{glue on my fingers} paint in my hair

Tea Party @ the Drive-in

2010-12-03T23:42:00.008-06:00

A Night At The Movies

Tonight I took the girls to see Tangled at the Drive-in in Graham, Texas. It is the best place to take your kids, because they can sit in the car and wiggle, talk, and argue without bothering everyone else, besides me. They love being able to go to the Drive-in. This is our second time to see a movie at this one and we could not have asked for a better night for them to play a movie. They one show one movie a month during the cooler seasons. Tangled was the perfect movie for this night as we remembered Mom(Nana). Rapunzel was a painter and would paint murals on her walls. Does that remind you of anyone?!! She was taken from her parents as a baby and raised by an old lady. Well, every year her parents would send up lanterns on the night of her birthday hoping that one day she would return to them. This part of the movie brought tears to my eyes. I could not help but think about how we released balloons into the air on Mom's birthday that way they could fly up to Heaven and wish her a Happy Birthday.

The girls enjoyed popcorn, candy, and a coke for the movie.

They also had ring pops which is a must at the movies.

Look at the colors of their tongues. I think my children are turning into candy zombie!!!! LOL

Of course the popcorn is a complete must at the movie even though in end up all over the car by the end of the night!

Here is a shot of the screen from our viewing area. The same spot we parked at last time. Close to the bathrooms and concession.

It was a great night to spend with the girls as we honored the one woman in our life that means so much. I cannot believe that 11 months has passed without her on this Earth. It only feels like yesterday I watched her depart from this world and travel to the Holy Land. We miss her tremendously but will one day soon rejoice with her in Heaven. We love and miss you Mom(Nana)

Tina's Loving DD~

Nicole

Tea Party

2010-11-03T21:29:00.012-05:00

We have not posted a tea party of over 2 months now. That is because we have gone on the trip to spread her ashes, and her birthday party that we had for her.

Since today was chilly you could not ask for anything better than a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream. I had a bag of chocolate chips so I made some cookies earlier in the day for the tea party. The girls loved both. Sage even started dipping her cookies into her hot chocolate.

We even had a little visitor while having our tea party. He has such a sweet tooth! It is hard to keep him off the table if he smells anything with sugar in it.

Life has been wild and crazy lately. We had the Undy 5000 in Dallas last weekend. I will post pics as soon as I recieve them. We raised $4,455 for our team. We won top fundraising team which made me very proud. I know that mom was in heaven cheering us on and supporting us the entire time. Thank you to all out there that donated in the memory of my mother.

Enjoy!

Tina's Loving DD~

Nicole

CCA Undy 5000 5K in Dallas

2010-09-02T19:20:00.007-05:00

I've formed a team for the Undy 5000, a brief run/walk to fight colon cancer. My team is to honor my mother who lost her battle with colon cancer January 3, 2010. Our team name will be "Big Girl Panties" since mother's favorite saying was

"Put your big girl panties on and deal with it."
We're taking to the streets and running in our underwear to help raise awareness and help prevent colon cancer. It sounds silly, right? But we're serious about the cause. Why don't you join me?

Join me for a day of fun, friendship, family, and fundraising. You can register to be on my team at:

http://support.ccalliance.org/site/TR/5K/UndyNEW?px=1215718&pg=personal&fr_id=1300

and the password is: kelsisage1

Participants in the Undy 5000 will be drawing attention to their bottoms - and colorectal cancer - by running or walking in their underwear. Yes, underwear! Instead of the same boring old race T-shirt, all participants will get official Undy 5000 boxwe shorts.

Why underwear? Because people do not like talking about colorectal cancer. And talking about it will save their lives.

If you can not join the team in Dallas we would love for you to help us reach our team goal of $2,000 to go towards Colorectal Cancer Alliance so that we can get the word out about colon cancer.

I hope you'll join me on the Undy 5000 this year!

Tina's Loving DD~

Nicole

105 degree Tea Party

2010-08-21T22:06:00.003-05:00

The tea party it was 105 degrees outside so we decided to eat some ice cream to help cool off. We had some Blue Bell Cherry Vanilla. It was YUM!!! We also recently found out that my father's mother has breast cancer and was suppose to have surgery that week we had the tea party. So we decided that we would have a card making tea party. We pulled out the colors, markers, and paper and began making their Get-Well cards and posters for their Great-Grandma. She ended up not going through with the surgery but we had fun coloring anyways.

Thanks for stopping by and I am sorry it has taken so long to post. Have a great first week of school. I know that I am going to try and have one.

Tina's Loving DD~

Nicole

Disney World Tea Party

2010-07-07T16:06:00.003-05:00

Disney World 2010

This month we has our tea party while on vacation at Disney World. We had planned on going to the Grand Floridian for a Princess Tea Party but then I found out that it would cost me more than $400 we had to come up with a better plan. So I took the girls into the bakery section and let them pick out their own snack. Sage had cheesecake, Grace had Mickie shaped cheese crackers, and I had a cupcake. We had an extra cupcake incase Grace decided she wanted something sweet. We had bought souvinor cups at the resort so that we could have drinks all day long without cost. The girls chose their own drink and we found us a nice quite place but the kiddy pool at our resort.

Our Mickie straws we had in our cups!!!

Sage eating her yummy cheesecake!!!

Grace enjoying her Chip & Dale cheese crackers!!!

Disney world is such a magical place and dreams do come true there. We enjoyed every second of our trip and plan to return some years down the road when the girls are older. Thanks for stopping by and reading.

Tina's Loving DD

~Nicole

Alice In Wonderland

2010-06-04T13:33:00.003-05:00

Nana's Favorites:

Popcorn & Chocolate

This tea party we decided to watch a movie and eat some of Nana's favorite treats. This day was also the last day of school so we were wanting some R&R. Mom always loved eating popcorn with chocolate on the side. So I popped us some corn and bought everyone a personal bag of M&Ms to go along with it. But wait, what better movie to go with our tea party day the Alice In Wonderland. I so wish that Disney World had a tea party with Alice and the crew, because we would so join in on the next tea party we have.

I have not told everyone but at the end of this month we are going to Disney World for 7 days. Mom had always wanted this trip for the girls. This year has been so tough on us all especially the kids and we felt that they needed a well deserved get away. What better place to go then to "Where Dreams Come True". The girls are so excited and even have a count down calander hanging on the back of the front door. They have been counting down for over 120 days now. Each morning one of them pulls off a sticky note to reveal how many more days left. We will be in Disney World the next tea party time because we are staying until July 4. So I have found where one of the resorts has a tea party time and planning for that day at lunch for us to attend. I think this will make our trip extra special since this trip was for Nana. The girls are so excited and cannot wait until it is time to leave. If anyone has any good advice for us on this trip please let me know. We are Disney World virgins!!!!

Thanks~
Tina's Loving DD (Nicole)

Scholarship 2010

2010-05-20T11:48:00.004-05:00

"Tina Wright Memorial Art Scholarship 2010"

Recipient

Nicole Fambro

This year we started a scholarship in the memory of my mother. We awarded it to a 2010 Breckenridge High School graduate, Nicole Fambro. She is furthering her education at Texas A&M in College Station, TX. She is a wonderful girl and she has the drive and motivation to do something wonderful in her future. We awarded her with $1000 to help with tuition, books, room, or food. Whatever she can use it for will help out alot. College is not a cheap place to be. We knew that she would greatly appreciate this scholarship and use it to her best advantage. We would like to thank everyone that donated to the Tina Wright Fund that was set up at First Nationl Bank of Breckenridge. All the money raised in her fund goes to the scholarship. We hope to keep building this fund every year so that we can award a deserving student the money they need to help out with college.

Tina's Loving DD(Nicole)

Calling All Bloggers!!!!

2010-05-18T22:21:00.002-05:00

We have been looking lately on a way that we could raise money every year to keep the funds going in a scholarship fund that we have set up for a high school graduate. Well after a while of thinking we have come up with a great idea, but we will need every ones help to keep this going.

We are asking anyone that new my mother, sold, bought, or was friends that would love to donate a piece of their art in her memory for us to auction off to help raise money for her scholarship fund.

The scholarship is called the Tina Wright Memorial Art Scholarship for $1000. We are giving it each year that we have the funds to a senior for that year at the local high school that my mother graduated from in 1984.

We are planning to set up tables at any large events that we can do a raffle for the piece that was donated to us. We will also have pamphlets to and information informing people about colon cancer. The proceeds that we raise from these raffles will be split 50/50 between Colon Cancer Research and Tina Wright Memorial Fund.

If you are willing and would like to participate in this fund raiser for the years to come please leave me a comment and I will get back with you on a way you can ship us your art piece. We greatly appreciate your help and support through these tough times. This is our way of keeping the memory of Tina alive through what she loved the most.

Thank you all
~Tina's Loving DD (Nicole)

Tea Party!

2010-05-16T18:58:00.006-05:00

Tea Party number 4. I am so sorry it has taken so long to get this posted, but we have been very busy getting ready for my best friends wedding this weekend in Salado, TX. We had cupcakes and cherry limeaid. The girls loved it.

This tea party came with a little suprise for the girls. Mom's sister (their great aunt) made them their very own Nana boxes. That way they can keep their little memories that they made with Nana or anything that makes them think of Nana can go into these boxes.

Inside the boxes were little Nana books that had pics of their beautiful Nana and some little nik-naks from her studio.

The girls loved every bit that they found in their books. They have already started to find things to place in their boxes.

Thanks for visiting back and checkin up and the girls and I. We love all your support!

Tina's Loving

~DD

Easter Time Tea Party

2010-04-05T17:20:00.004-05:00

"3 Months without you in our life's"

This weekend was tea party time again. Dad was in with his new motorcycle and took Pearl(Sage,the oldest) on a 4 hour road trip around our area. She has waited a long time to be able to take a trip with him. His new bike is able to let her ride comfortably on a big seat and large backrest. She was thrilled because her new helmet even allowed her to listen to the radio and talk with her Big Daddy as they went down the road. He said she talked his ear off the whole time. At one point she even said I would like to listen to the radio and her Big Daddy told her if she would just be quite for a while she could hear it already playing. Little sister was upset that she did not get to go.

This party we had a little late in the evening since Sage was gone. When she returned we went inside and had Vanilla Wafer with pralinutta(like nutella) a hazelnut spread. Also fruit punch kool-aid. Nana is the one that introduced the girls to Nutella and they love it. That is one memory that they can keep with them always.

Sage(Pearl, her nickname from her Nana and Big Daddy because she was born on Pearl Harbor Day)

Grace(Coot, another name that Nana and Big Daddy call her because when she was born her sister said "she is so coot" and it stuck.

Sorry to post this late, but have had a very busy weekend with the kids and family. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

Tina's Loving~

DD(Nicole)

Easter Egg Time!

