Know What Tomorrow Is?!?

August 1st!

if you are completely clueless about what I am referring to then either

A) You are brand new to my blog & should click on a Think Pink image

B) You've been living under a rock & should click on a Think Pink image

OR

C) You are an alien visiting from another planet & should click on a Think Pink image

Every donation counts ... every penny makes a difference ... YOU can be part of that difference

... AND ...

there are some spectacular prizes being offered in the drawing

(please click the image below to be dircted to the "prizes" page)



Be part of the cure!

Please help us spread the word!!

The Mad Hatter Made My Day

And to tell you the truth, he couldn't have picked a better day to show up. It's been a hard and sad past few days ... I've been feeling a little drained; raw, really ... and my ISP is having some serious server problems and is holding all my incoming and outgoing emails hostage until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest ...

at one of my darkest moments there's a knock at the door and the Mad Hatter is right there:

wrapped in its own brilliantly colorful festiveness

... and I smiled my first real smile in days ... and that was before I opened the package to find:

a party happening inside!

... Remember Vanessa's most excellent Mad Hatter Tea Party? ...

Well, somehow the luck fairies were on my side ... I was drawn as the winner over at

ART TEA LIFE

(check out her contribution to the party HERE - I promise you are in for a treat)

Take a closer look ... that looks like more than a tea cup, tea and cookies ... hmmm

Oh my! This is the gift that most loverly Crabapple had offered:

Isn't the tea cup simple precious?!? This is my very first pretty little tea cup - and with a saucer, too. The pattern is so sweet - pretty little roses, a bit of gold trim and a beautiful soft blue kissed edging ... so very lovely. I will definitely feel like a princess when I'm sipping my tea from this perfect little piece ... and I will forever be reminded of the woman that gifted it to me.

It would have been enough all on its own, but lets not forget the tea - tea posies, infact! When brewed the posies bloom into lovely little flowers (my husband and I agreed that we'll be saving this for a special moment to share ... let's hope it's sooner than later ... and that I have my camera at the ready to share what an incredible site it makes) and cookies! Melt-in-your-mouth buttery black and white shortbread-like dreamy little bits of decadence (uh, can you tell we didn't save them for that special moment mentioned above?) ... and there you have it, right?

WRONG!

She also included a tin of Jasmine Hard Candies from France (which I had never had the pleasure of trying before, but will certainly be keeping my eyes open for ...) check out the sweet tin they come in:

but wait! There's even more! Five little beauties to be used in ART (perhaps while I'm drinking some lovely TEA and simply enjoying my LIFE) and a white uni-ball Signo pen (little does she know that I have been dreaming of the day that I break down and buy one for myself ... because if you know me, then you know in reality I wouldn't buy just one which requires the saving of a few pennies for a day of shopping for "tools"). Imagine my delight!

Bet you thought that was it, didn't you? It's already too much ... and yet ... there is one more:

Do you see it at the bottom center of this picture?

Here's a close up (notice the Jasmine Hard Candy tin, too):

Not quite close enough? Here, try this:

or this:

Could they be any more adorable? AND they are the same blue as the blue that kisses the edges of the tea cup and saucer.

This was SO much more than I ever could have expected ... with each little treasure I discovered I felt myself pause and appreciate the generous heart of the woman that took the time to assemble such a kind offering. She had no idea where my head (and heart) would be when I received the package and couldn't have possibly known the impact her thoughtfulness would have. She helped me remember that even in our darkest hours there is ALWAYS a ray of light that will shine on us, warm our hearts and remind us to live and to love ...

... S, this is one instance when being late was actually perfect timing. My heart will forever hold a spot especially for you.

Thank you.

Crane Charms

It's time to share a little mixed up progress on the crane charms (first mentioned HERE) ... this first image is the first batch of cranes post dipping into the Petal Porcelain Setting Agent. I had used decorative papers (rather than thin origami sheets), so the paper was a tad too thick for the size crane (1 1/4" square) I folded:

I was really happy to learn that the setting agent really fortified the cranes - they have hardened really nicely. With this first batch I followed the directions on the bottle and dipped the cranes in the goo and brushed the excess off. I set them on wax paper overnight to dry. Due to the amount of product on them, the bottoms "puddled" slightly which took away the crisp points ... since then, I have thought about how to improve on this and think that simply brushing the setting agent on (in stages) might work better ... that and using thinner origami papers ... so I have folded a bunch of little cranes (there are about 10 more than pictured ... if I'm going to fold one, it's just as likely I'll fold 10 or 20 or 100 ...) ... these are folded from 1" squares and 1 1/8" squares:

The papers are still very pretty and the cranes came out much more precise.

