Making Paper

I was inspried by an article in this magazine to try my hand at paper making.

The weather was sunny & warm, perfect for an outdoor kids craft project. 

First we gathered flowers from the garden, seeds, feathers & other 'nature' as the kids call it. 

Then we shredded up some old catalogs, Daddy some 8x10 screened frames & we were off!

Any project that involves water & getting messy is a winner here.

If you don't have Mary Janes Farm, there is a link to the project here.

Yes, Ms Butters has started Mary Jane TV.

So here are the fruits of their labors. A little bag,

and a card.  I'll be doing this again, the possibilities are endless!

*******************************

I just love the look & feel of beautiful handcrafted paper. The textures, the way it tears, it just elevates collage to a whole new level. I've purchased some pretty papers locally, at Asle Art in Fort Worth. Then I discovered PaperArts.com through KC Willis, & it was like finding buried treasure. The proprietor is C Grey, & you can tell from her site that she is passionate about paper. She offers very personal customer service, you can call & ask questions, she's so friendly. You could seriously spend hours browsing through her online catalog. I love the birds nest paper, it comes from Thailand & is made of compressed coconut hulls, feathers & other plants. Really cool stuff!
************************
I have to show you what my dear friend Pat made.

Pat is one of the sweetest, most generous & talented people I know. Someday she's going to teach me to crazy quilt, her work is amazing. 

 

Pat is self taught & I swear, this girl can do anything.  Re-do furniture, upholstery, stitching...you name it. Anyway, she found these sewing cabinet drawers & topped them with her special ribbon work & quilting.  They would be so precious in a craft room or anywhere else.  If your interested in purchasing them, go visit her blog, My Tattered Elegance.

Registration & some sales!

Click here for registration information!

My first 'big' teaching gig is coming in June! When I say big, I mean Texas Big!

Our Cowgirl Supreme Cindy, has the registration page up & it's loaded with all of the information you've asked for.  I am so excited to spend a whole 3 days meeting, playing & creating with bloggy friends new & old. 

***************************

I feel like I'm the only person in blogland not in Round Top right now.  Oh, how I hate missing all of the fun & great shopping.  So I decided to have my own little 3 day junkin extravaganza. Begining with a day with the girls.

Charlene, Pat & that other goober is me!

Day 1 - Benbrook Antique Mall

Charlene & I cleaned out one booth loaded with church lady hats, lace & tatting.  I'm not sure how these made it past the hoarders in Lawernce!

This baby is loaded!

Why does this stuff make my heart race so?

This picture is not great, but the bag stopped me in my tracks!

The hand work is remarkable, ribbon, beading, lace - just wonderful.

These mother of pearl birds were my splurge of the day.

This was my best deal of the day $3!

Day 2 - Take me to the thrift!

$1 for 8 wooden & metal hangers.

Loved this old gardening catalog.

Day 3 - Spring is here, & so is the junk!

My official start to garage sale season Rocked! I hit some amazing sales, like this!  I don't know what the stuff on top of this silver pin is, feels like horse hair.

This old box of ribbon was .10. NO LIE! In fact my grand total for the day was $20.

Don't you love the little capsules these lock & keys are in?

I flipped when I saw these little velvet ring boxes.

Cool rocks, bones & I think....a tooth?!

3 journals filled with writing.  This one had old checks, church bulletins & clippings.

Love little boxes, this one will be filled up with 'prettie's for someone special.

Well, I think I burned my laptop up loading all these pics.  I'm off to feed the family because tomorrow is Saturday....you know what that means????? More garage sales!  Kidding.

Happy weekend friends.

~Lisa

Swaps & sharing

I got my book of Alice tags last week, Karla did such a great job with this swap.  This was my initiation into swapping, & now I'm spoiled. My little packet came wrapped in vintage Alice pages, along with a tiny bottle to attach to the book.

Love all the little charms & ribbons dangling around.

The little 'drink me' tag is from junk-girl studio & the sepia toned with the sweet blue button is from my pen-pal Beth.

This one is from the divine Miss K herself!

A very cool, but anonymous Mad Hatter.  Whoever did it....I LOVE him!  I have a bad feeling that I forgot to sign my tags too. I was so worried about getting them sent on time.  If anyone got a crazy chicken tag, I made it.

Kathy of A Spectacular Mess used black, white & grey with lots of stitching. I love how this one looks amongst the bright colors of the others.

Even the back looks great. Thank you Karla for all of the hard work! I hope we didn't wear out your sewing arm too much.  I want you to host another swap sometime soon.

**********************

Speaking of swaps, I'm hard at work getting my Petite Inspiration Boxes ready to mail.  I'm having a blast gathering goodies for this one.  I asked Michelle Palmer to make some special little treats for each box.

Boy, did she ever.  Aren't they wonderful?

And this isn't a swap, but I had to show you what Lori made for my sweet Lily's Easter treat.

It is the teeniest, sweetest thing I've ever seen! She will scream when she sees this bunny sitting on the top of her basket.

**************************

While digging through my studio looking for treasures to put in my inspiration boxes, I found these images.

I found this ages ago, a blank Western Union sheet just for Easter!

This is my very favorite Easter card ever.  I just love the colors, so springy.  I've use it for everything from banners to pillows, hope you can find use for it in one of your projects.

I'm using this page for my swap & thought you might like it too.

I know this seems unthinkable but..... I am getting rid of some sacred back issues.  I know, I know, how can I??? It's just gotten to a point where my mag collection is taking over the house. I swear I need a storage unit to house them all.  Like the Library of Congress. Half price books will not pay anything for them, so before I donate I'm offering them to you.  If anyone wants them they are yours if you pay the media mail postage.  I have a bunch more too.  BH&G Special Interest like Do It Yourself, Creative Home etc. Let me know magazine hoarders!

Diane Knotts..'come on down'!

Lily pulled the winning name today for my 100 post give-away....Diane Knotts, I need your address!

Again, I'm blown away by your constant encouragement & thoughtful comments.  I read every single one & visited as many sites as I could last week.  I'm still working my way through the list, finding new places to draw inspiration from. 

I know I told you I was busy being Mommy all week...... but I did manage to sneek in some art time.  I've been creating some little charms for Heather's new swap. It's all about birds & nests, so I had to play!  I made some little chipboard buttons & I'm working on more resin charms. 

The new Belle Armoire Jewelry featured a story by Robin Sokel called 'The Mother of Invention'. She gives a detailed instruction for creating your own bezels.  I am not a jewelry maker of any sort, but I love to make little bobbles & bits to embellish my altered art.  This is my first attempt at her technique.

Since I had the resin mixed, I experimented with some Tim Holtz molds.  I love the way this turned out!

This one too! I can't wait to take these a step further.

Since those turned out so great, I thought I'd try old book pages.  When you apply resin to vintage book pages the result is very translucent. 

I used a candy mold for this.

 

This piece is made from a printers block, antique photo copy, & mica.

A view from the side.

This project came from one of my very favorite books, 'A Charming Exchange'.  Every time I read through this book I discover something new & amazing.

~Lisa