Today I took my car to get a new power steering pump; no more oil leakage! Yay! I spent the waiting time at my local Ben Franklin craft store and then at Grocery Outlet, so that helped keep my cool. It was 100º in Grass Valley! Ugh.

I did a bunch more errands, had an early dinner and got on my Artists of Toastmasters zoom meeting. Then I made a few phone calls, so did not have time to finish the project I started.

So here is a tray holding a collection of matchbook-style note pads that I made some time ago. EnJoy!

Tray of tiny note pads

I finally finished this little project I started a couple of days ago! When I received the paper napkins from a friend, I began experimenting and created a few different items.

This one is a soft pouch made from the piece of thin foam that was wrapped around a bottle of herbal tincture that came in the mail. For the bee on the front, I used thinned down PVA glue to adhere the section of napkin, with more glue on top. I adhered segments from a different napkin to the flap closure with ModPodge. I discovered that I could modify the colors by dipping some markers into water and applying that to the napkins (after the glue dried); I spread the color around with a Q-tip. I enhanced the bee wings on the front by outlining with a grey marker, and added some light purple and blue-green to the flowers and leaves on the outer side of the flap. Quite an interesting process!

I glued the edges of the pouch together, held in place with clothespins for clamps. That left marks in the foam, so I decided to stitch over the edges with yellow ribbon. I also patched a tear in the front of the pouch by gluing a piece of a tea bag over the tear on the inside. A butterfly sticker, more ribbons and pearls complete the embellishments. Now to dream up something to put inside. EnJoy!

Bee Kind Pouch

Bee Kind Pouch 2

Bee Kind Pouch 3

Bee Kind Pouch 4

I received some beautiful paper napkins from a friend in Canada, and have been playing with them in my art. Did you know that you can peel apart layers of a fancy paper napkin? and use just the patterned top for your art. I took a piece of plain lavender cardstock, folded it into a card, and applied a segement from a floral napkin to the front, using thinned PVA glue to adhere. Then I coated the napkin with another layer of glue, for decoupage.  I’ll share other projects as I finish them. EnJoy!

Lavender Flowers Card

My day began with a phone call from one of the team leaders at Rising Worldwide, who was checking in to see if I need support for my Rising business, and to let me know that I have a commission check coming. What a lovely surprise! Check out my Rising shop here:

I got in a walk today, glad to be moving my body and enjoying nature. Todays’s offering: two more tags that I downloaded from Charlene of the Grand Central Crafting group. Thanks, Charlene. EnJoy!

Red Bird Tag

Toile Tag

I finally got my massage today! My therapist had to change the time a couple of times, as he had some urgent business come up, so my appointment ended up for evening instead of afternoon. I feel much more relaxed now! Just finished baking my monthly batch of healthy cookies, because this was the coolest day this week!

I made the cover of this sweet little notebook from part of a tea box, and used more digital download papers from Charlene of Grand Central Crafting group. EnJoy!

Birds and Flowers Notebook

Birds and Flowers Notebook 2

Birds and Flowers Notebook 3

Birds and Flowers Notebook 4

Today I had to go out for some groceries, and was pleased to find a big block of Vermont Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar! I had been wishing for some, and it appeared! Made a nice grilled cheese sandwich to go with my tomato soup, so yummy. I sliced off a bit more cheese for a couple more sandwiches for future meals, then cut up and froze the rest of the cheese. While I don’t eat a lot of it, I find that small pieces of cheese are good snacks to have when on the road.

This evening I transformed an almond drink carton into this pretty container, using part of a paper bag to cover it and some lace and stickers glued on for decoration. I lined the inside with more brown paper and a piece of card from a tissue box to cover the bottom. EnJoy!

Brown Paper and Lace Milk Carton

Brown Paper and Lace Milk Carton 2

Brown Paper and Lace Milk Carton 3

Brown Paper and Lace Milk Carton 4

This card started out as a blank wedding shower invitation–one of three–that someone gave me a long time ago. I love the color of the cover and the paper I added inside, as well as the pocket on the back. EnJoy!

Purple Floral Card

Purple Floral Card 2

Purple Floral Card 3

I missed making another post yesterday! I got home from my trip about 8 pm and was too exhausted to do much more than eat, unpack, and fall into bed. I was still pretty tired today, catching up on laundry and dishes and just reading for a while.

Here is one of the tags I decorated while away; it’s a digital download from Charlene of Grand Central Crafting. Just a touch of lace is all it needed; the back is cream cardstock so that one can write on it. EnJoy!

Red Bird Tag

I finished my gig for the week, and actually got to complete a couple of the art projects that I brought with me! I got a friend to take this photo for me to post The color is a bit off; I am not able to edit as well as I can with my own computer (using someone else’s right now). EnJoy!

Update: I took another photo at home; this one is more true to color. The background color of the previous image was in too much contrast.

Rose Bookmark

Another very full day! I spent much of it doing the job I’m here for, then had a short soak in the hot tub, a quick dip in the pool and a shower before dinner I spent a long time having dinner and conversing with the person I’m working for; she is interested in the air scrubbers I sell, plus we spoke about essential oils, nutrition, and other topics. A great evening! and no time or energy left for creating something new. SO, once again I’ll post a previously made art piece.  You can expect more of these until the I return home on the weekend. EnJoy this little flip book, built on a large paperclip!

Elephant Paperclip Flip Book

Elephant Paperclip Flip Book 2

Elephant Paperclip Flip Book 3

Elephant Paperclip Flip Book 4

Elephant Paperclip Flip Book 5