Where to start??? Where to start??? I have to say, the Puppy Love Tag book swap is just wonderfully overwhelming for me.
And overwhelming for the Fairy Grand baby too. We had a blast dressing up for our little present party. She was pretty serious, though. I think she was feeling the abundance the same way I was. Oh my, there is more fun stuff to open and play with???
All of the art supplies are greatly appreciated. My little crafter can go through tons of stickers in an afternoon of work in the "our studio."
We made good use of the treats too!
I think I will be able to keep my energy up while assembling books. Between the chocolates and the teas and cocoas and home made marshmellows (Shawn knows I am addicted and treats me to them a lot, she is a good friend to have!) I've already dipped into the goodie supply, notice that the chocolate bar wrapper is empty? (but it is so cute, I have to save it and use it in my art journal or else my own tag book)
Beth scored a big box of old journals at an auction (she has some to sell here - although when I went to her site to get a link, I kind of bought the last one….. but I know she has more and they are only $10 each, so ask her!!)
So many artists are making art journals, but I have never done one. Beth gave me one of her ledgers and I decided to make it a semi-art journal. I'm using it for practical things. Like postage rates. I wanted a pretty book to keep next to my computer to have handy for figuring postage.
And to keep passwords in. I have two pages filled with passwords from dozens of sites online. You need a password to do anything! And I hear it isn't smart to be repetitive with them, so I have to keep a log, or I would NEVER be able to open anything.
And then there are certain addresses that are good to have at hand.
And I am sure there are lots of other things I will think of to add to the book. So I am making up lots of extra pages that will be waiting and ready when I need to jot down something important.
Or just doodle.
Meanwhile, back at the tag book swap…. I have started assembling books!
When building them, I debated one hole or two at the top. I started making some with two holes, but switched back to one. For one thing, its half the work! For another, I kind of like to be able to fan the tags out like this, and see them all at once.
This book includes work by:
Kathy in Chicago
Andrea Tarling
LiLi M.
Sarah Elder
Carla Fisch
Samantha Miranda
and a cover by me
OMG aren't these going to be something when they are done????? Of course, the "when they are done" part is the tough part. I have about 450 tags spread out over my studio right now.
Some here…
And some here, along with goodies and gifties that haven't been consumed or displayed yet.
There are so many sweet gifts that I was, as I might have mentioned, OVER WHELMED!!! So, my plan, is to slow down and enjoy them. Play with a couple at a time, sip some tea, make some books, nibble some chocolate, then go and play with some more gifties. I hung up this banner from my East Coast Junking Buddy, Robin. It fit perfect on my hat garden buffet. Although, it also is good for tying around my waist and dancing around in. Just ask Sugarwings what Grammy wore to the dress up tea party and she'll tell you all about it.
Today, I slipped on this beautiful fairy necklace made by my pal, Gretchen and went to rent myself a huge stack of movies. I'll need them to keep me going as I assemble all these books. Brideshead Revisited is my first one to watch.
(Gretchen has great jewelry for sale on her blog, you should take a look)
See what I mean about wonderful goodies? Here are a few more of the presents that came as hostess gifts. There are also lots of pretty ribbons from quite a few of the swappers. What a perfect thing to include, I'll be needing it for tying tags together. And I got so much Valentine ephemera, that I will absolutely have to do this swap again next year, so I will can use it all up!!
There are thougthful gifts everywhere I look, spread out all over the studio. I just don't know what will happen to me next week when the swap is all done and over with. NO PACKAGES IN THE MAIL???? That will be hard to get used to!
Oh, I just had to show you this one, the box that it came in was such a joy to open and explore. You can read all about her tag series on her blog.
Thanks again to everyone who participated, and for all of your thoughtfulness and generosity with your time and your treats and your crafting skills!
Sugarwings and I had a lovely party to celebrate all the Puppy Love we got. I'll leave you with a couple more photos of our special day.
Everything looks so pretty!!
Love everything. That is one sweet little girl. How cute!!
Kris
Karla OH my goodness such loveliness _ I would want one of each !!_ how to resist –
and Darlin Sugar wings and the puppies on top of that melt my heart — Her angel face — Oh how wondeerful to see all of those -what a prize we are receiving —
Thank you for all the hard work – Kathy – ga
Karla, what a wonderful day you’ve had with Sugarwings. Your studio is filled with so many pretties; sweet tags, Sugarwings and those gorgeous puppies.
What joy!!
Hugs,
Kerryanne
What a pretty princess she is! I love the pink dress. It looks like you both had a great time!
Those tag books are going to be amazing! She is just so cute. I love that pic of her carring one of the pups in or out of the pool. Soooo sweet!
Nerissa
OH my gosh, that journal is gorgeous- you should make more just like that with postage rates and a page for passwords- almost everyone can use that!
It’s all eye candy up here again! I love all photos of Sugarwings. Do you know that I call my daughter so that we can enjoy those photos together? And your journal…mmmmmmm I love it, what a good idea to have one page of passwords! I cannot wait to see the puppy tag book I will receive! They all look so beautiful! I was honoured to see one of my tags *blush*. Have a nice Sunday!
Ledger journal is awesome and yumminess to all the other stuff tooooo(I recognize the Samatha Miranda name…I have one of her Irish tags). Happy happies Karla.