2010-04-05T17:00:00.005-05:00

Easter 2009 with Nana(mom)

"We missed you this year while dying eggs"

Last year we spent Easter weekend at Nana's house dying eggs and doing all the Easter fun things there are to do. It was a fun weekend with many great memories to be remembered. This year the girls and I dyed eggs at the house. We ended up with about 2 dozen eggs.

The girls had a blast coloring eggs but lost interest early so I pretty much ended up doing most of them this year. It was fun but somber! Wishing Mom was here to help and to spend these days with them. But she lives on in our memories and is with us every holiday and special days in our life.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday. And the reason for this season is because "HE HAS RISEN"!!!!

Tina's Loving~

DD(Nicole)

Things as She Left It

2010-03-13T14:22:00.003-06:00

I had taken pictures of Mom's studio the week after she passed away. We wanted to remember what everything looked like the way she left it. Everything today is still in the same place. This was her favorite room in the whole house. If you could not find mom you would know to look in her studio. I loved the colors of the walls and she had also painted brown swirlys around the doorways and randomly on the walls. Now every time I go over to the house this is the room I like to look around in. I can not go over without entering this room. It seems to call out to me. It seems every time I enter the studio I find something I have never seen before.

As you can see she was in the middle of projects. Ever since her cancer was found she did not do to much dabbling in her studio as she use to. She was trying to get somethings made for her etsy store for Christmas and then some charms of the girls for family members. Also her and Marsha Jorgenson(Tumblefish Studios) were doing a little swap at the time and mom was making one of her pieces of art into a charm for her. I was able to send Marsha her charm and mom had even made one for herself. Mom was always messy while she was busy in the studio as you can tell from the table. But every now and then she would straighten everything back up.

Now Dad has told Me and the Grands that this is our studio after some time. The grands loved to come and paint and be crafty with their Nana in here. They still love to go in there and make different things. They always thought that Nana had the neatest little things and crafts in her studio. We still have many more memories we can make in this room.

Have a great weekend!

Tina Loving DD

We All Scream For Ice Cream (Tea Party)

2010-03-03T21:33:00.002-06:00

Time for Tea!Today makes now two months without Nana. I nearly forgot about today's tea party because I have been swamped at work with having the students taking TAKS test. This time of the year is really stressful and I can get kind of forgetful. I am sure we all have those days that when we return home from work we just want to sit down and relax and forget everything. Well thank goodness that my daughter is in an extra reading class and her sentence for today was, "We are having a tea party for my Nana today." At least she does not forget!

Time has a way of healing your heart, but then there are those moments it finds those few open cracks and tears your heart back open. I have recently read a book called "90 minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper. It has opened my eyes to what mother is experiencing in that wonderful place called Heaven. I am so looking forward to that day when we can meet again and rejoice with our Heavenly Father. I am sure she knows how much I miss her and she definitely knows how much these little girls love and miss her dearly.

Tonight we were going to try something different instead of tea. We had already had dinner for the night and everyone was wanting dessert. So I have a carton of Cherry Garcia in the freezer. I added two scoops to each cup and them sprinkled on some left over Valentines nonpareils that were pink. After sitting in the ice cream, the colors of the nonpareils started to run off and everyone then had pink ice cream.

Grace(youngest) was wanting all the cherries out of the ice cream and was very depressed that she only had two so every time I found one in mine I would give her mine. Then of course older sister was jealous. After everyone finished their dessert the oldest Sage read us some of her books from school. It turned out to be a very good night after all even though I had first forgot about the tea party.

Hope everyone has a great week and is signing up for Papaer Cowgirl. My father and I are going to be setting up a table at vendors night with Mom's memorial video playing and some of her artwork displayed. We are also going to be taking donations to go towards her scholarship fund we have set up in her honor at the local high school that she graduated from. The "Tina Wright Scholarship for Art" is a total of $1000 going to one of our local high school students. We would liek to keep this fund going for as long as we can. Hope to see and meet alot of you at Paper Cowgirl.

Get your gear ready and your horse saddled, cause the rodeo is coming!

Love,

Tina's DD

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

2010-02-12T10:54:00.011-06:00

Today we received 6 inches of snow and the girls loved it. They would play for about 30 minute increments and then return indoors to warm up. They had a blast in the snow. All the other times it has snowed we were never home to play in with mom being in the hospital. So today we made full effort to play outside and enjoy it. Grace kept telling us that Nana was making it snow for us and I am sure she was since we missed out on it earlier this year.
At lunch time their Daddy came home and had a little snowball fight with them. Big Daddy was not doing much work yesterday so he decided to head our way and spend some time with his grands. After sitting inside for a while they talked Big Daddy into going outside and making a snowman. He started off rolling a small ball until it became bigger for the base. The girls thought that it was the neatest thing to see it get bigger. BD shaped it into a more round shape and his grands start adding more for the middle portion. BD then had to leave to head back home. SO the rest was left up to me and the girls. I think we did a pretty fine job! Grace said he was her boyfriend and that she even named him "Joe". She is such a crazy one.

Hope you enjoyed the snow in your area if you received some.

Have a great day~DD

Princess Tea Party

2010-02-03T21:36:00.014-06:00

Can't believe that today has been a month already gone by. Some days it feels so long ago and some it just seems like yesterday I seen her last.

In mom's memory and to keep the special little moments Mom had her Grands I have taken over with her "Princess Parties". I promised her that on the 3rd day of every month we would celebrate her life through her tea parties with her as the guest of honour. Today was our first tea party! While on my lunch break I went home and set up the table for the party. I was able to get from Mom's house the tea set that one of her friends had sent her a while back, that she actually never got the chance to use. I set out all four plates, cups, sugar bowl, and milk saucer. When I went back to work I made a little snack called "ebelskivers". For those who do not know what that is, they are a beloved treat in native Denmark. They are pretty much pancake balls. I add chocolate chips in ours just for a little added sweetness. After I picked the girls up from school we went home to enjoy our little party. The girls changed clothes and decided that they needed to wear dresses since a princess would wear a dress to a tea party. After changing clothes we all set down at the table and said a prayer to thank God for the time we had with our Nana.

We all enjoyed our peppermint tea and ebelskivers. YUM!!!! Thank you Nana for taking the time to spend with us and teach us how to be proper little princesses. We Love and Miss you "Queen Nana".

~DD

We Will Miss You!

2010-01-13T09:27:00.003-06:00

Many of you have heard what has happened to Tina and many have not yet heard the news. On Sunday January 3, 2010, Tina lost her battle with cancer and has went to be with our Lord above. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends. Her etsy store will stay opened until everything has sold. I would like to thank you for all the support you have all offered to my mother these past few months and the ones that have followed her throughout her whole blog. We will truly miss what a wonderful, talented, and loving person she was. May her spirit live on through her art.

Her loving DD,

Nicole

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-20T18:02:00.002-06:00

Right now, I'm back in the hospital, with some kind of infection..hope to be out by Christmas Eve.

Hope you have all your shopping done, I sure didn't when this hit...oh well..

Merry Chirstmas ya'll!

Good news!

2009-12-16T13:25:00.003-06:00

Last week, I had a CAT scan and a Bone Scan. The CAT scan shown that the spots on my liver were Significantly Reduced!! Praise to GOD! So, we are doing something right in all this!

The Dr. gave me the rest of the month off from Chemo and I go back after the first of the year to re-evaluate the chemo plan and see how many more. I'm so happy to share this news with ya'll...the prayers are working!!! Thank YOU!!!

I'm still in a bit of a funk but it's starting to be better. I have a bit of a cold too and that has knocked me down, but I have the rest of the month to get rested and eating good!

Thank you all for your comments and well wishes and prayers, we will continue to fight this battle and I know now their is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Merry Chirstmas!
tina

Happy Friday

2009-12-04T12:29:00.002-06:00

Few and far between right now with posts, and I'm so sorry it is like that. But this Chemo brain keeps me from all those ideas that used to be swirling in my head, some days they do pop out but for the most part they are not anywhere to be found.

So, just to keep you on what is going on...I have scans next week and treatment again. I am not taking the treatment that was scheduled for 2 days before Christmas..so that should give the rest of the month to recover and recoup.

Making lists for Christmas shopping, not decorated the house, nor made any Christmas goodies..but this year will just have to be different.

But it is going to get better and I'm going to be healed from this mess and get back on with my life!

Have a great weekend!
tina

Little bit in the studio

2009-11-20T05:56:00.001-06:00

Got in the studio a bit the last couple of days, and soldered up some charms:

Christmas ornies for my Etsy shop.......

This is a swap:

With Marsha, from Tumble Fish Studio...She is a wonderful artist and did this collage, she made it tiny, tiny..she made one for me too..

Then, I added a collage to the backside..This is a copy of one of my personal photos, I love to use. It is one of the first photos in my collection that started a few years ago..thanks to Ebay..

I made a couple more of this gal too:

She's another personal photo from my collection. I love the look on her face...

I find this saying very fitting with this picture. We all need a kick in the pants from time to time, don't we?

Have a great weekend!

tina

My main Man

2009-11-14T15:57:00.004-06:00

I wanted to share with you my main care-giver at this time in my life....he's been around a long time, 27 years plus to be exact...We've known each other since I was 12 and he was 14.

He wears many hats: He's the Big Daddy of fun...
Spoiler, hug giver, bites on the neck and giggle maker...

He's Mr. Fix-it or make it or repair it...

Mr. Clean it, shine it, make it nice..

And right now he's my care giver, hand holder, Chemo sitter, driver, shopper, and researcher...and most of all he's my rock.

Thank you hubby.

I love you, I couldn't make this journey with out you.

A delivery was made

2009-11-04T08:47:00.005-06:00

By the Get Well Fairy! And be danged if I didn't get her picture...

She brought laughs, and goodies and cookies....AND she brought This:

This beautiful out pouring of hopes, prayers, and love from my blog friends and new blog friends. This wonderful window of tags, there are over 50 tags on this. Jan fixed up the window frame to hold them all and it covers it completely!

Thank you all who sent in, Thank you Jan for making this and doing all this for me! Thank You! The blog and altered art community is a wonderful place full of big hearts and outreaching hands! I'm glad to be a part of it!

Been feeling ok, proud to say, I didn't have a 'crash' day after the latest treatment, so maybe the eating better has helped. Feeling half normal does have it's up sides..lol..

Have a great Wednesday!

tina

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T14:46:00.001-05:00

Hope your day and night is filled with fun and laughter and good candy..not that icky candy we all hated to see in our bags when we got home..lol..

Pumpkins above were carved at my daughter's house.

Another Wonderful book in the mail

2009-10-26T11:45:00.005-05:00

Our 'other child' sent me this Wonderful book in the mail.

