Laura's 60th Birthday Book

And now it is Laura's turn!!! I've been making special birthday books as each of my friends in this particular group turns 60. In Feb, Laura will be 60. It's only November, but I needed to get some projects finished early because of other commitments I have coming up. The hardest part about doing these books is selecting the pictures and getting an idea of how to organize them. Maybe it was a good thing that so many of us turned 60 within a year of each other because once I got on a roll with these books it seemed to get easier.





I really like the saying on the stamp I used for this first page. I've used it several times now and think it is very appropriate here also.
I had a great time making this book for Laura.




This book is a great keepsake for Laura. It contains only a few of the pictures that tell our story. I didn't always remember to bring my camera along, but I'm glad someone did. I collected pictures from our group of friends and scanned them.. knowing that someday they would come in handy. They sure have been 'handy' as I've been creating these birthday books as each of our group turns 60.






In our early years we'd travel to the WI State Bowling tournaments. We didn't really care that much about the bowling part... we just had a good time.
And then we were able to organize a weekend to Door County during the Pumpkin Patch festival. We'd like to do that again, but it is really difficult to coordinate.


One thing is for sure... our group knew how to have fun!!!
Many years ago we spent the weekend at a local hotel that had a pool... those are the pictures on the left page.
And then there were special birthday celebrations... like Susie's surprise party and the tailgate birthday party - I think that was for Cara and Kathy.


These 2 pages have pictures from several of the birthday celebrations for Laura. The most recent is on the far left when the Milwaukee groups took a limo up to Green Bay to surprise Laura.. and was she ever surprised!!!






Years ago we had a few Halloween parties and luckily I had a couple of pictures of Laura in her costume.
And there were always special events. The 2 pictures on the right are from my wedding. Laura is wearing one of the table centerpieces on her head!!






Our summer get together has been spent at our house on the lake for quite a while now... I don't know how many years?? We've been very fortunate that the weather has been good most of the time. We have a great time. And for this event we even invite husbands/boyfriends and kids.







As with a few of the other birthday books I've been making... the pictures from our annual "cookie bake" need to be included. Not all of us made it to each year's event, but that's the way it is. Years ago we had actually made Christmas cookies at Cara's house and that is why it is called the "cookie bake", but we haven't made any cookies in years. Usually the day is spent visiting various craft fairs and then either going out to eat or eating delicious food at Cara's house.


The End??? No, it's just the beginning of more fun and adventure for this group of friends. I hope Laura enjoys her book. But, she'll have to wait.. it is not even December as I'm posting these images and her birthday is 2 months away!

Happy Birthday Maggi!

I found this box a few years ago.. I think at Michael's. I thought it would be fun to alter and I had the perfect person in mind... Maggi loves birds!!! Her birthday is later this week and I am seeing her tonight at our monthly shoebox meeting so I think it is safe to post this without her seeing this on my blog before I give it to her.
This is a look at the outside of the box; it looks like a book, but it isn't. I am going to transform it into a great birthday gift for Maggi. Here goes....



This is a look at the inside of the box before I started. Lucky for me I had a good idea of what I planned for the box before I started the project. I had all the 'stuff' I wanted to embellish it with and once I started it took very little time to finish the project. Good thing, too.... I had lots of other projects on my 'to do' list.



I started by attaching paper to the inside of the box. In the cover I attached a piece of decorative scrapbook paper that I've had for a couple of years (well, maybe even longer). It seemed a perfect piece of paper as it is a poem by Burns... and Maggi is into literature.
On the right side I attached 2 pieces of the water color paper that I worked on during our Creative Art Camp. The water color paper was sprayed with glimmer mist and the pieces I chose matched well with the scrapbook paper on the left side.

And here is the finished project! I set the box on an easel and opened the front cover.
The flourish in the upper right corner (behind the bird), the wings on the bird cage, and the word 'fly' are all grungeboard or chipboard pieces that I painted and then glued down. The birdcage is cut out of gold card stock using a Tim Holtz die (one that Maggi gave me!). You can't see it in this shot, but there is a small decorative button that I attached to the top of the birdcage.
I used a glue gun when attaching the nest, the eggs, and the bird. The nest and bird stick out from the inside and the box cannot fully close, but I didn't think Maggi would display it closed... after all, the good stuff is on the inside. Happy Birthday Maggi!!!