Birdsong III Tag Swap Book

This year, the Tag Swap was hosted by Stephanie Oyler.  These little works of art are always so amazing and while I want one of each, sometimes it can be overwhelming to make so many tags. 

Stephanie limited the swap so that we only made seven tags each and then she randomly made a book for each of us in the swap.  She made made a cover for our tag book, bound them on a ring embellished with seam binding, and then added a sweet little bird charm.  Above is the picture of my cover with the tags spread out behind

This first tag was made by Linda McMillan.  I met Linda at the previous year's Birdsong.  Sadly, she missed out on attending Birdsong and we missed having her there due to an illness this year. She sent along her tags anyway and this is her beautiful creation:

 We had some new faces this time at Birdsong III, and one of those people was Lisa Phillippi.  She came up from Texas with Kristi Knox Day and I know she was so happy to be there.  Lisa has a distinct style - she is very feminine and all her projects look just like her.  I love this image of the little girl holding the basket with her dolly inside and looking up at the singing bird.

 Look at this colorful tag full of texture!  It was made by Linda Postma and guess what!? This looks just like Linda!  Linda also creates with a style that is all her - so bright and colorful and fun.

 Grace St. Clair's tag is sweet.  This little bluebird sitting on a nest with the sheet music and the script writing in the background makes me feel peaceful when I look at it.

 I met my friend Tami Hacker at the first Birdsong.  It was her very first craft event and she has now been to all three.  Tami started her own blog after being inspired at that very first Birdsong and you have to stop by her blog and see some of the beautiful things she creates.  Below is her tag.  I think I recognize some of the materials she used in this tag that were left over from our Tiffany Book Swap.   ;)

I was so excited to get a tag from my friend and traveling partner, Terri Wilkerson.  Terri is one of those people that is so easy to be around.  Not only is she so very generous, she creates the most beautiful things, and with her, there is NO DRAMA!   Terri made me a beautiful little Spring Basket in a swap earlier this year and I'm so happy to have this amazing little work of art.

The last tag I received in my book was from my friend Laurie Jackson.  I met Laurie at the first Birdsong and we've done a few swaps together over the last couple of years.  Laurie is very good at adding texture and little surprise elements to her projects like the rhinestones that peek out from under the lace.

Thanks to Stephanie for hosting this swap.  I always look forward to the tag swap. 

Birdsong Finished Projects

I absolutely love taking classes and attending crafty retreats but I am s-l-o-w to finish any of the projects.  Upstairs, I have a large pile of UFO's (unfinished objects) from prior events I have gone to.  It seems if I don't finish a project while in class, it most likely won't get finished once I get home.  

First up was Beth Leintz's class.  We decorated peat pots with fabric and ribbon and made fabric stuffed flowers, birds and hearts to put in the pots.  I absolutely *loved* this class.  In fact, I spent the whole day thinking of all the fabrics I could use once I got home to make some more of these little lovelies. Don't you think mine turned out so cute? Each person's creation was so different and it was fun to see certain personalities emerge from their project.

Next up was Karla's fairy cloche. Although more challenging, I really enjoyed creating this and then decorating it inside and out.  I've been dreaming of the variations I could do to this project. Some people were frustrated by the process of building the structure but for some reason, this came fairly easy to me.  

 On the second day of classes, Lori Oles taught us how to make this fun tag wreath.  We used stencils "painted" with modeling paste to create texture on the tags.  I'm definitely going to have to buy some of my own modeling paste to play with at home.  Usually I have a tough time making tags but I cruised right along and got my project finished.

The last class of the weekend was taught by Karla.  We used a special Mod Podge to make the main pendant and had lots of pearls, beads and charms to use on our necklaces.

For Birdsong weekend, I must have been in a really good creative space because I managed to finish every single project! Yay me! 

Birdsong III

This weekend was Birdsong III at Karla's. Once again, it exceeded expectations and I had a great time visiting and creating with friends.  

Part of the fun of these events is participating in the swaps.  I made two different tags for the tag swap which was hosted by Stephanie Oyler.  We had to make a total of seven tags and they were randomly put into books which Stephanie created a cover for  assembled to give back to us the second day of Birdsong.  I received seven absolutely beautiful tags which I will photograph and post on another day.  

Here are the tags I made:

Barb Buxton hosted a card swap, and again, we were to make seven cards and we received seven cards in return.  This was the card I created.

Gail and Marj hosted the always fun Matchbox swap. We were assigned a specific person to create a matchbox for and I was assigned to make one for Mercedes.  She loves flowers and all things feminine, so I made these flowers to attach to the paper and lace covered matchbox.  I just love the sweet little bird I perched in the corner of the box.  I hope she liked it!

I'll post on another day about the projects we made and the swaps I received in return.  We had a fabulous time once again and I have to get acclimated back to real life.