The picture below is a condensed version of the process. The papers in the background are (or were) 6" squares of origami papers - in pinksl, of course. The diamond shapes are cranes in progress, the two completed cranes on the left have not been dipped or brushed and two cranes on the right are two from the original test batch (dipped):

Below is another dipped crane from the first batch. I still like the decorative papers that I originally used, so will be trying to slavage some if possible. Here's one that I am hoping to save (it has also had a coat or two of diamond top coat polish applied):

Even though I have a feeling that this second batch is going to be better than the first (fingers crossed) I did want to do a prototype of the charm that I was picturing - the next two pictures are the first completed prototypes:

Amber Dawn let me know that she can only accept one set of 12 charms from the participants for the Very Special Think Pink Charm Exchange. Considering the whole idea is to provide Monica with additional raffle items, this totally makes sense. I already completed a set of twelve sparkly pink ones (see the previous post), so I'll be sending those out to Amber Dawn for the exchange ... BUT ... she has given me the go ahead to send two of the completed crane charms, too - if they are high enough quality, she will be use them on the raffle bracelet(s). Wouldn't that be cool?

Being involved in both of these projects has been more satisfying than I could possibly ever explain. I am humbled by the experience and grateful to have been exposed to such an inspiring, kind, creative community of generous hearts. My faith in the world & humanity has been restored ... tenfold.

Pink and Sparkly

Update 07/19: After I added the jump ring, I wanted to try one more thing ... I added two coats of my diamond top coat polish and voila ... Fini! This is a shot of the completed charm (charm is smaller than pictured - it's 1" -including the jump ring - X 5/4"):

Steps 2 and 3 of the "alternate" pink charms complete:

This was supposed to be the back up to the paper cranes charms that I wanted to do, but I'll be honest, I really, really like these a lot - they are super girly in their uber-sparkly pinkness. After the pink glitter dried/set, I put about 4 coats of high gloss varnish over the glitter. Once the last coat of varnish dried, I threaded the beads ... a pink (doesn't really look it in the photo) faceted glass bead between two tiny Swarovsky bicone crystals and made the loop for the jump ring. All I have to do to finish these is add the jump ring. Pretty cool.

The paper crane charms have me in a little bit of a snit ... I'm thrilled to report that the setting agent actually does work ... the only issue I am having is that I do lose just a touch of the crispness ... my anal retentive self might not be able to get past this - uber spouse thinks I need to ... there's a little bit more time, so I just might try another batch ... fingers (and toes) crossed, please.

fairy homes and pink charm progress

It's been a great Sunday ... and to think, it's just the first day of my weekend, too!

Sadie and I decided that today was a good day to try our hand at building a fairy house. Originally we thought we'd build it under a tree in the back yard, but due to a rain shower (and the fact that neither of us much like red ants) we chose the small ficus tree's pot:

Considering neither of us has any background in building (other than that of the Lego variety) we were utterly clueless. She thought we should just sink "walls" right into the dirt - brilliant plan! We made sure to use a few twigs that branched so we could rest twigs lengthwise across them and then layed smaller twigs across them to build a second level (there are two small rooms below the floor). The roofing is a combination of skinny dried vines and a little bit of hay. We're hopeful that one of these days we'll go out there to see that some little creature has claimed the home ... fingers crossed!

How about an update on the The Pink Charms Exchange? First, I have done a couple of tests using the Petal Porcelain Setting Agent that I purchased on Friday and am happy to report that I think it's really going to work! There are a few minor details that I need to work out, but I am hopeful.

I'm am still interested in trying Paverpol (Marilyn @ As Seen Through My Eyes recommended the product - she's been posting about her recent trip to France and it sounds like heaven!). I checked out there website and from everything that I have read about it, it sounds like some pretty amazing stuff. It's been added to the top of my Christmas wish list!

While I was shopping on Friday, I picked up a few "just in case" items ... I wanted to have a definite back up should the paper crane experiment end up a bust. This is what I bought:

The above is a little pack of metal links, some ultrafine pink glitter and some pink faceted glass beads ... bet you can tell where I am going with all this. I took Amber Dawn's comment, "make sure to have the pink stand out, make them pretty, sparkly if you can" totally to heart! So far I have only completed the first step ... I completely pink-glitterified the links (simple white glue) and am on to the second step of coating them in a high gloss varnish - one coat down, but at least one (if not two) more to go. Here they are drying in my fancy drying rack (those would be toothpicks for holding the links and masking tape over a small glass bowl for a rack).

