Days 11 and 12

Today is the last day of our 12 Days of Christmas gift exchange! I'm sorry it's over as it's been such fun unwrapping and savoring each little handmade work of art each day. 

I did not post yesterday's gift as we were enroute to Chicago for Christmas.  But this is the beautiful mini 

art quilt I received from Virginia.  The backing is batting and the transferred image is mounted on several cotton fabrics.  Very sweet!

 

And today's (and final) gift is the darling little decorated box from Yooper from Florida.  Yooper was also the organizer of this event - thanks so much Yooper for a wonderful 12 days! 

Surprise - inside the little matchbox were the original matches!  Have you ever seen a prettier box of matches? Every square inch is decorated.

I will not be posting again until next week.  We are spending the holidays in Chicago with all our children and two sons-in-law.  I will leave you with this beautiful image from Magic Moonlight Free Images and wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

See you next week!

Day 10

Tre sent this lovely necklace for Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas online gift exchange.  It looks like a soldered slide, but it isn't! It's very lightweight and I'm wondering if it is an acrylic piece or maybe a thin, wooden domino?  I hope she will share how it was made.  This is the front - the tree is stamped and embossed and the background looks like alcohol ink. Very pretty! Thank you Tre!

Day 9

My assigned day was #9 so everyone in the group will open my gift today.  I made paper mache ornaments using embossed art metal from Ten Seconds Studio.

Here you can see all eleven ready to package and mail.

And here is a closeup of one.

These are very simple to make.  First you need to make a pattern of each section of the ornament (I laid lightweight copy paper over the ornament and pressed to find the edges of the section.  Then that was cut out and used as a template for cutting the metal pieces.)

Since the ornament is six-sided and I used both green and gold metal, each ornament needed three gold and three green pieces.  These were then embossed in the Cuttlebug, sanded and adhered to the ornament with tacky tape.  After all pieces were attached, I used a decorative metal wheel to finish the edges and tied a bow to the top.

I hope everyone will like these!

Day 8

This darling banner was the gift I opened today from Renee in CA.  It's so sweet and not humongous so it can be tucked into several small places.  I really love that font.

Tomorrow the group will open my gift and I will then be able to share it here.

Day 7

 Today's gift came from Joan in Washington.  It's a cute little booklet made to hold ATCs (artist trading cards).  The pockets inside are security envelopes!  What a clever book - so useful, too, for showing off some special ATCs.

I am amazed at how different each gift is and there isn't a duplicate in the bunch!

Days 5 and 6

Yesterday was Day 5 of the online Christmas gifties swap and I received this gorgeous necklace from Gloria H.  I love the different size chains, the beads and the metal pendant. Not sure how this was made but it is so pretty!

Jeri, our coordinator and list mom of the online group, was assigned to Day 6, but health issues and recent surgery prevented her from participating.  An unknown "angel" from the group stepped forward and fulfilled her gift commitment to each of us with this beautiful notepad and pen set.  The notepad opens like a gatefold card in the center to reveal the pad below. I love the addition of the tags to the front, hanging over the center.  And the pen is totally encrusted with tiny beads - so beautiful! Thank you to whoever you are!

We're now halfway through - only six more days!

Days 3 and 4

Two more days of swap gifts opened.  This package included seven handmade postcards using digitally altered photographs from Brenda, a fellow Texan.  These are gorgeous photographs and I love how she added appropriate sentiments!

Today's gift was yummy M&Ms presented in this beautiful painted box covered with little paper poinsettias and the cutest little cardinal. Can you see him perched on the top?  Thank you Dee - I LOVE it and the candy is already gone. Yum.

Day 2

Today's gift came from Barbara in Oregon.  The angel ornament was hidden inside the altered Altoid tin which had been torched by a welder to make it look really old and rusty! 

 Here's a closeup of the adorable angel. Can you believe it's made out of a wine cork?  There's glitter and gold leaf on it - a wonderful addition to my Christmas tree!

12 Days of Christmas Begins

Today is the start of a 12 Days of Christmas swap I joined on my online group (AAWA).  I am part of a group of 12 - we were each assigned a number between 1 and 12 to correspond with the day our gift is opened.  Mine was #9 so my gift will be opened on the ninth day (or Dec. 20 since we started on the 12th).  I can't reveal the gifts I made, but here they were a week ago, ready to go postal all over the country.

 And these are the gifts I received, ready to be opened a day at a time. Don't they look cute - it's hard to resist opening them all at once!

#1 gift was presented in such a darling way by Annette, a fellow Texan.  She altered this Altoid tin complete with a ribbon handle.

 And look what is nestled so sweetly inside - an absolutely adorable tiny "snowman in a bottle."  The cotton looks like snow and inside the little bottle are tiny white beads.

Precious!  Many thanks to Annette for Day 1!

Can't wait to open #2...

New Vintage Art class

Next week I will be teaching my latest specialty workshop at The Little Blue House called "Christmas Magic Trinket Tins." The class will be given at two different times: Wed. 6:30-9:30 pm and Fri. 10 am-1 pm.

Come join me in this technique-filled workshop and create this darling altered muffin tin wall-hanging. Each compartment is magically transformed into a tiny shadowbox filled with trinkets and artful treasures. Pictures don't do it justice so stop by The Little Blue House to see it in person! You can also call the store to sign up for class.  But hurry, there are limited seats available.

I hope to see you there!

Little Somethings Workshops

Our workshops this weekend were so successful! We had about 100 women attend one of the five 3-hr. sessions and we taught a total of nine (yes 9!) projects fifteen (yes 15!) times!  It was a blast and we will definitely be making this an annual holiday event at The Little Blue House.

Here are all Santa's helpers between sessions.  We were starting to get a bit tired. From left, me, Lolly, Elaine, Santa, Tracy, Kristyn and Rhonda.

Everyone made this gift bag first so all the other goodies could be carried from room to room as they worked.  Love that glittery paper, especially since it die cuts and embosses really well!

 In the "Rudolph Wrap it Up Room" everyone decorated this cute coffee break tin from Maya Road, a little monogramed notebook for all those holiday lists and a darling organza gift bag using PK Glitz glitter and Wonder Film die cuts.

In Santa's Workshop, cute little penguin treat holders were made - lots of punches were used for this little guy.  And these precious stockings hold a gift card.  We also made adorable little snowmen pins but somehow there isn't a photo of them...

In Mrs. Claus's Kitchen everyone made these great rustic cookie/popcorn/treats sacks from regular kraft lunch sacks.  The bread "belly bands" can be adjusted to fit any size loaf and are made simply with waxed paper, cardstock and pretty patterned paper circles.

 To top it off, Santa made an appearance and was quite the popular fellow as he was in charge of distributing the fabulous goodie bags filled with wonderful products from our many sponsors.  As I said, a good time was had by all!

I'm a Ginger Gem this week!

I just found out that I am one of 7 chosen from the submissions to a recent Gingersnap Creations blog challenge!  The challenge was "Haute Couture."  Read more about it here: http://gingersnapcreations.blogspot.com/2010/11/wrap-up-gc77-haute-couture.html

A photo of my project appears on a slide show on their side bar!  This was my first submission to a challenge - they made my day!!