Winter Break!!

Gotta love that school vacation...especially ME, since I get that time off too! We've had a wonderful winter break with friends and family. I've also had the time to organize closets and drawers. What a great feeling! The more junk I get rid of...the more room I have for new stuff!

I've been experimenting with beveled glass, since it is so much easier to get than regular glass. I can't wait until Ranger gets their Memory Glass in the stores again! I started stringing my soldered charms on beads from Michaels. I liked the way the small silver beads looked. I found all of the vintage buttons at the Quilt Festival in Houston. I never miss that show!

The images of the cowgirls to the right and cowgirl to the left were given to me by flickr friend Liz (Muffet). I just love the girls all dressedl up ready for the rodeo! Thanks again Liz!

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Another art friend, Tina (Paper Mojo) sent me this darling collage for my art studio. I was the winner on her blog! She is such a sweetie! Thank you thank you!

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Look at these cuties....they are my second cousins and I made this for their grandmother (my aunt) for her birthday this weekend.

Have a fun winter break!

I'm Inspired!

I finally made a December Teresa McFayden calendar! As she says... "Except no substitutes!" I fell in love with hers and used her wonderful instructions to create one of my own! Thanks so much Teresa for the great tips!! I used magnets on everything, so I can interchange the months and days for year round fun!Check out her site and make one for yourself!! I even used the blue that she used because it was perfect for wintertime!
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I just got these beauties in the mail this week. Check out Anthropologie and Junk Gypsy...total inspiration for me!! Both so different, but both so much fun! And hey...hurray for a model without stick straight hair!

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My friend Deb Trotter has a new blog you MUST check out! She has a few cute photos free for creating. I used the one with the little farmer boy. He's so cute! Thanks Deb!

...and I bought this photo from ebay and had a fun playing with it! Gotta love these rodeo stars! Have a creative weekend!! :)mendy

Sweet Treats!

It's time for Jessi's Cookie Swap!!! Thanks for letting me participate!! Don't forget to check out her blog for more fab cookie recipes!!

Here is my recipe....

Mama's Sand Tarts

1/2 c. confectioners sugar

1 c. soft margarine

2 c. all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 c. chopped nuts

Large ziploc baggie

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and gradually add sugar until fluffy. Add other ingredients. Chill at least 15 minutes and then make small balls of mixture and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool and then roll balls into a ziploc baggie of confectioners sugar. Make a few recipes and freeze for up to 6 months!!

AND...speaking of sweet treats...take a look at these beauties I just recieved from a good friend today! Needless to say, they were gone in about 15 minutes. I only ate 4!!

Have a sweet day!

Holiday Treats!

I always like to make gifts for those I work with at school. I appreciate all that they do for me and for my class. I always try to think of something really unusual to give them. I stay away from the usual cookies, candies, etc., and try to do something really different.

This year I made a salt scrub for the ladies to use on their hands, face, and body. The scrub is a fresh smelling invigorating scrub that makes your skin feel like velvet! I tested it on myself, my husband, and boys. I digitally made the labels using one of my fav ArtChix girls. I made sure to have a warning on the label about staying away from eyes...salt, you know.

Here they are...

Want to know the "secret" recipe??? Here it is...shshshshshshshThat's right, only two ingredients. Coarse salt and fresh smelling green Aloe Vera Gel. That's it! Fill a large bowl with two boxes of the salt. Add 1 1/2 bottles of the Aloe Vera Gel and get your hands ready to start mixing!! Your entire kitchen will smell fresh and wonderful.

To decorate your mason jars, take the lids off of each jar. Paint with regular craft paints and use the heat gun to seal the paint. I added pink glitter to the wet paint before using the heat. When cooled, fill up each jar with the salt mixture and put lids back on tightly. Add a fun tag to each jar, naming your "product." Don't forget to give instructions and add your name! Add a piece of iridescent mesh ribbon and whalah! Hope they'll be a big hit!

Thanksgiving Birthday Fun!

