February is a Good Time to Nest

Heather of Speckled Egg http://www.speckled-egg.blogspot.com always comes up with the greatest swap ideas, and her "Sweet Little Nest Swap" was no exception. I received a darling little "Treasure Keeper" nest from Sarah of Gypsy Mermaid Life (what a great name!) http://www.gypsymermaidlife.blogspot.com. It seems like I got it almost as soon as the swap was announced.

It has sparkly little blue eggs, a skeleton key, flowers, beads, little tiny bottles of glitter and pearls, a tape measure ribbon and other things with which Ma Bird has absconded to make a nest.

I can't yet show what I made for Sarah....except for this sneak peek in the third photo. It's flying out of here Tuesday. I had so much fun, I posted one nest on Etsy last night http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com and it sold by morning! So, off to the studio for more nesting! You can click the headline link to see more nest photos from other participants!

Speckled Egg Hat Swap

This lovely chapeau has now been completed for the Speckled Egg Halloween Witch Hat Swap. A lot of people made paper cones, but I found this satin-like hat for $1 (sorry, recipient Jen). I then added fabric stiffener (didn't even know this existed in a spray bottle- thought I would have to use liquid starch). Once this was done, I attached a large crow, which my cats had tried to abscond with. I also added skulls, bones, black roses, and gold glitter. Through the point I added a removeable silver wand for emergency spell-casting. The wand is embellished with gold glitter and black fun fur. On top of all this is a lovely black veil and orange feather pouf. Now, how to mail, how to mail?

Travel ATC Swap-Off to 1950s Florida!

I am so excited about the cards I finished last night for my ArtChix travel ATC Swap. These were so fun to do with the vintage images I had from ArtChix Studio plus bits of nautical ephemera I had. I am waiting on a great batch of old Florida postcards from ebay (16 for 99 cents!!), so I can make some more. Upcoming projects include a sepia swap, Art and Scent swap (hmmm), pet faux postage creations contest (time for Larry and Lester to get famous) and, yes, a Halloween witch hat swap with Heather of speckled-egg.blogspot (check out new link at right).