A quick Silver Bella Tour

I know, I know, this post is long coming. I had to work some long shifts immediately upon coming home, then Thanksgiving, then the dull drudgery of Christmas shopping (OK, the shopping was enjoyable ;). First off, you gotta love these adorable top hats made by Cari Kraft :
Most Bellas start their trip by getting a shopping fix at Second Chance Antiques:

I scored a hat for vendor night, an embroidered blue silk with purple velvet:

Always old friends to meet and new friends to make (here with Amy Powers, Heather Buhaj, and Kathi Pilar)

We don't go away hungry, the chef made these special for our last dinner together:

Swaps are a favorite part of the whole Bella event, isn't this bee crown the best?

Did I mention shopping?

And finally, bringing home our precious pieces to display for our families:

Thanks for peeking into my trip!

I've got the Joy!

My eldest daughter needed a gift for her second grade teacher, but changed her mind last minute. We came up with this quick gift idea. (being as banners are such a popular trend right now- she still had to explain to her teacher what it was!)

We used the lovely Jenni Bowlin Christmas Bingo cards for the backdrop, then covered them with vintage German Scraps, Christmas picks, cut digital collage images, dresden, tinsel and pom-pom garlands, a stamped image of a cardinal (insisted upon by sweet girl). JOY is made from Cricut's Storybook cartridge (yes, I use that one frequently!). All strung on bakers twine and tied up with seam bindings in red and hand-dyed cream!)
Closer ups of the individual letters- Hot glue gun works well for adding the picks, garlands, and dresdens. Otherwise Zip-dry is my personal glue choice for papers.