The Omaha Zoo is fantastic! Our little Topeka zoo is cute and easy to take little ones to for a couple of hours, but the one in Omaha is in a whole other category. Its not just a simple walk around a park with animals to look at, here, each building is an adventure. We especially liked the aquarium where you could walk under the glass tunnel of sharks.
My husband and I had just taken Sugarwings there a few weeks ago, but saw less than half the zoo, because we let her go at her own pace, and if she wanted to sit and play with dirt and rocks instead of squeezing in another sight, we let her. This time, we took her Daddy along with us and his attitude was, that she can amble along and be entertained by dirt anytime. Today was the day to see what the park had to offer.
And still we didn't see all of it!
It might have been a bit much, this is what we ended up with. Our fairy baby wore herself out. We rented a wagon to pull her in and it was worth every penny of the $12.95 it cost. She was able to rest up and get her happy face back on so she could enjoy the butterfly house and the jungle experience.
She started out a little sleepy and cranky in the butterfly house, but once she got to put on her own butterfly wings, she felt better.
And when she got to make friends with some of the other winged creatures, then the fun started.
Her Daddy took this picture. He seemed to know more about my camera than I did
and taught me some tricks with it.
The butterflies were our favorite part of the day!
But this dainty little "Fairy Bluebird" had to be my favorite zoo inhabitant. Isn't she pretty?
Its been hard to get back to work today after such a fast, but fun filled trip. I wasn't feeling like sitting right down and painting more illustrations for the Grumpy Fairy book, so I spent a while sorting some old millinery flowers. These sets are listed in the Boutique. I also "cleaned house" there and deleted some sold goods and added some more easy to follow categories.
But now, I need to get cracking on the fairy paintings. I was so caught up in the painting process, I hated to stop and leave for the trip on Wednesday, and now that I am back, I have to restart the creative flow and get into that groove all over again. I don't transition well....
As I was laying down the bits of sparkle that I bought at a garage sale this weekend, it started to remind me of a face, so of course, this is what I HAD to do with them all.... I guess, I should have added millinery flower hair, that would have been cute. And I wonder why I never get anything done, I spend my time on this kind of activity instead of working.
My days never seem long enough. But today, I did manage to focus and get packages sent out, and two of these little brooches listed in the Boutique.
I also got three paintings finished for the Grumpy Fairy story I am illustrating. Thanks for all of your encouragement about the story, I decided to go ahead and make a book from it. This picture is of the Blue Bird of Happiness.
Here is a snippet of the Fairy Grandmother flying off to find the soft things to make a nest from.
I did 3 paintings today and 3 yesterday. That just doesn't seem like much to me, I am pretty fast. But I really want these to be special, so I am not rushing through them.
Tomorrow we are heading back up to Omaha to take Sugarwings to the zoo again, so not much more will get done on the book till next week. Its hard to tear myself away from it now that I have started. I don't have my paints out nearly enough, its been great to play with watercolors again! I'd take them along on the trip if I had any chance of getting any thing done without Sugarwings demanding offering to help. She likes to paint even more than I do.
Well, July is coming to a close, Friday is the 31st. I might get to garage sales one more day before my JULY GARAGE SALE GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK is ready to send out.
From last weekend, I added the sterling bar pin with the little girl on it. Isn't she a cutie? Leave a comment if you want to be entered in the drawing.
Kansas Julys are usually miserable. I'm a summer-lovin person, but even I get burnt out by the blasting heat of late July in Kansas. But not this year! Its been as sweet as June all month long. We went to a friend's for dinner over the weekend and were lucky enough to get to sit on their country patio and enjoy our meal along with the scenic views.
Of course, I always have to get pictures of the food.... its as pretty as the view from the porch!
And their view is more than a little special. This stream is right in front of the deck of the log cabin that they built themselves.
The stream looks natural, but the home owners built it too. My husband went out and spent a day helping move rocks to form the creek bed a couple years back. Which, he would never do at our house. Funny, he'd do anything for a buddy, but when it comes to gardening at our own cottage, well, he's not that into it, I guess would be the polite thing to say...