Tina and Scott lived across the street from us when in College Station. They became like our 'other' kids..in and out at all hours, borrowing something, eating with us, hanging out, motorcycle riding...We all had great fun. Tina made me this great little tag book with photos from things we had done at their and our house! She such a sweetie! Thank you!

This week I have another treatment. They are starting me on another med. so we'll see how that treats me come Thursday. My BFF Cee is coming to sit with me on Wed. as I take the treatment...Hope we can discuss some of our Paper Cowgirl ideas and get the June retreat going.

Looking forward to a Halloween Party at Ann-Denise's' house on Sat. We are just playing it by ear to see how I feel that day..

Hope God's blessed your day the way he's Blessed me today!

Hugs, t

Just amazing...

2009-10-19T16:01:00.002-05:00

Amazing : http://www.flickr.com/groups/1218993@N24/ is all I can say...

Amazing Friends and family, Amazing Artists and Amazing things have been in the mail to me since all this crazy cancer stuff started!

All I can say is a Humble THaNk YoU.

You know who you are~

This week is a good week, no chemo at all~ no treatments, no pills to take~ yea for me..I'm happy~ Next treatment on the 28th.
Thanks for the prayers!!!!
hugs,t

Message from a friend..

2009-10-12T05:27:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

We are hosting a benefit dinner and silent auction for Tina Wright on October 29th near College Station. Proceeds of the benefit will go towards Tina's brave fight against cancer.

We need your help and support to make this event a great success. Please let your creative juices flow and send us items we can use for the silent auction by October 28th. My address is: 3206 Von Trapp Lane, College Station, TX 77845.

If would like to attend the event or need more information, please email carolyn.mccully@wwrd.com or call 979-575-6458.

Lovingly,
Carolyn McCully
Brazos de Dios, Harley Owners Group

Carolyn and our other friends in College Station are hosting this. They don't blog, so you may think it's tacky I put it on here, but I am humbled by their generosity and out pouring of love.... Also, they would like my 'art' friends to participate. So, if you are interested please contact her. Thanks friends!!
Have a great Monday!
t

Friday rambles

2009-10-09T10:30:00.003-05:00

Where did the week go?? This has been so nice to stay home and not have an appointment to be at. I know Hub enjoyed getting back into his work and being able to do something else, other than for me..

I sooooo didn't realize this cancer thing would just consume my whole life at this time..but it has. Who would have thought you can't even go get your teeth cleaned? I can't, my white count is down. No going to Wally or Hob Lob either right now..especially when this flu thing is going along here like it is.

The girls are coming to visit tonight and tomorrow, so that is a much welcomed diversion. As for daily diversions, I'm becoming a TV zombie, as I call it..watching way more than I ever have. But when your tired, what do you do? The creative spark has went to farther than in my head for now..but that even needs a break to sometimes, so, I'm ok with it..

I do want to thank everyone for the prayers, they are keeping me uplifted and going!!!! Thank YOU so MUCH!! I will never be able to tell you the full extent of my thanks..

Hope your weekend is super!
love and hugs, t

Monday news

2009-10-05T05:21:00.002-05:00

Today it's off to have another test, and see the Chemo Dr.

My mind is starting to roll around it's usual state instead of the disjointed mess it's been in..things are wanting to be created and things are making sense as we wade our way thru all this Cancer mess...

Thanks for all the prayers and all the thoughts, cards, surprises in the mail and phone calls. We really appreciate every last second of it!

I really hated missing out on Fall Paper Cowgirl..I know you gals had a great time and hope Cee posts some photos on the PC blog soon, for I want to see what all kinds of goodies were created down at the Crafty Scrapper...

God Bless you all!

hugs,t

One down...

2009-09-30T21:36:00.003-05:00

Well, today was the first Chemo treatment. It was not a good night before, sleep would not come as deep as I wanted...worry would peek it's head thru, even though I gave it up to God.

My port was put in yesterday, it felt like a deck of cards under my skin..today it feels like someone hit me with a softball in the shoulder.

Hubby has been great, he's done all he can do to help lift me up and let me lean on him. Can't ask for any more...

We were at the cancer clinic from 8:00 to 3:30 today..needless to say it was a loooong day..but it's now over. I go back tomorrow for another infusion and more scans. Then hopefully home before Friday is out.

Thank you again for all the prayers, they lift me up and are truly helping us get thru this. God is good !
hugs,
tina

Dear Friends

2009-09-23T10:23:00.002-05:00

Our road was nice and fairly smooth and enjoyable, until a couple of weeks ago.

Going to the ER at 6am with side pain, we all thought it was just something simple as appendicitis. But when I came back to my room after surgery that afternoon, I was met by my family with faces on that I had never seen on them before. Then they told me. They found Colon Cancer while in there. Life as we knew it suddenly stopped. Now our goal is to fight this evil disease with God's help and guidance. We are a family of Faith in God.

As of today, I'm home resting up for next week's round, of a Colonoscopy, the medi port and chemo treatments to begin. My Dr.'s for this task are A-ONE and Top Notch in Dallas, I feel safe with them and trust them completely.

As Paper Cowgirl goes, I want Cindy to carry on and you all have your PC fun. I'll be there but not in person, I'm sure. But know in my heart I will feel all your fun and creatiative.

For all the comments, I have felt your uplifting, your prayers and your love. They are keeping me sane in unsane time of my life. Thank you.

Facebook right now is our mode of updates. Hub updates when he can on there. So you may not see me too much here in the next few weeks. I do thank you for all your support and love.

Take care and God Bless,
tina

Goodies in the Mail!!!

2009-09-09T04:23:00.004-05:00

Look at this sunrise that greeted me today! It was awesome..Dark red was the sun, it was just a huge orb as it was coming up..too bad I'm not a good enough photographer to have captured it....

I had to be up and at'em early this morn..got a paint job ..so when I came home, Merl the mail man had been by and boy, was the Big Black Mail box full up...other than bills and magazines it was full of goodies!! Yea for me ;)

This one was first to be opened when I saw it:

Marsha from Tumble Fish Studio and I are in a swap..she's made this wonderful collage.

Then made these smaller ones, that I am going to turn into pendant!! Fun or what??

These little lovelies were from an Etsy shop:

Wait till you see what's in my head for these..charms and then some!!!

My wonderfully talented friend Andreea made me a gift box!!

She filled it with lovelies and look at the crocheted wrap:

Tiny little nests! Some are empty..some are full..isn't she the most wonderful friend???

Bobbin' Heads riding in the back dash of cars....Remember these?? Well I had to find one for Son's 55 Chevy..well, I won enough in one auction..for Hub's 55 Chevy, my car and even my Daughter's car..lol..
They may all go in the jalopy...just for fun~

I won this wonderful print from:

Stephanie Rubiano's Blog!! She another Texas gal I like to check in on and see what's up..She's been in Somerset more times than you can count with her wonderful perching pixies and at Art and Soul and other retreat..maybe we need to see if she'll pop in at Paper Cowgirl???..Now to find the perfect frame for it...

Ya'll have a great day, I hope your mail box is full of goodies too today!

hugs,t

Up Comming classes

2009-09-08T02:59:00.001-05:00

Update on Solder Classes....

Sweet or Sinister Necklace at the Crafty Scrapper.. or Call: 972-923-3151.....Coming up soon, like in less than 2 weeks!!! Friday, Sept. 18th..Also on Saturday the 19th we have a 101 class scheduled at 5pm and a Bracelet Class at 11 am...

I've had alot of requests for a Saturday beginners class..so here is your chance~

3 rings class will be held on Sept. 26th:

And! I have a class at Smitten in Mc Kinney.... Scheduled for Thursday, Sept 17th.

A beginners solder class:

Hope to see you there!!!

Have a great "Short week"!

later,t

Thrift Store finds

2009-09-07T05:34:00.004-05:00

These old checks are super!!! Love the age of them and look at that date! 1896!!

I had picked out 4 of them..he wanted 50cents each..but ended up getting them for free..he forgot to ring them up and said oh heck, you can have them...he had a huge stack of them..that's what I really wanted..but not at 50c each...(these were at a local antique mall)

Gooodwill was brimming with finds for me today!

Found some old books:

The copyright was '46 inside that Emily Post book..

This one was Home Bible studies..had to have it:

You don't see the ends marbled too often..plus there were great illustrations inside too..

I was on the hunt for an old bingo game, but found this instead:

When I saw the cover, I knew this would feed my letter addiction...

Lo and behold..they are super fat and cute and a whole little box full of them!

It looked to be 60's or 70's and must have been in the closet for along time..it was all there..looking as good as new, except the box was a bit worn..but I don't want the box anyway..

This box, I had to get for the insides..but the box is cool too with the metal re-enforcements on the corners and the graphics were a plus too.

These old bobbers will be of some good use in a mixed media piece I'm sure..

HOpe your Labor Day weekend has been a good one!!

later gator~

tee

Paper Cowgirl Friday

2009-09-04T04:41:00.001-05:00

Mosey over to the blog and see what I'm doing for the Party.. Be Sure and visit the other gals in the Party too..

My house was dirty..so we are doing it over there~

Have a good Labor Day weekend~
tee

Make your own tool..

2009-09-03T05:20:00.001-05:00

Michelle Ward is great inspiration. If you have not looked at her blog, you need too..she may not be your style but she is full of wonderful ideas and things to use in your own works..she has a whole line of cool rubber stamps too..

Awhile back on one of her "challenges", she wanted you to make a tool you needed in your art work..whether it be a stamp, stencil, resist or block..I did that one..and had great fun making rubber stamps with my hand drawn images..so today that came back to me..

I have an idea for a new line of charms..and I wanted a name to set them apart from anything I do or anyone else..But I knew I didn't have the computer skills or program to make that something up that I had in my mind..But! I can draw it out...I can Carve! it away..I did have some lino left and time to make that idea in my head...

So after a few tries and some tweaking here and there..Some carving, and cleaning, and inking..I came up with what was inside my head:

I'm quite happy with the results!

I think it will all jell and come together in the next couple of weeks and I'll show you the whole she-bang~But for now..that's all you get..hope you are inspired to do something like this..to make your tool, to find an alternative.

Have a great Thursday!

tee

Ready to share..

2009-09-02T05:08:00.000-05:00

Awhile back I gave you a sneak peek at a new Class idea..

WELLL, now I'm ready to share with you.. I've sent in the displays to the Craft Scrapper and we've set up class times..

So...ta.da:

This oval one is my fave..not to tall..but big enough for a statement..

But this one...haaa..I love the old paper and the random style words..and of course~ doodles.. Hope you join me for classes! We are making 3 rings, 3 sizes and 3 styles!

I'm also going to list some similar on my Etsy..

