Birthday Week - Armordresses and Bargains

Thanks to everyone for all of the nice birthday wishes.  I enjoyed reading all of the messages in the comments, on Facebook and in my email. 

It's been a busy week since my birthday and I have lots to catch up with here on the blog.  My sister and brother-in-law arrived on my birthday.  While my family was visiting we went to the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA.

This museum has an interesting assortment of collections.  Fruitlands was the site of the short-lived utopian community that Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott who wrote Little Women) and Charles Lane attempted in 1843.  The farmhouse has been preserved and there are several other buildings including a Shaker Office, Native American Collection, and an Art Museum with a large collection of Hudson River School Landscapes and 19th Century Vernacular Portraits.  You can read some earlier posts I have written about the museum by clicking HERE.  I wove the chair seat in the photo above at one of the hands-on exhibits in the Shaker building.

The Cafe at the museum serves delicious locally sourced food and we really enjoyed the "herbade" (we asked for the recipe and I've already tried it at home).

Lunch was served in this elaborate tent (also used for events like weddings).  The view is amazing.

The interior of the tent is elegant with shirred fabric and chandeliers.

It was a hazy day but we still had a nice view of the mountains in the distance.

One of the remarkable features at the museum is the outdoor sculptures.  As we approached the Fruitlands farmhouse I could see these dress shapes.

The dresses were made of metal and very cleverly designed.

It was interesting to see how the look of the drape of fabric was achieved with metal sheets.  The artist is Alicia Dwyer.

If you look closely at this dress you can see the vine that has started to grow out of the neckline.  I wonder how the dresses would look if the plants continued to take over.

These dresses are one of the entries in the Art in Nature sculpture competition - you can see some of the other entries HERE.

It was a hot day but we enjoyed our visit.  The climb back up the hill is eased by rides in the "Gator" (this photo was taken on another visit last fall).

I have some birthday money to spend...here are a few ideas...

Washi tape anyone?

While I was at Costco last week, I did my usual cruise of the aisles and found these sets of washi tape from Scotch.

There are fifteen rolls in the box and my store had two different assortments.

Here are the details and the great price - about $1.25 per roll.  These sorts of things tend to disappear quickly so if you are interested check your store ASAP.  I did buy some tape and the quality is very similar to the washi tape I bought in Japan-town when we were in San Francisco (for a much higher price).

Not sure what to do with Washi tape?   Monica Bradford has done two "scrapinars" on Washi tape and the replays are available to inspire and teach you.

You can find the first class HERE,

...and the second class HERE.   These classes each include an instructional video with lots of techniques and the follow up question and answer session from the live scrapinar.  You can watch the videos as often as you like when you purchase the class - the links do not expire.

The exhibit of holiday ribbons was already up in our store.  The colors and patterns are amazing.  I often take the wires out of the edges of these ribbons to use pieces of the ribbon on cards or other projects.

Best of all is the price - less than 15 cents a yard!

Looking for a Cameo?

I noticed that the Cameo is for sale at a great price on Amazon - at the lowest price that I have seen advertised for this great machine.  I don't know how long this deal will last - it could sell out quickly.

The only thing better than a good price is the chance to win a machine for FREE - and SVGcuts is giving away a bundle including a Cameo, the Designer Edition software and a gift card for files.  You can enter through Facebook HERE. 

Finally, there are some great sets of digital papers and embellishments included in One Buck Wednesday at Jessica Sprague this week.  Here is one example - just look at all you get for $1.00 - today only.

Lots to do today - I have projects piled high and need to take photos so I can share them here.  Have you been crafting much lately or are you busy with summer activities?

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