Mail Art!

With all the festivities (graduations, birthdays and Father's Day) going on this month I haven't had must time to get in my craft room and share things here. But I had to show you this gorgeous piece of mail art that Laura sent me. She's created her envelope from watercolor paper then painted, stamped and collaged all over it. It's just gorgeous! Inside she enclosed some lovely old seed packets, bird images, butterfly sticks, bee stickers and the prettiest feather! Thank you Laura...I love it!

Turn Around...

Where are you going, my little one, little one?
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around and you're two
Turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of the door.
Turn around, turn around,
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door.



Where are you going, my little one, little one,
Little dirndls and petticoats, where have you gone?
Turn around and you're tiny,
Turn around and you're grown,
Turn around and you're a young girl with dreams of your own.
Turn around, turn around,
Turn around and you're a young girl with dreams of your own.

Turn around...

My youngest daughter graduated from college this past weekend. It was a whirlwind of family, food and fun, lots of laughter and a few tears. Katie has put in a lot of hard work in the past four years and in that time we've watched her blossom into a beautiful young woman inside and out. She'll be leaving us in September to start a new chapter in her life - graduate school in California. Wasn't it just yesterday that she was playing in the backyard with her sisters? Practicing ballet? Kicking a soccer ball? Where did that time go? We're so proud of you...and love you so much we could burst!

Farm Chicks

Grace and I had another great time this year at the Farm Chicks Show in Spokane. It was bigger than ever with an additional room full of wonderful things to look at. Quinn treated us to early bird tickets so we got to look around for a full hour before the crowds came in. Here are just a few photos. If you ever get the chance to go this is one FUN show!

...it is time to move forward

Soul Restoration 2 starts today!!

Little Book Swap

For Lenna's latest Creative Swap we've been making little books. What type and how many, blank or filled it was up to us. For my books I used old cabinet cards for the covers and an assortment of vintage and new papers for the pages. I added a small glassine envelope to the back and tucked in some vintage red labels, a stamp and some Dresden foil scrap. I finished each of them with some hand dyed ribbon and a little trinket. I was recently given a Bind-it-all and decided this would be the perfect project to test it out. It was really easy to use and I like how the little books turned out. I had some left over muslin from my fabric paper project so I made each little book a muslin bag and tied them up with ribbon and paper flowers. This was such a fun swap project. You should go take a look at all the beautiful books that Lenna's been receiving. Maybe you'll be inspired to join the next swap!

The Language of Flowers ATC swap

Be sure to stop by Red Lead, say hello to Chris and Sharon and see all their new stamps and collage sheets, jewelry findings, art supplies and enough inspiration to keep you busy for days! And if you're looking for a fun group to swap with consider the Red Lead Yahoo Group...there's always a great swap going on. It's not too late to make a chotski pin...you know you want to!

My Stuff Your Stuff Swap

The Paper Traders group hosted a fun swap recently called My Stuff Your Stuff Swap. The idea was to trade an envelope of "stuff" with your partner then make and return an ATC created with what you received. I loved this idea because it's always so interesting to see what someone else likes to use in their art. I was partnered with Cathy of A Surcee Life who is one of the moderators at Paper Traders and a sweet, talented artist. Be sure to stop by her blog and say hello and take a look around. Cathy sent me an envelop brimming with stuff....lovely images and papers, alphabets and flowers...so much fun...just take a look! This is the card I made from just a small portion of what Cathy sent me.


Cathy was so generous and made me TWO cards in return. Aren't they wonderful...I just love them! Thank you Cathy!

Mail Art has arrived!

While I was away from the computer I received a beautiful mail art envelope from Joanna. Joanna lives in England and her envelope looks like an English garden to me. It's just beautiful! This was the last envelope from our first round of mail art with the "where I live" theme. Joanna filled her envelope with travel brochures, postcards and a note telling us a little more about her. It's been so much fun to learn a little about where each member of the group lives. Today, I received Sue's envelope which is the first one in our second round. The theme for this round is "birds, bees and butterflies" and Sue has covered her envelope with lovely images of each of these. Inside, was a gorgeous gift...a beautiful nature journal filled with more images and all done up in lace and ribbons. Thank you Sue...it's a treasure!