Watch the Birdie

I have developed an obsession with birds. I think I can trace this back to the raven I used in my "Nevermore" altered cigar box last October. I have been longing for Spring, which also explains this obsession somewhat...our morning temp here in Paradise was a whooping 37 this morning.

I found these delightful pressed wood birdies at a craft store where they came a dozen to a package. I had thoughts of doing a swap with them...anyone want to play?

Two are done with Bisous.Biz papers and the 3rd. (the brown) is done with Graphic 45! I love both lines muchly!

Will be gone this weekend working a crop in Ft. Myers Fl. It is a fundraiser for Robert Duke's school hosted by his mother, G-a Duke, owner of KnK.

Too many ideas and too little time...

(I have no idea what order blogger will load these so match them up with my ramblings as best you can...stupid blogger!lol).

When Catherine and I were having breakfast Sunday, one of the things we talked about was how one of our scrapping problems was not that we couldn't think of things to create but rather that we had too many ideas flowing. I have found this to be particularly true this week.

When I created the little notebook for Catherine, I knew I had to make one for myself and then one for several friends...or at least get them into altering these darling little moleskin books too. I am almost afraid to go back to Barnes and Noble for fear 1)the notebooks will be gone 2) they won't be gone and I'll want to buy them in all shapes and sizes! And, because I love the way the alcohol inked glass square looked on Catherine's book cover, I got out the inks and made several more.

Then, on my way home from breakfast that day, I had to force myself not to stop at the craft store where I had found these way too cute little birdies made out of pressed wood. My fingers are twitching to cover every one of them and make fun birdies. I am thinking my papers from PDQ (bisous.biz) will be just perfect to make these birdies spring to life (sorry about the pun...can you tell I am done with our brisk weather here).

So, moving right along. I was at Ruban Rouge yesterday using the Accu Cut machine that Lisa makes available to her customers, and found this great little mini album...5 chipboard pages and each one is a different shape by Little Yellow Bicycle, one of my favorite companies. I picked up some of their papers and some others and, before I knew it, my scissors were snipping and glue was flying and I covered all the pages. Now to go back and turn this into a Valentine's for Chris and Kristen. (don't worry...my dd never reads my blog...I'm not sure she even knows I have one let alone two!lol)

And then, two days ago, by phone, Gerri-anne and Sonia (aka Sophia) of Kit N Kaboodle (www.knkclub.com)from Ft. Myers are helping me locate some papers I need for the class I am teaching on the upcoming Hilltop Memories cruise (www.hilltopmemories.com). Linda, the beloved owner of Hilltop, found the cool word book for me and you can order one from her! Now, G-a and Sonia are in Ft. Myers in a store describing papers to me over the phone and giving me sites on line so I can see what they are describing. And, that is how I ordered some of my papers for the Cruise class...lol. Again, LYB for a bunch of them. I wanted to go nautical this year as opposed to the tropical I've been doing for the cruises.

And, finally, my "Birds of a Feather" class for Linda's Winter Retreat...this is a tiny sneak peek only. I am done with the album which celebrates women's friendships and now am doing all the 'fun' stuff like running off templates and pictures and gathering supplies.

See what I mean...too many ideas and too little time...and wait til you see the butterfly album I did for KnK...it was far too much fun. I'll put it up tomorrow!

Love to all

A little gift

And, of course, blogger loaded the pictures in reverse order...arggggggg.

I love the little moleskin notebooks. I found this one at Barnes and Nobel in a 3 pack and bought that and a few other sizes for fun. I met for breakfast with a new friend, Catherine and, as a lot of crafty people do, I made her a little something, this notebook. The vellum papers are by an incredible paper artist, Patricia diBona out of Atlanta, Ga. She has a web site that should not be missed. I believe I have a link on here or on my main blog, www.postingfromparadise.blogspot.com

A side comment about altering this notebook: can I just say how much I don't like Mod Podge? It goes on so gooey that it is hard to control. If you thin it by running a brush over your application, it leaves ridges and it takes forever to dry. When I took a class from Tim Holtz, someone asked what his favorite glue/sealer was and he recommended Golden Gel Medium, which I do like. Because I could not find Golden's and needed a sealer for a project, at that time, I picked up Liquitex Matt Gel and I love it! It dries quickly, seals well and is pliable. I used it on this book for Catherine and it is now my all time favorite. And, you can get it at JoAnne's in the art supply dept.

I am off to make a few more of these for some more friends and back to B&N for some larger sizes!

Challenge at A Cherry on the Top

Well, as usual, Blogger loaded these in a random order rather than in the one I had in mind.

I was one of five gals tagged at ACOT for a challenge. We had one week to incorporate "2009" into a project, layout or card. I cut chipboard to size and, using Zsiage numbers, EKSuccess and American Craft papers, letters, stickers and ribbons by both Memory Makers and American Craft and my Zutter Bind-it-all, created my own stadium book for 2009. This was a lot of fun and I completely enjoyed the challenge. Hope you can get some idea of this project despite the lack of order to the photos.

Have a great day and stay warm!

"Birds of a Feather" class

So far, so good. I do have another two or three of the chipboard pages done and, thanks to the wonderful gals at A Cherry on Top, I have some great friend quotes to print out on vellum for this class. This is a sample of what I will be teaching at Hilltop Memories Winter Retreat (www.hilltopmemories.com). This Grungeboard bracket book by Tim Holtz will be painted, Glimmer Misted, water colored, stamped, inked, Stickled and embellished to the gilt (er ah ) hilt! We'll have plenty of room to add friendship quotes and photos and finish it all off with lovely sheer ribbons. Each person taking the class will get the book, a full pad of 8x8 Bontanical Bliss papers by Tinkering Ink and the use of Tattered Angels' stencils and Glimmer Mist, Lyra and acrylic paints and a variety of inks.

I can't wait until Winter Retreat to teach this class. Many thanks to G-a at KnK Club for supplies and to Linda at Hilltop for having our wonderful Winter Retreat!

Long time no see

Between our company, the holidays and some DT commitments, I haven't been able to just sit and play. Well, I did get to do this this past weekend at an informal gathering and, while not an official Hilltop Crop, our fearless leader, Linda did provide us with a traveling store, paper goods and a wonderful breakfast casserole.

I got this " Words to Live By" done with a bunch of my favorite quotes but also the cover to our family Christmas album, and the pages inside plus the album for the Stocking Pal Exchange. Now to find all the pics for the albums!

Hope there are one or two of you out there who have not given up on me blogging here! Love to all,