village friday ... gift tags

i participated in
dacia's
gift tag swap.
we had to make 10 gift tags.
these are
what i came up with:

this is what
the back of the tags
look like:


i finished the tags
behind schedule,
as all
my art projects
are nowadays
because i am
doing field research
in the forest
all day.
field work
really takes
all the energy
out of you...
but then
you have
those little
moments
of pure joy
(at least for
a bug girl).
like today
when i found
a beautiful
giant silkworm moth
caterpillar
mulling around
a hickory tree.

this caterpillar
is as big
as my finger-
huge!
if you look closely
you can see that
the poor guy
has little white
egg-shaped
pupae
on the hard brown
part of his head.
those are
parasitoids
and will eventually
kill this poor little
creature.
i can't help
being sad
even though
i also find it
fascinating
(it's what i study)...
but on
a happier note
there was another one
on the tree
that didn't have
parasitoid pupae.
so he/she
will survive.

i rushed back
from the field
to try
to catch
the world cup
game at noon
(i just missed it).
so i headed off
to value village
to try to get some
thrift shopping in
before
the next game
(grad school
is tough work).
i was bad and
didn't wait for astrid
(who was at the
bar still bathing
in the afterglow
of germany's win
and drinking).
i headed
to the village
with 2 village newbies,
my friends
joan and julie.

don't fret astrid
it was only
a so-so
village day.

here are my finds for friday:

1. vintage bingo game

i am on the hunt
for cool vintage papers
so i decided to look
in the games section.
the bingo cards
are dated 1941!!!
it's a shame
to cut them up
so i may just
gocco them.
it even comes
with a cool metal cage
and wooden balls
with the numbers.
so cool!

2. vintage 60s board game

dated 1969.
this has neat
wooden
squares
with arrows
on them.
i may try
to play it
before i use
the squares
in collages.
who knows,
it may be to fun!

3. vintage kid's book

old library book.
falling apart.
plan to use in
a collage.

4. wooden giraffe

not sure what
to do with this
but it would be
great for
an older child...
it had numbers
on one side
and letters
on another.
i love wooden toys
but do kids love them?
they just like things
that make noise-
or so i have heard.

5. french cards

i use to have
a set of these.
they will also
end up in collages
and paper swaps.
i vow not
to give away
or use a card
unless i memorize
the vocabulary word.
my french vocabulary
is so out of practice!

6. vanity fair slip

i already tried this on.
it doesn't fit-
too big.
it's a silky nightie
from the 60s.
any takers?

sorry astrid
for abandoning you.
but you needed
to rest up
for your big
bike race saturday.

this weekend...
more collages
and maybe
a finished softie?!
i am searching
for a pal
with
a washing machine
so i can felt
all my purses.
you can't use the ones
in the laundry room
because you
have to keep
setting back
the wash dial
until it is felted
enough
(it's preferable
not to have it
spin or go through
the rinse cycle).
i don't have
my own
washer.
*sigh*
another
good thing
about
the world cup
is
that i get
a lot
of knitting done.
i am
not capable
of watching
television
without doing
something else.
all those years of
radio-listening.
i feel like
just sitting and
watching tv
is such a waste of
valuable craft time.

have a
good weekend!
xo