Boxes Continue

Waaaaaay back in 2014 I took Misty Mawn's Full Circle class

and fell in love with the Exploding Box!

(Edited on Feb 5 2016.... just so you know.... you can google exploding box and see lots of tutorials and options. They've been around a long time!)

I've made a few and some I've sent to the QB5 Group on their birthdays in 2015.

This box was mailed to Carole in New Zealand.

The thing is that you can mail these flat ...

which is a big deal really! 

 I added some fabric to Carole's since she's the quilter in our group........ our group is "kind of defunct" but we still email and talk on the phone and message each other!

The box below was mailed to Nathalie.......... they all have some bits collaged in them that would remind us all of one another..... from prior swaps, etc.

Now we move on to Patty's box...

They all had an old public library card from the great stash Nathalie once had and shared!

....... Patty has a "thing" for swans.

If I mixed up any of the pictures....... hopefully they will forgive me.

If you want to see Margaret's box...... click HERE!

If you want to see MY box....... it's right HERE!

I have to tell you these boxes are a bit time consuming and I started the last three at the same time.

Didn't want to post pictures of these last three until they all had their birthdays! It gave me time with two of them having late November and an early December birthday! 

Happy New Year!!!

An Exploding Box for Margaret!

 I made a little exploding box for Margaret.....

like here....

These are SO fun to do!

 It has a friendship theme, with ties to bees and to her much loved Asian papers...

And these boxes travel so well.

I just packed it open like in the above photo.

Then before I saw her, I folded it up and put it in a gift bag!

So they would mail easily!

You really should make one and then show me!

My Swiss Connection

So last week I was in Switzerland........ mostly Zurich.....

and the main reason I went there was to meet my great online friend, Margaret!!!!

She no longer keeps her blog Alice and Camilla,

but I'm sure you remember her.

And she's in my QB5 group!!!

We exchanged some goodies...........

and this is the journal she made me.......

it's sooooooooo perfect........ and I will use it for my travel journal...

Great pages....... 

some clear pockets with other goodies in them....... 

it's just so, so perfect!

I'll show you what I made her next post!

QB5 Zine is Home

 This is a zine round robin swap we've worked on all of 2012! 

 We each started a zine on a topic we enjoy and passed it on to the others to work in...

They all arrived home this past week...

Mine was "Grandma's Photos".

(more here when I first sent it out)

Below is some of Carole's work...

she wrote a war time story with a photo attached...

She's an accomplished writer...

 Below is a spread done by Margaret....

beautiful colors and a Swiss touch... which I adore...

 Patty did the spread below...
.which also speaks to cloning mishaps.....

We do have a sense of humor in these swaps.....

 Negatives as a great edge to a page.....

 Another spread by Patty...........  love the fan deck of negatives..

and the bag on the left with a great

negative of someone that appears to be in a hospital bed.

 ... and it has this great metal Kodak clip ---

 and I'm quite sure this page is Patty's, too.....

possible QB5ERS in a prior lifetime....

 This is Nathalie's gorgeous page....

old negative strips woven into a great page with lace, ribbon, snaps and a photo of mother & child.....

 Here are some of the black and white pictures that came back......

 we traded photos...

 The zine standing

 

The front of my zine..

which I did

before I mailed it.

That's a huge accomplishment for me!

This cover image is of my mother's family.

My mother is the pretty one in the white blouse on her knees...

2nd row....

She was in her early teens.

She scratched out her brother-in-law from the photo

as he caused the death of her father not long after

that picture was taken....

Grandma's photos tell lots of stories...

QB5 Flags Received

 I have received two flags in our swap....

Above is the flag from Margaret.

It's soooo very lovely....

She and Patty are the Queens of layering.

I learn so much from them.

I love how Margaret used a rubber stamp on the background...

so I did that on the rest of the ones I made...

The pictures do not do justice to any of our flags...

nor do they capture the color.... maybe one of the other Bee's will (QB is Queen Bees)...

Below is Patty's flag she made for me:

You realize that it's fabric that has been gelatin monoprinted.

