Wow - A Week...

...has gone by already since we came back from Vacation. We had a splendid time despite rather wet weather (Miss Gwendoline agrees). Ate, drank, watched (as best we could on our poor old TV) the wedding - and slept an awful lot.

When we arrived we found our newly installed woodstove which we had not seen yet -isn't it lovely! And such a difference.

Plenty of animals arounds - herons, geese, a crazy woodpecker who thought our steel roof was a good way to get our attention (the rat a tat tat was something else) and Jack Rabbits EVERYWHERE - including this fellow dining on our sceptic bed. There was some snow still at the start but the rain and temperatures finally took care of it all.

Our little harbour was actually pretty low when we first arrived, but all the rain seemed to bring the levels back up looking at the before/after pics.
Got the canoe out of our living room (LOL) - you can see it out on the deck.

The village was pretty quiet but the locals were obviously starting to get ready for the season - a lot of cleaning up going on.
The Pub that burned down last Fall is slowly being built up again which everyone was very happy about - they hope to open again mid Summer.

And I got some art projects in - Mail Art to folks I am exchanging with... more on that later

Progress (?) I hope on my Little Book Swap - these ATCs are going into one of them...

And some other ATCs "just because"...

We took The Tank and she did really well but needed a good "bath" when we got back. I'm hoping to catch up this weekend and get life back to normal - though I am seeing ALOT of yard work that needs to get done (sigh, it never ends!). Heard my new favorite phrase on BBC1 the other day - to all my friends "Mind what your doing". Cheers, Jewels...

Paper or...

...Fabric? You be the judge.

Remember my entry for the Vintage Card Swap that Lenna is hosting which uses a picture from my friend Carol? All done in paper except lace and button. Go check out the other submissions - they are awesome...

Well I had to make Carol some thing to thank her.

So I "re created" in fabric. The only "paper" are the photo mounts. Personally I can go either way! I love how each turned out...Enjoy, Jewels.

Not Much...

...goin on here - just swamped with work. These days I've tried to put a little time aside to do some "experimentin".

Like "felting wool" - okay, it intrigued me how to do it (and I do have a project in mind which I'll get to eventually). This was not going to be a big investment so off to one of my favorite Thrift Shops.
The dear that sold this to me thought it was going to look lovely on me (did not have the heart to tell her that a. it was too big and b. what I was about to do to it).
So I threw in the washer...
...and after some time in the dryer it came out quite nice (the picture does not do the colour justice).
I've also gotten back to crocheting after being inspired by Lucy over at Attic 24 - she does some brilliant stuff. So I pulled out the hooks, an old pattern book and I 've been working on a pillow cover - should be very colourful.I've also experimented with some other shapes.

Beth has got me thinking about an Altered Book - so far I took the plunge and did some major surgery on an old (free) book I found to try out.
Believe you me, the librarian in me was screaming DON'T DO IT
...so now I have to get some pages done to justify the mutilation that occurred...I'm thinking some cool retro ladies ...
Finally, who could resist.
I have not bought "new" fabric in a very long time.
But this had owls!
You know how I feel about owls! How CUTE!
And other pretty prints - so I caved...and I do have plans for this to...just not the time....(hmm, looks like I just added 4 more UFOs to my stack, sob).

I have been DYING to make this post - but I had to wait till my "art" was recieved. Recently one of my favorite bloggers, Beth, talked about A Very Casual Round Robin she started for an Altered Book with some of her friends. Not one to be shy, I asked if I could make a page to add (even though I'm not part of the circle, boo hoo). You see, I've wanted to work on pages for some time - and I keep threatening that I will make my own book.

But time (really time) and may be a little reluctance on my part to cut a book apart (yeah it's the Librarian in me) has prevented me from getting started - though I have lots of old/cheap/roughed up books I could use....case in point - 50 cents (that's 53 cents Canadian today)...but I'd probably place some arty thing over the boy - he looks pissed about something...

Anyway, I thought I'd stick my virtual toe in and created this page for Beth (dimensions are 6 x 9). The saying is "She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain. Louisa May Alcott" (I swear it is just a coincidence) You CANNOT imagine the angst I went through - I'm a fabric girl, not a paper one, so this really stretched me - and it really was more then an oversized ATC! Gracious Beth stated I could work with material if I liked....

I learned a few things for the next time (oh yes there will be a next time). I especially like the back! Found in an old Ideals book...




But wait, there's more! After I finished my page, and before it got in the Post, I happened to come across an old (1920) Yearbook from the University of Kansas...and guess where Beth lives...so I could not resist - a second page was born (I think I've got the bug!).


My greatest concern (and don't we all feel this way about things we make/give away) would she like it???

Well I'm happy to report sheLOVES them (yahoo!) ....so now I've committed to make my own - and here is the cover to start (it actually is not quite this yellow). 6 x 9" dimensions. I've already figured out the first page in my head. Stay tuned - I'll even let you watch the surgery when it happens!