Debby Schuh at Paper Crown

Last weekend, Paper Crown hosted Debby Schuh for three fun classes.  I had taken one of Debby's classes last year and absolutely loved the project we made.  I blogged about it here.

This year, I was able to sign up for two of the three classes Debby was offering and here is a peek at what we made.  Friday night was this adorable LOVE book.  It holds small photos and it will be so fun filling this little book.

Here are some of the embellished pages:

Look how cute this page is with the prize ribbon.  The page flips up so I can put a couple of pictures inside.

Debby is very generous with her class kits so there is plenty of extra paper and embellishments to add extra pages into the binder.

Cute, cute, cute!

This is going to be so much fun to fill.  *AND* I finished this!  So, now really all I have to do is add pictures.

The first class on Saturday was this adorable Day at the Seashore book.  I love the beach and now I need a beach vacation for some memories to fill this book with.

There is plenty of open space for pictures, journaling, or whatever.

The colors are fun and festive, and Debby has such a way with mixing product lines and choosing just the right embellishments.

 Lots of fun little envelopes and tags.

 Lots of different pages.

I will treasure these books for years to come.

I wasn't able to take the third class that Debby offered that weekend but the class sample was every bit as beautiful as the others.

Debby lives in upstate New York but travels all over the world to teach.  I would highly recommend taking a class or two if you get a chance.  She also hosts shopping trips to Paris, England, and New York City.  Maybe I'll see you on one of those fabulous shopping trips!  ;)

A few Birdsong 4 projects

Andrea Singarella taught this beautiful bracelet class and supplied all the vintage findings.

For those who finished early with their bracelets, Andrea generously offered additional beads and findings so we could make earrings.  I love mine!

 Karla taught a fun class of wool spun cotton fairies.  The dog lovers at our table used the additional images Karla provided to make ours into dog fairies.

 Lori Oles taught a sweet, nature inspired shadow box class.

The last class of the weekend was a beautiful mobile that was taught by Karla. It's going to be so pretty when it's done but I didn't quite finish mine before it was time to pack up.  If I get it done anytime soon, I'll be sure to post some photos.

Birdsong 4

Wow - it's been a while, hasn't it?  Let me get right to it then.  :)

A couple weeks ago, I traveled with my friend Terri up to Lawrence, Kansas for Birdsong 4 at Karla Nathan's home.  I've been every year since the first one and it's always a great weekend. Terri and I travel well together and it's always nice to hang out with her.

Karla recently had a new patio installed and everything was looking great for us.

Lots of plants, flowers and fresh herbs that Karla uses in her cooking.  Karla is a fantastic cook - everything is healthy and delicious and prepared with lots of love.

 How cute is this?  It's always fun to just take some time to look around.  Karla is always moving things around so we have new vignettes to look at and enjoy.

 Most of us traveled up a day early to shop at West Bottoms which is a warehouse area with lots of antique shops.  It's only open one weekend a month so this is where we got the weekend started. Here's Terry and Laurie:

It was a long hot day of shopping and walking and we were pretty exhausted at the end of the day.  But the fun didn't stop there - Karla's friend Angie invited us all to her shop for a lovely party.  Beth set up a make n take in the back room so we got to eat, shop, create, and socialize. Fun, fun, fun!

If you are a usual reader of my blog, you know that I love swaps!  This spring was so busy for me that I didn't have a chance to sign up for any this time.  I knew that I would be sorry when the time came for the swaps, but I didn't want to commit and then not be able to do my best work, or have to rush and stress out.  This years swaps were a banner swap, an altered bottle swap, and an altoid tin swap.  They did not disappoint!  The talent in this group is amazing. 

Here is Linda with her bottle swap.  She is always so colorful and happy.  :)

Here are Suzanne and Tami showing off one of the beautiful banner creations.

 Hope, Karla and Randy:

This is an altoid tin that was decorated by Terry Frias for Pam.  I want it!

My crafty tablemates seated clockwise from the left are Terri, Laurie, Tammy, and Terry. Laurie is a four timer to Birdsong - just like me.  It was Terry's first time, but I bet it won't be her last!

