Swapping Yo-Yos and a Giveaway

In the flurry of art mail the other day was a large envelope from Pat,

affectionately known as Ooglebloops.

She had admired the yo-yo brooches I made for the recent Queen Bee 5 swap

and suggested a one-on-one swap of our own.

Flattery will get you everywhere with me!

Being almost the size of my hand, Pat's brooch is, BIG, bold and bodacious!

And I absolutely love it!!!
Saturday, I wore it on a pumpkin orange sweater

which showed off the brooch's colors perfectly!

I don't know if my little offering can compete.

I may have to send her two...

And while you are visiting Pat's blog, you might find

a February giveaway link to Rock Hill Designs.

The prize is the stunning"Tree of Life" necklace above,

made of sterling silver.

*I love to wear silver around my neck!*

Of course, if you leave a comment to be registered to win,

it decreases my chances, but that's the way the game is played!

Game ends February 28.

New Zealand Bee

The last package of brooch & charms swappage arrived yesterday

in a flurry of snow and art mail.

I felt truly special!

The gorgeous brooch above is from Carole!

It is reminiscent of her collectible postcards, only snack sized.

What a privelage to have a small piece of her art quilting!

The pansy looks absolutely springy.

I can't wait to wear it!

I recognize the bit of crocheted lace as something I sent her.

So neat to have it back incorporated into her brooch.

*********

Her charm is quintessentially New Zealand, since you can't find beer bottle caps

like this in the States (or the beer for that matter!).

She said she was all fingers and thumbs in creating it,

but I think she did a fabulous job!

I strung it up on a ball chain and wore it immediately.

She sent extra bottle caps so I can take a stab at making some of my own charms.

Wish it was cost effective for her to also send a couple bottles of the beer!

Thank you, Carole, for the beautiful artsy jewelry!

Feed the Birds!

A couple weeks ago, the local farm supply had a kids' workshop, to draw traffic in. The "make and take" was a peanut butter & pretzel bird feeder. Their ploy worked. Today when I saw that there was nothing left of the bird feeder but string hanging in the shrub outside our bathroom window, I went back to the farm supply for bird seed. It is snowing today, supposed to freeze the next few days and remain cold all next week. I want to bring some bird traffic by our house!

This is a totally kid friendly activity, in fact, it was probably invented for them!

Messy, edible, quick, simple;

they can make something while having a snack,

and it can all be done within their 2 minute attention span.

With Rebecca, she was done in a minute and a half.

:)

1. Spread peanut butter liberally on pretzels.

2. "Bury" the gloppy mess in bird seed,

making sure it is completely covered in seeds.



3. Add a string and it's ready to hang.

I attached the string before hand so I wouldn't
have to handle the seedy bird treat.
You could also use a pine cone, if you have a collection of them,
but pretzels get competely eaten.

Looks almost good enough for human consumption!

"64021" Treasure Hunt

Now that I have an esty shop to keep stocked, I am more conscious of finding stuff to put into it. And so, I thought I would revisit a story I wrote in my first zine, "64021", "A Corderly Zine". I created it 3 years ago for The Gleaner's 7 for 7 zine swap. The numbers are the zipcode for Corder, MO and "Corderly" was a play on words for "quarterly", although I haven't produced any issues since! The story, "Treasure Hunt" was written like an explorer's journal entry...

Light filtered weakly through a splintered hole in the roof overhead as I carefully picked my way over the uneven gravel floor in the darkness of the abandoned garage. I brushed cobwebs from my face and hair as I walked closer to my prize-- a rusted metal filing cabinet, once enameled dark green, but now pocked with decay and bird droppings. A lone, weedy tree basked in the weak sunlight, standing sentinal to the cabinet of forgotten secrets.

A bird startled from the rafters as I finally stood before the ancient cabinet bathed in the watery light. I grasped a rusty handle and pulled, and the drawer resisted, complaining with a shriek of metal scraping metal. My face lit up when I spied a shallow box filled with dusty, age-stained folders. Trash to my in-laws, but TREASURE to a collage artist! I had found the final resting place of Great Aunt Rachel's 30 year old bank statements, canceled checks, and students' papers from her days as a school teacher, when perfect penmanship was still a requirement...

**********************

The students' papers are now available for purchase in my shop and the canceled checks I altered and now use as a Ruby Floy calling card that I scribble thank you notes on.

What's the thrill of discovery like for you?

Mail from a Swiss Bee

There is something about mail from afar.

The foreign postage, the texture of the paper envelope,

the unique recycled packaging inside.

The black and white "cow" box once held something "Swissedition",

but now held something else Swiss made...

by Margaret!

I LOVE the seemingly careless assemblage of textures

and made with Margaret's favorite shade of blue!

I have one blue sweater and now can't wait to wear it.

Margaret's brooch may become a permanent addition to the sweater!

Margaret warned us that her dangle charm thingie was monstrously ginormous (I forget her exact words describing its less than petite size), but I personally, instantly fell in love with it!!! Buttons, paper beads, a scrap of lace and lots of silver wire. What is there NOT to love about it? Black and brown are my favorite colors to wear.

And so, because I was wearing one of my favorite sweaters, I didn't waste much time in finding a ball chain and slipping on the new charm. I feel quite regal with the dangling crown charm and black faceted bead.

Thank you SO much Margaret!!!

Swappin' Bees

Here are some of the results in from the latest Queen Bee 5 swap. I created brooches made from yo-yos and above is Patty's zipper rose brooch, very creatively presented on a paint chip (love it!) I have a huge collection of old zippers- don't ask me why, I just like them - and Patty's rose has me inspired to maybe try some floral arranging (with teeth!).

In the mean time, I can't wait to wear this one!

Linda did some felting. I love this flower, layered on wooly, tweedy fabric. Because she knows my favorite colors (anything in brown hues), this flower will look wonderful on EVERYTHING in my wardrobe!

We also swapped charms/ danglies at the same time.
Patty out-did herself with two offerings, both again creatively presented in clever packaging.
The bird nest charm is attached to a blue paint chip rubber stamped with birds.
The altered game piece came attached to a mini repro BINGO card.
The presentation is so great, I hate to detach them from their cards!




Linda's dangle is a wonderful piece of jewelry.
The bee charm is my favorite part!
It will add a touch of class to anything I hang it from.
Thank you girls!

*********

But wait!

There are still packages coming from Switzerland and New Zealand.
More art mail on the way!

*rubbing hands with gleeful anticipation*

heeheeheehee

Beauty in the Mundane

Some things are such rare finds, I just HAVE to share them!

Take these matches for instance. I never thought I would live to see the day when I would find something so jewel- like. I've seen gold tipped matches (from a casino in Carson City, NV?) but those are garrish compared to these sublime sulfur tips.

The box was something from the 1970s and rough looking, so I gave it a face lift with antique wallpaper scraps.

Funny thing, the matches now compliment this bark cloth scrap I have.
They both make me think of my screened-in back porch and make me pine for spring and warmer weather.
Both the cloth and matches can be found in my etsy shop.
Maybe you need to accessorize your own dream oasis?