Artist Books and Other Cool Stuff!

How many times have you wanted really bad to make something, but it seemed like you had already "Done it all"??? I find myself feeling that way pretty often...and when I do, I hit the Googler Machine, and start looking for something different...I go to the google search and put in what i DO have in stock, and then do a search and see what projects come up... I have found many a wonderful project to work on by doing this practice, and it takes the guesswork out of trying to come up with something on your own! Try it sometime!! Besides..one good project can spawn many other side projects that you never even thought about..,give it a try and let me know how it works out for you!

"Laura's Uniques" - etsy shop news:

I am pleased to tell you that I got some awesome things in my etsy shop the last few days...come by "laura's uniques" and you will be able to see all of the new goodies listed, along with several things that haven't been listed yet...Here is a sampling of what is new in the shop:

angel skin coral, red coral and turquoise

red and yellow faceted stones, prong set

silver chain bib necklace with beautiful stones-like new

pink ice pendant on yellow gold chain - exc. condition

Faux pearl and rhinestone pendant - signed on reverse

silver tone lisner clip earrings

sterling silver and deep blue color stone ring

awesome silver tone bracelet, lightweight

beautiful, vintage bracelet, faux pearls, gold chains, starfish clasp

Okay! i hope you have seen something you might want to check out....hope to see you soon!

Friendship Books or FB's

I have a new obsession...Friendship Books or otherwise known as "fb's"! If you haven't discovered these, they are a small book, made out of basically whatever you have on hand, with a few pages of blank paper stapled in, your address and info on the inside front cover, and then you mail them off to someone for them to put their info on the next page, then mail to someone else. Got it??  This way, you can either end up with Pen pals, or at least see all of the interesting places your book went before it was mailed back to you! Anyone who wants to send their fb to me can send it to :
Laura Thykeson
2924 Oak Court
Granbury, Texas  76048
This one is one I made with a front decorative panel made from watercolor paper and paint, of daisies.

I made this book 4 x 6", out of bright orange cardstock and glued the painted panel on, then put a weight on it to make it dry flat. I also stapled about 5 or 6 pages inside for people to put their info. I also put my address label, email addy and blog address, so they could be sure to contact me somehow. Some people would be funny about putting so much info out there in the world, but You can find ANYONE these days if you really want to, anyway, so what is the difference? Anyway, I don't like to dwell on bad things anyway...

If you decide to make up some of these little books, you can also find people to mail them to by doing searches on Google, etc., for people that want to be in on the "fb" swapping that goes on! There is a whole group of people who do this, and the "fb's" can get really decorated beautifully! Then they are called "deco's"! So, make some out of old mail, recycled file folders, recycle some food boxed, etc! You can do all kinds of things with the paper items that you throw in the trash every day, and keep them out of the landfills! Enjoy this idea and let me know your ideas in the "comments section".

Soon, I hope to be able to do a review of the Strathmore Visual Journal with the watercolor paper! If I can get my hands on one, I will be sure to let you know, and give it an honest review so you will know whether to try it for journaling, etc. or not. Stay tuned for that one!