So, do I have a little bit of creek envy? I have to admit that I do. This yard is ideal. It is all landscaped into flower gardens up by the house and the rest of the land is left to go in native grasses that never need mowed or watered.
Most of the areas are left to natural landscaping.
And other areas were steered into that direction. Some native plants that spread and become ground cover make this hillside a no-care delight now that they are all established.
This makes me miss living in the country! When we bought our farm years ago, we were in the middle of no where. Now we have civilization on three sides of us, with just the back acreage that we own still wild and free.
But I'm feeling the farmhouse vibe now, anyway. Its time to put up corn for the winter!
I'm doing it the short cut way. We shucked a few dozen ears, dumped them into the sink, then poured a pot of boiling water over them, and iced it all down after.
Then, we cut the kernels off with a simple corn cutting tool from Bed Bath and Beyond, that made the chore zip by quickly.
The kernels went into freezer bags, and one of the bags was marked Thanksgiving , another was marked Christmas. We save up big servings of fresh frozen corn for holiday family dinners, because there is nothing like the taste of Kansas summer in the coldest part of winter!
There is lots of new stuff in the Boutique right now. I've been playing with the millinery flowers and made up some deluxe, rosey collections!
Also, I did snag a little something to add to the JULY GARAGE SALE GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK. I just haven't had a chance to get photos.
I might have time to get some photos tomorrow. I've had Sugarwings a little bit extra this week, so we've been pretty busy with the other things I found at garage sales this week, princess dresses and tea party toys!
Jen is having a make-over open house. Check out her blogfor a list of participating do-it-your-selfers, and join in yourself if you have a re-do you'd like to show.
I pulled out some photos of a redo I did a little while back for my sister-in-law, to show the Magic Of Paint. They bought an older home and didn't have anything left in the budget for remodeling, so we did what we could with paint, most of it from the surplus store where paint is only 5 bucks a gallon. The primer is the one thing I insisted that they get a specific brand, not just what was available at the surplus store.
I always look for BONDING primer. Make sure the label says, "will adhere to shiny surfaces". If you do that, and the wood is clean, you don't have to sand. Water based bonding primer (Gripper from Glidden is my current fave) is all the prep you'll need.
We primed and painted the top cabinets and all the interiors ivory and the bottoms and all the trim in the room a deep sage green. Then, we beat the cabinet fronts with tools, for dents and dings, to "distress" them.
After the paint was dry, we mixed Min wax poly/stain combo (in walnut) with a bit of turpentine to thin it, and brushed it on in small areas, then wiped it off (with cut up old tee shirts), for an aging effect.
Oh, and I added some little vines in green on a few of the top doors before the stain-
The walls were already white, so I used the ivory and green to do a faux finish on the walls of the room. The entire project, walls too, took 3 of us most of one day to do.
Leaving the cabinet doors on and painting right over the hinges makes the job a bit faster and unless you have drop dead gorgeous hardware, why not? We did remove the handles and reuse those because they weren't bad.
I think the total cost was about $15 for primer, $10 for paint, and $8 for the stain/poly mix to go over the top.
And here is a make over of another kind. This photo of Sugarwings on the Yellow Brick road was edited with Picassa. I lightened, brightened, and retouched it, then deepened the colors with saturation.
I wanted to make the picture look more like Oz than Kansas.
This is how it started out.
(its a picture I took right before the other one, not the same one, but the same conditions). Picassa is easy to use and this only took about 10 minutes to do. I'm not real good with the retouch button yet, but I'm figuring it out.
Now, I need to go and see some of the other redos that Jen has links to on her blog. I love before and afters!
Today, Karen is asking us to show our workplaces. My studio is one of my very favorite places in the whole world to be, so I am happy to show mine!
This week, I has some friends over for a craft day, and Mary brought her Flip Camera again, and made a few videos of what we were doing and of the room. Here is a rambling, incoherent video of me showing my hat collection.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRZT4ZZOAB0
Okay, I tried to load the video directly into the blog, but if you don't see it, you can check out the YouTube site, if you want. (Yes, that is paint on my pants. And no, I was not painting that day. I am a poor dresser)
Mary made a few more videos that day, hereis one of just some sights around the studio. I'll try again to load it directly, but my tech skills are severely lacking.
