Irene Has Arrived

Can you believe I actually won?!!! Denise made this felted brooch and it arrived today. I have already attached it to my favorite jacket's lapel. Won't I be stylish!!! Yes, I am so lucky!

Visit Denise at First Born Studio: http://firstbornstudio.blogspot.com/ and you can link to her Etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=51477 here if you want to acquire your own handmade felted brooch by Denise!

I LOVE IT!! I will be seeing you soon - xoxoxoxo

THANKS!

Birthday Gift

This was one of my birthday gifts. My sister and I made a pact a few years ago that we would send HANDMADE items to each other for our birthdays. It makes the gifts so special. I treasure all of them!

Annie, made this for me. I don't know the design/pattern name - I'll call it the 8 Star design... quilters always name their work. Funny, I do, too! I have already placed it on my dining room table. The colors are wonderful - I LOVE IT!

Thanks Annie!

Another Gift From Sister

This bag ROCKS! I have already received a dozen compliments on it. It's the perfect size, too. Annie added such neat trim and it has little "feet" on the bottom of the bag.

Thanks Annie! You're the best!

Just For Fun Information

This is such a fun tool. No matter what you draw....it will be child-like. Just celebrate the little kid within! http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/.

I am so proud of my sister's grandson, Alix. He is living life large and don't you know....he is going to do great things with his life. He has the best parents, Luke and Dixie! Wow! ! ! What an amazing family. This is Alix's site: http://walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&confirmid=86736180.

For an ATC trade, I suggested a "Ya-Ya Sisterhood" name as the theme. This is where you can get your name: http://ya-ya.com/yaya_name

Antique Buttons

I collect antique buttons. My favorite ones have been given to me by my sister-in-law, Pat. She is also a collector of buttons but she is willing to share. I keep the most prized buttons in an antique jelly mold from England. It's a great way to display the buttons and I can see them easily any time I want some eye candy!

Photo of my Front Yard

Tulsa is still trying to recover from a winter storm that arrived a week or so before Christmas. We were without power for nine days...but we personally purchased a generator so we were toasty warm in our home along with house guests.

The City of Tulsa has contracted to have the tree limbs removed from the curbs. Today was the second pass for the pick up of debris. We will have one more pick up that will happen in a couple of weeks. Yes, February is almost over.

The limbs were stacked on our street about 6 feet high and you could barely see driveways. Our cleanup is still in progress. There is so much to do yet. Our city is in a really ugly state right now!

Roses For Sara

Don't you just love shopping Tuesday Morning?! I have this wonderful bouquet of roses on my dining room table that look and feel so real that I have had guests lean over to smell the fragrance. They have a puzzled look on their faces when there is no fragrance! I have them in a frosted vase and that gives the impression they are in water.

Studio Stuff

I have such a great studio space. I am in the process of purging as I have almost outgrown my space and that's a huge ridiculous. But here are a few of my favorite things one will find in my space: Monk, an apron June handpainted which is a treat to look at, and Kimberly's wizzard which makes me smile!

Recycle

Thanks to Larry's cigar addiction and Debbie's thoughtfulness in saving those boxes for me....I had plenty to share with the workshop participants. Instead of the traditional goodie "bag", they're receiving the goodie "box". Thanks Larry and Debbie!

Brush Lettering Practice

Someone at our Calligraphy Guild said that even commission work was "practice". This felt like commissioned work as I wanted to do a really great job on each person's scrap paper book. I took this idea from my friend, Denise when she sent me one of her books along with a piece of artwork. Hey....what a great idea...there is something to do with all those bits of scraps! So after I stapled a few papers together, I just started writing their names on the covers using a Pentel brush pen. Oooooh, that was fun, too!

Retreat Goodie Bags

What terrific fun I've had this weekend playing around with alcohol inks!! The hardest part was choosing the best necklace for each participant in our workshop. I used a rubber stamp specifically sized for the dominoe and applied a glaze on top. Of course, they needed to be drilled for the black silk cording.