Good Grief Girdie's blog

happy monday.........

Look at these fun new fabrics I found while in Washington last week..........love all the colors and designs.....most of them are the new Tula Pink from her Curiouser and Curiouser line! So I am already putting them to use in a new little project I started a while back.....I will have photos to share sometime soon when I can....but for now here are a few little peeks of this project....

So this is what I did most of the weekend besides watch the girls College Softball games and the Yankees games( they lost to Boston last night.....booooooo) 

 

 

 

Even went to my sweet great nieces baby shower and got to visit with my sister in law that will become a great grandma and my niece who is the mom to be's mom who will become a grandma  for the first time............ it's always fun to see my nieces and nephews  become Grandparents . I married into this family when they were small little people....so excited to have a little one ( and a lot more little ones) around when we all get together on the Peter's side of the family.....it's been fun watching these kids grown up into adults and starting their families......Congratulations to Allie and Cooper

Mr. Clark Allen will arrive sometime in the middle of July.......thank you Allie for inviting me to your shower and good luck!

 

I think that is all for today.......excited for class this coming friday and ready to announce some more soon....working on the samples and getting some dates....

 

Have a great day and make something creative today........

happy saturday........

I am so excited for the All Day Red White and Blue class this coming friday........we will be making this house out of old pieces of quilts, fabric, ribbon, lace, buttons, even a little shrink, and any add ons  we can find to complete this patriotic house........this will hopefully be a relaxing day of slow stitching and creating with great friends around the table talking , eating and enjoying some time together...it has been way to long since I have had an all day class and I am so ready and I hope the girls are too.....

 

.I have always loved getting out my patriotic stuff and  don't put out a much as I use to but still love what it represents to each of us ..........

I drag these spools out every summer and they are a little faded but I still love them.........I am missing a few but this is it.......we made so many of these in classes over the years at the Paper Crown ..........different sizes, shapes, for holidays with all kinds of decorations on top!  I still love these.......... 

can you see the little wormy looking things on the concrete that fall from our Pecan trees........now you know why allergies are high right now, plus they are a big fat mess and this is mild,  we had all the trees cut back this year after that really horrific storm we had......usually you can't even see the concrete, thats no joke!!!!!

any hoo hope you all are enjoying this first weekend of June and soaking up some sunshine......I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!!!

today is thank you.........

Thank You doesn't seem enough or the right wordage but THANK YOU  Terri from the bottom of my heart....... for someone like me who doesn't do a lot of traveling and teaching outside my little world it was so much fun and more than I had expected....Terri is the hostess of all time........everything went as smooth as can be. She made me feel so comfortable and at home in her beautiful home and studio......  I loved every minute I was in Chehalis Washington.  A first for me to be in the state of Washington. THANK YOU

And Terri's husband Frank is as kind hearted and sweet as Terri ( remember he went early one morning and got those delicious DEVIL DOGS) but really he reminds me a lot of my husband....cars and motors run through their veins and they love keeping things clean and organized!!!!!  Thanks Frank for your hospitality and sharing your home .

 

My Uber , Karen was someone who I still can't believe she did what she did............how many people do you know that will sit in traffic and pick up a stranger at a super busy airport and then drive 1 1/2 hours to deliver her and then turn around the day I leave to come home and leave  at 4:30 in the morning to take her back to the airport, not many!  That really says a lot about my new friend Karen!  Thank You Thank You Thank You.......

And Joy, what can I say.........she was a constant delight to be around and felt like I had known her all my life.  She brings joy to everyone and everything she does and makes you laugh no matter what she says.  Thank You for taking me to town to check out the wonderful quilt store!  She is one talented gal...........Thank You!

 

And for all of you who attended the retreat , Thank You so much for making me feel so comfortable........you all came in the first day and were ready to work and create something that hopefully you will treasure .  I will remember you all and the fun memories of the weekend spent in the Terri Brush studio........ Thank You and blessings to all......

 

I think now I am kind of caught up on my sleep and hopefully getting back to creating some new things.......happy weekend!

a little bit more.........

On the last day of retreat Terri's class was this bracelet........you first started out with the main piece and pounded the copper to the shape you wanted.......add whatever saying etc. you chose  you then soldered it on and you had the main piece of the starting of your bracelet........I will have to confess that I did do the main piece but Terri was sweet finish the bracelet and wrap and finish the beads for me.......I am not a very good wire wrapper so I was thrilled she did it for me.....that is why it looks so good!

here are a few I did get to snap photos of.......

that sort of wraps up what all we made ........everyones books and jewelry were absolutely wonderful.........I always hope as a teacher they went away not only with some new found techniques but with something they are proud of ............ to me that is what teaching is all about.

Here are a few more random photos I took........