And I love how she wove the ribbons through the trim at the bottom!

Margaret... on her's..... had fabric (or dyed some?) to match the flag and made a piece to edge the bottom.

These all have 3 inch casings at the top and I'm going to string them across the window in my art room!

Have you made prayer/blessing flags?

Have you done gelatin monoprinting?

Zines, zines, zines!

 The Zine Round Robin continues in the QB5 group (links on side bar)...

This is Carole's Memories From My Childhood zine...

She and Nathalie have worked in it... and now me....  two more to go...

I struggled with it and ended up doing a kind of scrapbook of celebrities of my childhood...

 I was VERY into Annette, Sandra Dee, etc..... a child of the 50's...

We hope to have these zines back to their homes by the end of this year.....

I can't wait to see what they've done in my "Grandma's Photos" zine!

Zines Again!

Remember months ago I told you here and here about some zines that the QB5 group is working on?

 (We hope to be finished with these before Christmas

as we have another swap that I think is due around then!!!)

I finally came up with what I wanted to do in Patty's zine!

Her zine is entitled Medieval Thymes....

I was SO inspired and SO excited!

I did my pages on medieval embroidery!

I made a little booklet

with info about medieval

embroidery!

You can't believe how much there is online on that subject!

And I drew off a little pattern (top photo)...

and embroidered a medieval flower...

using some gold thread like in medieval times...

I wanted to stitch as if I were poor.... but

all the samples of such did not last due to the

quality of materials and so only the pieces

done for the wealthy with superior fabrics and thread survived.

I love embroidery...

and what a history it has!

Zines again....

 I told you here that the QB5 group I'm in is making zines and passing them around for each of us to work in.
 I have Nathalie's right now and it's entitled Collections.
It is such a beautiful zine!
Nathalie does such incredible work with recycled materials especially....
I love it and you must go over and look at her zine on her blog.

So what collections do *I* have!!?  Well.......... too many to talk about in her zine!

I'm sure that's true of all of you reading this. 

Just walking through my house I see a few.

 But I had to narrow it down so there would be room for the others to share their collections....

 I settled on one page talking briefly, very briefly, about my collection of Hummel Wannabee** Accordion Players! I bet you've never known anyone that collected those!!!  I have A LOT of them!!!

 A slight nod to my buttons.

And then a two page spread about my collection of vintage black & white photos.

That was easy...... too easy ..... and most of my photos are of relatives or friends of my relatives.

When people in the family die..... I often get the old pictures that absolutely no one else wants!

So what do you collect?

Anyone got a Hummel Wannabee Accordion Player they want to sell me?

** Note on Monday the 25th... those are Hummel Wannabees (they are NOT real Hummels)
They are Hummel knock-offs made in Japan and Occupied Japan!

...oh just realized I left off my bird salt & pepper shakers photo...
oh well... I wouldn't want you to think I have a lot of stuff in my house...

QB5 Christmas!

Remember the shakers from last post that I made for the QB5 December swap?

Well.... this is what I got in return.... such a talented group of women sent me the following:

First is Patty's soft felt ornament.... love the little bird and the way she applied the "feathers"!

 And

she used her hand dyed ribbons...

 has sweet crochet and netting.

  And she attached one of her wire bird's nests! A treasure for sure...

Then we have Carole's

darling Santa snowman...

she sold them at fairs this month in New Zealand...

not sure if she still has any in her Etsy shop...

His hat can be lifted up and I could see me hiding something in there!

Here is Nathalie's precious pin cushion in a china doll appendage!

I love appendages.....

 she has some in her Etsy shop....

 or did... you'll have to check...

these are adorable and I want to figure out a way to wear it.

...and Margaret

....  she sent a packet of goodies (as they all did)....

and this adorable matchbox...

she has some of the best images and just being in Switzerland makes it all so much more special

 ... all that snow and Heidi...

well, you know!

My packages arrive here...... thought you'd like to see my lights...

Merry Christmas!

(come back tomorrow to see the Christmas fascinators I made for a party last night!)