Fancy Boots

I was so impressed by the amazing cowboy boots I saw at the recent Paper Cowgirl Altered Art Retreat that I dug into my backup files to find a photo of my altered cowboy boots.  These are Justins, size 7 1/2, and, alas, I now wear a size 8 or so.  I have hung on to them for years, thinking I'd give them to my daughter.  But she wears a size 8, too.They were my favorite dress boots, bought the year we went to the National Finals Rodeo when the show made its debut in Las Vegas.

So two years ago, I dug 'em out of my closet, got the fabric bits, trinkets and acrylic paints and set to work.  I painted plants and trees that represented the areas I have lived--Joshua Trees for California, Bald Cypress for Louisiana, red Hibiscus for Hawai'i, and Satsuma oranges (on the heels) for Louisiana.  I added glitter, embroidered longhorn embellishments, and two celluloid medallions from a vintage children's western holster set to finish the boots off.  Big ol' curtain tassels from Tuesday Morning add that romantic flair.

While these boots aren't made for walking, they sure look nice on an end table, and they remind me of rodeos in times past!

Mas Y Mas

 My Official PC Name Bade, all hand-made and sparkly with gorgeous gold glitter.

More and More, for sure!  Have I got Paper Cowgirl fun to share with ya'll?  Is Texas a big ol' state?  My name badge was in danger of getting bent to bits while pinned on my apron, so on Saturday, I pinned it to my cowboy hat, as you can see above.  I love the horseshoe theme!

I coordinated a "Faithful Horse" swap, providing a link to an awesome template from artist Ann Wood.  Because this was the last swap posted, we only had a total of six swappers, but I think lots of ladies wished they had joined us. The creativity with the template was astounding.  Once home, I displayed my herd on this ribbon board so ya'll could truly appreciate the artistic variety.  I used the map paper and cut my templates a little bit bigger.

 Detail of Quick Cutz embossing

One swapper sent her horse in a different direction and another used "Quick Cutz" Metal Embossing sheets for extra special detail.

One of Suzie Button's sweet ponies!

I participated in the Rodeo Queen Sash swap.  My swap partner was the wonderful Ms. Mendy, who added her signature bling-tastic touches to this white satin sash complete with shabby pink lettering and sparkly sequin edging.  It was a bit heavy to wear (the price of royalty!) so I had my son photograph me in it all my splendor, complete with tiara, upon my return home.

Here is a detail from the bottom of the sash:

Below is another horse from our "Faithful Horse Swap":

Hope you enjoyed these photos--I have more to show you!

We Lassoed Up a Good Time!

I made this banner in Mendy's "Digi Art" class, using my own background, postcard and cowgirl.  The pretty yellow rose was one of the awesome graphics in Mendy's class kit!

I'm home from the Paper Cowgirl Altered Art retreat, but have to cull my photos before I can do a full round-up of all the fun I had at the Paper Cowgirl event.  It was fantabulous, to coin a word!

You couldn't miss me in my bodaciously bright Paper Cowgirl uniform!

I met a whole passle of amazingly talented, generous, friendly women, and learned so many new techniques for my art.  I can't wait for next year!

The Waxahachie Courthouse is the "most-photographed" courthouse in Texas!

I did it all at Paper Cowgirl--I arrived mid-afternoon in beautiful  Waxahachie, TX, and spent some time photographing the famous courthouse and other downtown sites.

I had two awesome roommates--Ms. Jaci from Oklahoma and Sarah H. who is our own "Gypsy Mermaid."

I did my swaps at the Thursday Dove's Nest meet-n-greet.  I was in charge of the Faithful Horse swap.  We had six swappers and each pony was unique!

This still life shows just a FEW of the wonderful goodies in my Altered Art Tags class taught by Ms. Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered.  Lace, fresh herbs, chalk inks, burlap and hand-dyed ribbons.  What's not to like?

I attended four super classes on Friday and Saturday:  Blessing Tags; Altered Art Tags, Digi Art, and Pocket Books.

 Sarah (Gypsy Mermaid) and another Paper Cowgirl on the porch at the Catfish Plantation.  I don't think any ghosts came to visit during our dinner!  Our chatter and laughter probably scared the spirits! ;)

On Friday, I had dinner at the quirky Catfish Plantation and shopped downtown. I loved the at the superb vendor night on Saturday, where I spent most of the money I had set aside for the retreat.

But wait, there's more! I came home on I-35 East, and stopped at a favorite place--the Ross Antique Mall--then spent some time in Calvert photographing historic buildings.

I have so many photos to share and several projects from my classes to complete that it will take a few days to get the highlights organized. This is just to wet your whistle!

P.S.--I made a Bourré

I made a mistake when I was visiting Tarnished and Tattered, and signed up on Lisa's Soapbox Mr. Linky without thoroughly reading the directions.  I have notified Lisa and hope she'll remove my name from the list ASAP.

In Southeast Louisiana, this kind of thing is called a "bourré", which means a "mistake made due to over-enthusiasm or hurry."  It comes from the name of a Cajun card game called Bourré.  During the game, if a player makes a mistake--such as failure to follow suit, failure to trump or failure to beat the highest card in the trick when able--that is a bourré. The offending player must pay each other player a penalty fee that equals the size of the pot on the table.  You can lose some serious money!

Please forgive me if you came here expecting to see a beautifully decorated soapbox, but I hope you enjoyed your visit.  Sometimes detours are the best.