Just down the table is Hope and Linda.

It's so fun to see old friends every year and of course, to meet a few new ones too.

Rhonda, Linda, Gail and Nora checking out one of the swaps.

In the next post, I'll share pictures of our projects.  :)

Glittered Retreat

Oh my gosh ~ I can't believe I have neglected my blog this long.  I've been thinking about blogging but just haven't had a block of time to do it.  So sorry!  

Well anyway.  This post will be loaded with pictures so hopefully you enjoy!

Earlier in the month my favorite store in Oklahoma City, Paper Crown, hosted an amazing Glittered Retreat.  You know I love a good retreat and I knew this wasn't to be missed.  I signed up long before the projects were announced because at Paper Crown, there is NEVER a class I want to miss.

For the first Glittered Retreat all the teachers were our local favorites.  We have incredible talent right here in Oklahoma and to get to take a class with each of these ladies in one weekend was a real treat!  The weekend lineup included Jackie Peters, Medeah, Holly Abston, and Bobbie Sanders.  I've added links to their blogs and definitely check them out!

Below are the pictures of the projects scheduled for the weekend.  (note: I didn't take the project pictures, I got them from the Paper Crown blog)

Jackie's Project:

The class kit's for Jackie's class.  I know - it's okay to be jealous.  ;)

                                         

 Bobbie's Project:

And Bobbie always outdoes herself:  (the outside)

 The inside of Bobbie's kit.  We had a little laugh because Bobbie said she created the inside of the kits with me in mind.  She wrapped all the individual trims on a card because somehow when I'm in a class with Bobbie my embellishments end up everywhere but my work space!  This way, I can keep track of everything.  ;)

                                          

 Holly's Project:

I didn't get a picture of Holly's kits but we were able to select our favorite vintage wallpaper and seam binding from her amazing stash!  :)

 Medeah's Project:

Medeah's kit.  We were lucky because she prepared the boards for us ahead of time to speed things along.  

Bobbie made these fabulous programs for our weekend.  Every little detail was taken into consideration to make this such a fun time for all of us.

While we each were to make our own name tags for a contest, this sweet little name tag and pencil awaited me prior to Jackie's class.

 And OH YES! Don't we all love a sweet swag bag filled with lovely treats???

The ladies worked for WEEKS transforming the upstairs room into this fun and beautiful space for our meals.  Each time we entered this room, the decor and tablescapes were different and new.  

 See ~ I told you!  Such attention to detail.

 Just lovely.  And although I didn't get pictures of the food, it was amazing too.  Everything lovingly prepared and served.  The Paper Crown ladies know how to spoil us!

How sweet.

 These ladies worked their tail feathers off  for us.  I don't think words can convey the appreciation I know we all had for all the hard work, attention to detail, and creation of such a special weekend we all had.

On Friday afternoon, we took a shopping field trip to The Rink which is an antique mall.  When we were finished shopping we were surprised with all this goodness waiting for us at the front of the mall.  Inside the pink box was a delicious cupcake.  A nice drink of water in adorably decorated bottles and a copy of a favorite magazine. What more could we ask for???

I'm sure I've forgotten to mention some of the details but go on over to the other blogs with links and I'm sure you'll see plenty more!  

Spring Soiree

Bobbie hosted another fabulous Soiree at The Paper Crown this weekend.  I always feel like an excited  little kid again when I arrive to see the fun decorations she has taken so much time to prepare for our class. 

Cupcakes, candy, cake.  Oh yes - please!

 Of course, don't forget the name tags.  I have quite the collection now and they always make me smile.

This was the main project.  I signed up for the Soiree before I even knew what the project would be.  I knew there was no way to be disappointed and true to form, Bobbie outdid herself.  

Of course, as if the above project wasn't quite enough, we made these sweet "party favors".  Just precious!

It was a great day to celebrate Shelley's 40th birthday.  This was Shelley's third party and she had one more to go that night.  

As always, it was nice to hang out and visit with Nan.  I'm so lucky for my sweet, creative friends.  :)

To see even more pics, click here to go directly to Bobbie's post.