Thanks for the comments on the Butterfly pendant!! Feedback is always welcome!!

Random Tuesday

2009-09-01T05:37:00.000-05:00

Just a few random things that have been going on here lately...
The son got a 'new' old car...so, he and the hub have been 'piddling' with it..replacing parts and being motor heads...my part in it all was fetching glasses of tea and looking at the progress..

I finished up this canvas:

It has been just the background colors for at least a month..Then found this quote and decided that would fit perfectly..I love using up the alphabet collection I have..Do they have a word for that kind of 'sickness'??? I Love to find and buy up letters..old, new, metal, chipboard, stickers..I don't care..just give me alphabets..And I had to use one of my favorite cowgirl images..I am very pleased with this piece. The other one I posted a couple of weeks ago and this one will be up on Etsy as soon as I can take decent photos of them.

This is my new class at the Crafty Scrapper:

Beveled glass Christmas ornaments..we'll make a total of 4. Two of the 1x3s and Two of the 3x2s with the crystals and the crystal chain...Glass glitter is inside to glam up the vintage images and a bit of German scrap which will all be in the class kits!! We'll also bend the wire for the hangers..We are looking at an October date for this class..

Happy Birthday to my fren Jan T at the Polka Dot Barn blog..pop over and tell her happy Bday ;) she's just 24 ya know~

Have a great Tuesday ya'll!!

big ol' hugs,tee

Spreading my wings

2009-08-31T05:32:00.005-05:00

Remember last year, when I told you about the Monarch butterflies passing through?

How I found some of the poor things, dead or dying in my yard?? I kept them..in a drawer, in my hubby's desk..I didn't know what else to do with them so they would not be squashed~ he was not to happy...but he didn't squash them..

The other day, I took one of them out and used her for this piece..

Did you know it's difficult to photograph yourself, wearing said necklace???? But I needed to show you how long it hangs from it's leather cord..So, this is the result:

I'm very pleased with it, what do you think?? I'd love to hear from you. i will be adding it to Etsy in the next few days..

I have to share this with you!!!!

Marsha at "Tumblefish Studio" and I are in a swap! She's making her famous art work and I'm going to encase it in glass for her to have some pendants! Look here at what I'm going to receive !! I have admired her style for a long time and we've been chatting back and forth for a bit now..this is just the gravy on my biscuts!! I'm going to have a piece of her work!! Thanks sooo much Marsha for swapping out with me!! Girl! you ROCK!

Hope your Week goes well!! Happy Monday!

tee

Paper Cowgirl Friday

2009-08-28T07:22:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to share with you a bit of fun we are about to have..We really would like for you to join us...The Date is Saturday October 3rd. The Place: The Crafty Scrapper, Waxahachie, TX.

For this Fall Round up, we want a smaller atmosphere...slow the pace down a bit..but still learn some new techniques and meet some new folks, have a get away day and just plain have some fun.

Joanna Lewis...she's going to be teaching the Crown class. This gal, let me tell you..she's one heck of a crown maker..lol..She hosted the Crown Swap at the June Paper Cowgirl. It was amazing what she had for her swap partner..and the other gals swapping were awesome too..But Joanna had that special touch and that is the reason we asked her to be in the Round up.

Chantal Johnson, She's another lady with a special touch..she made us look twice while trying to choose teachers for June. Her handy work on fabric is amazing and we had to ask her to be here for the Round up, she is willing to share some awesome ideas and workmanship in the Fabric Cuff Class...

Sandra Feazel..this gal just oozes ideas..she's soo full of them..Love her style and her bees wax is such fun. She's taking a whole new spin on it..you'll be amazed at what she came up with for us. Cute and Classy is what I call this class. You'll love it!

One day, just a get-away with girlfriend and like minded gals..that's what we want this day to be. A reasonable price too boot..where else can you get 3 THREE classes at this low of a price? And lunch too??? Tell me~

This is what people are saying:

I have really loved participating in the first two Paper Cowgirl Retreats. The classes challenged me to try new techniques and to stretch my talents and skills into different directions. I have used tools and materials I would never have attempted if it had not been for the encouragement and patience of the artist-instructors. LaVerne

Paper Cowgirl??? For two years in a row Tina and Cindy (the head cowgirls) plan incredible classes, amazing projects, and find the most talented instructors. I loved having pretty supplies all set up ready to go, learning a new technique and being able to finish a project in one day. We're so fortunate to have an art retreat of this quality in the South. To top it all off Tina and Cindy make sure there's a little time for shopping and the yummiest lunches around then throw in some cupcakes.The only problem was that it was just once a year! Well they fixed that...there's a fabulous one day retreat coming up - wax paintings, wristlets and crowns OH MY! Can't wait. Nancy

My many thanks go out to you both and to all the other teachers involved in this past June’s Paper Cowgirl retreat in Waxahachie, Texas. I merely stumbled upon the PC site by a whim and I was delighted to find out about the retreat. I convinced my dear friend to join me in this adventure and I not only had a blast, but she did as well. The instructors were great and the class selections were awesome. It was so nice to meet so many artists in so many walks of life and just have a great time together….not to mention the cupcakes…that didn’t hurt the situation either!! The meet and greet night, the vendor’s night, and our special evening out antiquing in downtown Waxahachie were definitely icing on the cupcake. I’m definitely planning on attending next year’s event.Lisel

So Go to the BLOG and click on the cowgirl on the right hand side bar, she'll take you to the post of classes and the pay pal button..We still have a few spots open!

We'd love you to be a part of this tradition here in the Metroplex that we are starting! See you soon!!

Have a great weekend!

tee

Soldering and such

2009-08-27T07:05:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I started this, it was an example in my "Chubby Charm" class. To show the students how to use the same technique but on a larger scale. This piece is about 3 or 4 inches across and 2 down..not a pendant by any means..lol..
I finished it off with the corner pieces attached and added the rings and chain after the class time..I think it's a cool art piece. I'm adding this to Etsy also in the next few days.

Here are more of the Thick, Chunky pendants I've been working on:

I know a couple of them were posted yesterday..but they made a fun grouping..

A few nights ago, I challenged myself:

This was made from 1x1 square charms..whadda you think??? I know, it's abit rough on the edges..but hey~ Cowgirls are a bit rough on the edges, aren't they?? But inside lies a Heart of Gold~ I've not 'built' too much stuff..but this was fun, I need to perfect it though.. Next I'm going to patina it black..did you know that hides a multiude of sins??? no pun intended..lol..

Hope your week is going good, we are half way done with another one!

teedubya

Reminder

2009-08-26T01:17:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to invite you to the Sweet or Sinister Necklace class on Sept.18th.

At the Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, that's a Friday night at 6pm....
Looks to be a good size class, but we do have room for a few more! Hope you join us!!!

Have a super Wednesday, we are half way thru another week...don't they just fly by???

teedubya

Back in the Saddle again!!!

2009-08-25T06:57:00.002-05:00

yeeehaaaw!!

Boy, it stinks not having your 'puter~ I had to just get on and get off of hub's laptop..so no photos, no Etsy listings and such other non sense~

I think I posted this awhile back:

This little shrine is a good size..And I Loved that do-dad I soldered to the top of the box..but then it gave me fits..it was top heavy..had a tendency to lean forward..

But now that is solved and I'm really happy with it. I'm going to put it on Etsy, unless your interested, drop me a note if you are..

These are some new charms that are going on Etsy:

I just keep using this image..I love it...

This one is an old piece of wall paper gifted to me from a Paper Cowgirl friend:

It's one of those thick glass tiles. Love the weight of it, I'll be adding a "S" hook to it, so it can be attached to your favorite chunky necklace..

Did I show you these????

These glass hearts are going to be used in my upcoming class at the Crafty Scrapper!!! Stay tuned for that :)

Happy Tuesday!!!

Things go south...quick

2009-08-22T16:34:00.003-05:00

Just a pop in to let you know, our little 'puter has been attacked by a virus...then I got attacked by a virus..yesterday thought I was over it, but NOOOOOOOOOO....and the 'puter not much better..so as soon as things get back to normal, I'll be back..(right now, I'm sneaking this post in on the hub's work laptop..shhhh)
Now to return to our regularly scheduled program~

t

Sweet Surprise!

2009-08-18T05:49:00.000-05:00

My sweet Mama gave me this the other day:

She picked it up in Colorado last month while she was up there...

As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a KC Willis piece..she seemed surprised I knew who made it..I was surprised she even bought it..She not too much 'into' my altered art side..she's more my 'fine art' fan..so when she said she had an early B-day for me, I was quite shocked..She mainly got it for the cowgirl theme, for she knows I'm into anything cowgirl, altered, vintage or otherwise~

She loves blue too..so I'm sure that's the whole reason behind the color chosen..but I didn't object, I love blues too..and now it's proudly hanging in my Studio!! Thanks MOM ;)

Feel like your part of a circus act sometimes?? I know I do~

Have a fab-U-lous Tuesday :)

Wanna see my Melons??

2009-08-17T05:28:00.001-05:00

heheheee..

Look at those things..hubby planted some whopper hybrid seeds..they are as big as soccer balls!!

Happy Monday!
t

Etsy adds

2009-08-14T07:17:00.004-05:00

I finally set down and added some stuff to my poor neglected Etsy shop..Ever since Vacation, I've not added anything new..

Love this sassy one:

Isn't that a good one?? Thanks to Becky for handing that saying off to me~

Then these fellows have been in the Etsy Suitcase long enough and they are going as a lot of 3:
I've added more..but you'll have to go see for yourself...

Thanks to all for the recent purchases!

Thanks to the ladies on Tuesday at the Crafty Scrapper. We had a 101 class, and a Chubby Charms class..but I forgot my camera~ so no photos..bad me~ sorry.. But those ladies rocked on their soldering, they are going to put us out of the jewelry biz!..AND it was PAPER COWGIRL day!!! I had 2 in the 101 class that visited us in June and 3 in the CC class!! Yea!!

Go sign up for our October One day mini retreat~ We are taking only 20, so hurry over and get yourself a seat!!

Have a great weekend!!

tee

Reasons to be away..

2009-08-13T08:09:00.002-05:00

{photo: Deke(our son) My Mom, Chad(my nephew)}

Just wanted to let you know, I've not been around to post because... My mom has been ill. The poor thing has had troubles the last month and a half, but thanks to God answering prayers, she will now be on the road to recovery!

I hope to have more going for you in the next week and thing get back to normal here around the shop shack..So please forgive me and keep her (Mary) in your prayers that she recovers and back on her feet soon. She's a nanny to a little girl.

I've gotten great feed back from the sneak peeks I posted the other day..So I'll show you what's up soon..I'm waiting on the supplies to come in to finish making the class samples and work out a few more ideas..so soooon..promise!! Love new ideas, don't you??