Swaps & a Summer Tea

We've been busy here at El Rancho Not So Grande.  On Monday, we had a Summer Solstice Tea, complete with homemade blueberry tea muffins, chocolate-covered strawberries, cucumber sandwiches and other dainties.

My daughter and one of her friends did the baking.

I did the set up and took photos.

Her guests dressed in Steampunk or Sweet Lolita Style.

While they were having fun, I continued with my swaps preparation for the Paper Cowgirl Altered Art Retreat.  Be warned, the following are spoiler pix of my swaps items!

With my daughter's help (she can sew--I can't!), I finished my Rodeo Queen Sash.  I hope my partner likes it.  I made a decorated hanger with a vintage hanger (someone else covered it in plaid material) so she can display her sash without damaging it.

I used scraps from other swaps and little mesh bags to make holders for my blossom swap items.

Here is one of my 21 ATCs.  If you look carefully on the bottom, you can see "Dallas."  I used a Texas road map for the background! 

I got a little carried away with my Faithful Horse swap pieces.  We have six swappers but I've got way more than six ponies.  They have lots of details, including embossed designs, flower extras and yarn reins!

Paper Cowgirl Swaps Progress

The craft table is cluttered here at El Rancho Not So Grande--I'm working on my swap items for the up-coming Paper Cowgirl Altered Art Retreat, which will take place in Waxahachie, Texas in two weeks.

I'm nearly done with my Rodeo Queen Sash.  I just need to corral my daughter, who is the sewing expert, to help me finish the edges on the sash's bottom end and sew down some trims.  My Sash Partner likes mermaids and sweet color schemes, which means I'm using a different color palette than my usual orange-browns and neutrals.  It's been a challenge, but it's fun, too.  I've re-made a vintage horse show ribbon (I have a huge stash) with a mermaid theme, including a string of "pearls" and have created several faux flowers to cluster around the ribbon, which will accent the bottom of the sash.  I just need to locate my felt letters so I can add a special word--I'm leaning toward "CREATE" or "ARTFUL".

I'm embossing designs on my herd of paper horses.  They have paper and silk flower details, and I plan to add eyelets so I can thread "reins" through their mouths.  My 16-year-old daughter thinks they are cool.

All my swap items need to be attractively packaged, so I'm playing with treatments on some cute pre-made paper cones I plan to use to hold one-yard bits of vintage trims for one of the swaps.  My flower blossoms will go into little mesh pouches, and I want to add a cute detail to those as well.  I found a nifty padded hanger to hold my Rodeo Queen Sash.

 The biggest outstanding task is the design for my ATC cards.  I plan to use old road maps for the background and I have created several cowgirl "buttons" in Photoshop to use in the design.  One is featured above as a gift to my readers!  You don't have to be a Paper Cowgirl to use this, just don't re-distribute it or sell it as your own artwork--I created it from scanned images in my personal collection.

 This is a sample of one of the buttons I have created to use on the tag I'll attach to my swap items so my partners will know who made them.  I love this cowgirl--she's the author of a book on barrel racing that was published in 1961 in Cypress, Texas.

My Paper Cowgirl pendant, made by Ms. Dale of SeaDreams Studio has arrived.  It is so cute!  And my Cafe-Press order with my official tee-shirt (featuring the same design as shown on the pendant arrived tonight.  All I need is a real horse!

Make Your Own Ribbon Lei

My husband’s job took our family to live on O’ahu, Hawai’i from 1998 through November 2001.  Local crafters create all sorts of handmade leis for gifts and for sale, using every substance imaginable, from the freshest island flowers (mmm!) to cut-up soda straws (a toddler’s first lei-stringing project) to ribbon, rick-rack, crochet thread and yarn.  One of my favorite lei materials is the ubiquitous “Spool ‘o’ Ribbon” brand by Offray, in 1/8- or ¼-inch double-face satin in a rainbow of colors.  These leis are plaited using what is sometimes called a “military braid”.

If you’re a Texas-based reader, you’ve seen the braid on Texas-style Homecoming corsages, generally made out of edged ½ or 1-inch streamer ribbon—finished strips sell for a couple of bucks at the florists around October.

The basic Ribbon Lei technique is very popular in Hawai’i and is a standard choice when making leis in school colors for graduation or other special occasions.  It is easy to do on the go as it doesn’t require anything beyond two rolls of ribbon in your choice of colors and dexterous fingers.  It’s a good airplane craft.
 

I rarely made my own leis when I lived in Hawai’i, as it was easier to buy them premade from my friends or pick them up at craft shows or at thrift stores, where second-hand fabric, seed and shell leis are almost always available. The rainbow-hued lei pictured in the photo below is a custom-made lei I purchased for Easter from a vendor at the Kam Swap Meet in Pearl City, HI in 1999.

Lately, though, I decided to teach myself the technique.  I found a wonderful tutorial on the Internet, published by the Star-Bulletin, Hawai’i’s second-largest newspaper.  You can find the link to the tutorial, which is an archived piece from 1998 here.  I recommended you copy the text and photos and save them because who knows how long the information will remain in archives.

I have made several leis in the past few weeks—a blue-and-white one for an Alice in Wonderland themed necklace, one in red-and-green as a sample for Band Parents (I’m going to offer them for sale in the fall) and one made with two different ribbon types to honor my dog, Taco.

Using a ribbon with a pattern on one side is tricky—you have to make an extra fold and be careful you don’t shift the plaiting direction as it will add a twist to the finished lei.  I plan to try more complicated patterns, including braiding three 1/8-inch wide leis and plaiting them together like the sample below.

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Photos by C. Bruhn