Sew what?

...going to my daughter's to sew curtains and pillows for a day or so...

Journal Mosaic Faves!

1. Angels Day 10 -11, 2. Santa Mamushka, 3. IMG_3064.JPG, 4. page one, 5. the nostalgic book of days, 6. angel, 7. Just a Few More Bitty Bits for Jenny's Swap, 8. Sparkle Bella display board, 9. Canvas Original

just stuff

Friday night found me eating at Irma's.... an old Houston establishment...

hidden away a couple of blocks from the ballpark...

which we walked to...

we went with friends and had a great time.

The Astros beat the Mets. It was a great game. The Astros swept the Cardinals last week, too! However, the Mets won the games Saturday and Sunday...

I did inform Nell Hill's about the broken piece on my birdcage hanging.

They called me.

They sent me an autographed book..with a note to me!

And.... they returned my $20 shipping charge!

Isn't that the best?!

They have free shipping through the end of September if you want to check them out.

Anna's envelope arrived full of her banners for the Joy Jingle Banner Swap I'm hosting!

She put a lot of time into my envelope! I ALWAYS love that!

Do you have a favorite coffee mug? I borrowed this cup from here.

Wings and More!

Just some little sneak peeks at pages for a QB5 Swap! We each have a small book to be worked in. These are pages for Margaret's book on Things with Wings! Below is what my sister-in-law brought me for my birthday last weekend. Yes, my birthday was in May....but I just now saw her. And, yes, they are from Anthropologie! A bird pitcher/duck pitcher! And two tea towels with birds on them and one has pom-pom fringe!!!! Have you seen these bags at Target? They're in school supplies! They are basically pencil bags....but I'm sure I need them!

Getting showered!

I stitched this little hanging last week for my future daughter-in-law.

It served as a gift tag on my gift at Saturday's shower.

So thought I should show you.

I just kind of drew it and stitched...turned out okay.

The wedding is obviously...in September....

Here are the 5 hostesses in the back with family that arrived early in the front!

So you've been warned....

wedding and pre-wedding photos

are going to start showing up more here for awhile....

...and before you ask -

the gift with the flower on the front of

the long package... was from BFF Virginia,

whose work has been exhibited

here in the past.

Mail from a special friend

There are those amongst you that realize I have a

bird obsession.

I am so thankful for you

and

for the fact that you find it healthy to feed this obsession.

You send me quality sustenance!

Margaret found this book...

she lives in Switzerland...

and apparently English books are

not greatly sought after!

The book is in perfect condition.

Here are a few pages for you to lust after.

I am sure I will be traipsing over

to Kinko's with my book one day soon to

color copy the entire thing -

probably

several times!

Don't you love the black and white drawings in the background! I was so excited and so surprised when this arrived!

Thank you, Margaret!!

Vintage Songbird Collage Swap Slideshow

A couple of posts back I showed you what I sent and what I got in Danielle Muller's Vintage Songbird Collage Swap. Danielle has a slideshow of all the pieces on her blog now....

click here and go see!

They are all incredible.

Solder Saves the Day!

Remember this post?

The one about the wonderful half of a birdcage that hangs on your wall?

Well, I ordered it and I did receive it.

But I just wanted to warn you if you order one.....

I paid $20 for shipping and handling ....

they wrapped it really well in giant bubble wrap

and then a black trash bag for the outside.

But...they should have used some cardboard around that top part.

Lucky for all of us....

I didn't panic when I opened it

and saw that the top metal part was bent in shipping.....

and when I straightened it ....

it broke right off!!!!

It would be great if I could weld!!!

But...I can solder - and that did work.

It doesn't hang from that part...so it just needed to be slightly strong!!!!

I have to say that the soldering job pictured below did NOT hold and I had to redo it.

The hardest part was getting the foil tape to stick.

But I finally got it fixed!

I wanted to hang it somewhere downstairs so that EVERYONE could enjoy it!!!

But there just isn't a good place for it.

So I took my bulletin board down and now it hangs over the table in my art room.....

which is really the best place for it!

Doncha love it?

Vintage Bird Swap Flies In!

Remember the Vintage Bird Swap at Danielle's blog that I joined a few months ago? Above is my offering ... before I found my carpet tacks and attached the wire hanger (and never took another photo of it). Well......yesterday I received the art from my swap partner!!!! See below....it's so wonderful.