Terri asked me to bring a few of my things to sell so I did.......

Terri sold some of her jewelry and goodies for you to make your own jewelry..........

Below is where she does most of her soldering and I loved sitting there with all of the supplies right there and the worktable is incredible........I felt like the Queen of solder.....ha ha

 

Terri's Grand Dog  "Diesel"....... he really lives most of the time with her but Lacy Terri's daughter came to pick him up for the weekend.......he was a little skiddish at first with all of these people around but a really sweet dog and was no problem at all........Terri lost her other dog a while back and she said this one has really missed him.......

Now let me tell you about this sweet gal............Terri wanted me to fly into Seattle because it's a non stop from OKC to Seattle, no problem ........ I knew Terri had her hands full getting ready for the Retreat and at first I was going to rent a car and drive but then she said no I will pick you up, not knowing then what I know how hectic with traffic etc......and if you have ever been to a big airport like Seattle you know what I mean......anyway the day before I left Terri text me and said a gal that was coming to retreat was going to pick me up and you will really like her.....as soon as I landed I text her and she said I am driving this kind of car and the color.......she found me and all was good......I got in and we started talking and it felt like I had known her all my life....Her name is Karen and she is one of the sweetest gals.....for her to sit in that traffic , pick up a stranger, drive an hour and half with someone you have never met means a lot , in fact we were talking so much she missed the exit to Terri's house.......well anyway I can't thank her enough for being so kind and making me feel so comfortable.....I call her my Uber and she is a good one.........not only did she pick me up, she took me back to fly home and we left at 4:30 AM so that tells you what kind of a person she is........then she had to drive further north because she lives on the Washington/Canada border......Thank You Thank You sweet Karen........and she is really talented too.........

Now meet my other new friend...........Joy......and she is a joy to be around....I don't think she has ever had a bad day .......she is sunshine all around.....funny doesn't even describe this woman.......anything that comes out is funny and witty.......we laughed and laughed and laughed a lot.........not only is she funny but she was the CHEF in charge.......she has many talents and does a little of everything but her job was to cook for all these ladies.......she does travel with Terri and does the cooking and baking......one of these days I want a piece of her delicious cakes she bakes.  She is a master gardener too......check out all these flowers she grows and shares........most of the flowers around Terris studio and house were from her garden........

two peas in a pod...........

 

The first night I got there Terri had the most delicious dinner waiting for us.. Grilled Salmon.....one of my most favorite meals.....Terri is a fantastic cook and you know how woman always exchange recipes  when we are together so I came home with some new ones........the second evening she had Coconut Shrimp/ Grilled Asparagus ...........she doesn't do anything half way..the second evening one of their dear friends who wasn't able to attend the Retreat came over to visit and eat dinner , her name is Donna.....funny funny funny......well she was going on and on about the girls boxes that had the doodle name tag on and said she wanted to learn how to doodle so we got out my pens and started to doodle........look at them go ( below).....while we were all sitting there Terri pulled out some of her markers and before the night was over they had all ordered a set from AMAZON and did an amazing job doodling.......

here is a few more random photos

I am so sorry I did not get close ups of everyone and their books........these two went to town at night working on their books in the hotel......good job Rita and Kelly!!!

Look at all these happy faces.......thank you to each one of you who attended Terri's Retreat. I enjoyed getting to know each of you a little bit and hopefully one of these days we can all get together again and create some more art.......you made me feel so comfortable and made me feel so at ease.........if you are ever in Oklahoma stop by and see me ........take care all of my new creative friends.........and keep on creating and hopefully you are all shrinking away..ha ha ha!!!!! And if you ever have any questions please email me: at [email protected] plus you have Terri and my business cards.....

 

Have a great day today...............

day two soldering book and tintype photos............

Day two Terri taught this sweet book ........... first you start out with just a piece of copper and you turn it into a soldering piece of art ...........she also taught us how to turn a photo into an old looking tintype.........to say the least it was so much fun and very addicting.........they are so tiny and fun because you can tuck them inside the book with all of the little  pockets and tuck spots.......this is my cover to my little book and the back cover, here are  a few pages that I kinda did a little in class but continued to fill it up yesterday afternoon and couldn't stop....

The tintypes were a little tricky at first because you have to transfer them first  let them dry and then wet them to start the process of peeling the layer of paper off...PATIENCE was needed for this particular step......I screwed up 3 of them and started over........oh well you get the hang of it because they are suppose to look old and scratched up ......so so much fun to see how each one of them turned out.......then to make the book cover you have another piece of copper and start to town with the soldering.......you blob on the solder and while it is hot you then press a stamp into the hot melted solder and it makes the impression.......so many steps are taken to achieve  the end result but look at how it transforms from a slick piece of metal to these little treasures.....

here are a few of the other gals books.......

