Summer Camp And A Paper Pendant Gift

Today was the first day of a weeklong workshop at the Chapel School Summer Camp in Bronxville, NY. And guess what we made (besides a sticky mess)?

Well, we actually made a few things, but the main thing we learned to make was a duct tape fabric. And the first thing we made with our fabric was a basic clutch bag. (I told the slightly horrified boys that it could be a pencil case rather than a girl's bag and they were fine with that. Whew!)

While I talked to the kids about changing the texture of duct tape by cutting fringes, I made a quick duct tape mustache and wore it to demonstrate my point. And suddenly the kids went mustache crazy.

At dismissal time I brought the kids down to the pick up line in front of the school, and almost every kid was wearing a mustache. I wish that I could have made a little video of the whole scene, with parents and other instructors laughing at my proud bunch of crafters. I think that tomorrow promises to be just as much fun as today.

When I got home, there was a little surprise waiting for me in the mailbox. My friend Ann Martin sent me a gift:

It's a paper pendant! Ann is an incredibly talented paper quill artist, blogger, and writer. Recently she published ALL THINGS PAPER, a collection of 20 unique paper projects from crafters and artists around the world. I am lucky to be among the crafters and artists in the book. I haven't had the proper time to blog about the book, but there is some down time next week in my schedule and I can finally attempt to make the fantastic paper flower I've had my eye on for weeks now.

A little story about how I met Ann: she started reading my blog at a time when I wasn't using it to write about crafting. I was going through a fairly tough time in my life and Ann followed my posts. Every now and then she would leave a comment, and soon we were exchanging emails about life, family, and crafting. She's supported me when the chips were down--way, way down--and I'll never forget her generosity. So it struck me as a bit odd when I opened her gift to me and her note said, "Thanks for everything."

Oh, Ann. It's you that deserves all of my thanks.

xxoxRichela

p.s. I LOVE my paper pendant!