Read Online Bound For Murder by Laura Childs - Free Book Online Page A

with purple and copper paint.”
    “Wow,” said Baby’s daughter, Dawn. “You made them look like antiqued screens or something. Now what? You glue them on?”
    Carmela nodded. “And once those three painted squares are attached, I’ll glue on a gold aspen leaf, a small gold bee charm, and a small sprig of faux fruit. In this case, frosted purple pears.”
    “It sure won’t resemble an Altoid tin once you’re finished,” said Tandy. “It really will be a jewel of a box.
    “Complete with four crystal beads at each corner for legs,” said Carmela. “But don’t just copy what I’ve done, really let your imagination soar. Think about using mosaic tiles or embossing powder. Or even creating a tortoiseshell look.”
    “Love it,” declared Tandy. She had completed more than a dozen scrapbooks and was adept at all the various tricks and tools available to scrappers and crafters.
    Carmela hung around the back table for another fifteen minutes or so, offering words of encouragement and giving a few small creative hints. Then she made her way to the front of the store where Gabby was packing up, getting everything ready for tomorrow’s Scrap Fest.
    “How’s it going?” asked Carmela. Actually, she could pretty much see how it was going. Gabby had assembled several large cardboard boxes and was sifting through store merchandise, determining what should be brought along so it could be displayed in their booth tomorrow.
    “Do we want to take these stencils?” asked Gabby, holding some up.
    “The new ones, yes,” said Carmela, gazing about her shop, wishing they could take along the metal racks that were filled with all their wonderful new papers.
    “How about this rack of charms and tags?” she asked.
    “Ditto,” said Carmela.
    “And the scissors,” murmured Gabby.
    “Gotta have those,” agreed Carmela.
    Gabby turned toward Carmela with a wry grin on her face. “Why don’t we just transport the entire store!”
    “Great idea,” said Carmela. “Beam me up, Scotty!”
     
     
    AN HOUR LATER THE WOMEN AT THE BACK TABLE had made remarkable progress with their bibelot boxes. Tandy had covered her box with paisley paper, added a layer of gold mesh, then decorated the whole thing with squiggles of copper wire that had stations of pearlized gold and copper beads. Baby had painted her old Camembert cheese box to resemble Chinese red lacquer, then added a Chinese coin charm, gold tassel, and a tiny matching red tag stamped in gold with Chinese characters. Byrle and the other two girls were all going with romantic themes, incorporating bits of hand-colored photos trimmed to resemble stamps and emblems, mesh ribbon, embossed paper, silk flowers, and dragonfly charms.
    “Wow, is that ever cute,” said Gabby, looking at Byrle’s bibelot box. “Very mauve.”
    “I’m making mauve my signature color this season,” joked Byrle.
    “You look like you’re all done in,” said Wren, glancing up at Gabby, who was still buzzing about the shop. Wren had been content to huddle at the craft table, watching and enjoying as the women created their personal bibelot boxes.
    “I’m kind of brain dead,” admitted Gabby. “It’s tough trying to figure out the merchandise mix. What to take, what to leave behind.”
    “But you figured it out,” interjected Carmela. “That’s what counts.”
    “All I have to do now is tape the boxes closed,” replied Gabby. “And therein lies my problem. We have roll after roll of masking tape, invisible tape, and double-stick tape, but, alas, no strapping tape.”
    “I’ll run out and grab some,” volunteered Carmela. “When the messenger service arrives to pick this stuff up, we want our boxes to be secure.”
    “Okay,” said Gabby, content to stay and mind the store.
    But as Carmela slipped out the front door, ready to head off toward Bultman’s Drug Store, where she was pretty sure she’d find a good supply of packing materials, she encountered what seemed like an