Here's a closer view:

Once they have all been varnished, I'm going to use silver "pins" to sandwich a pink glass bead between two tiny clear Swarovski crystals and make the loop for a hanger and add a jump ring ... voila! Honestly, the photo's don't really do them justice - they are much prettier in hand (even at this stage) than photographed.

Ok, the cranes are calling me back to finish folding (folding 1 1/4 inch squares is a bit taxing, but tiny cranes look very sweet).

How's your weekend shaping up?

does anyone know how ...

... to make paper more durable/solid?

I have been working on a few ideas for the Think Pink Charm Exchange, but nothing is hitting the mark ... I really, really want to figure out how to make paper cranes that are sturdy ... they'd be perfect for the project (remember the Sadako Sasaki story?) - appropriate, don't you think?

I have these wonderful pink papers that would be perfect to use, some super fine glitter and pink Swarovsky bicone crystals that I could suspend from the center for an extra little sparkle ... I can totally see them and really think they could be terrific ... if anyone has any suggestions, I would be most grateful.

Updates & Awards Time

I was in touch with the project planner for the Diary 2009 Project in hopes to send an updated version of the first image - it occured to me that the print was going to be really small and that the grayed out area made my web address look kind of muddied ... she didn't have any problem with the updates ...

... AND ...

... she has decided to use the second design. I find myself more drawn to the second one, so was thrilled when she sent the date - February 15th. Here are the final versions of both dates:

This was a fun project to be involved in. I don't know what the cost of the books are/is going to be, but considering the number of artists that are involved, it ought to be worth whatever the price. I'm definitely hoping it's within my budget & if it is, maybe I'll just purchase the disc and print them out myself. All said and done, I'd be willing to do this again next year.

On to a different topic ...

Carmen from Writing from Life recently presented me with this:

The Arte y Pico Award is presented blogger to blogger ... in researching the origin, I visited the site (via the wonderful imperfection of its translated version as I cannont read Spanish) and came across this statement:

What is the meaning of the expression: Art and Pico And basically, ironically, it translates into a wonderful phrase in Mexico, “lo maximo.” LOL! It will never find its counterpart in English, but if it HAD to, it would be something like, Wow. The Best Art. Over the top.

Wow. I like the word ... it simply says so much. :) So, to continue paying it forward, I would like to present it to the following five blogs:

Monica - for without her (& the Pink Artists Community Doll Project) I wouldn't even be blogging ... seriously ... if you still don't believe me, check out this very first post

Vanessa - because my head is STILL spinning from her most Fanciful Mad Tea Party!

Sandy - it's all in the name ... ok, inside joke ... go visit her.

Jessi - simply for the sake that she's FINALLY opened her Etsy store and I know you've been just itching for a lil shopping spree!

Amber Dawn - if it hadn't been for her, I would never have tried a Charm Challenge or done the Diary 2009 Project, so that's definitely inspiration, dontcha think? ... ps - she stole my middle name!

If you were selected for the award, please pay it forward by following these steps:

1) Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material, and overall contribution to the blogger community, regardless of the language.

2) Post the name of the author and a link to his or her blog so everyone can view it.

3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award.

4) The award-winner and the presenter should post the link of the "Arte y pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Please post these rules!

I guess when it rains it pours ... when I logged on today, I was surprised to find that Denise at Couture de Papier has bestowed this lovely little sparkly on me:

The rules of accepting are as follows:

1) Put the logo on your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4) Add links to those blogs on yours.

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Here are my 7 nominated blogs:

Donna

Marilyn

Kathryn

Marlou B

Lea

Christine

Cathie

... and on that note, I have stuff to make and a spouse that's itchin for his turn in the chair ... I'll be sure to let all my nominee's know in the next day or two.
Cheers! ~M~

Nothing Like Waiting Until The Last Minute ...

ok, not quite the last minute ... I'm about 23 hours and 35 minutes away from the very last minute ... *giggles* ... I must be tired as I can tell I'm a bit punchy. In an effort to avoid rambling for days, I'll get to the point. Remember the 2009 Diary Project that I signed up for? I posted my first design attempts on THIS post to get some feedback (I recieved such a great response and the feedback helped ... A LOT, so thank you). The format for the pages really threw me for a loop ... 1350X2400 Pixels in .jpg ... eek ... doesn't really translate to an 8.5x12 inch piece of paper very easily, but I think I figured it out (guess we'll really know when the project is complete and can hold a copy in our hands).

Anyway, here's what I just sent over:

In the last email that the project coordinator sent she mentioned that she still had pages that weren't taken. I didn't respond requesting another date, but I did go ahead and do another design ... I followed up my first email with a second one letting her know that if she was (is?) still looking for more designs and liked it, I could easily add the date ... this is the second design:

and on that note, I think it's time for bed.