My happiest moment of the day. . .

If any of you have read, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, you know what a great and inspirational writer she is. I recently watched her on the Oprah show. One of things she had to say that touched and inspired me, was about keeping a journal of your "happiest moment of the day". Every day at the end of the day you write down what your happiest moment was, and it can be the simplest thing.

Today for me, was being able to contribute to an entrepreneur on www.kiva.org. The site helps entrepreneurs in developing countries secure micro-loans. Anyone can contribute. It was the first contribution from the "fobbie fund". Even though it was small, I look forward to being able to contribute on a regular basis.

The entrepreneur we're helping is Soliev Solijon from Khujand, Tajikistan.

Beautiful Beaded Pin on a Fobbie

My friend Amy Clarke Moore is an incredible bead artist. She has the most amazing process of taking a picture and using it as a pattern and beading it. It's a spiral beading process and looks so much like picture it's hard to believe she can really do it. She sent me this picture of a heart pin she did as a gift for a friend. You can check out her website at: www.amyclarkemoore.com or visit her blog at: sixswansflying.blogspot.com to look at more of her great artwork.

The Fobbie in PieceWork Magazine

I had the good fortune to have the fobbie be included in the November/ December 2007 issue of PieceWork magazine, and they were nice enough to let me use the image they took.

In their "Findings" department, Mary Polityka Bush used picture frame fobbies with an embroidered handkerchief, a sachet, a doily and some crocheted lace she found in antique stores. I think they came out really nice. I guess I'll be scouring the antique stores a little more closely now to find my own "found" objects to use. For more information about PieceWork magazine, you can visit their website at: www.pieceworkmagazine.com

DIY Fobbie Using Fiber and Rubberstamp

My friend Barbara just gave me some beautiful do-it-yourself fobbies she did using Angelina fibers and some rubberstamps. These are her comments:

Working with Angelina Fibers and Fobbies is so easy and fast. Over the Labor Day weekend I had a whole day to myself and set up to enjoy the day and create my first Fobbies. I sponged stamped the Fobbies typically mixing a few colors to match the fibers I was going to use. First you take a rubber stamp and stamp in on a Brilliance ink pad (this is the ink recommended by the Angelina Fiber folks). Then you put the stamp with the ink side up. Take your Angelina Fiber and tear it gently a few times. At this point I was mixing colors and so you tear them together and get them to mix in with each other. Place that on the rubber stamp and then place cooking parchment paper over the fiber and stamp. Move a hot iron over it until you can kind of see the pattern through the parchment paper. It's very fast! Take of the paper and you will find the fibers have fused and the ink is dried. I then used my double sided tape to place the design on the Fobbie. The sky is the limit on design and it's so fast and easy. I made about 15 Fobbies while playing. I kept thinking of different combinations of color and designs. Now I have a bunch of Fobbies ready for any package I need. They tuck away nicely and don't get smashed like bows do. What I really love is that they can just keep being reused to whomever they are given to. Isn't recycling a beautiful thing? I also made some that went nicely with the frame Fobbies. I sponged stamped them as well to add some more color variation. Now I want to try out some holiday themed Fobbies that can wrap a package but then be turned into an ornament as well. I'd love to see what other folks come up with. Anyone else use Angelina Fibers? Liz, thanks for making such an addicting and fun item. I have gotten so many compliments on the Fobbies I have made.
Cheers everyone! Barbara Jean

Rubberstamp and Scrapbook Show

The rubberstamp and scrapbook shows in Loveland and Colorado Springs, Colorado were great fun! It was the first time the fobbie appeared in this venue. I loved watching everyone's wheels turning as they looked at all the examples of fobbie wrapped packages. I appreciated everyone's excitment and enthusiasm about the product. I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you and your experiences with wrapping with the fobbie as well as all the creative ways you'll decorate the do-it-yourself version.