What I've been up to

...is really more along the lines of frantically driving kids from place to place with a little crafty time in between.  I suspect this is my future for the next several months at least.  All good though as I have had the chance to make some cards. 

I'm going clean and simple this year in hopes that they might actually get SENT before Christmas.  ;)  I love the details on this stamp.  I only added little smidges of glitter on the pine (spruce?) needle tips.

For the next one I punched a circle on a Post It note to create to mask my moon (or sun?) and then dabbed some blue distress ink around the outside.  (In order to keep from having little square splotches I cut the foam irregularly before putting it on the blending tool.)  Bits of clear glitter accent the tree, snow flurry and ground.

I think I'm going to add these to the Less Is More Glamour & Glitz Challenge.  Here are a few better pics of my ornaments from the other day.  These are such a blast to make.

Is it beginning to look like Christmas where you're at?

No Black Friday for me

There is no way I would go anywhere near a store or mall yesterday.  I think I used up all of my shopping tendencies in my teens hanging out at the mall.  Yesterday I hid away in my studio inking, tearing, cutting, and gluing...lots of gluing.  Messy, messy, messy...

While I didn't work on what I planned to work on I did have fun whipping up some more ornaments

and since that was so much fun I decided to unscrew the switchplate and decorate that too!

Today I'll be at my son's hockey tournament all day so I hope that little burst of creativity will hold me for a day or so.  :) 

Blessed

 

I had a smidge of homesickness last night.  Most of my family is gathering at my sister's house in California for Thanksgiving this year.  We were unable to make the trip and for the first time ever in my 48 years I am spending my Thanksgiving without my sisters, parents, nieces or nephews.  I was busily working in the kitchen last night when this occured to me.  I miss the frenetic estrogen-filled atmosphere as vegies are cut, turkeys are basted, potatoes are peeled. 

I am looking forward to a quiet, relaxed day with my little family though and it makes me realize how very fortunate I am to have had all those years where there was the flurry of activity and a house full of laughter, family and friends - tables loaded with good food (my mom and sisters are all amazing cooks), full wine glasses, the works.  And I feel incredibly blessed to have a full fridge and my little helpers who will be busy with me today in the kitchen.

Life is good.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Tim-spiration - November Tag

(I borrowed "Tim-spiration" from May Flaum.  Love that title.)

I know.  I disappeared for a month but now I'm back with a vengeance.  :)

Last night I dabbled in inky deliciousness and completed my 12 Tags for 2012 November tag.  Sitting here pretty pleased with myself, I must say.  I was able to stick pretty closely to the techniques he used. 

 

A few layers for the background:  Stains (Broken China, Walnut, Peeled Paint), followed by some inking with distress inks and flicking water about, then a background stamp. 

Instead of using a dark ink around the distressed edges I used Broken China Stain.  I love the richness of the color along the edges.

My sentiment is quite small so I didn't have to mask off any bits.  I realized I don't have much in the way of bold prints for my sentiments.  Maybe something I should correct.  (Santa, an addition to the list.  Thanks!)

For the embellishments I dug around in my stash.  I didn't have paper string but I did find some paper wire that I've surely had in my stash for over 10 years - never used.  I obediently inked it up then wrapped it around a paintbrush handle to get some nice curlycues.  Punched out some little pine pieces (branches? needles?) from a Martha Stewart punch that has also been gathering dust for eons.  A little Glossy Accents really makes them look like they've been freshly plucked.  The little jingle bells are colored with some blue alcohol ink (which I've recently rediscovered) and the ribbon is dyed with Peeled Paint and Broken China inks.

I didn't iron the heat embossed trees - no craft-dedicated iron in the house.  Other than that I think I did okay. 

Here's Tim's tag.  Thank you again, Mr. Holtz, for the inspiration and the nudge to get the creative juices going again.

More Ornaments!

Oh, lookie!  I love these ornaments.  They're so simple, homey and rustic.  I have some old music books that have seen better days so I used their pages as the background for the torn scrap paper hearts.  The raffia bow and inked red ornament toppers are the perfect final touch.

I am so happy with the way these turned out.  I have been wanting to make these for a while and, thanks to rainy Seattle skies and a quiet morning at the homestead, I was able to finish them up.  I've added them to the shop here.

It's beginning to look {a little} like Christmas...

Pink Christmas

The other day I saw the prettiest light pink Christmas trees made from bottle scrubbers. I think it was the juxtaposition of the utilitarian, industrialish brush with the soft, glittery, girly pink that attracted me.  Generally I'm not much of a pink person, but they would be so unexpected and such a nice switch from the more traditional red and green of the season.  Those pretty trees were in my mind when I started making this ornament.

I started by repeatedly stamping a Christmas text stamp all over pink tissue paper (scavenged from one of my daughter's birthday gifts last June.  My beloved hates that I keep all that stuff, but now I can point to this project and say, "See? I really use it!").  I tore out the tissue paper into random strips and glued it onto a glass ornament.  I layered "Merry" and "Christmas" over white printer paper so it would stand out.  All the other pieces were also drawn/stamped on white printer paper (wanted thin paper so it would adhere nicely to the curved surface of the ornament) and a wee bit of Stickles added to Noelle's hat,  and then glued onto the ornament.  To finish it off I colored the top metal piece with some green alcohol ink.  I'm entering this in the SDC73: Hanging Decorations.


I'm going to dig up some mistletoe and go find my sweetie now...