Craft Barn's alpha letter O meets AJJ heading back to school

Today we are stopping off at the Craft Barn to see their latest alpha letter, which is O.  Thankfully there are no twists, because I needed to be able to find a word that would fit nicely with Art Journal Journey's Back to School theme.

A couple of weeks ago, when my friend Kathy was here, I told her about my Back to School theme.  And of course, I didn't mention anything other than I needed ideas and maybe I'd buy some scrapbook papers or napkins to fit that specific theme while we were shopping.  I knew it was safe to tell her, because her circle of internet friends are far different from mine.   In fact, all her internet friends are on Facebook and Pinterest, two places I never visit. 

I mention all this because she got out her phone with its fantastic and fast wifi and showed me tons and tons and tons and tons (get the picture?) of owls on Pinterest.  

For some reason, her idea of back to school involved owls!

There were entire categories of owls for learning, for being bookish, for reading, and even for decorating everything from a book cover to a wall hanging to an entire classroom.  Teachers use owls because they are apparently easy to draw.  So what, I asked, is this fascination with owls and education?  

From what I can learn via the internet, in many cultures, owls are associated with wisdom.  Some cultures also attribute owls to knowledge, some even believing that same knowledge is sacred, while other cultures see it as clairvoyance.

With that in mind, I couldn't believe my eyes when a couple of days later, 

I received a letter from Kathy with owl assemblies that she apparently put together from punches put out by Stampin' Up.  I laughed because they are really not my style, but decided to keep them in case I needed a "different" kind of post toward the end of the month.  Now I'm glad I saved them and glad my friend sent these "cute" owls.

So I proudly give you my bookcase filled with bookish owls.  I admit I got a bit busy with my stamped background.  I also used green cardstock for the book shelves and books cut from a magazine for the owls to stand on.  Originally, each owl was to have its own stand, but I ran out of real estate before I ran out of cute owls.  I also confess that at least one of the stamps was slightly harmed in the making of this entry.


One thing that really surprised me was how many different owl types and designs of owls there are, especially when I found this coloring page on the internet.   WHOOOO knew?

For the previous Craft Barn challenge,  I visited everyone again.  It's a reciprocity thing!  I'll be checking out all the latest entries, too.  Won't you?  Seems owls are popular for the O word, just as they are for the classroom.

And since I'm hosting the Back to School theme at Art Journal Journey this month, I invite you to join us there, too.