Mary does a good job with the videos, but I don't think I loaded them right....
So here are a few photos of craft day, "Where Bloggers Create" like the title of the party says.
My studio would probably be much more convenient without the big wardrobe I use as a treat cabinet, but it seems to be a popular piece of furniture. Especially to Sugarwings.
Although there is a lot to be said for using the right pieces of furniture. I'm loving this new hutch that I bought last weekend at a garage sale for $35 and fixed up a bit. I added old wallpaper trim around the base of the top section to hide some missing trim. I'm still thinking about adding wallpaper to the inset panels too.
One thing I really like about this cabinet, beyond the fact that it holds so much and I was able to get rid of two smaller pieces so that the room is less cluttery, is that there is not any glass in the doors. I can reach right inside and get to things easily.
Here is the hat garden from the video. Its an old buffet that I have piled with stuff. Its top holds supplies for my work, as well as some completed pieces that are or will be for sale, things I've bought from other people, and gifts I have received.
Its important to me to have things out where I can see and enjoy them.
I've discovered that if I put too much away inside of cabinets, I forget what I have. So I try to arrange my goodies out in the open and leave interior spaces of the furniture filled with basics. Like paints, sandpaper, book binding materials, jewelry making supplies, and baskets of bottles.
Things that I use a LOT go right above my desk, within an arm's reach.
On the front half of the studio, I have two dining room tables that I use for extra work surface or for dinner parties. The centerpiece on this table is really just crap storage. And I am all the time rifling through the tablescapes for a little tid bit here or there to add to something I am making.
The other table's centerpiece is often things I have just made, or stuff I just bought while junking recently.
This bird in its nest is something I just finished, and need to list in the Boutique. Her egg is a regular plastic Easter egg covered in vintage wrapping paper, then a sugar coat of glitter.
This little bird's nest is a treasure trove of pretties and bits of jewels. I need to get pictures of it and get it on the website too....
All of the things I have listed for the Boutique and Etsy in the last day are mostly supplies and jewelry, not handmade things.
Sometimes, even with a big room, it is a challenge to store things for upcoming shows. I've turned a corner of the room into a closet filled with shelves to stack up stuff for events I'll be selling at, but some things are just too pretty (or large) to put away. And what is the fun of buying them, just to lock them away in a dark closet till I take them to a show? So, just about every surface is full of some sort of collection. Right now, I am stock piling figurines and statues for use as jewelry displays. Won't these ladies look nice dripping with jewels? Then, hopefully, they will sell too and I'll have less to pack up after the show.
Of course, I get to the point where there is so much in the room that there is barely room for people... When craft day comes, I bring in extra tables to set up for guests (Beth and Mary are working away in this photo), but I am rapidly running out of space to spread out into when guests come!
Of course, there is always the patio too! When guests are as messy as this one, that seems to be the best solution.
Feel free to join in on Karen's party, I'm looking forward to going around the list and seeing "Where Bloggers Create"
(Which reminds me, some of you have asked when I was going to be in "Where Women Create" by Somerset. Well.... now I don't know. The editor had spoken to me about scheduling my studio, then postponed, but said to keep in contact with her. But I just feel like I am bugging her if I remind her, so who knows?)
ps- Thank you all for your encouragement about the Grumpy Fairy story. I think I just might make it into an illustrated book.
Thank you all, for your concern for Twinkle! I could tell you all could feel the pain of losing a helpless little pet and the hopeless dread that goes along with it. I appreciate all your big-hearted comments! While she was missing, I was so worried. Sparkle and I put on a bucket of bug spray and hunted through the 7 acres of trees on our property, in fear that Twink's collar had snagged on a branch, and she had been cold and alone in the woods overnight. I drove up and down the streets, dreading a stain in the road that would mean she had been hit by a car. All the worst case scenarios were running through my brain.
