Leanne Shawler, Artist

So the end result of my personal birthday spending resulted in a tithe of $42.29. Yeah, I can't believe I spent that much on myself either and I'm reassuring myself that it was over 25 days and big-ticket items were discussed... (Tithe is 10% for those who don't know.) $11 has already gone to Washington DC homeless. Which leaves $31.29. Which I have sent to the Central Asia Institute. What-the-what? You have heard of the book "Three Cups of Tea"? The institute is the non-profit that makes literacy and education, especially for girls, in the remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan possible. I'm reading Greg Mortenson's sequel: "Stones into Schools" and it is by turns funny, horrifying and inspiring. I find it amazing that one man can make such a change in such a remote part of the world. It becomes very clear in "Stones into Schools" that it isn't just one person. It's not just Greg Mortenson. It's dedicated men and women...

The Smithsonian's Arthur Sackler Gallery had the most amazing room set up as a Tibetan Shrine. I found this image on the "ReadyDC" site and shows more than the postcard I picked up: Source: Sackler Gallery (according to the ReadyDC site) Click on it for the full size because it is truly gorgeous -- and this is just one wall of three walls packed similarly. The walls were lined with thangkus, paintings that could be rolled up like a scroll and transported which Tibetan monks apparently did a lot of. On the wall to the left, which you can't see in the photo, they had rows of Gaus, which are box-shrines basically. I pored over the catalog (weighed a ton and cost a lot so I didn't buy it), stood and just soaked this in ... they were playing chants in the background, lovely and meditative. And I thought, I could do this ... [if we just ignore the whole appropriating culture stuff. I see this as being inspired by the artwork] Not an entire room, perhaps (or maybe?!) b...

I had a fabulous week in Washington, D.C. which was basically the last part of my 25 Days of Birthday. So what were my D.C. birthday treats? Dinner @ TenPenh on Pennsylvania Ave (with some to-die-for Aussie dessert wine. Heaven!), Library of Congress, "The Sacred Made Real" exhibit at the National Museum of Art (about Spanish religious painting and sculpture in the 17th century), antiquing in Alexandria and Georgetown, the Tibet Shrine at the Sackler Gallery, sleeping in! I've yet to tally receipts and work out my tithe, more on that soon. I'm thinking that the charity should be for Haiti relief. So, my antiquing haul... A china plate, old sheet music, doilies, glass salt and pepper shakers, a really old photograph, a sari scarf in gold and cream (that's going to soften the white of my new IKEA shelf) and a salt/pepper/condiment set. I'm going to clean these up: one of them needs a soak in hot water, and the insides are corroded, but I'm hoping the holes a...

It's not just the last cuff I'm showing you, but it is also the last cuff I made. This was for Cristina of Sweet Pea Ink . We shared in the Madonna Montage swap from Silver Bella last year. It's a wired yellow sheer ribbon with little flowers printed on it, tulle over the top again (I think), edged in vintagey and blue lace, a few faux pearls, a pearl button and one of the tea dyed flowers. I have plans to make my own cuff to complete the set, as it were, but I haven't even started on it. First, I have to make curtains for my craft room so I'm ready for Where Bloggers Create II.

Am I allowed to have a favorite? Actually, it's just about impossible to pick one, but this would be close! This is Sandy's cuff of Sew Revived : I also met Sandy at Silver Bella -- we shared Kaari Meng's Vintage Rosary class, where there was a lot of looping going on. Sandy's theme for her Young Victoria book was love letters ... so I had a swatch of fabric (which came from the Silver Bella goodie bag) that had text on it, put a layer of tulle over it, added a bit of edging to give it some color, faux pearls everywhere, pearl buttons, and a corner cut from one of Nanna's hankies that I tea-dyed. (That's my great-grandma for those not keeping up.) Yep, I can apparently cut her hankies up with abandon, but not her doilies. Go figure.

Pam 's was one of the first pages I got to do for the Young Victoria swap.... Sue told me she loved red.... This is the first cuff I made too ... so there's a little bit of trial and error going on here, hopefully concealed by the linen back I sewed on! I took a patterned ribbon for the base, some old lace, gold rick-rack and gold tulle as trim, and then some gathered lace pulled into a circle with some gold rosebuds in the center. The gold button has a crown on it but I forgot to take a closeup of that.

