Birdsong Classes and Tag Book Swap

There were four classes at Birdsong, two taught by Karla and one each by Beth Leintz and Lori Oles.  First up was Beth's decorated peat pot.  We were given a lovely little kit with vintage fabrics and trims with which to sew birds, flowers, hearts or whatever we wished. Beth also piled a table high with additional fabric and trim that we could use.  Next, we decorated a little peat pot and added our creations. It was a perfect way to start the weekend, hand sewing and chatting. I used blues, of course.  You can see more on the class on Beth's blog here.

Our Friday afternoon class was Karla's little fairy cage.  Some of us (including me!) had some difficulty getting the wires on this project to stay put. There was some groaning and a bit of drama, but Karla was patient and full of great tips and ultimately we ended up with darling little fairy cages. During the process I didn't think I would want to try this again, but the result was so worth it and I got so many good ideas for other options that I imagine I'll be making more.  If you'd like to try, Karla is offering the on-line class in her shop here.

Saturday's a.m. class was Lori Oles' lacy tag wreath.  Photos don't do this one justice.  It's so pretty, and the kits she provided were wonderful - filled with vintage ads and photos, lace, ribbon and sequins.  Like Beth and Karla, she provided a table full of additional goodies to choose from.  I had trouble making up my mind so will probably add a few things to a couple of my tags at some point. 

I first encountered Lori's blog prior to Silver Bella 2010, and sort of idolized her because I loved everything she made and she was one of the first mixed media artists I was aware of. At Birdsong I learned that she is not only talented, but so much fun and very sweet.

Saturday afternoon brought Karla's necklace class. She provided kits packed in cute vintage egg cartons, courtesy of Suzanne Wingfield. There were extra ribbons, bird drawings, beads and bits to choose from, too.  I was really pleased with my necklace, and with all the projects.

We were all a bit sad that the weekend was drawing to a close, so were pleased that we had to hang out a bit longer at Karla's waiting for the resin in our necklaces to dry!  For more photos of all the classes, check out Karla's blog post here.

There is so much about Birdsong that I haven't posted on - sponsor gifts, gifts from friends, vendor night shopping - so I may try to sneak things in here and there. I've enjoyed reading all the blog posts from the attendees. They kind of made returning to the real world a bit gentler.

For this post I'll close with sharing the tags I received in the tag book swap.  Stephanie Oyler hosted the swap, and each participant made and received seven tags.

Upper row:  Cover by Stephanie Oyler, Suzanne Wingfield, Hope Ellington, Mercedes Scott, tag by Stephanie Oyler.
Lower row:  Linda Postma, Lisa Phillipi, an extra tag given to me by Laurie Jackson, Tami Hacker

Love them all!  I showed some preview pics earlier, but here are a couple of the tags I made.

I hope you've enjoyed all the Birdsong posts.  NOW, on to other things.