach Babe. What a treat! Thank you Kris for such a wonderful gift.

SDA July Swap

Here are the ATC's from the July swap at Stampin D'Amour. This is such a wonderful group of swappers...every card is a delight. I'm so glad Lyneen invited me over!














Top: Kris Dickinson, Alice Hyde, mine
Middle: Kathleen Miller, Louise Granlund, Sarah Hemphill
Bottom: Julia Ziemann, Lyneen Jesse, Pam Sparks

RedLead Charm Swap

Well, we've had another charm swap on the Red Lead group. I love these swaps because we only have to make three charms so it's nice and quick and everyone does such a great job. I can't wait to see what the mail will bring! I made these using Clear Bits acrylic squares from Red Lead Paperworks and the inchie collage sheet from Digital Collage Sheets. If you haven't found this site already, take a minute to look around. She offers lovely collage images, quick digital delivery and the quality is excellent!

Party Doll

Here's the card I made for my lunch group. I love these Frozen Charlotte dolls. This one has such a prim look on her face...I just had to dress her up for a party! We had such a fun lunch this week...lots of sharing and laughter and a wonderful invitation to an art party! More on that later....

TMTA - Turquoise

The challenge this week on TMTA is to use the color turquoise. I love turquoise and brown together so that's what I went with today.