The Great Postcard Exchange!

It’s been a long time since I posted something to my blog. I have been SO BUSY—creating, creating, and CREATING! Let’s see—there was the fabulous Women’s Craft Show at Fort Mason in San Francisco in November. So much to make for that! The Flying Phoebe booth did extremely well… we were invited to come back for the second weekend (and did) and I sold more than I had imagined I would, including my little red, white and blue clad French doll. Then there was Christmas and the Phoebe Christmas party and exchange. I made a paperdoll for Zanaib that was embellished with images of butterfly wings.

And, then there were other things that got in the way—the taxes to get done and two Phoebe newsletters to coordinate and get published, and my new adventure as a demonstrator in the Embellishment Village booth at the Road 2 California Quilt Show in Ontario, CA in January.

But, I’m back! My first big project for the year was the Phoebe postcard exchange. Judy Fleck proposed the idea and eleven of us agreed to take on the challenge. It meant completing ten 5 ½ x 8 ½ inch collaged postcards and sending them out before the April Phoebe meeting. It took much more work than I thought it would, but I was totally immersed in the project and had a great time! Now I am finished with the ones I mailed out, and have been receiving the most fabulous surprises in my mailbox from my Phoebe friends! We are all putting together booklets of the cards we have received and will be exhibiting them at the Phoebe meeting in April. I just love them all! Everyone did such a terrific job! I will cherish them forever (and publish them on my blog when the set is complete!)

Today I am sharing with you the ones I made. Although I took the pictures with them standing up, they look a little bent in the middle. Actually, they are on a stiff backing, so I think it had something to do with the angle, or the close-up lens. Anyway, you get the idea!

This is the paperdoll I gave Zanaib for Christmas!




 

Crowns, Crowns and More Crowns

Ever since I started crafting crowns last year, I have been intrigued by the possibilities for embellishing them. Last year’s crowns are shown on the “Queen’s Accessories” page link at the top of my blog. I ended up selling all of my Halloween crowns and creating others for friends and family.

They are so much fun to make! This year the Flying Phoebe’s asked me to teach a workshop in April on how to make crowns . My mind has been filled with crowns ever since. Here are three of the new ones I have made recently. The pink one I made for my granddaughter, Emily, for her fifth birthday.

I have been experimenting with possibilities new to me—creating pinwheels from paper, rosettes from crepe paper and ribbon, and foiling and glittering techniques that I learned recently while working as a demonstrator for Embellishment Village, http://www.embellishmentvillage.com/ in their booth at the Road 2 California Quilt Show in Ontario, CA. I will be demonstrating again in their booth at the Rusty Barn Quilt Show in Sacramento, CA on Mar. 24-26. They sell fabulous supplies and materials that can be used on all types of mixed media projects, not just quilts! I have been having so much fun playing with their glue pen, foils and glitter.

My friend Diane Carter at ttp://www.cowgirlquiltdesigns.com/ introduced me to the technique of making exciting motifs using Angelina fibers and rubber stamps, including her wonderful leaf stamplate! Embellishment Village sells all the materials required. I will be passing along everything I have recently learned at my class in April. I will also be sharing these techniques at the “Enrichment” portion of the Flying Phoebe associate/member meeting in the evening after class. In the meantime, I have several new ideas I want to incorporate into my crowns. I’m working on my pattern instructions, and possibly a kit. It’s time to get back to work!