Goodies In The Mail & Paper Clay Starfish

Sometimes you meet someone & become BLOG BUDDIES! Linda of Itsy Bits & Pieces & I have been just such since the time I began my blog. She & I have visited each others posts & left each other many comments. The day I brought HUBBY home from the hospital after his open heart surgery I was getting some much needed down time cruising blogs while he slept & I had a sweet comment from Linda wishing us well & he a speedy recovery. I went to visit & return a thank you. While visiting I saw that she had some sweet French Flash Cards in her shop. Linda LOVES to hit garage sales, flea markets & resale shops & often has some great finds. When I commented on the Flash Cards she responded "let me send you some as a GIFT to cheer you while you are house bound for his recovery".

Well, the box arrived & in it she also enclosed this darling book.

The Flash Cards. some old BINGO cards, a vintage post card, a box filled with a card of beautiful Mother of Pearl Buttons (HOW did you know that is my favorite sweet friend?), a vintage earring & the cutest colloid cupid. I staged these items on a burlap bag from Les Sirenes Art Event & next to the sweet flower my friend Christine gave me at the event.

Aren't the cards amazing/ Mer "The Sea" And don't you love the cupid? In the photo above & below you can see him front & back. I can't wait to put him in a Valentine project. THANK YOU LINDA!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!! Your kindness & generosity blows me away.

And the next shower of generosity & sweetness is from none other than my sweet friend & teacher (from Les Sirenes) Julie Haymaker Thompson. You can see us pictured together Hamming It Up after she taught our class. We made the most adorable Star Fish Headbands out of Paper Clay in her class(I'm wearing mine in the photo but, it's hard to see). I had never worked in paper clay & didn't really think I cared a thing about it. But, oh was I wrong!!!! Julie brought so many supplies & showed us how to put things together to create an adorable HIGH END finished piece. Look below for some examples.

Here is Julie's class sample.

And another one (similar to mine since I used the aqua color instead of the pink).

Here is another example that did not go on a headband. The starfish was painted & covered in GOLD Glitter for this look.

Aren't each & everyone of them beautiful & unique?

Well, I was having a little difficulty finding a SMALL STARFISH to make my own mold. I emailed Julie & ask her if she would sell me the starfish she had used to make the mold & she sent me a sweet email saying "she was OVER the starfish" & would be happy to send me her mold that she used to create all 50 she made for class (I can see how she could be "OVER" them can't you?). The mailman left a sweet little round box with this note to enjoy creating & the mold for my starfish.

The mold made with Fimo Clay. One thing that Julie stressed OVER & OVER in her class was for all of us to SHARE!!!!!!!!!! She stressed the importance of sharing your talent, information, sources, & ideas with other artists. She said if we would all adopt this theory the world of art would be an even more amazing place. She offered to share where she bought her supplies for the class, she shared techniques, she shared herself & her soul. WHAT AN AMAZING,GENEROUS, SWEET SOUL SHE IS!!!!! THANK YOU JULIE FOR THE MOLD BUT, MOST OF ALL FOR THE GIFT OF YOUR FRIENDSHIP! I can't wait to take another class with you & to spend more time visiting like we did that Sunday in old town Orange, CA(over coffee at Starbucks).

I hope you will visit both of these generous gals! And tell them you heard about them from Charlene. I also need to say Thank YOU to many of you who continue to send Get Well Wishes & Support for Hubby & I. He is doing VERY WELL!!!!!!!! It is amazing how they can "Mend a BROKEN HEART"(not in the love but, actually the heart doesn't work right any more kind of broken) Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. I can't believe that summer has come & gone. I WISH THE HEAT WOULD GO!!!!!!!!!!!