*a bit of serendipity*

Vanessa's Halloween Party

There is nothing like a party hosted by Vanessa to get me in the spirit of things.  I always have such a hard time deciding what I'm going to do for these parties.  This time I decided to make a series of wall hangings.  I haven't strung them yet as I haven't decided if I want to hang them individually or all together as a banner.

I bought flowers like I usually do for the lovely hostess, but the pictures I took didn't turn out. I haven't given up, but I think I need a little nap. I will be back in a while to take more photos, and then I'm going to start making the rounds to all of the incredible Halloween parties going on today.

If you didn't come from there, be sure to stop by Vanessa's blog for the most amazing party, and links to all of the others participating today.

Thank you Vanessa for another incredible party!

See you soon!

Irving Penn

One of my favorites.

 

You will be missed.

Cuff Bracelet Swap

I just finished a really fun swap with a Mail Art Group I'm a member of.  Corinne was the hostess, and she decided to do a cuff bracelet swap.  I was a little bit nervous because I've never made a cuff bracelet, and more importantly, I don't sew ~ at all, but I really wanted to try something different.

It turned out to be so much fun.  Everyone was paired with a partner, but because there ended up being an uneven number of participants, three of us were grouped together.  Corinne was making a bracelet for Cassandra, Cassandra for me, and I was making Corinne's.

I wanted to show the GORGEOUS bracelet I received from Cassandra.  I gave her a few ideas of what I liked (colors, etc.), and I couldn't believe how perfectly she transformed them into the perfect cuff for me.  I LOVE it!

You can see how beautiful it is from these photos, but you all know what I mean when I say I wish I could show you exactly how gorgeous it is in person.  Thank you again Cassandra, you know how much I love it!!!

This is the cuff I made for Corinne.  She said she loves pink, girly, elegant ~ I tried to get it all!

Thank you Corinne and Cassandra...I had a great time!

And a special thank you to my mom, who spent an entire day explaining what needle and thread were, and how to use them together.  (okay, maybe not that bad, but almost.)

Fairy Tale Book Collaboration

I sometimes participate with a group that makes mini art books.  The hostess Mary Ann picks a theme and anyone interested can sign up.  Each person makes one altered page based on the theme, and then duplicates the page for the number of participants.  There usually seems to be between 20 to 30 participants.  All of the pages are sent to the hostess and she makes the cover, binds them and sends each participant a completed book with everyone's different pages.

I couldn't pass up the fairy tale book.  One of my favorites is Beauty and the Beast, so I went with that. 

The front and back of the page I made.  I tried to keep them fairly simple, I tend to over-do it sometimes, and making 20 to 30, even though you are making the same thing...takes quite a long time.

 

When I receive the completed book, I'll post more photos of everyone's pages.  Here's a link to the flickr group. 

A Special Thank You

I wanted to say a special thank you to Vanessa Valencia of A Fanciful Twist, for the unexpected package I received from her in the mail. 

A while back, she posed a question on her blog, and challenged everyone to guess the answer.  Well...I was surprised to find that I guessed the right answer, and even more surprised when she decided to send the person who guessed correctly, a little package.

The package I received included several of her cards made from her original artwork, all wrapped beautifully with ribbon...and an incredible rusty vintage metal key was tied to the ribbon as well.

Here are just a few photos of what I received from one of the most original artists around!

Thank you so much Vanessa!!! XOXO. 

The Sweetest Thing

I'm back from a little summer break, and am hoping everyone has been having a wonderful summer.

I wanted to share one of the sweetest things that happened to me.

I received an email from a woman I didn't know named Suz Reaney.  She introduced herself, and then told me she saw something at an estate sale that she thought I would love.  I guess she had seen on my blog that I do a lot of Marie themed projects.  She said she found this lamp and knew it was special, even though it wasn't really her style, but thought I would like it and she wanted to send it to me.  I'm not sure if this has ever happened to any of you, but it was a first for me, and I was completely blown away.  I can't begin to tell you how unbelievably touched I was by her gesture.

Here is the gorgeous lamp she sent me.

It needs to be rewired, and I need to figure out what kind of shade I want for it, so I'll show another picture when I'm finished with it.

Isn't it amazing?

In her email to me, she said she picked it up at the estate sale of the Princess of the St. Paul Winter Carnival.  I told her how cool that sounded, and it seemed like such an incredible event (being from Los Angeles, there obviously isn't anything like that here).

Well, when the lamp arrived, there was an envelope included in the box, and inside was a souvenir Winter Carnival magazine from 1946.  Ohhhhh, you can imagine what a surprise that was.  The photos and ads were amazing.  I took a few pictures of some of the ads...please forgive the photo quality...I am embarassed to admit this, but I took these photos from my bed, with horrible overhead lighting, yikes.  But you'll get the idea.

 

And the best part is...I will actually get to meet this wonderful lady, as we are both going to Silver Bella this year.

Suz....I absolutely ADORE the lamp and magazine, and CAN'T wait to meet you at Silver Bella...thank you so much!

Vanessa's Second Annual Mad Tea Party

Vanessa is hosting her Second Annual Mad Tea Party today.  Last year I started the party off with roses for Miss Vanessa, our wonderful hostess, so I thought I would do the same this year.

I had so many ideas for this tea party, but finally decided to go with a modern day Mad Tea Party.

The hostess is the Queen of Hearts.

This image I used is Cate Blanchett taken for a Vogue photo shoot.  The photographer is the amazing Irving Penn.  The incredible dress was designed by Nicolas Ghesquiere.

Cupcakes are being served.

I must add an enormous thank you to my mom and sister who helped me with the preparations.  My sister ended up decorating all of these cupcakes while I was working on my collages.

The two pictures below have a different top cupcake than the photos above.  My sister didn't think they were worthy of the top spot, but I love them, so I thought I'd share them with you.

You can tell that's a crown, right?

And the Mad Hatter is joining us.  

Alice is on her way, but she's not quite ready yet.

Have a little tea, and be sure to visit all of the other tea parties.

Links to all of the other participants can be found on Vanessa's blog.

Once again, thank you Vanessa for hosting such an incredible event.

El's Big One Six

We recently celebrated my nephew's 16th birthday.  Pool party and BBQ at my sister's house.  We all had so much fun.

My sister and the birthday boy...love them.

Playing chicken...

 

 

My cousins ~ I adore them...

 

Look at those eyes...

 

And this face...

 

How much fun is he having...

This was a game they were playing where everyone had to hide their eyes and count to 10.  He was taking it very seriously...

 

And this little guy, yikes I adore him...

Charm Bracelet Round Robin

I'm a member of a Marie Mail Art Group with a really fun and talented group of artists.  There is always all kinds of amazing swaps, challenges etc., going on in the group.  The latest one I decided to participate in is a charm bracelet round robin.  Each person makes her own starter bracelet and adds a few charms of her own.  Then the bracelet gets sent to the next person in the group and they add a few charms, etc.

I thought I would show before and after shots of my bracelet.  The photo below is of my bracelet and the charms I've added, before I sent it off to the first person.

I'll post another photo when I receive my finished bracelet.

If you'd like to see some really beautiful work from some of the members in the group, you can visit the group's flickr pool here.

A Lovely Blog Award

I received the most wonderful blog award from my sweet friend April of the artchics.  Thank you so much April, I am honored! XOXO!

After receiving the award, the recipient is to pass on the award to 7 blogs of their choice.  I will be back soon with 7 blogs I love.

In the meantime, be sure to visit April, and also her daughter Bella, who just started her own blog Fuzzy Snails ~ she has got to be one of the cutest little girls on the planet!