The Tag Swap and other ramblings....

I just finished making and sending off 20 tags for a Christmas in July tag swap. Each of the 20 paticipants was to make 20 tags and send them to Mary Ann, the hostess of our swap. They could all be the same or all different, it was our choice. She is going to use her binding machine and make each of us a little tag booklet with the 20 tags included. These kinds of swaps are always fun because you get lots of inspiration from the other artists. I made three different tags. A classic, origami tree tag....
A sweet little vintage image tag in pinks and greens. I used dimensional paint around her hood and cuffs that puffs up when you use a heat gun on it.....and of course glitter!I also added glittered snowflakes that my friend Viv sent me....I had to make a comical tag because that's my true love-the offbeat humor theme!I hope my swapmates like them. This is a new group for me so I'm a little nervous. It was fun to pull out Chrsitmas papers and stamps and trims. Never too early, right?I'm also participating in a really fun Block Party swap hosted by my sweet friend Elizabeth! She has said that anyone who sends her a 5-inch block made in their style will receive a 5-inch block made by Elizabeth in her style. I couldn't pass this one up! She will use all of the blocks we send to her to make a giant banner to hang in her craft room as a reminder of all of her readers. I thought that was a wonderful idea, for her and for us too! Anything created by Elizabeth is a treasure! The hardest thing was deciding which of my styles to use......colorful? shabby vintage? black & white? I'll show you what I decided on in my next post!

I got a wonderful package in the mail this week. My friend Marie had posted some things she wanted to giveaway to the first responders and I was lucky enough to win this cute little pillow. I was going to use it in a guest bedroom but it looks so cute in the family room on my favorite chair so that's where it will stay. Thanks Marie! Tell Bill that the big smile on my face when I opened it was worth the price of postage. Wink!

Have you seen this magazine yet? It just came out today and I have waiting for months with breathless anticipation because my favorite crafting artist of all time, Mary Englebreit, is featured with pictures of her studio. Who wouldn't love to create things here.....

She was my first inspiration for the crafting I've done over the years. I have followed her for over 25 years and was broken-hearted when the publisher stopped production of her Home Comapnion magazine. I keep hoping that some day it will return, if only as a quarterly publication.

This past week, 5 crafting friends got together at our local Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had torrential rain as we all hurried to get to the restaurant but our soggy shoes and damp, limp hair were soon forgotten as we talked, ate and laughed our way through a fun evening. It's important to get out with friends once in a while, it's good for the soul and of course we all bring "show and tell" things we're working on. One of the gals, Michele (sorry, no blog) made these cute paper dolls.She stamped the body parts with a paper doll rubber stamp and then assembled punched out circles for the dolls dress. She's also wearing a jaunty flower in her hair.....er, bald head. She came tucked in the little brown paper sack trimmed out with ribbon and pennants. Cute, huh?

THIS POST IS MY 91st POST. Of course I will plan a huge celebration of my 100th....but I need to tell you that it's taken me (over) 2 years to get to this point so I'm not sure when I'll get there. We're at one for one in August. Maybe I'll be diligent and hit it this month. Stay tuned!