I really got a great swap partner, don't ya think? Her name is Susi and this is her blog.

I tried to capture the color and texture by tweeking this in Photoshop.... never did really do it justice! Take my word it is exquisite....

Inspiration again!

I'm doing Teresa's current Ezine A Journal of Interest

and Pam Garrison

showed us how to do her pages.

Now she's shown me before...

on her blog and also in the publications I go to the stores and buy.

But finally....it's starting to sink in.

So here are two pages I made yesterday -

when I should've been working on a swap.....

I'm also hosting a swap on Christian Paper Artists called The Joy Jingle Banner!

We have a template size,

and the color scheme of pink/orange/yellow

and it must have a jingle bell affixed to it.

Well....Miss Lynn at Create Breathe

has a picture of her contribution to it....

I am continually blown away by the stuff she makes...

and here is just one more awesome thing!

Go check her out!

Remember my stitched sampler a few posts below?

Well, I believe I told you Amy was my inspiration for that.

Her sampler is completed and below is a peek at it.

Go to her blog Inspireco

and see the entire gorgeous, exquisite creation!!!!

You are going to L O V E it!!

Who is inspiring you these days?

The "to-be's"...

It seems I'm on the shower circuit these days. I've been partying with the "to-be's" since Thursday. Either brides, moms or grandmothers "to-be"..... So I have been a little bit less focused on paper art..... but I did get a swap mailed one day last week...my 19 pages for A Little Bird Told Me. I have my quote on the backs.

And, yes, it's my old familiar scripture text nests. I have an

old New Testament that is falling apart and what better way to

use it than by spreading the Word in art projects!

Sunday as I was driving to my last event of the weekend... I realized I hadn't

taken a photo of the little ornament I made to hang on the gift.

So at the red light I was taking pictures ...

hopefully no one was watching me

photograph the passenger seat!

So I apologize that it's not the greatest shot.

I just stitched a piece of a doily

on the back!

Here is a blurry shot of dessert at a "grandmother-to-be"

party I helped give on Thursday.

The theme was "Growing Grandbabies"!

So we had a garden tea party.

Gotta get to work on my Joy Jingle Banners

that are due the end of the month!

Oh...and the QB5 swap is going strong... pictures to

appear this week!

Rain

Someone sent me this in an email. I have googled it and searched You-Tube, but can't find it. If anyone knows where it came from, who it is, etc., please let me know and I will give them credit. I love it!

Summer Stitches

DONE!

Canton was Hot!

I'm back! Great 4th of July weekend

at Melinda's lake house!

Yes, I did go to First Monday Trade Days

in Canton.

Yes, it was over 100 degrees.

Yes, I was very hot.

Yes, it was worth it.

We bought some trim and ribbon right off and then made our way to the back

to the big air conditioned barn! And after buying the wee little doll

pictured further down, I rounded a corner to see "my kind of booth" and thought

this looks like Willow Nest! And...sure enough - it was!

Please know that the bird fan I'm holding is NOT from Linda/Willow Nest, nor did I buy it anywhere.... Linda's husband handed it to me and I said I'd just hold it for the picture...looks pretty! I did see the booth that was selling it later... should've taken a picture of them.

I visited Willow Nest's booth at Zapp Hall in Warrenton last October and her friend that was managing it didn't want me to put any pictures of it on my blog....

so that's why you haven't seen it before on here.

Anyway..... I mentioned Silver Bella to her....and guess what!

She's going to be a vendor!

How exciting is that!

Seems Carol of Raised in Cotton has told her all about it and got her to come.

Anna .... see I do use that bag you gave me!

I didn't buy much.... it reallllllly was hot!! Below is all I got, but you and

I know that the joy is in the hunt!

Melinda and I got these glasses in Canton, too.

Did you love these vintage pictures at the top?

You should visit Full Table.

Be prepared to spend some time there.

HOT

It's hot in Texas! I never did take a new photo of the recent stitching below...without the blue lines...

You can only see a little blue.

Think I need to go back and add

some stitching to separate the

house and the heart!

Or not?

And I can't decide if

I should put

berries on

the vine?

As in

french knots.

...and why are my scheduled posts not uploading?

Happy 4th of JULY! I've gone to the lake! Enjoy!