Good Morning, dear Karla! It always tickles me that SugarWings is So Serious as she does her crafting! An artist, for sure! Your Friend, Bobbi
What a wonderful party. Your ledger is just beautiful. All the tags look so yummy. Thanks for all your hard work in getting this done. It will be such a treat when we all get ours.
I love when people post on Sundays! (Kind of a dull day in blog world usually!) The ledger book idea is great – so much better than the scraps of paper I’ve got floating around here.
Karla,
Thank you so much for doing this tag swap. It was such a joy to participate in! You, your granddaughter, your home, your puppies . . . all of it made the swap that much more close to our hearts!
Dawn
P.S. Thank you so much for recognizing my diary tag in this post! Velma would be honored!
Look at all the wonderful things you recieved! Youre lucky to have sweet little sugarwings to help you! and she seems to be a great little puppy sitter! what a doll she is. I often say I dont really want grandchildren (not that I dont love children, because I adore them, but because I selfishly dont want to worry about them my whole life!) However, you make it look like such fun being a grandmother, that is more appealing to me then it has been before!
have a happy sunday!
vivian
Wow, so much fun stuff! Love the journal you made, very clever! Sugarwings is adorable in her little Princess dress! And the puppies are growing so much, and oh so cute!!
My goodness!! Look at the stuff! How in the world do you keep track of all of that? I absolutely can’t wait to see the little books. Happy Mail! Don’t you just love happy mail????!!! Can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait. Tra-la and GO JAYHAWKS!!!
Kathy in Chicago
Karla, again a big “thank you” for coming up with this clever tag swap and all of the work that goes with it. I am very excited to receive my tags and see how it all comes together.
I think it is so special that you made a special day for you and Sugarwings to have a party and open the gifts all together. She will have so many great memories of her sweet times with Grandma forever. So special!
I’m honored you’ve included the fairy pendant in your blog post, and appreciate your link back to my site. You are a sweet, sweet lady. Thanks for all of your help, encouragement and most of all your friendship. You’re an inspiration to us beginners, as well as all of the itinerant artists.
Have a great Sunday!
Gretchen
mimitoriasdesigns.blogspot.com
Wow! I want to jump in the middle of those tags and role around! 🙂 I cant imagine how overwhelming it is for you. Wish I could help. Wanted to say I recieved my glass heart ornament and adore it. 🙂 I just love love love your creative style.
Karla, great eye candy, I always have so much fun visiting your creative blog.
Karen
What wonderful and special “stuff”. Sugarwings just gets sweeter everyday. She looked so pretty in her special dress. Have fun with the tags and goodies.
Jean in Virginia
Wow! It looks like you sure have your work cut out! But what fun work, everything looks so pretty. Are those CHOCOLATE Peeps that SugarWings has there? Yum!
What wonderful goodies to be overwhelmed with. I love the picture of the little one at the beginning of the post. Just darling!
Sugarwings is just adorable. Looks like you have lots more fun ahead of you 🙂
I still think Miss Sugarwings is the pretties creation in your studio! The puppies are just adorable. I wish I’d had time to participate in this swap but it was bad timing for me to sign up. The tags are just beautiful. Have a great week!
Sugar wings is just adorable, she belongs on a fairy tale book cover!! I love your art journal, its so pretty I wouldn’t want to write on it if I had one, afraid I’ll ruin it =)
Pretty princess she is!
Love everything.
Hugs
Oh my – all that gorgeousness! The journal looks amazing!
Hope you-all enjoy your goodies!
you are surrounded in loveliness!
you had me at “homemade marshmallows!”
xo
What awesome memories you are creating! For both of you!!!
Hi Karla,
First I want to tell you how beautiful Sugar Wings is, which you already know. I can see she is taking to crafting after her grandmother. I love your blog and the puppies are so cute. Are you going to keep all of them? Jan
Wow. That’s a lot of tags! Congrats on your on-line boutique. I peeked around and it looks great!
Karla, thanks so much for all the work. It is so generous of you. 6 tags is almost nothing in comparison with what you are doing. thank you, thank you, thank you…and it is wonderful to see how much fun Sugarwings had as you opened the packages.
~Marilee
Oh my goodness! Every day must be a good mail day at your house Karla! SO many pretty things. Sugarwings is such a cutie, and everytime I see her on your blog I think of all of the wonderful memories you 2 are making daily! What a special bond.
xo
Awww, Sugarwings is beginning to look a teeny bit older and it makes me reflect on how fast time truly does fly by. Enjoy all the chocolate and puppy love and grandbaby goodness. You really know how to live Karla. Love to you!
Your grandbaby is sooo adorable! And I love the tag books, still kicking myself for not joining that swap. I hope you are having a good start to your week.
Kathy
I love to make tags and really do heart all of yours…m.
Thanks for inviting us to your special day! The books look glorious — I can’t wait for mine to arrive!
You are doing yeoman’s work, Ms. Karla — I know everyone will love it as much as I will!
Well the best word in the whole blog was (is) … enjoy … glad to hear that you stopped to enjoy your work! The universe unfolds as it should. Creative hugs, Norma.
Hello!
I love coming to see you on your blog. What a beautiful grandbaby you have! Y’all live in such a beautiful and fun world in your home. So much stuff to do and play with.
Hope all is well today!
Peggy