Have a great weekend!
later~t

New class ideas and a Visitor

2009-08-10T06:45:00.002-05:00

Oh my Gosh, Oh mygosh, Ohmygosh...I'm soooooo excited about this new class idea..
I've been working it out..and I can't show you the whole thing..but here are some little peeks..

But I don't know about teaching you how to do 'dots' I think that will have to be later..but for now, this is all I'm showing you, until I have the whole thing worked out..All I can say about it, is the people I have ran it by so far LOVE IT!! Me too :)

This guy, we think, is the one Hubby found back at the first of summer..

He's hiding out in the tomatoes, there is a 'big red ant' bed near there..We are so happy to be be his host..we hope he finds a mate and they make our little place home for along time..

Thanks for the comments on the last post..I have gotten several of these letters in the last few years..I just wanted to blog about it..for you never see the 'other' end of things from most people.. If you are an artist, you make your art for you, if others don't like it, or it doesn't fit their needs.. so be it..it came from the heart and that's what counts!! Thanks for your kind words! I'll keep plugging along and hope you do too.

Have a great Monday..we are off to the local Water Park with the girls to have some fun !

See ya!

tee

The dreaded Rejection Letter...

2009-08-06T05:31:00.001-05:00

Have you ever received one???
You know, you turn your art work in, hoping it will be published..but instead of the "YOUR IN" letter you get the "Thank you, but..." letter??

Yep, that's what happened to me..The Sister's call for art..My magnet and ATC didn't make the cut..

Oh well, these pieces mean nothing to no one but ME..and that's all that matters.. There will be more art and more calls for art..just seems lately I don't have the 'look' they are after..not my turn..it will be one day again~

But you know what?? You can't get the rejection letter if you don't put your work out there for people to see~ So, what is your work doing sitting around? What would it hurt to put it out there??? This paper can go in the trash..who said it has to sit and look at me and remind me I didn't make their cut?? Who??? The rejection police?? not here...So.Onward and Upward~ That's all one can do..I hope you do believe that too..

Peace out~

tee

Excuse my Muse

2009-08-05T05:25:00.001-05:00

Please excuse my Muse as she butts in...

I was soldering away the other day..and who came in..Muse..she looked at a canvas that had been sitting on the floor staring at me for over a month..It only had the background colors and the girl/horse on it..I knew it needed more..just not what "more" it needed..But little did I know that Muse would strike~ So, I do believe it's almost finished, thanks to Her...

Have a great Wednesday :)
Waving to Andreea!! I miss you!!
tee

Glass House Banner..show in tell

2009-08-04T05:04:00.001-05:00

Here's a shot, not a good one of the Glass house banner...We had 10 swappers.

So 10 glass houses from all over..Texas, New Mexico, Washington State, Arizona..

Amazing houses from Amazing women, I've met in person, thru flickr, and blogs..

I attached each of mine with a chip stone chain..I don't know what the others did. I do know that Mendy would wear her's to school as a necklace each time she received one in the mail..Isn't that fun?? Thanks Ladies for being a part of this!!

Have a great day!

tee

On the work table

2009-08-03T05:38:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to remind you about Chunky Charm class at the Crafty Scrapper on August 11th. You will learn how to do a demisional object between glass..not this exact object, but similar..
You will have a thick shadow box look when you are done, we will make two in class. The second on will be a vintage button floating between the glass. Also that day, a beginning solder class is going on too..

This is my first attempt an idea..it's been swirling around in my head the last few days.

When I saw these glass tiles on the site where I purchase glass disks for the round charms, I knew I had to make square ones..This one has old leader paper as the background, a rub-on crown and those super small sticker letters, I'm soooo fond of. The back is completely soldered up too..

This is the second attempt:

I love the crown I added on the top..it hides the bail. They are big and chunky and would look great on a chunky necklace. I think they would look good on a thick leather cord too in a short almost choker style..you know, right at the base of your neck...I'm off to make more and hope to have them on Etsy soon.

I was thinking back, and I started soldering over 5 years ago! This has been one thing that I have kept on doing, you know how you jump around and learn new things, some you leave behind, some you continue on with..well this has been an on going learning process that I love dealing with! So much fun for me! I've also posted over 250 post under this blog name! Sheesh..never thought I be doing this either~ I've met some really cool people thru this and other blogs, flickr too..this has been a good connecting place for artists..I'm glad I found it.

Paper Cowgirl Fall sign ups are going on now, go check it out...We are playing on October 3rd.

Hope to see you soon!!!

Mail Gifties

2009-07-31T05:26:00.002-05:00

One of my bestest art buddies/ex-neighbor, YT sent me this!!!

She's been making dominoes like crazy lately and picking my brain via e-mails on what and why to do's... I think she's doing quite nicely don't you??

Then My SLACKERs in my Soldered House Swap FINALLY got their act together:

After, I soldered ALL their houses..for various reasons they couldn't bring

themselves to finish~

These Slackers, whom I love, shall remain nameless..but if you were in the swap~ you know who they are...btw, the mail out for that was MARCH 31st...

Now my Soldered House banner is complete...I'm in search of a place to photograph it..so hang tight, it will appear one day here for you to see the finished project~

Have a great weekend!!!

Lator Gator~

tee

Where did the week go?

2009-07-30T04:52:00.001-05:00

Here's my end of the Charm Swap ready to mail out..just a trip to the Postie~

Even have a Buckaroo charm in there too for a FB friend..It's on the way too~~

This is what was finished up on the work table:

These and several more..the "family" and "Chums" images were from Lisa's Altered Art on Etsy, she has some great images...check her out if you are in the market for some cute ones~These are inchie sized and made perfect little tiny charms..or you could put them on a scrabble tile if you didn't want to do glass and solder..**idea**

Thursday's are just Friday Eve..remember that today~

later,

teedubya

Studio Time!!

2009-07-29T07:07:00.001-05:00

Spent the day in the studio!! It was wonderful!! Soldered up quite a few charms, most of what have been waiting on me..finished up my end of the swap too:

Had fun deciding how to wrap every thing up for the swappers..

I also made a few of these to entice my fellow Buckaroos with...My daughter works at the High School and alot of my former classmates are on Face Book with me..

Hope I have some takers, they turned out quite nice. I have some square ideas in my head too and not using regular glass either..so stay tuned for that one~ In the meantime, I have several other ideas floating around in there that need to be out..so if you'll excuse me, I'm back to the studio to work out some of that mess that's in my head!

Hope your Wednesday is a good one!!

later,

tee

On the work table

2009-07-28T08:30:00.004-05:00

Here's what's on my work table: These are TINY~ One inch by One and a half inch..

Each one cut and embellished separately. They are for a soldered charm swap..The background for each is a page torn from a time book that is over 70 years old. A bit of egg display image was used in each background and each one has some type of swirl on it..and each has the initial of the recipients on it.

This is only ONE side of the charm..the other will be one of my photographs... So, if your in the swap, here it's a sneaky peak..If not..I may have some similar on my Etsy soon. That is much neglected at them moment~

We woke up to fog here in the prairie this morning..it's a bit odd to see it in the middle of summer..and the weather stick is pointing down, so that means more rain for the day. I hope it's correct on it's prediction~

I read this and thought it a bit funny, see what you think:

Number of guys who, like Tim Taylor, have asked a neighbor for advice over the fence: 1 in 4.

Number who say the advice was lousy: 1 in 5.

What do you think about those numbers?? I thought it was a riot~ that came from Men's Heath Mag, btw~

Fall Paper Cowgirl sign ups are under way~ Check it out~

Hope your Tuesday is a slow ride~ enjoy the trip!

later,t

Weekend full of Solder!

2009-07-27T08:56:00.002-05:00

I loaded up the "superhero" (Dodge Avenger) and headed to Waxahachie. Friday 2 classes were scheduled at the Crafty Scrapper, for basic Soldering and Saturday was the Bracelet class.

I met some wonderfully talented gals in the basic class, we learned, we soldered and we had fun. All went well, no major burns (that is always a plus) and the went away knowing they could do this at home and at least ONE charm to wear. That's what makes it great! Thank you all for coming to class, it was great fun meeting you!

On Saturday we made this:

What's great about this class was, to see what the gals did to it to make it their own... amazing!

I had supplied all the glass and glitter,and bracelets, then some brought their own images to fill the charms with. Some made themes, some made it more personal...I love it~ That is my favorite thing, when students take what I throw out there and put their own spin on it!

We sharpened our skills from basic to advanced and did, what I call: Oddball stuff..like marbles and shapes and strange things to add solder to..

All did very well, we did have one crispy bingo chip, but that was it..

Everyone had the makings of a bracelet when they left.

I had about half the class completely finish.

For all we did in 5 hours plus a lunch break, I think that was good~ The gals were happy and I think they had a good time.

I have another bracelet class scheduled in September for those who missed out on this one. Thank you all for joining me for a fun time!

I had taken more photos, but I seemed to had a bad day of shooting..alot of them were blurry~

Cindy and I have the Fall Paper Cowgirl Retreat ready, so if you want to mosey over to the blog: Paper Cowgirl to see what's up and what time, we'd love to have you there.

I have on the work table, charms for a swap I started before vacation. Some of the gals have theirs mailed already..I can't wait to see what all they have come up with. The only rules were it had to be soldered somewhere and fit on a bracelet. So we could end up with all kinds of trinkets, that's what's going to be fun. I'll keep you posted on what becomes of it.

Hope your Monday is happy and healthy!

hugs,t

Fall Paper Cowgirl Classes

2009-07-24T08:27:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to tell you!

In a day or so we will open up registration for Fall Paper Cowgirl.

We have invited 3 new teachers for All day event at one set price

(lunch is included).

We will be again in Waxahachie at the Crafty Scrapper for this day of Sewing, cutting, glittering and bee's-a-waxing..

So hope to see you there!!!

oh, I forgot to tell you.

We are limited to class size and there is only room for 20 at this event.

Also it's all three classes, no pick and choose at this great set price.

Happy Weekend!

teedubya

Sneaky Peek Thursday

2009-07-23T13:13:00.004-05:00

Sneak peek at the bracelet class packets..I love finding stuff to make these cute..I try to use things I have in the studio already..plus use the supplies needed, as part of the presentation.

These paper sacks are tiny ones..remember getting candy in these at the Mom and Pop store
on the corner??? they are like that...love them..and they are old too~

I have 2 soldering 101 Classes on Friday and the Bracelet class Saturday morning...the bracelet class is full!! Thankyouverymuch!! So we rescheduled another one for Sept.19th, we'd love to have you there..you do need to know how to solder though..

I get to spend some time with my fren Cindy..She's (or should I say her hubby) letting me spend the night over there so I'll be on time for Saturday's class..We have fun together..maybe I should have a gift bag for her hubby for putting up with us, when we are together..

