The first step is...

The first step to dealing with an addiction is admitting you have a problem. I am admitting that I have a problem with October Afternoon paper. I am totally addicted! Here's another quick birthday card.

Hope you are having a great week.

Quick Craft Post

This is just a quick post showcasing a few more notebooks and a quick card I made over the weekend.

Off to watch Idol!

Bird Update and Weekend Crafts

Just a quick update on the baby bird. He fell out of the nest twice the day after I put him back in. So, I moved the vacant nest that was under the deck over to where the other nest was, hoping that the parents would notice the single baby in the secondary nest.

Well, it worked and all the babies are doing great.

I spent the majority of Saturday cleaning my craft room and the majority of Sunday messing it up again.

Here are some of the projects I was working on:

I made a few birthday cards with my Lily Bee and October Afternoon papers. I got the October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper on Friday. October Afternoon is becoming one of my favorite paper companies. So, I was so happy to play.

And, I made some more journals/notebooks. It's hard to tell, but these are actually quite small - about 3 x 5. I used some more October Afternoon paper from the Fly A Kite collection and some other scraps I found while cleaning my craft room.

It it really windy here today. Taking these pictures outside was a real challenge!

Hope you are having a creative weekend!

Right Place, Right Time

Sometimes, you are just at the right place at the right time. Tonight, I was getting ready to watch Idol (which is actually on right now, but I'm DVR'ing) and I had the patio door open. You may remember my post last year about the robins that build nests under our deck. Well, we didn't tear down last year's nest because I figured that they wouldn't reuse a nest and we could sit on our deck in peace and quiet. Wrong. The robins used the same nest again! They were making all sorts of racket tonight and I decided to go out and take a peek. And, that nest is now literally spilling over with baby birds. The reason I know this is because when I peeked through the cracks of the deck to see what was going on in the nest, I noticed that one of the little babies had fallen out and was laying on the patio below.

So, I ran down the stairs and scooped the baby up, because I had read that it is actually a myth that the parents will desert a baby after it has been handled. It was so helpless, but didn't appear to be hurt from the fall. Here is the poor little thing.

I cupped it in my hands and then tore off a hosta leaf to lay it on. I thought that I had a ladder that was tall enough to reach the nest. So, I ran inside to google "Should you put a baby bird back in the nest?" It actually depends on the situation, but the answer in this case was "yes".

So, back out I went hauling my tall ladder down the hardscaped staircase and then, I met the mad momma. You can even see her beak open in this picture.

She was not happy - and I can't blame her. And, she only got more angry as I climbed my ladder to put her baby back where it belonged.

Here is my ladder ready for action.

Ah - back to safety. Hopefully baby stays put - but there were at least 3 others in there. I can see why he got pushed out in the first place. I know there are those of you who are saying, "Let nature take its course." But, I think there is a reason I checked on that nest tonight and I'm calling it "Right place, right time."

Goodnight sweet little tweety. Hope you are well in the morning.

Tomorrow's Thursday! Yippie the weekend's almost here!

Hair and Shirt Embellishment from Window Treatment Fabric.

Today, I am participating in get your CRAFT on over at Today's Creative Blog.

Here is my Saturday project using some of the fabric from those upholstery books I snagged over at the furniture store. I made a little hair accessory:

And a matching shirt accessory. I put them on hair clips instead of a pin so that I would have to put a hole in my shirt (or my head - ha!). They are super simple. I just cut different size circles out of the fabric and then I melted the edges with a heat tool.

Trying to look "artsy" in the mirror...

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! We celebrated this morning with my mom and we're celebrating with Carson's mom a little later.

Here are the cards I made for both of them. Not elaborate - but simply nice.

Family photo minus one furry child - he refused to get in the photo.

Tying Up Loose Ends...

Yes, I have finally finished my curtain project. A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my too short curtains. Well, they are now fixed...

Through the miracle of heat and bond and some fabric glue, I bought some curtains at TJ Maxx for $12.99 and cut them apart, and was able to add just enough length so that they would hit the floor. Ah. Project completed.

Never fear. The other day, I came home with this:

I happened upon a local furniture store that was closing and asked what they were going to do with all their upholstery fabric books. They were going to throw them away (GASP!) and I asked if I could haul them away.

They are fabulous fabrics and many are covered with paper backing - but I am finding all kinds of crafty uses for them.

Because many of the book were window treatment books, there are luxurious silks like these:

So, the creative wheels started-a-turnin' and I have spent the last 5 days working on these little numbers:

Journals. Some of covered in paper and some in fabric. Last weekend, my mom and I went to the local flea market in search of treasures that I could attach to my notebooks. We found one booth that was teeming with vintage buttons - all half price! They were still a little pricey, but they make great decor for my journal projects.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. It's cold here - great weather to be crafting inside!

A Painting Tip

It's has been a busy couple of days. But, I wanted to share a quick painting tip with you. At one point in my life, I painted. I did faux finishing for about 2 years. And, in that time, I became an expert at taping and rolling.
But, one very important thing I learned about taping had to do with the trim (as in woodwork.) Have you ever taped off the trim in a room only to have bleeding paint on your woodwork when you removed the tape? Or, did you ever have tape that just wouldn't stick to your trim?
I have the solution.

If you use one of these little numbers on your trim, it will remove all the lint and dust and then your tape will stick! I've also used a clean, dry paintbrush. It will save you a lot of clean up!

Just have to say that I loved Harry Connick, Jr. on Idol last night. He is such a super cool person.
Have a great Thursday!