It is quite fun having your birthday on Thanksgiving....Lots of great food and on top of the pies, a fabulous birthday cake from Coldstone Creamery! YUM! Our family went to my parents' for Thanksgiving and we had a blast. Our Thanksgiving feast??? Turkey, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, and of course pecan pie...and birthday cake...hehe! We also celebrated our little puggy's birthday too. Happy 9th birthday Madeline!!

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My husband and boys have been going football crazy!! Their fav teams?? Univerisity of Texas, Houston Texans, and Dallas Cowboys!!
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During my few days off of school, I HAD to create a little something, and that's what I did! Check out these tiny tiny soldered charms. I put vintage lace, fabric, and patern pieces in them. I think I'll make a fun charm bracelet out of them.I also made some fun thank you cards. I used old photos of myself and fun zebra printed cards straight from the dollar area at Michael's! I should have grabbed more of these cards while I was there!
It finally got a little cool down here in Texas! Guess I have to put the flip flops away...for a month or two! Happy Week!

Went Crazy at the International Quilt Festival!

Although I don't quilt, I'll never miss one of the most incredible shows of the year. At the International Quilt Festival in Houston, one can find new and vintage fabric, vintage embellishments and trims, and WAY too many odds and ends to keep your mouth watering for three days!! You surely don't need to be a quilter to have the shopping experience of your life! I only went for one day and I know I missed a lot. One of my favorite parts of the show is the Cloth Paper Scissors, "Make It University." There are classes galore, with all the latest techniques of the fab magazine. In addition, there's a large section of vintage flea market finds and the some of the most gorgeous trims you have ever seen!! Here are a few luscious things I purchased... ***********************
Other happenings this week....the Red and Green Parade between the two High Schools in my town! For the second time, the class float was created at my house...paint, papers, poles, and lots of teens making a big mess on my driveway. What Fun!! My son's "vintage" Bronco pulled the float down the street. My husband and younger son drove and I stood on the sidelines taking photos of course! The kids in the float all threw candy. The theme was "Put the Fear in the Caveliers..." Cute huh?

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I've been TAGGED by Beelicious and Danni so here goes...

7 Random things about myself:

1. I am a native Texan...no plans of ever leaving my great state! I am a fourth generation Texan.
2. I like to put myself into many pots...teaching Kindergarten, sewing easy projects, soldering, scrapbooking, digital creating, canvas collage, keeping up with blog friends, flickr......all in one day!!
3. My pug is the spotlight of our family. We revolve around her.
4. I have a B.A. in Education at the University of Texas, and a minor in Home Economics.
5. I have naturally curly hair and I used to iron it on an ironing board in high school.
6. I collect trims, laces, fabric, paper, stamps, glitter, digital kits, vintage aprons, antiques, etc.
7. I have eaten an entire cake, a pan of brownies, and a pecan pie with a fork....not on the same day of course.

That's about it! Fun!!

Creative Weekend!

I just love "relaxing" on the weekends and CREATE!! Here are a few things I've done lately...

I like to put a little card with an art gift or trade, so I made some new ones! I loved these ladies from ArtChix Studio. As usual, I'm in the soldering mood! I had fun with these cute birdies...
I also soldered this Dick and Jane charm bracelet. I used 1" charms. I actually cut the photos out of one of my vintage Dick and Jane readers. The scans just didn't look authenic enough!

I now have sooo many Somerset books, I can't count them all! I am always inspired by the talented artists. After reading my latest Sew Somerset, I made this creation...

All for now!

More and More Paper Dolls!

My friend Holly of Holly Loves Art had some fun paper dolls that reminded her of her favorite movie when she was young. It made me think of my favorite TV shows, and a few came to mind!
One of my very favorite reruns from the mid to later '70's as a child was That Girl. I loved Marlo Thomas so much, I tried to straighten my very curly hair with an ironing board to have that fab posh look. OK, a curly haired Texas girl could not very likely turn into a posh New York sleeked haired beauty overnight...

I made these collages starring Marlo Thomas' Ann Marie...otherwise known as THAT GIRL!!