Here's a sneaky peek for the Sinister or Sweet necklace class at The Crafty Scrapper..

It will be on display next week at the store if you happen in...take a look at BOTH sides~ that's what makes it Sweet or Sinister~

My helper for today:

She's sporting a new "short cut" (as the 3 year old sister says)...said she felt like a new person, after her cut..lol..

The little sis got one too..that one made us sad..she had pigtails almost to her waist..

And a little something for the maid, who has my bed ready for my stay:

Ya'll have a great weekend..I'm off to Waxahachie!

Teedubya

Playing around..

2009-07-22T07:41:00.001-05:00

This is my fren..Cindy, she's playing around with this kitty we saw in a store one day~

I'm playing around with glass right now..cutting it and getting ready for classes I have at the end of the week at the Crafty Scrapper. I have 2 basic classes and a bracelet class that is full..we will schedule another if need be..and wait till you see my Sweet and Sinister necklace class for September!! It's super cute..

The son, has moved away~ he's taken a new job in Andrews, TX..it's about 5 hours from here..I'm sure we'll be headed that way soon, with a trailer full of stuff and a motorcycle. But for now, it's kinda sad to see him go after just getting him back in March from the Army. Again, it's one of those things you go thru as parents..we are glad to see him get his life back on track and do something that will be a challenge to him. So, Good luck to Deke on his new life!! We will see you soon~

HOpe your Wednesday is going ok..
Later, teedubya~

Vacation Pictures

2009-07-21T06:19:00.004-05:00

Be forewarned...this is a group of vacation pictures, if your not into that..well, leave now..if you want to see what we've been up to, then proceed..

This is most of our group, stopping for lunch one day..

One of the 'locals' we saw along the trail...

We rode 29 miles of dirt road to cross Kebler Pass. It was a good road and the ride was well worth it...from Hotchkiss across to Crested Butte..

We had a great time, thanks for peeking in~

Happy Tuesday!!!

teedubya

Back home at last..

2009-07-20T13:12:00.002-05:00

It's always fun to get away..but,then I'm always ready to be back home...

Our trip went well. We rode the Harley's a few days,

And we rode the Razor a few days...

I'll spare you the sites for today. But we did some of God's amazing work~ I'll share those with you tomorrow!

Hope your MOndAy is a GoOd OnE!!

hugs,t

See ya When I see Ya

2009-07-11T08:08:00.000-05:00

Vacation is what you take when you can no longer

take what you've been

taking....

Packin' up

2009-07-07T05:43:00.001-05:00

And movin' out~ We are getting ready for Vacation..in Colorado. A bunch of friends all gathering up there with ATV's and such to ride the mountains in search of adventure..and when we get tired of that, we are hitting the hiways on our Harleys..

So, if you don't see me anymore this week, you know we are busy packing~

Set your calenders, we are tentatively setting 2010 Paper Cowgirl for June 24-27

Adios, my friends~
t

New Classes at the Crafty Scrapper

2009-07-06T18:58:00.001-05:00

...remember these little fairies?? They were in Somerset Gallery Summer of 08 and in Altered Arts mag. of Jan 08??? Well, I'm teaching a class on the 27th of August at the Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie. We'll do abit of cutting, pasting, glittering ,wing picking, and soldering..and when it's said and done you will have your very own captured fairy to display in your home or studio!

Hope you all had a good 4th weekend. It was fun here at the Shop Shack..Fireworks going off all around man made and Nature..a storm blew in right at dark..made some interesting sites..

Have a good week!!!
t

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-04T14:09:00.003-05:00

Photo taken by my son in Kuwait 2007 as they were about to go to Iraq.

Thank You God for allowing me to be born in a land that is free of dictatorship and repression. Thank you God for bringing my son home from a war.

Thank You God.

America: Home of the FREE and Land of the BRAVE.

Wild Weekend!!!

2009-06-30T13:39:00.003-05:00

While still on my Paper Cowgirl high, I attended a Tim Holtz class! It was held at Ten Seconds Studios in Hurst on Sunday. We piled up a Tahoe full of ladies from the Crafty Scrapper and headed over. I'm glad I went...

This is a poor photo of the original that was on display for the class. They split up the class. You took the inside portion from Tim, then you altered the outside of your frame with Cheryl of TSS.
Since I was with the CSS group, I got to be one of the "lucky" ones in the "A" group. So we went to Tim's Class first.

Here is a bit of mine, while working on it. I was very impressed in they way he managed the group. He had a power point going on too as he explained what to do. He kept people rolling..all the while, telling us : Don't think about it, Just do it..and that is what so many people don't do..they over think things..so, that slows down your whole process. I'm guilty of it too some days. I heard some people say it was fast paced, I thought it was just fine. I like to work fast.

I was also impressed with how he didn't make you feel rushed when talking to him or having a photo made. They had to set up for the next class so I know time was limited with this end of it..but he didn't make you feel like you were in the way.

Cheryl's end of it was good too. She gave a demo on how to line up your frame on the metal, how to emboss or deboss it and then let us go at it. Then another demo how to add the metal to your frames..we had a good time, I have a awesome piece. I expect to see some influence of this in some future works.

Paper Cowgirl has come and gone, but, we are still posting flickr group photos and blogging about it over at the PC blog, so check us out and see what you missed~

I'm still unpacking and decompressing from it all. Ideas running amuck in my head too.
Vendor night was very good for me and I have alot of pieces gone and now to redo my Etsy shop. It needs a face lift, in August it will be re worked with some new items listed.

Thanks again to all the gals who attended. Cindy and I are happy with what we are building right here in our own backyard, and want to see it grow, we can't make it work without you~

Happy Tuesday ;)
tee

We are having more fun than the law will allow!

2009-06-26T14:06:00.003-05:00

Wish you were here!!!

This is a couple of shots of my Solder Class that was held this am. After that I was busy..we didn't even get class shots..I hate that..we all had a good time..Right now the afternoon classes are going on. Tonight is Vendor night!!

Got to meet Ann-Deniese. She's such a sweetie!!!! Love her!!!

Look at this crepe paper goodness! A giant cone filled with goodies!! Thank you!!!

More photos later and if not here, on the Paper Cowgirl Blog!

Wish you were here!!!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T10:32:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day.

This is my father.

He passed from this earth to be with Our Father, in 1985, at the young age of 53.
We miss him dearly.

So, hug your daddy hard and thank the Good Lord, you still have him around.

This week's Find!

2009-06-18T11:13:00.002-05:00

We went on a road trip this week...Stayed overnight in a motel. Wasn't that such a big deal when you were a kid??? Swimming the pool and eating out?? Sleeping in a strange bed, the smells, the feeling of the sheets and such...

We had a fun time at IHOP one night at 9pm..eating crepes and getting a nice sugar high after swimming in the Motel Pool, then watching bad TV until late at night..

We popped into a thrift store in Tulsa while out on the road, and this is what we found:

Priced just right, cauz, I only had 5 dollars in my wallet..

We have had much discussing about the President using one of these. She even asked me,

if this is what you used BEFORE the computer..I thought that was a pretty thoughtful question for a 6 year old... Now I hear the tap-tap-tap of the keys.. It's even my fav color at the moment..toruquoise...love it..

You can be you will see some of my charm words come out of this little baby..

Thanks for all the recent Etsy orders!! You people ROCK!!

Thanks for all the comments too, you make me smile :)

Have a great weekend!!

If the Shoe fits....

2009-06-16T08:01:00.002-05:00

Take your pick:

My Muse was after me again yesterday to make more stix..I had told her I was DONE making things for PC vendor night...buuuutttt, nooooooooooooo...she wanted more stix..

They are approx 1/2 inch wide by 2 inches long... It's NEXT FRIDAY..oh wow..that we'll have Vendor night..

Here's my studio helper and her masterpiece she finished up yesterday:

She loved painting on a real canvas..Good thing Big Lots has them super cheap...lol..

Have a great day!!

Sneaky Peek

2009-06-15T08:20:00.003-05:00

This has been in my head for awhile..I'm glad to get it out..makes room for other ideas..

These fairies still need to have tags/banners added to them to identify them..I'm still debating on that...

Another is in the works, if I have time, I'll do more..but with the "helper" I sometimes don't have the same time as when I'm home alone..

Rest assured, they will be for sale at my vendor table in 2 (TWO) weeks!! There maybe even a few bags of the wooden game pieces, so you can make your own..

Busy week this week..HOpe yours is a good one!!

hugs,t

My Swap is finished!!

2009-06-12T19:09:00.002-05:00

Well, last night we picked up my Art Buddie aka: Grand#1. She's staying with us for about 3 weeks..she was bouncing off the walls to say the least...she wanted to do everything last night when she arrived here at the Shop Shack.

So, today we made art in the Studio, and she helped me price and pack things for Paper Cowgirl.
PC is less then 2 weeks away!!!! yay!!! Did I show you this:

It's a little shrine necklace for all my rocker Cowgirls.. I'll have it on vendor night in my booth...

Today, I finished up the presentation on my Western themed Domino for the swap I'm hosting at PC.

This was the only swap I participated in. I wanted to do the others, but didn't think I had the time, we had a cool crown swap going on and some others that I would have loved to been a part of...We had some late gals, so I started this swap for them to join in on...

Next WEek is crUnch TimE for Cee and I..getting the final details wrapped up and ready for our SECOND altered ArT retreat!! We are excited!! Hope you are too..

Have a great weekend!!

tina

Busy Hands..

2009-06-11T08:25:00.003-05:00

That's the way the last few days have been..doing things that you have to do to keep your household going and then working on things for the retreat...Plus 2 classes on Tuesday at the Crafty Scrapper....

Do you see the Gothic Arch Shrine??? I finally added beads and chains and trinkets to her..

Now she is complete.

These are NOT complete...

I was cutting and grinding glass for the above charms. Which by the way, will be available on Vendor night to those who were not lucky enough to get one for free...anyhoo..I was cutting and grinding glass, and the Muse takes over..cut some little stix she whispers in my ear..So, I did...and a few more to work on, Like I need something else..

Hope the bad weather that we have been having has not effected you too badly..we were literally on the edge of it yesterday...it stopped raining at the end of our road, and we just got a

Few sprinkles here at the Shop Shack...I hear others had tornado sirens going off and super downpours in their towns..

Off to put away MORE ONIONS...I swear..we have more than enough and he's talking of planting more this fall..

And a special thanks to the gals who came to classes on Tuesday!! We now have more soldering ladies out in the art world and some more alcohol ink addicts~ And thanks to Carolyn and Heidi at the Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie!!!