Thankfully, my little Dorkie is safe and sound, and is now being pampered and cuddled (plus watched like a hawk!).
Twinkle has decided that Sugarwing's new bed must certainly be meant for her, not the fairy grand baby. The mattress I made for it is thick and soft and fluffy, and since it is a miniature bed, it is low to the ground. Even chubby little Sparkle sneaks up onto it, even though it has been years since she has been able to jump on the sofa or our bed by herself.
Sugarwings calls it her "Princess Nest" because of one of her favorite stories that I tell her at bedtime. The story is about a sleepy fairy who is grumpy but will not go to sleep.
When I first showed you the bed in its before stage, I mentioned that I paid way too much for it at an auction, but I guess what I meant was I spent too much in Auction Thinking Dollars. Have you ever noticed that price is relative to where you are shopping? If I'd seen this miniature antique 4 poster bed at a nice antique store, I'd have thought it was the world's biggest bargain at $70. At an auction, I felt like I over paid!
(It does have finials for the tops of the posts, but they are so narrow and pointy, I thought they might be dangerous, so left them off. I'll probably add knobs to the tops of the posts later)
And my other redo project? This $35 hutch from the Shabby Chic garage sale came out great! It has so much space in it, I don't even have it full yet.
Notice the beautiful, blooming ball in front of it? That was a gift from my pal, Kim. I won it on her giveaway!
I'll show more photos of the hutch, and the rest of the studio from yesterday's craft day on Friday when I join in on what looks like an interesting party. Karen is hosting the event and asks us to show our creative areas.
Its been a long time since I threw a blog party myself, I should think about it, they are so much fun to go to. I look forward to seeing this one!
Maybe an apron party? Aprons are the theme for Silver Bella this year and that has got me thinking about them.
The theme got me looking around at aprons in a new way. So did the swap Heather and Stephenie hosted this spring.
So, I've been foofing up some aprons with millinery, ribbons and jewels. Some are listed in the Boutique, along with some other new items. (The sale for my Etsy shop has morphed into a new version, prices are marked down in the shop itself. Thank you to everyone who shopped with me and scooped up some half price deals!)
Oh, and here is the updated photo for the JULY GARAGE SALE GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK.
I'm finding lots of tidbits to add to this month's giveaway at garage sales! Isn't that English bone china little plate pretty? (it was only a nickle)
At craft day, I tried to make Sugarwings paper dolls, but the hair color looks more red than blonde when I printed the doll onto cardstock. I need to do some tweaking...
I'll leave you with the bed time story Imade up to tell the baby when she doesn't think it really is bedtime. And also with my thanks once again for all of your kind messages about Twinkle!
edit- sorry, I have to delete the story, working in Word, then copying the text to typepad caused problems with some readers being able to open the posts.
These two are inseparable. When Sugarwings is "being Dorothy" as she calls it, she makes Twinkle be Toto with her. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but she is holding her Toto in this picture.
We painted and glittered the pathway in the flower bed to look like a Yellow Brick Road, and Sugarwings has loved skipping and singing on it.
Usually her little Toto/Twinkle is not far behind.
But now, Twinks is missing. She's been gone since noon Sunday, and I was sure that when the vet's office opened today, there would be a message from someone who called the number on her tag.
No messages. The Humane Society opens in an hour, I'll be at the door waiting when they do.
I won't be able to face this little one and tell her that her dog is gone. My own heart is breaking too. Twinkle is not a dog to run off, she chases bunnies into the woods, but always comes when called and is practically made of velcro, the way she sticks with me all day.
We were out doing yard work, she ran after a bunny and never came back yesterday. After about 10 minutes, I knew that there was something wrong, because she has never been away that long.
Edit-
TWINKLE IS SAFE!!!!!!!!!!! Some one picked her up and took her to the pound, and now she is back home and happy to be here. Not as happy as I am to have her here, I still feel like a wreck after the day and night I went through!
Dogs sure become family, don't they? My gosh, what a scare to lose her. I'm thrilled to have her back. Thank you all so much for worrying along with me.
Ahh! That's better. I've had a rough day and a pale pink rose sure helps!
