The beginnings of a journal tutorial ~

I am so excited about the tutorial I'm working on now . . . you can see the beginnings of it in the photo below! It's a handmade, from scratch, nature journal ~ and the neat thing is, I'm learning too as I make it!

The nature journal that I finished a few weeks ago was created inside of the complete cover of a small music book. It was really wonderful to work with but the chances of finding another is slim to none. Soooo....I thought, why not construct one myself! And believe it or not, the method that I've used is not hard at all ~

I'm still shooting step-by-step photos of the embellishing process and hope to have it in my store, The Little Speckled Egg by tomorrow evening.

I just get the biggest thrill making things! What is that??!! The neat thing about these small journals (and I'm finding that I'm becoming more and more "green") is that they can be constructed out of simple things that are around your home.

Plus, they don't have to be "nature" journals, you could make one to take on a special vacation or trip. How about creating one to give to a sweet mom-to-be to jot down her thoughts while in the hospital having her baby and after she's met her sweet angel? It would be a treasured keepsake ~ Boy this is starting to sound like a serious sales pitch but I'm just excited about the possibilities!

A spare copy of the sheet music cover printed on thin muslin, hmmmm.....I've got to think of something neat to do with this ~ I love looking at it!! I've got it pinned to the back of the advent calendar so I can stare at it ~

On a totally different note, I've had this crazy idea and some of you may have already tried this. I've always loved this precious, chubby bluebird and I bought some molding compound at Michael's a few weeks ago. I would like to attempt to make a mold of this sweet baby and make some from plaster! Have any of you tried this? Should I use plaster of paris? Who knows, I may not be able to create a decent mold but I want to try!

Can't you see a chubby, cream colored, slightly antique-washed little bird??

Today it was absolutely GORGEOUS here in Georgia.....it's like you have to soak in each and every beautiful fall day before they all vanish ~

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday sweet friends!

xxoo, Dawn

Mail love and finallya peek at my giveaway goodies!

I wanted to show you the most precious gift I received in the mail Wednesday. Another Dawn from Georgia contacted me a few days ago and wanted to send a gift that she had made! Can you believe how beautiful this little bib for our grandbabe??? Dawn, I just LOVE it and know it will look precious on Brent and Emily's sweet baby ~

I created a special art piece just for the 600th Post Giveaway.

~ Please click HERE to enter to win if you haven't entered yet ~

An old mayonnaise jar houses the sweetest photograph of a vintage baby sitting in his own nest with two speckled eggs and surrounded by feathers!! It has a special tag with speckled eggs tied on the cotton ribbon and the most beautiful quote from Emily Dickinson on the top.

Also, I'll draw another name for the Cherish thought book that I made recently and another name will be drawn for the lavender sachet. I'm also working on a bookmark to give away too!!

I know this little bluebird is a bit fuzzy (above) but he's on one little notecard that I have and I think he's just adorable. Feel free to take him home with you ~ A sweet reader Juno worked on the baby in Photoshop and emailed me a better version (below), thanks so much Juno!!

Thank you all again for such kind words on the contest post. I blog because I love my friends here, I'm inspired here and continue to meet the most amazing people.

Wishing you a very happy Thursday dear friends,

xxoo, Dawn