Happy Day to you ;)

Cloth Paper Scissors Charm Swap

2009-06-08T16:36:00.002-05:00

Remember when I posted about joining the Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine Charm swap?? I think it was in March or so..I used the above photo for my soldered charms??? Remember?? I made hang tags and added info with them, and I'm glad I did!

Well, on Friday, I got the nicest email from one of the recipients of my charm, then today another one zapped in..

I've been waiting for my package to arrive and today it did!!
Here is what was inside:

The first one, "hope" was made by Deb Taylor, the Second one with the "Birdy" was made byDeborah Bairunas, The "beaded" one was by Sharon Taggart, and the "Face" on a puzzle piece was from Elaine Taylor, the "knife bell" was from Jill Dortch.

They were all so nice! I've emailed the artists who's emails were enclosed with their charm. One bounced back and one had no email included..

Thanks so much for my charms ladies, hope you see yours on here. I'd love to hear from you if you do happen to stumble into my little world~ I don't know yet, if I am going to make a bracelet or what from my 5. But I'm sure I will do something fun with them..

Hope your Monday is good ;)
tina

Swapping Good time!

So Sorry...

2009-06-05T06:36:00.001-05:00

My life has been busy lately..the great onion harvest is still going on..I have smelled of onions all day..

I've been working on stock for Vendor night..got a few things ready to solder up:

Backsides...Do you see the ships in the background one the first one?? the front of the charm is from the same photo..I love how this looks..

Hub found this little fella the other day..we were excited to have him at our place..you don't see

horned toads too often anymore..We always called them Horny Toads..and would capture them at the playground at school and put them to sleep by rubbing their tummy..We both have fond memories of these creatures..We hope he grows up and has a family here on our little place..I will be on the look out for him when I mow..

My blogging is going to be sparse the next few weeks, soo sorry..Paper Cowgirl and Classes at the Crafty Scrapper, and other things are going to be on top of the list..just to let you know, I'll be hit or miss for awhile..I've tried to be a good blogger and do it daily..but alas~ I can't..

I finally listed this Shrine necklace on Etsy:

Have a great weekend!!

my messy life

2009-06-03T05:47:00.001-05:00

Here is my work table at the moment..an explosion has occurred...I hate when that happens.

Here is some of the reason for the mess:

Soldered bottles for vendor night at Paper Cowgirl!

Soldered goodness all in a convenient bottle..some are for looks and some can still be used..

Upcycling, recycling, altering, decorating..what ever you want to call it..I've done it to these bottles. Some still need patina added to them..If you've not tried your hand at this, you need to, it's fun and challenging~

later,

The Great Onion Harvest...

2009-06-01T08:02:00.004-05:00

...Charlie Brown. That is what's going on at our house right now..

Hub planted rows and rows of Onions and now they are needing to be pulled..a big wind came thru a few weeks ago and knocked all the tops over and they have stopped growning..

So my part in all this is to take off the tops and roots and put them in the panty hose to store them. We did this last year and had enough onions until January this year!..Onions, either you love'em or you don't~ As you can tell, we love'em

We put this Martin house up a couple of weeks ago too..In hopes of having visitors. They eat more than their weight in mosquitoes...But it may take up till next year for them to really settle in..

This is round 2 of the Killdee nest in the driveway..

Something ate her last one, and we thought it ate her too..but maybe not~ Been watching this over the last week, first one egg, then in a few days and other, and so on until there are now 4...

Have a great Monday!

Hang on, it's getting Bummpy..

2009-05-28T14:27:00.004-05:00

This week, I found out a class I had signed up for, at the local art center was canceled..bummer..
It was a decorative soldering class..I was all ready too, learn how to make dots and leaves and such...but Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, there wasn't enough interest..ie:only ME,MySELF and I had signed up..

This is the THIRD time I have signed up for a class there and had it canceled out on me..I'm really discouraged about it..doubt I'll sign up for any others there...

So, I went an played around with the solder myself...

Made a few..made a few boo-boo's, but I think I can do the dot thing on my own..seems that is the way for me most of the time, learn it on my own..

I found this cool old ruler at an Antique shop in Burk. a few miles down the road..it was already broke, so perfect price and didn't feel bad about cutting it up for charms..Those dominoes were there too..look how fat that baby is..I loved them, had to get them..a good price too for them because a couple were missing..

I bet a few of these end up in my suitcase at Paper Cowgirl vendor night for sale.. Less than a month away!! I'm getting all excited....plenty to do too..

Have a great weekend, I probably won't be around tomorrow for a post..

See ya~

Listings and then some

2009-05-27T05:12:00.001-05:00

I listed several round soldered charms last night on Etsy, but then worked on some other stuff too..

What do you think about this?

I think it needs a super cool chain or necklace for it..I have a pink one on the way too....

Last night I listed these:

I love this photo..so sassy..and on a bike too boot~

This one I patina'd the solder on it to age it..Remember this angel??

It got listed last night too...

Now, this one is going to someone....maybe she'll see her work and leave me a comment...

if not, she won't get it until June...

Have a great Wednesday~

Busy girls have no time..

2009-05-26T06:50:00.001-05:00

So it seems the last few days..

Had a great group of gals for the solder 101 class on Saturday at the Crafty Scrapper!! Thanks for all the fun ya'll!! Hope you picked up some good tips and ideas to keep on soldering..

Later that day we had a domino class too:

They loved the kits and we had a great time for that class too! Then I drove home to find my house full of girls..the dd and grands were there..so we had to spoil those poor little girls..that is our job..In the mean time, I got attacked by killer gnats..they bit me and left HUGE spots on me..I look like I have a disease...

Paper Cowgirl is drawing closer! I've been working on the class kits and they are going to be kick butt..if I do say so myself~ Hope the gals got their charms that were mailed out a couple of weeks ago..have not heard a word..

Have a great Tuesday!

Makings of a kit

2009-05-21T05:40:00.005-05:00

Using Inspiration from Michelle Ward, my Class kits came together...

I have an Altered Domino Class on Saturday at the Crafty Scrapper, there are still seats available if you are not busy...

To make my kits, I used some card stock ( that I have had tons of ) For the base...Dug around in the shop and found some spray paints (which the colors were not what I had in mind, but I wanted to use what was on hand)...Stencils...and opened the doors and started to spray away...

When it was all said and done, I had put about 5 layers of paint on the card stock..some of it was just speckles, but you know, sometimes those little details make the biggest pop..

Here are the kits all packed up and ready for class..I hope they like them~

Hope to see you there!

Happy Anniversary to my hub...today is 27 years for us..ILY~

See you on Monday!

teedubya

Wednesday! Already??!!

2009-05-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

Not much going on here..Riding the tractor mowing and painting cabinets doesn't seem blog worthy news..but last night while hub mowed, I snuck into the studio and started up these little goodies:

I love this image..it came from an Etsy vendor called : Lisa's Altered Art..

Again Channelling Sally Jean, I painted, smudged and doodled my way into cute..

I've also been working on the stuff for Paper Cowgirl..getting my ducks all in a row and such..it's just around the corner!!

Have a great Hump Day... teedubya

Monday pictures

2009-05-18T05:32:00.006-05:00

This weekend, I got some things done on the work table...mostly soldered up some Charms.

I had this gal all taped up, but she needed some solder, I tweeted about her last week..if you tweet, my id is CollageMojo..

These little bubbles are going to be on Etsy sometime this week. The Angel, is one of my Muse art works I showed you a few months ago..

Then, this one is the result of the Sally Jean channelling I was doing last week..I hope I didn't take away any of her Soldering Super Powers doing that...

It's not even cleaned up and there is still goop on the glass..but I had to show you...The glass grinder made this shape possible..I'm glad I finally got one..it wasn't has hard to use as I thought it would be...like using a wood sander in a way..This is going to be in my suitcase at Paper Cowgirl Vendor night!!! with some more embellishments..

Remember, Paper Cowgirl sign ups close today! 5 pm..I'm taking the buttons off the blog..so you can not purchase any more classes or register.

Happy Monday!!

My personal Challenge

2009-05-15T07:14:00.002-05:00

I think last week, I told ya'll how I was enamoured with Michelle Caplan's work in the latest Somerset Studio...

Well...here's my version:

I gave it to hub for his birthday last Sunday~ It's 5x7..I really made like 4 versions of it, before I got one I liked..he was impressed...but, then said the red lettering made me look like I had 'kool-aid lips'...oh, well..I tried..

No, I'm really happy with it and want to do more..right now, I'm channelling Sally Jean. I purchased a glass grinder and have been using it on various shapes of glass, the latest being a Gothic arch!! Stay tuned for that one..

Hope you have a great weekend!
Be safe!
t

A little Late~

2009-05-14T15:13:00.006-05:00

But better late than never, right???!!!

The winner on the domino post is : Diane, another Texas gal!! Thanks for the comments ya'll it was great fun to see who wanted a chance at this little thing..

Thanks for Coming to see me here!

Class in Waxahachie went very well, those gals are soldering up a storm!! We did the round charms, where you float the solder across the backside. They did it like there was nuttin' to it..I was so proud of them!! yea!!! Thanks for coming to my class ya'll !

Since I was there soooo late in the day, I took advantage of it and spent the night with my good fren Cindy..The next day we went 'teeking' at a store in Mansfield..there were some super awesome booths there..and here are a few of my finds :

Don't you love the hair and the peter pan collars on the girls??? I smell a retro themed collage in the works...don't you???

And look at these old wooden Chess pieces!!!!!!!!Cee scoffed at me for picking them up, but....after I rattled off a few ideas that popped into my head, she decided she would 'buy' few from me..

And then we forgot to get some out for her when we got back to her house...lol...

I had to have those tins for some reason..and that brass cow tag, I've been wanting one, what better than Lucky Number Seven???

This was a surprise in the mail the other day:

My friend Linda in MI, found this cool box and knew I had to have it! She's such a sweetie, to think of me like that.. not only was it an very cool box, she filled it up too!

Is that not cool or what??? THANK YOU Linda for all the wonderful goodies!!! ThANK YOU Cee for the sleep over and the fun we had!!

See ya'll tomorrow!!

hugs,t

Wednesday! Already??!!

2009-05-13T05:34:00.002-05:00

As promised yesterday, here's a sneaky peek:

The Official Paper Cowgirl Charms for 2009! Our little thank you for signing up with us!

I'm thinking about making more to sell at Vendor night for the other gals not lucky enough to have snagged one... We are tickled pink at the response we have had this year!! 2 sold out classes and a full room at vendor night! Remember registration closes on the 18th, that's Next Monday!

This is what's in our Driveway, of all places...

Hub found this Killdee 'nest' the other day.... Isn't a pretty egg??? I went out later, and found 2 more eggs in the 'nest'!! So a total of 3 are out there in my driveway..we see the mother sitting there and try to stay as far away from her as we can...