Its not been a bad day, just an exhausting one. Well, I guess the part about my computer refusing to recognize any Excel programs is kind of bad... Mostly it was just a long and tiring day. Sugarwings woke up with the sunrise this morning, so she and I went garage sailing together. (and yes, I have goodies to add to the giveaway, and will take photos soon. You can leave a comment on any post to enter the drawing)
Usually, the baby and I don't try going to garage sales together, she'd rather have a lazy morning telling stories and making pancakes. But when I saw an ad in the paper for an All Shabby Chic estate sale, I packed that kid up fast as I could and headed out. This table and chairs wasn't something I actually needed.... but won't I enjoy having it right outside my studio's back door?
I kind of repainted it, but not totally. I wanted it to still look weathered, just not so shabby it was looking trashy. So I misted some spray paint on lightly and evenly to clean it up, and then sprayed a bit more heavily in other places.
And of course, I didn't NEED this either. But for $35, I sure wanted it for my studio. I can get rid of some cluttery small pieces of furniture and consolidate the stuff in them into this.
It almost didn't make it home, on one corner, the top of the hutch went sliding and tilted out over the bed of the pickup. I drove slow and with my flashers on the rest of the way home, and we made it ok. Ryan helped me to get it out of the truck, and we almost lost it again then, when it came sliding down a little faster than we thought.
When I bought it, I thought it would be a simple slap of paint and I'd be done. Then, I saw to my absolute horror, that the person who painted it before DID NOT PRIME or sand it!!!!!!! Their paint could be peeled off in long strips. Which I did, for about an hour.
Then I finished it with the steps on my side bar, primer spray and glaze. The glaze is cream. I might add vintage wallpaper to the inset panels.
These were at the same house. I think they are meant for hanging on a chandelier. Not a bad sale, huh? And when we got there it was all picked over, I'd love to have seen what was sold before we arrived.
It would have to be a heavy chandy to hold these fruits, they have some heft to them.
Sugarwings spent the day with her Hippy Chick Mommy and is back for tonight, so my little "shadow" and I will have some play time tonight. I hope she is in the mood for something less strenuous than usual. Last night, I was the flying monkey and she was Dorothy and I had to scoop her up and run to lock her in the Wicked Witch's castle. (over and over and over) After hauling and painting furniture all day, I don't think my flying monkey wings will flap tonight.
Wouldn't your heart skip a beat if you were invited for a craft day, and when you got there, this is what was waiting for you?
Mine sure did! When I saw this entry, I knew this was going to be a special place.
I was tempted to say, "The heck with crafting, where's my margarita?" and just plop down on the porch without even going into the studio.
But as good as the patio was--- the inside was even better!
Laurie rents out her studio for the day, as well as teaches classes. It was a fun place to meet up, and gave our group a break from all having to drive to Lawrence to come to my place. All of them live in KC and Laurie's studio was more convenient for them.
Her home is chocked full of vintagey fun, and I had a hard time concentrating on what I wanted to work on, because I really wanted to explore and look at all the art and fun finds she had on display around the room.
Like this piece that I was really attracted to, even more so, when I saw that it said "Nathan & Co." on the top of the card.
Actually, it wasn't just the surroundings that kept me from getting to work. I'd brought photos from my trip to Jenn's event last May to add to the Flower Fairy Scrapbook that a group of us from there swapped pages on.
The book was gorgeous! So pretty that I was hesitant about using it. But- we all made our pages with the intent of adding photos, so I starting gluing. Plus, all the people at craft day assured me that they had been in swaps like this and swappers understand that the pages get altered a bit when you start adding your own stuff.
So, I got out the markers and pens and added journaling bits and swirls and doodads (according to Beth's last post, Journaling is the New Black). I snipped off bits of the ribbons that Kim tied to the beautiful cover she had made for it and used some of those inside on the pages to trim pictures. I also created pockets on some pages to add the pictures in, while saving the artist's original work and adding it to the top of the pocket, or on a tag to tie into the book later. I also took the liberty of re-distributing some butterflies and adding sparkle marker and details to them when I glued them back to the page around the photos.