Sorry I didn't get more photos but they all turned out so beautiful and each girl had their own touches that were added........I would say it was a really successful day at the Terri Brush studio..

 

One morning Terri's sweet husband went to the donut shop to get these unbelievable DEVIL DOGS......that is what they call them and let me just say because I am the donut crazy lady they were incredible.........oh my word.........the night before they were telling me about these things and I thought can they really be that good.........oh yeah they are........DEVIL DOGS FOR THE WIN!!!!

Really.........nothing any better than a donut........Thank You Frank for this sweet little morsels of heaven....... and just another one of those addictions......good thing I don't live up there............and I think they said that there was only one place who had them........if you are ever in the area and want something heavenly stop by and get one or maybe two.....

 

One of the days we had a birthday girl..........so I told Terri ahead of time that I would love to bake some pies while I was there and so instead of a birthday cake we had birthday pie....

Happy Birthday Lisa.........

 

Classroom fun with all these smiling faces............

who wouldn't want to work in this room..........

I think that is all for today......come back tomorrow for more......

 

happy Wednesday all........... make something creative today...........

what can I say.................

I am so thankful for someone like Terri Brush.......she is one of the sweetest, kindest, genuine, talented, generous people I know..........and incredible hostess.........I met Terri of course at the Paper Crown Oklahoma City years ago but have known who she is.........not knowing that one day she would invite me to come and teach a class at one of her Retreats........REALLY! I felt so honored that she contacted me this winter to see if I would be interested in teaching a class at the end of May at her first Retreat since last years pandemic ............I am so glad I accepted and the rest........well check out these photos and you can see.........

For one thing her studio is an absolute dream for anyone who likes to create.........if you need something  Terri has it...I promise or she will get it! Nothing is left out and anyone who has ever taken one of her classes will tell you that.......Every student not only gets all that is needed for the project you will be working on but the container that holds all of your supplies is unbelievable. This white metal box is and emergency first aid box....then she has a sweet bottle of fresh berries, and her famous aprons for every retreat........

When we first started talking about the retreat I asked her what she wanted me to teach.......everyone knows she is a jewelry artist and I am not....... so didn't quite know what I was going to do...when she told me she wanted me to teach SHRINK art I though hmmmmmmmmm.......she had an idea to combine shrink with paper/journals and that is exactly what they did......I came up with a sample to show her and when she was teaching another art retreat at the Whatever House in Kansas last month my dear friend Nan and I drove up for the day to show her the sample...... then got home started to make kits and get things sent ahead of time to insure they were in Chehalis in plenty of time. They arrived safely and the only thing left to do when I got there was to tie the bows onto their black box kits and they were all ready.

Since the class was all about Shrink Art I tried to do a little something everyday to have on their workspace when they came to class to show them how many ways you can use shrink.....the first day.........Terri had those sweet bottles with berries and we ( Joy and Karen) tied these Paper Doll Picks onto the bottles and hanging from each girl was a Terri Brush logo out of the shrink......( and hopefully my instructions on how to transfer a logo onto shrink was easy enough to understand......you know me I am not the best communicator )

The photo below is Joy and Karen.........I will have have a blog post just about these two this week...........fun and funny to say the least! The helpers extraordinaire..........the head chef and my personnel UBER driver............

 

On the second day when they came in was a paper doll and clipped to her hand was a free form heart  cut out of the new printed shrink........I also clipped a piece of Godiva Chocolate to each one but did not take a photo ......the photo below though is everything put together on one of the gals workspace........the pink stripe paper doll in the middle.......the last day was the large clothes pin with shrink that I drew with a pin from a coloring book and glued on the front of the clothes pin and clipped out business cards.....and of course their name tags that I had on the first day ........I always love a name tag to get to know them plus I just love making them.........anyway it was fun trying to come up with ways to use the shrink plastic.....some of then finished up early on the last day and had some extra time so I showed them how they can make buttons to add onto any projects.......and last but not least their books they made.......I didn't get a photo of all the books up close but I do have a few that I did get........

 

Here is the Class Journal sample .................

these are a few of the students journals..........

Look at these smiling faces with their books......don't you wish that all photos you take have this beautiful background setting.........

At the end of the first day I hope they all enjoyed this fun way to create some old fashion Shrinky Dink fun......they did an amazing job and hopefully they can keep adding to their journals.....

 

I have a lot more photos but for today I need to go unpack .............. just wanted you all who attended the Retreat how much I loved getting to know all new creative souls and to be in the beautiful state of Washington and of course in Terri Brush's gorgeous studio......THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU...........

 

check back tomorrow for some more and day two.....have a great day!!!!