Birdsong Two

This weekend I traveled to Kansas to attend Birdsong Two at Karla's Cottage. Looking at the outside of this adorable home, don't you want to step inside?

I was here last year for the first ever Birdsong, but still - when I stepped inside I just am amazed by everything I see.  Inspiration everywhere! I was so thrilled to be able to attend again this year.

Here are the girls hard at work - and this is only half the room.  There were a bunch of girls on the other side too.  There were 25 students and 3 teachers.  All that creativity in one beautiful space.

 Of course, I've teased you with the swaps I've been working on.  A few days back I posted a sneak peek at the "SING" banner swap in which I was given the letter "i".  My sweet friend Laurie from Colorado hosted this swap.  There were four groups and each group ended up with different banners.  I'll show the group photos in another post but for now,  here are my completed panels. When I put my SING banner together, I'll take a picture to show it with the additional letters I received.

 Next up was a Nature Journal Swap.  I didn't have a chance to participate last year and I was so disappointed when I saw all the beautiful journals that everyone swapped.  There was no way I was missing out on the journal swap this year.  The theme was nature, and of course I had to include birds for Birdsong, right?

Last year I also missed out on the matchbox swap and watching those beautiful creations get swapped last year I decided no matter how busy I was, I was participating.  I had ideas of what I wanted to do but I just couldn't bring them to be.  So, at the absolute *last* minute I thought about making this sweet little bird. I just love it. In fact, I wasn't sure I wanted to give it away.  ;)

The last swap I signed up for was the charm swap.  Again, I went around and around trying to decide what I wanted to do.  Originally I wanted to make a wire nest but I thought everyone would think of that.  As I was going through my jewelry I came across a beautiful charm necklace that I made in a class at Creative Connection a few years back taught by the fabulous ladies of A Gilded Life -Shea and Debbie.  I scaled the charm down a bit and made a less decorated version but I thought it looked "just right". Hope everyone liked it!

There's more to share so be sure to check back - you won't want to miss - I promise!

Ann-Denise's High Tea

As always, Ann-Denise's High Tea event was spectacular!  Even before we entered her home, this beautifully decorated dress form was a glimpse at what was to come.  

The decor for this event was in theme for the High Tea and felt light and spring like.  

Ann-Denise of course went all-out with the decorations.  We each had party hats with our name on them, a sweet paper tea cup, and can you see that cute little spoon at my place setting? Ann-Denise made those by pouring them into a mold and then painting them for us.  Isn't that fun!?!  Plus, the centerpieces - you really have to see them in person to get a full appreciation of how beautiful they are. Each table had a unique centerpiece.  

Sandra Feazel, our co-host and instructor for our Tuffet project, handmade these beautiful Tea banners. We each got one to take home with us - I'm going to hang mine in my office today.

 A close up of one of the centerpieces:

 Look at this cute tea cart just waiting for some delicious goodies to display.

 Ann-Denise is a wonderful cook.  We had cream of cilantro soup, tea sandwiches, a delicious vegetable rice, garlic toast, fruit, white chocolate raspberry scones, tomato basil soup and of course, tea.

We had three projects we were supposed to work on: Sandra's Tuffet, and then Ann-Denise was to teach us a pincushion and a paper tea cup.  We all got so involved in the tuffet project that we used up the entire day.  In fact, I didn't even finish my tuffet (what's new, right!?!).   I want to do more decorative painting and fluff it up.  Hopefully, I can work on that this evening and get it close to finished.
Whether or not I finish I will post pictures of it in my next post.  As for Ann-Denise's projects we will be getting kits for those, and I'm sure they will be over the top!

Sing Banner - Letter "i"

Here's my letter "i" for the banner swap next week at Birdsong Two.  Can't wait to see the "s" "n" and "g" that will go along with my "i"!

Now I have to finish my matchbox swap and 6 journal pages - but first, I have to pack to go to High Tea this weekend at Ann-Denise's house!  