Hopefully, I kept the intent of the artists intact and haven't offended anyone. I was so impressed with the care and skill that they all put into the book!
Was I wrong to add my own touches and drawings, and scoot some other artist's work aside and move it to make room for photos? I'm feeling a bit guilty.... What do you think?
I sincerely hope that I haven't offended the other artists and that they know how much I will treasure their work in this lovely book.
Mementos of a trip are important, and I will enjoy that book for a long time! I made up a little something for Sissy as a souvenir and thank you for her help on our trip to Florida to Aunt Caroline's funeral. She loves crows and witchy things, so when I saw this pink hat on a doll while we were shopping together, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it when I got home!
The hat got a foofing with some old flowers and tulle trim, then I glittered up the bird, gave her a necklace and plopped on the hat.
And none of these girls needed the hat, once I was done with their makeovers. I hope to get a few of these little Miss Vintagey gals listed in the shop today, along with more millinery, if the cloudy skies ever clear up so I can take a good photo!
I'm cleaning up the Boutique, deleting all the sold goods ( by the way, THANKS!) so you could shop more easily there and even created a new category- Sale Priced Goods
And don't forget, what ever is left in the Etsy shop is half off the price it is listed at, details in the previous post.
edit- there are sequinned girls, millinery packs, and new (old) jewelry added to the Boutique now.
Today is craft day, but with a twist, I am not cleaning up my studio and inviting friends over, we are using a rental studio in KC. ( I'll have details when I get back, I lost the blog address and am rushing right now).
But first, I wanted to take the time to thank you for your purchases and to remind you that the sale is still on at the Etsy shop . Details are in the previous post, but I also want to remind you that you need to purchase the items from Etsy, go to the check out, but do NOT pay with check out. Email me and I will send you an invoice for half off whatever is left.
I'm fine with you just emailing me the info and I go to the shop and delete the items, but I doubt if Etsy would like it, and I might get booted from there, because they don't get their percentage that way. I've done this for a few people, because it was quicker and easier than explaining and no problem to do, but I really don't want to make the big ole Etsy goliath mad at me.
I've made up cup cakes to take today, because crafting in packs is hungry work. We all get nibbly while we are cutting and gluing.
And you know, I really, really, sincerely tried to make pretty cupcakes. These are okay, but not what I wanted. I saw some on Andrea's blog once that made me sigh they were so lovely. So, when I spent a day with her, I asked her secret and she took me to her cupcake decor source, where I bought a big bagful of icing roses.
But, its not the same. Oh, yes, they are the same roses. They just don't look as good without her magic cupcake touch. She has that touch with everything. Heck, she could probably have a cupcake hanging out of her nose, and everyone would think it was the most beautiful cupcake they ever saw. She's that good with making things pretty.
I even tried the edible Glitter that I was introduced to at Debbie's party. The glitter and the roses look good, but with my sloppy icing job and skimpy crooked cupcakes, it just isn't the same.
Well, they might not look like they came from a classy bakery, but they are tasty. Pillsbury strawberry cake mix and a can of cream cheese icing, yum!
See the stack of books? I can't believe it, but I found more of these at a sale yesterday! I listed a couple, the last ones went fast. They are in the Boutique. There are some sale prices here and there in the Boutique, but the Etsy sale is Etsy only.
These teensy framed prints were at the sale too, so I bought a bagful. This one is being added to theJULY GARAGE SALE GIVEAWAY PRIZE PACK, a couple others went into the Boutique, and I kept a few for myself to deconstruct and use in projects.
But what is the most special thing in the photo?? Ahh, aren't these just the best?? Aunt Caroline had her pink pearls sent to me. Sorry for the bad picture, these deserve better than that. But I need to throw some supplies and crap in a box and get my butt to craft day, gotta run! (that butt that is a bit bigger after making sure the cupcakes were tasty even though they only looked average)
Learn how to make a mini dress form, and get tips on how to embellish your creation. This class comes with ideas, videos, instructions and ephemera images to download and print.