The next cuff is for Rita, who doesn't have a blog, alas, but we shared a couple of classes at last year's Silver Bella. She loves doilies so I cut one up, added some green velvet underneath, added some trim picked up from that fantastic place in San Francisco whose name just escapes me right now... and a pretty button... And as you can see in the closeup, I stitched on some bird charms (another of her favorite things) and a few faux pearls and a trim of lace at the bottom...

This one was for Sue of My Mother's Pearls who was my Silver Bella Sis last year. (It was the first Silver Bella for both of us.) Hence the Silver Bella crown in the middle. I made her bracelet cuff to look like (a little) the page I made for her in our Young Victoria swap. So there's blue seam binding under the sheer decorative lace (that has some glimmer to it), some cute trim I found, triplets of faux pearls, a glass button, and another of those tea-dyed flowers. Did I mention that these are all handsewn. I've given up on machine sewing ... I found it very restful. Another one tomorrow!

I thought I would do a week of posts about the items I mailed out last week, as part of my birthday treat to other folks. They were also thank yous to the gals who joined me in the Young Victoria Altered Book Collective. This is the first one that was received :) Robin of Once Upon a Pink Moon , who is a fellow SoCal Bella. We first met for the pre-Silver Bella gathering last year and had fun going through a Goodwill and then visiting Gilding the Lily before heading off to the party. Anyway, she loves Marie Antoinette, so I went for that effect as a choker... It's a black and white ribbon, overlaid with lace, with gathered tulle behind it, vintage faux pearls sewn onto it, and a tea-dyed flower for the center. A ribbon in one of her favorite colors to tie it on. Another gifty tomorrow!

Really, after this, she ought to come out to Silver Bella, shouldn't she? I think she'd fit right in! There was this cute box with a note that said: "bits and bobs" Tatted lace, purple buttons, some flower-thingy that's actually double-sided (what is that, Ma?)... White butterfly ribbon and gorgeous sari trim... A little pink doily and buttons from Africa... And the "Happy New Year" postcard above... In the card she sent me were two needlebooks that she thinks belonged to Aunty Madge's mother or sister... The girl and the cats "pop out"... a to-die-for Pashmina scarf that is double-sided and just gorgeous...... and this iridescent cross. Now wouldn't you say I'm an exceptionally lucky girl?

What Mum sent me for my birthday (and that I opened early!) is so amazing, I'm doing two posts on it. Check tomorrow some time for part two! I knew Mum had been doing the 39 squares and she told me she'd done a few of the square samplers, but I was not in the least expecting this: It needs to be pressed and framed (I'm thinking some ornate frame painted white!) with protective glass... but isn't it just the most amazing thing? Am I a lucky daughter or what? Some closeups: The wisteria across the top according to the note Mum sent along with this is: "wisteria growing over your front (not your personal front :) " I'll note that the stitched wisteria has more blooms than we got this year. The rose button is from Africa. (There a story there, Ma?) A cup of tea, of course, with a teapot button. The lace is from one of grandma's hankies. The bit of doily is from one of my great-grandma's doilies. I can't believe she cut it up -- I've been th...

I won another giveaway ! I can't wait to receive it. Thanks, Carol! I'm thrilled to bits about this one... Something tells me that my 25 Days of Birthday are going to last a wee while longer. And yes, I need to catch you up on a bunch of stuff, but I've been a busy working girl. So stay tuned...

So I have a voice mail from Mum saying her Mother's Day present arrived, so unless she's faking me out, I can now post what I made and sent to her, along with Miss Lynn's little box of treasures. I made this as part of the Artist Class Garden Party. The workshop was by tarnished and tattered . The photo is of my Grandma and Mum. I also used a tea-dyed hanky that my great-grandma crocheted the edges of. One of the reasons I've really enjoyed getting involved in this artistic community, starting with Silver Bella, is that my Mum and I can enjoy it together, even though we're on opposite sides of the Pacific: we exchange blogs, we have created embroidery samplers to go along with Amy's 39 Squares (mine's in progress and is meant to cover the entire year. Mum's done two so far.) And I love it, because it makes me feel so much closer to my Mum. Miss Lynn of Create...Breathe... made this beautiful box as part of a swap, and then she made an extra one for Hait...

