A SCRAPBOOK OF INSPIRATION: October 2008

Pink Saturday

My creation, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

Just in time for Pink Saturday...I went to the mailbox and there was an itty bitty box, gift wrapped. I opened the box and there was this itty bitty book filled with creative ATC size treasures bound by Mary Ann into this incredible keepsake.

Fat with love, I say...

A while back I wrote a post about the Pink Itty Bitty Book project that another fellow Pink Saturdayer invited me to.

Thank you Nancy, it was so much fun. Mary Ann included a book for a friend of mine who just went through surgery for her breast cancer.

I know that she will love it. Each of us received one of these books to keep, and one went to auction to raise money for breast cancer. Mary Ann even included some sweets...pink of course!

Well, here are just some of the many gorgeous crafted itty bitty pink pages.

That's not the only pink inspiration. Every year I create a new design for Christmas, usually Santa for my friends and family. This year since I have an Etsy shop, I wanted to design Vintage Santas from my tin Vintage chocolate molds. I was thinking as I was designing my 2008 Santa...

Santa 2008

What about a PINK SANTA. So I created this itty bitty hanging Santa, which I called PINK SATURDAY SANTA.

I added some pink and red ribbon, a few bells, baubles and a teeny tiny name Santa in Edwardian Script. Oh and there had to be glitter, Vintage glass glitter.

I just love Vintage Santas, so I hope you like this one. A Pink Saturday inspiration of course. On the back is a teeny envelope with a teeny matching Christmas Card which I created using one of my Christmas paintings.

This brick red color is truer to the color of the background.

I just listed him in my Etsy shop. I made five of the pink and five in red. I will list the red one tomorrow.

I'll be adding more one-of-a-kind Santas to my Etsy shop as the month goes on, and including some special ones too. Bev over at How Sweet The Sound has a list of all the posts for Pink Saturday, so please stop by and be PINK with inspiration.

The song for this post is LOVE IS ALL AROUND.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Have a Happy Halloween!, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

Wishing you a fun Halloween with very few tricks but lots and lots of treats!!

This has been a wonderful month of Halloween fun.

Except that is, for one sad Halloween story. Poor Mr. Ghosty has been with us for years. I bought him when the girls were little and we lived in Hong Kong. The American school had a Halloween event and shipped in the cutest decorations. Well, we had a blustery night one evening...the wind began to howl and in the morning he was gone. We searched the neighborhood, but no Mr. Ghosty. So, if you see him flying by, please tell him to come home.

More good things did happen this Halloween, there was The Sweet and Sinister Swap, hosted by Kari of Artsy Mama, and my partner Carla sending all the wonderful goodies that arrived in the mail.

Well, we all remember Miss Vanessa's party over at A Fanciful Twist. But I thought that if you would like to visit a Halloween party today then just click on the Karen witch on the sidebar or...

CLICK RIGHT HERE TO ENTER A HALLOWEEN PARTY.

My decorations are all set, and the candy is in the basket waiting for the little trick or treaters.

Wishing you a safe and Happy Halloween. The song for this post is I Put A Spell On You from my favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus. Miss M sings this fun song.

Thankful Thursday

Mixed-Media and Watercolor 1997 for Elizabeth Wu, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

I am so grateful for the Grace that God has given to me through a period of mourning. Loss is never easy, but the Lord is there with us in the middle of our grief.

Recently I walked through a threshold and I passed this chapter of grief onto the otherside where my feelings of sadness disappeared and I was left with only clarity and understanding of why God had allowed my loss. Today I am so grateful that God was there as I walked through my period of mourning and that He removed the burden of sadness and gave me new eyes to see it's purpose.

It seems to me that grief is similar to the cast they put on a broken limb. As we move through our daily life, we are in a constant state of awareness that our broken limb prevents us from the balance we once enjoyed.

However, just like the cast surrounding our brokenness, it helps us heal, and soon the cast of grief is removed and we can walk through a threshold back into joy.

"And provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks for righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." Isaiah 61:3

The song for this post is Song from A Secret Garden.

Today is Thankful Thursday, and Rhondi from Rhondi's Rose Colored Glasses hosts this mindful occasion. So, please visit Rhondi and the many Thankful Thursday posts.

Lessons from a Creative Muse

Lessons from a Creative Muse, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

I think that I mentioned before, I have the good fortune to be near an amazing store called

Ink About It.

I purchased this heart shaped book a while back in their shop with good intentions of learning how to alter the book. Try as I did to browse books on the subject, I truly needed the inspiration of a creative muse to get me started. When I returned from my class, I decorated the cover of the book. Black and white toile of course, with a bit of embellishments.

The amazing creative muse, Karen Provo taught a beginner class in altered books. I made this little girlfriend in another of Karen's classes.

Karen is a master altered book maker, and she takes it to another dimension.

I needed to get the introduction class under my belt in order to learn more advanced techniques next time.

Besides learning oodles of techniques, I met the most wonderful people in the class, including a fellow blogger. "How great is that"?

This class left my head spinning, not only because of the techniques I learned, but seeing all of Karen's incredible samples.

Some of her books were themes and some of them had little draws and the entire book was cut out with a design tucked inside.

Another fun thing about altering a book is that the words within the book can lead you to windows into creating things you might not have thought about otherwise.