These are new on my Etsy...I have used an altered cabinet card art piece for this charm:

This one is a photo I took of a T-Bird at that swap meet I followed hub around a few months ago..

They are almost 2 inches across, glass and soldered with a bale for hanging..what do you think?? I think they would be super cute on a black cord. But you can put them on what ever you want..By using my original photos it makes them truly one of a kind!!

Have a great day!

Busy Busy...

2009-05-12T05:44:00.002-05:00

Today is a Solder Class at the Craft Scrapper...We are doing charms like this:

Learn how to 'float' out the solder on the backside so it's smooth and nice looking..I supply the glass and images,bales and instruction...you bring your solder iron, flux, solder and a work pad, scissors..

These photos are from my last Solder 101 class:

We had a good time and all everyone went home with 3 microscope slide charms and the knowledge to go on to try more charms!!

We've been busy here at the shop shack too:

Working away..slaving over the art table to create the mostbestest piece of art...I'm working on getting out all the charms for the Paper Cowgirls..The first 10 to sign up receive a hand made charm from my studio!! Sneaky Peek tomorrow!!!!

If you live in Snake country...be on the look out...the rattlers are on the move~

We found this bad boy down the road the other day..had to admire him from afar (as in the Pickup) for he was out on a stroll down the road...Son had a brush with one the other day too..as he was walking in the field doing his job...he walked right over it and the guy behind him got the strike..luckily no one was injured..but it made them both aware of the snakes~

I'm off to see my Friends: Cindy and Sherri and Carolyn today...

Have a good day too !

Happy Monday!

2009-05-11T08:32:00.005-05:00

Last week, I dug out the sewing machine..I have not made any clothes in a loooooooooong time..it was fun to be doing that again..I made these little simple dresses for the girls..My model was in the mood to be cute..don't you think??

Her sister's dress is the opposite of this one..they looked really cute with them on..I used to stich up all the DD's Easter dresses, both kids halloween costumes and some of my dresses..but have gotten out of habit with the price of fabric being so expensive now, it's cheaper to buy ready made..that's sad..I enjoyed this little foray..

I have a Solder class tomorrow at the Craft Scrapper, we will be doing round/bubble glass pendants..so if your near, we have openings! come join us!

Paper Cowgirl registration closes on the 18th of May!!! Don't miss out~ This week on the blog we will have several of the vendor's showing off their wares..the Public is Welcome to vendor night on Friday the 26th of June!!

Happy Monday!

New Moos

2009-05-07T03:44:00.001-05:00

My new Moo Cards arrived!!!

I can't believe I've given out a 100 of them already! Swaps, Etsy shop purchases, etc..I suppose I do more thru the mail than I first believed...shhhh don't tell hub..

This time I used some of my photos and made some cards too:

What do you think?? I think they are a bit pricey for just 16 of them...so they will be sent out to those who appricate them..lol..

This is my give away I was teasing you with on Monday..An altered domino. It has a magnet on the backside...so leave a comment on this post about my moo cards, and I'll draw on NEXT Thursday for a winner..

Happy Thursday to you ;)

later,t

Clouds but no rain

2009-05-06T12:09:00.002-05:00

So after my walk this morning..I been doing things in the studio. Getting ready for upcomming classes...sewing..soldering...

Wishing for some sunshine...

But it will come on it's own due time..as for now, I'll just keep puttering about the house. Trying to come up with a Good birthday prezzie for hub..it's Sunday..

Have a great Wednesday ya'll!

teedubya

Make a Wish

2009-05-05T09:51:00.005-05:00

Here ya go...blow and make a wish, it's on me.

It's another overcast day here in the Prairie lands..maybe some more rain will come of it..it's chilly and depressing looking outside..so I'm just going to stay snug in the shop shack and clean house and play in the studio!

I have to tell you I'm obsessed with the Michelle Caplan work that is in Somerset Studios this month...and my friend in AZ, Becky is in this edition too!! Kudos to Becky!! Her foam core work got 4 pages!!! This is her first ever submission too!! You Rock Gal!!!!

Hope your day is what you make of it...

hugs,t

Redneck Yachat Club

2009-05-04T04:59:00.001-05:00

Big Daddy had an idea...Boat Races! Across the tank..in our neck of the woods here in Texas, a small man made body of water for livestock to drink from is called a TANK..not a pond..sooooooo we have a tank..but not livestock..maybe some fish someday, but great for boat races right now..

Boats were made and sails set..the the big send off..

Then the big recovery...

try it again...

They are liking what they see this time...

A few more modifications..

YOU knew that was bound to happen...didn't you?? kids and water...

Boats forgotten, mud more fun for the moment..then off to clean up..I'm sure we'll have bigger and better boat races in the months to come. We received almost 5 inches of rain last week, so the tank is full to the top for now! We are most thankful for that...

Paper Cowgirl is riding right along...we are going to close registration on May 18th. So if your thinking about joining us for the fun, don't wait too much longer!!

Have a great week!

I have a give away planned this week, so keep in touch!

later~ t

Strawberry time

2009-05-01T08:12:00.006-05:00

We drove down the road to Charlie, Texas. A little spot full of pecan orchards, peach orchards and a few pick your own farms. Young's is where we stopped at.

Getting started..Big Daddy showing them what to pick and how...

You have to scope out the place and find the BEST ones

Looking for that ripe one

Then when you find the good one, You EAT IT!!

And Eat,

And Eat....

This was one of 3 baskets full we picked that day

And Eat....

But every once and a while a sour one get's ya~

We ended up that day with over 10lbs of strawberries..that's just what we paid for..who knows how many we ate...The little one decided that picking them out of the basket was way easier than finding them on a plant, so she just started picking there instead..

We had a great time and made some great memories. I took over 200 photos of them and now it's hard to weed thru them and keep the best ones..but thought I'd share a few with you..

Have a great weekend!

See you Monday, t

A Wonderful Rainy Day

2009-04-30T07:01:00.001-05:00

When hub got up this morn, he said: "Looks like you aren't going to walk today." and about that time Thunder boomed..and it continued to rumble on the rest of the morning..

It rained fast, it rained slow, it rained sideways, it rained, and rained all day long..

As I looked out on the garden, I wondered if I could take a shot of it thru the blinds...and byjingo~ I did..We needed this blessing of rain..it was dry as a powder house floor here at the Shop Shack..I just sat at my work table most of the day and soldered up charms for Paper Cowgirl..just wait till you see'em..they are super cute!

Another mind blowing question came to me today, as I looked out into the rain...

Do you make your bed???

Huge Frozen Charlotte Shrine Necklace

2009-04-29T05:15:00.001-05:00

Don't you love these Frozen Charlottes?? I found these on Etsy awhile back..

This gal has been on the work table for well over a month now..Tweaking this and adding that, not to mention the layers and layers of solder that had to go on to cover all that area...

What do you think???

It's almost 3 inches tall and 2 inches wide..then found this awesome chain at a local bead store, I knew this would be perfect for it...

This glitter tube is how it is attached to the necklace..it swings from the glitter tube..whimsy?? or what??

Today I started this one..same thing..add some here add some there and let it all dry out good before it gets encased in glass...it's bigger 3x2 and I'm going to make a shrine of it..no necklace..I'm now on the hunt for the perfect feet to solder to it...and something swanky for the top..

Stay tuned..lol..

Have a great Wednesday :)

tina

Excitment over something 'old'

2009-04-28T09:14:00.003-05:00

I have not used alcohol inks at all..nope, nada, nothing... I bought several colors to experiment on some Dominoes for that class...and boy ,let me tell you..I have fell in love!!!!

Many of you may have been using them on your dominoes or papers and such..so this is OLD news to you... wow!! I have been missing out on all the fun..I have used some of my faux finish techniques with them and all I can say is: THIS STUFF ROCKS!!

I've altered dominoes before:

But not like this!

I love the depth and texture of this!! Making it look like real stone and then all the colors...I am blown away...I want to do my floors with this stuff!! Can I buy gallons of it??? That is how much I love it!

So, I know this upcomming class is going to rock! I want to see what my students come up with....

Ya'll have a great Tuesday :)

I'm working on Charms for the first 10 gals who signed up for Paper Cowgirl!!

New Classes at the Crafty Scrapper

2009-04-27T17:44:00.004-05:00

After Brainstorming the other night(did you smell the smoke???), I came up with these samples for a new class:

We will be creating with Alcohol Inks, stamps and other goodies to make these wonderful pendants. I will show you a watercolor look, a stone look and a tye dye look.

Dates to be announced soon! Check their Site. Thanks Carolyn, Sherri and the gals for having me there at the store!!

Here is another Solder class at the Crafty Scrapper too:

Thanks to all the fantastic gals who have taken my soldering classes!!

You all ROCK in my book.

Hope to see you soon!

tina

Off to go play

2009-04-23T04:25:00.001-05:00

See ya later, I'm off to tromp around with the girls!

later gator!

Road Trippin'

2009-04-20T17:02:00.006-05:00

What better way to bring in Spring time than with a Motorcycle trip???

That's what we did..4 bikes total..we hit the road on Thursday and came home on Sunday...

Here is our first night's stay:

This old Rail Road Hotel is one of the last ones in the state..In Llano Texas. We had a great time with the caretaker, but the other guests were a bit rude about 4am, slammin' doors and yelling at each other in the hall after having a few toddys on the porch..we were about ready to bite off their heads..but they seemed to duck into their rooms when Hub would put his head out...What's with people now a days?? No one has any respect for others..We had one lady gripe at us for taking up 2 parking places at another motel, on another night. We legally can take a spot of each bike if we want to..If she'd been nice about it, we might have squeezed them all into one. But she was rude and demanding. Needless to say we didn't budge and she complained but they couldn't do anything about it..so she had to park and WALK a few more feet to her room...tuffstuff...

We rode in and out of rain the whole day on Friday...as we headed to Camp Wood.

This stop is at Enchanted Rock. A ginormous piece of pink granite. The Indians used it as a scared place where the earth would tell them secrets. We stopped closer to the entrance, but had to stop here and get the full aspect of the size of this stone upheaval...

What's a Hill Country trip without stopping at Luckenbauch??

No Willie or Waylon ghost just a bunch of tourist on Harleys and other assorted modes of transportation...

That me at #2 Spot..hub took this photo..He's the Road Captain~ We were outside of Bracketteville Texas on some FM that is an amazing ride, hills, twisties, curves, cattle guards and wildlife..

Road Warriors!!

We saw bluebonnets, but it was not as full as I've seen it in the past. The rains were not enough this year to yield an great showing..

We'll end this story here..at the potties in Luckenbauch...We logged in almost 1,100 miles those 4 days..that's just a drop in the bucket for the rest of the riding season...Hope you enjoyed the trip!!

later,t