Before I catch you all up, I won a giveaway! An owl apron from Karen at Elderberry Road (follow the link for better pictures than I'm about to show you). Yeah, so the macro function on the camera didn't work so hot on the above picture but I wanted to show the cute detailing on the pocket. Oh and I believe I forgot to share that my hubby (who was a waiter at Saturday's tea) came home with a care package of stuff. A bud vase with a white rose and baby's breath, and a sampling of sandwiches and the dangerously brandy-soaked tiramisu. Yum. The treat assigned for Sunday was to bake healthy muffins (and muffins that are yummy!) ... but after a morning at church and an afternoon doing church work (which turned out fabulously), I took one look at the little note and went: naahhh... So I hereby declare that the owl apron is my birthday treat -- only, my plan in entering the giveaway was to pass it along to Mum -- so here you are, Mum! Surprise! Monday, I chose to go to Ocean...

Yesterday: A cup of tea, reading the daily devotion from "Women of Grace" and going through the "Great Courses" catalog for a) great courses I can afford and b) pictures to use in my art journal. Just sitting and watching the lit candle (I can't remember the flavor -- its a New England tradition to hand them out at the end of the year) and, um, leaping up when it spilled onto my new tablecloth.... Yorkshire Blend tea, all the way from the UK. The taste of real tea... The tea service was a gift from my grandmother ... ain't it pretty? And yes, my sugar picker-upper-thingys (still not well, still not queen) are tarnished. I guess a polish of my silver is in order.... but not today.

I still have a cold, and its at the brain-deadedness point, so I apologize in advance for any muddle-headedness. Today, my birthday treat was to go the church's High Tea. I love afternoon teas, the dressing up (I had my outfit all picked out), the fine china, fancy tablecloths, the little nibblies, etc. But I am too sick to go. I could go, but the idea of being "on" when all I want to do is slump mindlessly in front of Facebook games, well, that won't be fun for anyone, including me. And I have a very busy Sunday ahead of me. But I am alternating Facebook with spraying Glimmer Mist on my 25 Birthdays Journal, and maybe I can get that done and get caught up on the first four days. And maybe I'll make myself a nice cup of tea, in a nice tea cup. Yeah, I think I'll do that. *cheers up* Oh, in other news, I think I've figured out the macro function on the camera.... One of the points of this blog was to learn how to improve my photography. Well, I was actual...

I don't know about you, but I kind of balked at spending more in shipping than what I'm paying for the actual item. So I just skipped ahead to today, Day 2, and Day 1 will just have to slot itself in somewhere or double up somewhere else. So yesterday I signed up for Green Paper's Vintage Gluebook class . I've been admiring her gluebook pages for a while, so I just held off from signing up until my 25 Days began. Actually beginning the class will occur later in my 25 Days. So, okay, Day One didn't quite turn out as planned, but I spent some creative time with Glimmer Mist and did Day 2 stuff and put together most of a spread for the Nostalgic Musings class. Which I guess means that Day 2 will become Day 3 and ... hmm, this could get confusing :) Oh, there's a giveaway (one of many) going on: Vintage Wallpaper Giveaway! I don't have much of that stuff, and so tend to hoard it, but hey, share the possibilities right? Back to 25 Days of Birthday. From the 25 ...

25 days of what? you might ask. 25 Days of Birthday -- and it starts today. My inspiration for this came from Miss Gracie's owner (as soon as I track down that blog, I'll add a link--it's kind of funny that as usual, I can remember the pet's name) and from a co-worker. Miss Gracie's human had a whole month of birthday, and my co-worker had nine days... Well, nine days wasn't enough and a month seemed a bit long, plus, I had this blank Advent calendar which is perfect. (the calendar's not quite done, it needs a little more bling) So the plan is to have a little treat for me each day: it might be something big, or it might be something as simple as walking to the park, or taking a long hot bath, or making time for a creative project I've wanted to get done. (Or finish decorating the calendar) I've also decided that 10% of whatever amount I spend on myself will go to a charity. (Maybe this will help alleviate the guilt of having the privilege of being a...