Two Great Giveaways

Hello my dear friends,

two of my best blog land friends are having a giveaway.

Sweet Dawn from "The Feathered Nest" is celebrating four years of blogging and she is having a wonderful giveaway with not one but four prizes. Why not pop over to her blog and take a look! You will find her giveaway here ...

http://www.the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/2011/02/lets-celebrate-my-four-years-with.html

Also ...

Lovely Barbara Jean is having a great  "One World One Heart" giveaway. Why not drop by her blog and check it out? Here is the link to Barbara Jean ...

http://www.treasuresfromtheheartgifts.blogspot.com/2011/02/one-world-one-heart.html

And last but not least ...

Remember my post on Feb.5th? I showed you two frames I had created by being inspired by my favorite saying and hymn and by sweet Dawn. Well, here is a photo of the tin Dawn made and here is the link to her post with more pictures of her gorgeous creation.

http://www.the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/2008/02/sweet-dreams.html

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.

A New Nest, Roses And A Little Shoe

Hello my dear friends,

I have tried to be busy these past few days and it seems that paper just captures me at the moment. This is what I made from some old music sheets and coffee filters:

I created a new nest made from thin strips of old music sheets. It turned out quite neat, if I might say so. But it was a right struggle at times to try and get the nest to stay together whilst I glued it to a piece of card.  To make it look at bit more "real", I added some "soft fluffy plant cotton" which I gathered on one of my fall walks last year. A few little eggs and there it is ~ finished. I really like the look of this.

I would also like to tell you of a really neat tutorial I found on how to make the most beautiful roses from coffee filters. You can find the tutorial at:

 www.yourangil.blogspot.com/2009/06/coffee-filter-rose-tutorial.html

Angela Harris makes the most beautiful roses. They are quite easy to make and look great. You can use white or unbleached coffee filters. The filters can be left plain or you can stamp them with your favorite stamp - which ever way you like it! I used my script stamp and vintage photo ink. Angela has even made roses from filters she dyed pink. They are just beautiful!

The last thing I would like to show you today is a little doll shoe. I found this in a bag of old baby shoes I bought over the weekend from an antique store.

 The shoe is made from leather and is just perfect. It is just over 2 inches long. I am not sure what I am going to make out of this little shoe. Has anybody have an ideas? I would love to hear from you.

Have a peaceful and creative day

Karen B.

Thank You For Your Prayers

My dear friends,

I would like to thank you for your prayers. My daughter's boyfriend is getting better. His scull has a crack and there is some pressure to his brain, but the doctors say that everything should heal on its own in the next six months. They are hoping not to have to do surgery. He just has to rest now and let time heal.
Thank you all for your thoughts, we are so grateful.

Have a peaceful and creative day

Karen B.

Your Prayers Are Needed

My dear friends,

last night my daughter's boyfriend was attacked on his way home from work (in Toronto) by three men that tried to rob him. He was beaten over the head and then beaten more as he was lying on the ground. Fortunately a college of  his was able to call the police and ambulance. It is not sure how bad his injuries are, as they are still doing some tests to see if his scull has been fractured. I am asking you, my dear friends to pray for his recovery.

Thank you and have a very peaceful day

Karen B.

Just Something Little I Wanted To Share

Hello my dear friends,

today I just wanted to share something little with you.

I am a big fan of quotations and psalms and here are my favorite two:

   'Memories is the power to grow roses in winter'

I found this saying a while back when I was reading, and it stuck with me ever since. It is such a simple saying, and yet in conveys the power of a single memory can hold.

    'He will cover you with his feathers and you will find refuge under his wings' ~ psalm 91:4

I found this psalm whilst looking through the Bible one day and again it stuck with me. I found something very comforting within this saying, almost like it was saying 'You are not alone, you are safe here'.

In fact, I liked both the quotation and psalm so much, that I was inspired to use them in one of my makings.
What you see below is also inspired by one of Dawn's (The Feathered Nest) creations in which she transformed a little old tin into something beautiful.

I didn't have any old tins, so I used what I could find in my treasures.

I created this feather from an old hymn book page. I think this really makes it special.

Last but not least, for all you lovely blog friends, who liked the little wire nests in my last post. There is a picture tutorial explaining  how to make them. You will find it at - http://www.justsomethingimade.com/ -. I hope this helps anybody that would like to create a few of these little sweeties.

Have a peaceful and creative day

Karen B.

A Few New Makings

Hello my dear friends,

I just wanted to show you a few of my new little makings. Some of these I made a little while ago and they have been sitting on one of my shelves in my craft room.

Remember the little nest in an old heart shaped trinket-box? Well, I decided that you couldn't really see the lovely little thing very well, so here it outside of the box!

It is so sweet and petite. I just love the way it turned out! It seems that I have caught the, what I would call "nest bug". One of the symptoms are .... you have to make little birds nests out of anything you can get your hands on.

This little nest I made from some copper wire and pearls I had leftover from another project. The matchbox was in my junk drawer and the idea of decorating it with music sheet paper came from my friend Barbara Jean from "Treasure from the Heart". Don't you just love the little birds on the wire? It is a beautiful punch and yes, this time it is made by Martha Stewart.

The next little nest is also made from pearls and wire, just a different type. The wire is a leftover from my

tole painting days and the pearls were on clearance at Michaels. A different look but just as nice, don't you think?



I have also made a few more of my little flowers and salt shaker vases these past couple of days. They are made so fast and just look so neat!



These were my last shakers, I need to go onto another adventures to find new little treasures.

Before I go for today I also wanted to say that I am so happy that you liked my first tutorial. Your kind comments are so much loved.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.



My First Tutorial

Hello my dear Friends.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was working on a tutorial for the little flowers in the salt-shaker vase. Well, it is ready.

So, here we go!

First get all your supplies together.

You will need everything in the picture below:

 

- Modge Podge

- Tacky glue

- A toothpick

- A foam brush

- Book pages/music sheets

- Corsage pins or larger pins (I like to use white pins)

- Flower punches in 2 sizes ( I used Marvy Uchida punches sold at Michaels)

- A small salt shaker

 

Cover your book pages (which shouldn't be to old or they will be too brittle for this) with a coat of Modge Podge on both sides. Make sure you let each side dry completely before trying to punch out the flowers or the paper will just rip.

 

I used two different older books with different shades of colored pages. Punch out small and large flowers from your pages.

 

 

Take a pin and push it through the center of the small flower first and then push the pin through the large flower. Be sure to use a toothpick to add a drop of tacky glue to the center of the flowers before pushing them all the way up the pin. This will make sure your flowers stay in place. And that is all.

 

Now you just have to make enough to fill your little saltshaker 'vase'. I found the shaker above in a thrift store on one of my many treasure searches. The pins were a bit too short for this one, so I added a piece of old book page into the bottom of the shaker to give the pins something to stand on.

 

This is another way you could display your beautiful blossoms! The pins were yet again too short, so I filled the bottom of the shaker with some pearls from a previous project.

 

Last but not least, these little gems were made from sewing pins and an envelope I had received in the mail last week! You could use any other paper (different colors, different textures...) and if you prefer different colored pins. I also made the cute little 'chocolate' pin cushion above!

I hope you will enjoy making these as much as I have enjoyed making this tutorial!

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.