Karla & Beth's Vintage Workshop Birds & Bonnets Exchange

When I decided to take part in Karla & Beth's Vintage Workshop Birds & Bonnets Swap, I really had no idea what I was signing up for. This was the very first time I tried my hand at working with vintage papers and collage type things are definitely not my forte - I am a true novice in this arena ... I was pleased with myself that I even finished (chech here to see what I did). What I didn't expect was to be so blown away by the creativity and talent that soooo many people put into their gorgeous creations.

Take a look at the gems I received:

Above you'll find the front and back of one panel done by the incredible artist, Kathy L. Kathy has definitely inspired me to try my hand at using some different textures and layering with a little more height ... so lovely! You can find Kathy at her blog: Country Chintz.

This panel (front and back) was created by the very talented Nancy R from My Crafty Little Page. I really love how she used the fabric trim (so sweet!) and that feather is brilliant! I don't think the photo's do justice to the fine details Nancy made.

Above it the two-sided panel created by the amazing Brenda S. at Dragon Lady. I'll be honest - I don't know how she accomplished the one on the left. It looks like a collage and has a ghosted quality to it, but other than the ribbon at top and bottom, the piece is completely flush ... seamless. It's really lovely. I really like the gorgeous details that went into the side on the right.

The above panel is by the gifted Heidi N. from Liquorish. The two flower buttons are most impressive - the papers are really pretty and I especially love the sparkly centers.

These two (above and below) show the complete piece with all four panels attached. Feel free to click on any of the photo's to take a closer look.

Many, many thanks to both Karla and Beth for hosting such a wonderful event. They made this such a great experience; I would not hesitate to participate in another event like this ... and after all the amazing pieces I've seen, I have soooo many new things that I just HAVE to try my hand at.

Birds & Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap

Here are the last two panels for Karla & Beths Birds & Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap

:

I think I like the first two a little better. When I finished them I had the idea to use birds as bonnets ... I think the idea (or my image of it) was a little better than the execution ... I have to admit that the thought still amuses me. All I need to do now is the backs and then I can ship them out. :)

I have some work stuff that I need to do, but if I get that done early enough, I plan on working on the charms ... painting the edges silver. I really like the effect - I'm using silver airplane paint, so it looks great when it's done.

Birds & Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap

Last night I finally took some time to work on the panels for Karla & Beth's Birds & Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap. I had myself a bit of performance anxiety and decided just to throw those thoughts right out of my head ... I sometimes forget that the best creations tend to come when you are creating simply for the joy of creating. I won't pretend that all I make will one day be masterpieces, but I can promise that what I make will come from a place of love and happiness. Here's what I came up with last night:

Question ... the one on the left ... do you think it needs legs? I kind of like that the legs aren't there, but if it throws things off, it won't be hard to add ...

I'm thinking that I'll do two more designs and will copy the four on the backs (using different designs than whats on the front). At the rate I am going, I'll have them submitted well before the deadline. Phew!

What else ... OH!! I just treated myself (with the blessing of uber-spouse) to two lovely little treats ... first, I bought one of Monica's doll forms from her Etsy shop ... check it out:

Aren't they just FABULOUS?!? I only bought one of them, so there is still one available in her shop. I was telling my honey that if it's half as great as I think it will be, I'm going to have serious struggles altering it!

And second ... from A Fanciful Twist's delightful Etsy store I am running away with these amazing post cards:

Oh happy MAY!!

Friday Fill-In #70

Friday Fill-Ins #70

1. Two of my favorite ingredients in a drink are chai tea & steamed milk ... or Chambord & sour!
2. The depth of human kindness often amazes me.
3. You can keep doing that forever, the dog is a cyborg.
4. A handful of dried appricots, some dried pineapple, some yogurt covered raisins, cashews and some dark chocolate morsals, mix it all together and voila! You have a lovely snack!
5. If I had a yard with a garden, I would love to grow macadamia nuts, cashews and/or pistachios ... ok, so trees aren't really garden plants, but I do have a garden and we are growing tomatoes, peppers, salad greens, herbs, sunflowers (soon to be, at least) and other pretty stuff plus the mango tree and avacado tree look like they'll actually bear fruit this year, so now I want a nut tree and if you're gonna have a nut tree, doesn't it make sense to pick the nuts you love the best?!?
6. Honey is best au naturel.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to working on the charms, panels & the spouses challenge, tomorrow my plans include begging off work early and Sunday, I want to sleep in and then continue celebrating the entire month of May!

Happy Birthday to ME!

OK, not really quite yet - the official day is the 29th, but about 9 years ago I decided that it would be fun to celebrate for the entire month of May.

*big cheesy grin*

Lucky for me, my family and friends are really good sports ... it's a lot of fun and I highly recommend that everyone adopt this method of celebration. This morning I woke to a little package ... uber-spouse & awesome-critter gave me a set of rechargable batteries (with a charger) - woohooooo! AND they brought me some sushi for lunch ... just a pack from the grocery store, but it was a FABULOUS treat just the same. No, I don't get prezzies every day till the 29th, but I do get random treats between now and the big day ... and this year it really is a big day ... I'm turning

++++ 40 ++++

hehe - pretty cool

I also got an email letting me know that I could participate in Karla & Beth's Birds & Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap. The deadline to sign up had passed (I didn't ask to be let in on the swap; just shared that I was a little bummed to learn about it after the deadline), so it was a really lovely and unexpected surprise receiving the email saying that I could join the swap ... how cool is that?!? I've never worked with vintage images and don't have a lot of collage experience. Just the same, I am REALLY looking forward to playing around with these fun little treasures ... I just checked out the images and they are super fabulous!

No updates on the Hub's challenge (my brain is trying, but hasn't quite wrapped itself around it ... I have ideas, but they are barely formed at this point). ... for some reason I keep seeing something like a gods eye ... hopefully I'll get it all together before the Sunday deadline.

I did work on the charms for the Black and White Charm Exchange last night. All the little plaques are sanded and one side has been painted black:

I don't know about you, but I'm definitely not the neatest paintress on the block (I admit it ... I LOVE getting my hands dirty when I paint). Tonight I'll be painting the flip side white. It won't take very long, so I'll probably get the chance to work on the panels for the Vintage Workshop Swap.

life sure is good. ~M~

5/1 before I hit the pillows update ... I did work on the charms again tonight. U-S was kind enough to take a couple more snaps for me. I think he's tired - they aren't as good as last nights shots ... ah well, they'll work:

I do like the reflection of my water dish - kind of looks like carnival glass.

Goodnight & thanks for all the fish! (tell me where I paraphrased that one from & I'll like you even better than I do right at this moment ...)