Spooky Charm Swap

I had a terrific weekend with my family in town. We hit all the fun McKinney has to offer and then some! I'm still working on getting those pics off the card. In the meantime, I've posted some timely pics of my Spooky Charm swap. The idea was to create a charm around our favorite Halloween story or trick or treating experience. For me, I'm a classicist and it's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow all the way. I used a cabinet card that looked the most like a nerdy scarredy cat but kind of sweet - my idea of what Ichabod might look like. Add in a little photoshop help, some vintage wall paper with some fun details like the date the story was first published and you've got yourself a new take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I love the vintage/retro feel off this one, if I do say so myself! :)

Charms are on their way!

One of the exchanges I'm in includes swapping soldered Christmas charms. I think this little basket of charms is really sweet. I hope they make it safely and people like their charms.

I had lots of trouble sleeping so I've been up since 3 am. It seemed like the perfect time to play with glass and solder so I've been busy on a few new projects but now, I'm thinking a nap might be nice!

Alphabet Charms

Finally, a pic of the great charms I received from the alphabet charm swap. I was really happy to be included in the swap and after receiving such great work I was definitely a happy girl! These are just awesome and I can't wait to assemble a charm piece that highlights these pieces.

I've gotten very little art done the last few weeks. Everything has just been really hectic and when I've gotten home I've been hibernating with a book or sleeping. This is the last weekend before our big Vegas trip and it's getting pretty crammed with stuff (including the King Tut exhibit that I can't wait to check out) but I'm determined to get a few things made so we'll see how it goes. I may need to actually chart out my time and make sure I allot art time! I figure since we're driving to Vegas I can take some jewelry supplies with me. My friend Suzanne thinks I'm crazy that hanging out in the Bellagio and making chain is my idea of an ideal vacation! :)

Creative

I'm a member of a charm swapping group and I got my first exchanges which are incredible. I'll need to spend some time this weekend getting some good pics. One of the exchanges was an alphabet exchange and I was able to join to fill in for someone else and am thrilled I got the chance. This is how the charms came to us! I can't wait to get all the charms on a bracelet but I thought the swap hostess went above and beyond with this one. That's just super adorable!

Charming

These went out in the mail for the Alphabet Swap I'm participating in and I have to say that it was pretty cute to see all of these little moo cards bagged up and ready to head out. The charms will be posted once everyone receives them but I will give a hint that I had to buy a drill press and enlist the husband's aid in their creation but I think it was worth it.

The weather here is overcast and in the 70's. This is not Texas, it's heaven!

Fools for Love Pin

I've finally finished my fools for love pin for the art chix swap. It had to include an image and an art bit from Art Chix so I used the German scrap with the stars. The lace came from my antiquing trip to Canton a couple of weeks ago, seriously, you can't go wrong with 10 yards of lace for a dollar! I also used the German glass glitter, in pink, for the bottle cap from Paper Valise which turned out great. I love the sparkly and in pink it's the perfect girly touch. I was really happy with how they turned out. I'm inspired enough to keep practicing the soldering, not my favorite, and hopefully use family pictures to make ornaments for the families for Christmas. I think those, along with a feather tree, will be a big hit for the holidays. We'll see how it goes!

My husband's family should be here in a couple of hours and they aren't going to let the Texas rain slow them down. We'll hit the malls running!

Have a great weekend guys!