Working to catch up....

It is a very dark and gloomy in Pittsburgh today and the rain is pouring down. There have been warnings of high winds (there were tornadoes not too far from here several week ago) so everyone is on high alert. In spite of the lack of sun and warmth, I must say that I feel better than I have felt since the beginning of the year!
I was grateful to Mimi for updating everyone about the fact that I was in the hospital for almost a week. I have been dealing with recurrent bouts of diverticulitis for months and will be facing surgery, probably in May, to remove the diseased parts. Right now my area of focus is to get healthier and remain that way so the surgery can be done as an elective and not an emergency.
I can't thank you enough for your prayers, kind emails, notes, cards and gifts during my illness. I am constantly amazed by the graciousness of the women in my blogging circle. You have made me feel buoyed by your spirit and encouraged by your words of faith. You are all a treasure and if not for the wonderful love and care of David, our children and family in addition to my friends, I would not have been able to heal and improve the way I have. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
When you are ill or recovering from an illness or surgery, it is hard to be motivated to create. Many times I walked in to my craft studio (which, by the way, looks like a tornado went through it!!), looked around and walked out again. I did have some assignments to complete which forced me to think creatively and once I started last week....I have been able to accomplish some things....
My sister celebrated her birthday last week....it was a big birthday...a really, really, really big birthday. I had purchased some things for her but wanted to make something, too. Some time ago I had purchased art pieces from Michelle Palmer that were bird-related. I've spoken many times about her art and how much I love her pen & ink sketches on fabric. I gathered a wren, nest and egg and arranged them (along with some pretty feathers Michelle had included with my package) in a shadowbox frame I purchased at Michael's. (Isn't Michelle's attention to detail amazing?)

I added  hemp twine and some coordinating buttons to finish it off.

I also sent her a sequinned crown....because when you have a really, really, really big birthday...you get to be Queen for the day.

Other scrapbook related supplies were wrapped up and the package was sent last week.

 I  received my purchase last week,  from my dear friend Elizabeth of Creative Breathing, who was down-sizing her craft room. I was lucky to put in a request for these lovely gals...

Do you recognize them? Well, here is a clue....

Right! The Lennon Sisters! Those of us of a certain age will remember watching Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights for 13 years. Elizabeth created these pegdolls in honor of the Lennons. They are adorable! In addition to the pegdolls, Elizabeth also treated me to some vintage cards from her collection......these have wonderful graphics and I know I'll get a lot of use from the images!



I also received an unexpected but delightful gift from my friend Mary K. of Thyme To Spare. Mary remembered that I collect carrots (I know, it's crazy but there are sooooo many different ones to be found around Easter time!) She made me a fabric carrot bouquet....are you jealous? They are just the cutest and be sure to notice the adorable card that came with the gift....a bunny driving a carrot card. Wonderful!

I am so blessed and grateful to all of you for caring for me. Thank you!

xoxo

joyce





My Swap with Mary-Part 2

I promised to show you the things I sent to Mary for our one-on-one swap and include a tutorial for the handmade item. I chose a wooden house shape from Say it With Letters (one of my favorite resources).

The quality of these pieces is excellent and I never even have to sand them. I think the hardest part of any paper piecing project is choosing the papers to use. Once I decide on the papers, the work goes relatively quickly. These were the papers I picked for Mary's house.

I like to mix patterned paper with text paper or sheet music and also ledger papers work well with patterned papers also. I love that ruler paper and thought it would work out for the roof line.

It was coming together nicely. I wanted to add a door to hang a wreath on but the

 proportions were not quite right...

I decided to turn the house into a birdhouse....

Here are the wreaths...one for the fall and one for winter. They were made using stamps from Papertrey Ink (another favorite resource) stamped onto cardstock and then mounted on cardboard from a cracker box (the perfect weight, right Elizabeth?)

You can see that I've used small pieces of hook and loop dots (Velcro) on the back of each wreath... there is also Velcro on the front of the birdhouse. This way, the wreaths can be changed out at the seasons.

So that the wreath not being displayed doesn't get lost...on the back of the birdhouse there is more Velcro to store the extra wreath...

Mary needed a tenant for her new birdhouse so I covered a chipboard bird with

some patterned paper and attached it to the front of the house.

Next some details were added. Stamped flourishes were next and a bingo marker with the #26 which is Mary's real house number. Here is the fall look with the twig and berry wreath...

and the winter look with the leaves and berries...

Take some time to visit Deb at Say it With Letters. She has a large variety of wooden shapes and letters in different fonts. Any piece can be cut in sizes ranging from very small to very large. I have been using Deb's products for years now and am always delighted, and, she's a heck of a sweet lady, too!

The other items I sent in Mary's package..some birdie stamps and chipboard birds for Mary to play with..

Chocolate...can't craft without it!

A pretty blue china plate and a bird in a nest...Mary loves blue flowers...

A cute original pumpkin sketch by the uber talented Mchelle Palmer, whose art is amazing!

One on one swaps...they're great fun!

Thanks again Mary, I really enjoyed our little Fall Swap!

xoxo

Joyce

Pretty mail from Etsy friends always lifts my spirits...

Among my favorite sellers on Etsy are Elyse Major, Sharon Wideman and Michelle Palmer. I placed orders with these ladies recently and so my mail has been especially pretty...

Many different handcrafted items can be found at Tinkered Treasures, Elyse's Etsy store. She decorates standard clothespins in the most charming way. Painting them a soft color and then using papers with tiny floral motifs to embellish, they are the perfect thing to clip some important papers together or just generally cuten (is that a word...cuten?) up your craft studio. She also makes les petit tiroirs (little drawers in French)...the perfect "little something" to use as a gift....or keep for yourself.

 Here is Elyse (isn't she a cutie pie?)...

and her blog, Cottage, can be found here.

 It is a treat to read her blog and see beautiful pictures of the delightful things she makes and read about how she decorates her charming home, which will be featured in a future edition of Cottage Style magazine.

I have purchased items to use as gifts from Elyse's Etsy shop before, but this time the goodies are staying right here at my house. This is what I received...

Even her business cards and tags are sweet. (The bear already lives here..he's just helping with the display.) You can visit Elyse's Etsy store here or her Lollishop Shoppe here.

Sharon Wideman also has an Etsy store, My Vintage Studio, with a combination of vintage items and handcrafted tags and collages. I have spoken about Sharon before because we were partners in the Swap for All Seasons Cabinet Card Swap in December. I wrote about that here and also showed some other tags I purchased from Sharon's store here. Sharon has also helped me several times with sizing  my blog header.

Her work is impeccable and I am a big fan. Right now for the month of June, her vintage items are on sale. You can see them here. Sale? I love a sale. I purchased the dainty china plate with the delicate lavender flowers and the set of four soup spoons pictured here...

The tag was a little extra special item that Sharon added. I love it and it will probably end up on my inspiration board. You can find Sharon's blog here.

I know this post is "link" heavy but how else will you find these amazing women if you are not already familiar with them?

Michelle Palmer is an amazing pen and ink artist. I discovered her through a giveaway she had on her blog in May. Once I visited her blog and saw her artistry,  I totally fell in love with her work. I have purchased many pieces from Michelle which I can't show at this time because some of them will be gifts but I had to share this with you...

Please know that the images are not printed on this sweet little slip...they are hand-drawn. Look at the exquisite detail...

Isn't it beautiful?

 Do yourself a favor and visit Michelle's blog and her Etsy store. You will fall in love, too.

Back to work for me...

xoxo

Joyce