Sneak Peek

Things have been totally *crazy* around here with multiple house guests, traveling to Florida, working and teaching a Medical Terminology class, but somehow, I'm squeezing in some crafting time too.

I am participating in a charm swap and below is my charm. Simple, but sweet - I think!

My charm was inspired by a class I took with Shea and Debbie at Creative Connection a few years back.  This version is much simpler than the over the top, blinged out version we made there.  I like it though,  - just the way it is.  It's a small glass jar filled with glitter and pearls and a little definition of the word "Nest" tucked inside.  I topped it with a sweet floral bead cap and another little pearl bead.  There will be 12 other charms and our hostess Gail,  will be attaching them to a necklace for us.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my friend Laurie, who I met at last year's Birdsong, is hosting a banner swap.  My letter, as seen below is "I".  It's still a work in progress but I'm feeling good with the way it is coming along.  Our banners will read, "sing".  

 I'm still working on my matchbox and don't have anything to share just yet.
On Friday, I'll make my way to Ft. Worth to attend Ann-Denise's High Tea on Saturday, then next weekend to Karla's Birdsong Two in Kansas. **YEAAAAHHHH!!!**
Don't hate me.  ;)

Family Visit

It seems like I haven't blogged in forever.  These past two months have been so busy I hardly know which end is up.  I knew March and April were going to be crazy but wow - I'm ready to slow down a bit.

This past week, my sister January and her boyfriend Ray came for a visit. 

Ray has never been to Oklahoma so on Tuesday, we took them over to see the OKC Memorial. 

 Here they are in front of the Survivor Tree.

 While in OKC, we of course took them for pizza at the Wedge and then headed over to the outlets.
On Wednesday, we took them to Claremore so Ray could visit the JM Davis Gun Museum. Even though I'm totally not into guns, it is an interesting place to visit and I know Ray thoroughly enjoyed it.
On the way to Claremore we stopped for a visit to the Blue Whale on Rt. 66.

We were constantly on the go. It was a whirlwind but it's always fun to have family in town.

The rest of the month will continue to be busy.  I am going to Texas next weekend for Ann-Denise's "High Tea" which I'm so excited about!  KC Willis was supposed to be in town to teach a fabric collage class but due to lack of participation in Tulsa, she cancelled her class here.  Bummer.  The following weekend, I'm headed to Kansas to attend Karla's "Birdsong 2".  I must totally be crazy because I signed up for FOUR (4) swaps: a charm swap, a banner swap, a matchbox swap, and a journal swap! 

We are getting wicked storms in Oklahoma this weekend so I plan to stay up in my craft room crafting the weekend away.  :)

Amelia Island, Florida

 We took off at the end of the week last week and checked in at the Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island.  This was the view from our balcony.  Not bad!

 We took time every day to walk past the dunes and down to the shoreline.  I kept taking deep breaths of that beautiful sea air.  Oh, how I missed it!

I picked lots of shells - big ones, little ones, shiny and dull.  There were *millions* of them! 

 Don't you love the little sandpipers?  I could watch them zoom around all day.

On two of our trips to Old Downtown in Fernandina Beach we ate at Arte Pizza.  They have a wood fired oven that gives their pizza the most delicious taste.  Mmmmm. Their antipasto was awesome too.

We also ate at a place on the water called Brett's Waterfront Cafe.  At first we thought it looked too "touristy" but the food was actually very good. I ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu and it was more like fried chicken with a piece of ham and cheese on top with a white gravy but it was very tasty!  On the evening we ate with Doug's friends we ate at a place called Espana which was a Spanish restaurant with tapas and paella.  I'm not a big fan of Spanish food but I ordered the scallops and they were very good. 

While Doug played golf I went shopping.  The Picker's Market was a cool place with lots of junk because they had the most amazing selection of large iron pieces and made me wish I had a Uhaul to take a bunch home.  Not this trip. :(  Maybe next time!