I found "That Girl " Paper Dolls and I went crazy!! You can click on the doll and clothes, and it will enlarge big enough to cut out and play! Check out this fun doll....

My second favorite show of the same era was Bewitched. Now that Samantha Stephens was one cool chick! Here is a really fun treat...a virtural interactive Samantha paper doll site...wow!! I could play for hours! OK, maybe I did.

I have really been hooked on paper dolls since I joined a fun flickr paper doll swap! I have always loved paper dolls and have been looking at them online. Check out this incredible paper doll site. They have tons of great free dolls!

P.S. How about a little fun with the ...Petticoat Junction girls...or Lucille Ball!

Paper Doll Crazy!!

I am in a really fun swap with some very talented Flickr friends. I hope they will enjoy the Halloween themed dolls that I made! I made them digitally and then added some sparkle. I decided to place each doll on a card with a floppy flower. The "Trick or Treat Girls" came from vintage photos, photos from the Flickr Collage Art group, and from my digital collection.
Check out the girl wearing the "Barbie Wig!" She totally cracked me up...I think I'll send her to the Barbie fan in our swap group!!

I am now officially in the mood for Halloween!!

Soldered Charms

I went "solder" crazy this weekend playing with tiny scraps and my loot of solder supplies! I have a big sturdy tote that holds my soldering iron, iron holder and temp control, flux, flux remover, big pyrex pan, copper tape....let's see, am I forgetting something? I made these fun charms using microscope slides. The front of the charms are things I've made and some goodies from ARTchix. The backs are scraps cut out of my See Us Run early reader. I like wearing several at a time!

Taking an ART break!

After a pretty long and slightly stressful first week back at school, it was time to relax and to play with art again! I spent all of Labor Day doing lots of digi scrapbooking and starting 10 paper dolls for a fun swap I'm in! Here is a little preview of one of my paper dolls. I am so excited about this swap...more on that to come!

I've been playing with some new digi kits, learning more and more about my photoshop. My favorite kits are always vintage style with a bit of glitter of course! Here is one of me and my mom. I'm the one with the sour face...hehe!Of course I always have a great time scrapping the pug...I might have more layouts of her than my boys...whoops!Got a new scanner today because mine finally just gave out. I LOVE my new HP 5610 All-in-One! I know I'll use it everyday...

I Love Somerset!

I finally got my issue of Somerset Memories...hurray! I have three projects in this month's issue, on pages 62 and 63. They are all "hangers," in different sizes. All the Somerset Magazines/Books are my favorite and to be in one of them is such an honor for me!! The project on the yellow page has a photo of my Nana when she was young. One of the projects on the other page has a photo of me on a horse. The other one has vintage little boys. They reminded me of my guys when they were small.

In the Cowgirl Mood

My latest purchase from one of my new fav shops really got me in the mood to do some cowgirl work. Check out Junk Gypsy for more funky cowgirl clothes and other goodies! I think I'll do something really cool with that fun bumper sticker... I made this "cowgirl" themed book to celebrate the women in my family who have inspired me. Inside I have scrapbooked images of my mother, mom-in-law, my grandmothers, aunts, sisters-in-law, and my two nieces. I put tabs on each page with an adjective describing them. I covered the book with heavy fabric and pom pom trim. The flower was a white paper flower that was rubbed and glittered.And that's all, y'all!

Fun Weekend Away!

I had a great weekend working on tons of fun projects at The Premier Estates Scrapbook
Retreat....in a tiny town called Wallis, TX!
http://www.premierestates.com/ I went with an old friend and her art group. In between working on projects, we did some antique shopping. I found my heaven in an old five and dime! The sweet lady who owned the store must have been in her 90's. She had an old cash register with the big crank that said, "chichingggg." She gave me some old patterns and must have thought I was a nut buying this stuff. I think I made her day!

Here are a few altered books that I finished. These 1960 hair nets were a steal at .50 each! I tossed the nets of course...although they WERE made from "real hair!"

I got my books from for pennies, and the pattern girl and papers were the freebies!
Something fun I made on the last day of the retreat! My "PLAY" banner!

(Pam Garrison inspired)