Silver Bella Nightmares

Last night I had a nightmare. I was at Silver Bella and I had decided to leave early. Then I remembered that I hadn't gone to Rebecca Sower's "Prayer Collage" class yet. And I ran back in and everyone was out of the room (it was like school) and I couldn't find Teresa to tell her that I had to get in Rebecca's class. And then....I forgot to shop!!! That's Natalea with her hands full of something good at Second Chance Antiques in Omaha! See Janey in the background.

I'm sure none of that will really happen to me.

Jam Up and Jelly Tight...remember that song?

Natalea started an ATC Jam that I participated in, along with my BFF Virginia (who is going to Silver Bella with me this year, btw). Above are the last 3 ATCs in the "jam". If you click on Natalea you can scroll down and see the other 6. One person makes the ATC base, the 2nd person adds the main subject and the 3rd person adds the finishing touches. The above three are the ones I added the final touches to.

Banner Days

I've been making banners for a year or so now.... I really like the size and just the idea of a pennant or banner as a celebration. The pennant or banner above is just something I made for a friend (Natalea) to stick in with some ATCs that we had been doing in an ATC Jam she started. (more about that later) This is a Summer Banner that I did in a swap I hosted on the Christian Paper Artists List ... link is on the side here. The pennants left to right are by: Me, Anna, Stephanie, Phyllis, Chris and Corbi! We are going to do some more swaps like these for the future seasons such as winter, Valentines, autmn, and I am thinking some other banners for other celebrations we may have in our lives, too. If you would like to get in on one of these and you aren't a member of Christian Paper Artists Yahoo Group, please come join us. I'm the moderator and I'll let ya in!

Fish Pedicure

Did you see this? I'll probably get sued or something for putting it on my blog. But here is a link: Fish Pedicure! It was on Good Morning America on Tuesday, I think, the 22nd. I want those fish to suck on my feet!

It's Hurricane Season on the Gulf Coast

Wanda Won!

Made a little hanging for Wanda... who won the drawing for my One Year Anniversary! And put it in a box with a few other goodies! She has it in her possession now, so thought I'd post a picture. Thank you all that commented on those posts!

Silver Bella 2008

Silver Bella 2007 Revisited! Above is one photo of some of my goodies from the event in 07. This photo above is from Vendor night...which is also dress-up night. Last year the theme was something like Cowgirl Prom ... can't remember.... Junk Gypsy kind of wear. From left to right: Me, Sharon, Natalea and Janey.

The photo above is also from vendor night at Silver Bella 2007.

Sooo... the point of all this is to tell you that I'm registered for Silver Bella 2008! Booked my hotel room and my plane ticket! I got all my first choice classes! And.....even better.....my BFF Virginia is going with me!!!!!!!!!! Last year I had just the greatest time ever - didn't know anyone when I got there...but made some great friends. See posts here and any in November of 2007. This year I have two classes with Charlotte Lyons, one with Pam Garrison, one with Rebecca Sower and one with Jenni Bowlin. There is a great lineup of teachers (including Sally Jean Alexander) ..... and Mary Engelbreit is the Guest Speaker at the luncheon on Saturday. Vendor night is always a huge affair, too! You can see the classes here - I bet you could still get in!

Anniversary Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner! I drew Wanda's name out of all those leaving comments since the "contest" began. I will upload a teaser photo later today of the box of goodies headed to Wanda. Knowing that she is going to Silver Bella helps me to know what she NEEDS in her box! Congratulations, Wanda. And thank you to all of you for commenting!

Life CAN Be a RAK

I had a great mail day on Saturday! Katie sent me this darling angel tag that I had admired on her blog . Also in the package was a sweet blue notepad and a Mary Englebreit tag...all wrapped in blue polka dot paper! Anna.... who spoils me terribly .... sent me a beautiful apron ... black cut velvet on gold and lined in black. She MADE this! It's a Diva Apron!!!! And.... a delightful book - that she ALSO MADE! It's titled The Artist's Survival Kit and is filled with fun charts and tips. It's great. Well, she says the apron is my win on her blog giveaway and the book is my RAK from her on the CPA Yahoo Group - which she did owe me. So, she's right - I guess I did deserve these things. haha She also sent her pennats for the summer banner swap I'm hosting - but I'll save those to show later. I didn't get any good mail today. sigh!!!

Reading level warning

Rate your blog Do you really want to know? I must use some big artsy words on here?

Art for friends

One of the women on staff at my church has recently begun chemo and radiation. I made her this piece with a scripture that reflects some thoughts she had shared recently on her blog.

And this is a pennant/banner I made for a friend's recent birthday!!!! I really like the girl on there....will be using her again. She has attitude!!! Remember - you can click on the picture to see it larger!

By the Sea Inchies

I hosted a By the Sea Inchie swap over on Christian Paper Artists... got those mailed back out last week. The above is a sampling of them done by 11 women:

Cindy Ericsson, Corbi, Chris McNeal, Anna Tremblay, Emily P., Christy Grant, yours truly, Virginia, Barb J., Lori N., and Phyllis! If any of you girls have a blog send me the link and I'll put it up!

This is a little mermaid Cindy Ericsson made for me as a hostess gift! Isn't that sweet?

One Year Later!

I realized today that I missed my one year anniversary. I was so sure it was late July when I had begun blogging. Well... it wasn't. It was June 20th. And on that first blog post, I had two comments. One was from Anna, who was anonymous back then as she had not yet begun to blog. And the second comment was from Arlene, whom I did not know. Doesn't it always excite you when someone you don't know comments on your blog!!! I was so thrilled. Kimla Kay was the next person to comment a couple of posts later. I got to meet her at Silver Bella 2007 - a real sweetheart and now a new mom. You know the internet changed my life in so many ways. I'm one of those people that is pretty much "self taught". I seldom take classes, I "figure it out" on my own - and the internet and html, etc. fall into the "figure it out" part of me. My DH says he created a monster when he brought the first computer home to me back in the DOS days. I remember the slowness of the internet when I first got online and look at us today! Between my yahoo groups and blogging - I have friends all over the world that I would never have known. I know the same is true for all of you that read this. And it has certainly expanded my artistic leanings, not to mention the rest of my life. Thank you for reading my blog and leaving comments - which are so important to bloggers - and if you don't have a blog, get one! I'll help you if you need help. I'm still wondering when Natalea is going to use what I showed her. Big Grin inserted here. Here is a link to my first post. So....what do people do to celebrate blog events and anniversaries? They have a GIVEAWAY!!! (is that one word?) So leave a comment on this post or a later one between now and next Monday .... the 14th.... and I'll draw a name for a prize!!! I have to figure out what that prize will be - so humor me here. I'm sure it will be good.

What's On Your Mantle?

I was in a patriotic swap that produced this! I love banners... I tend to mail them to people - so this is the only one I actually possess. I plan to rectify that right away though. This swap was hosted by Anna-Marie on Christian Paper Artists! The above square was made by Chris. This one (above) was made by Anna-Marie. The Betsy Ross one was done by Corbi, who has no blog, but is Chris' mom. I made these two to send off and then I made some extras to fill in my banner. I used napkins for the base over cardstock. So the fill-in ones are just the napkins showing. I found the ribbon at Hobby Lobby and I tied three different ones together to string my banner pieces up. Did you make anything special for the 4th of July?

What's on Your Front Porch?

Happy 4th of July!

Help yourself to these images! Have a great 4th! I'll be back before then.... I hope!