Even Nice Girls Have a Little Naughty in Them

Now that the holidays are over and the presents I received put in their places, I have a little time to play with the crafting toys that have found a home in my room.  I received a wax sealing kit, which I am still deciding if I should keep or not.  What can I do with it, looking with an eye toward my card making? 

  Meanwhile, I made this card today for those friends to whom I send New Year cards.  With December being so busy, I don't send a lot of Christmas cards, but I do send new year cards to them in January.  I used the Queen Kat Designs stamp called "Bodice".  Would you believe that I won this as a blog prize and it was one of my very first stamps from QKD?  And I couldn't imagine how I was going to use it!  Now I find myself using it time and again.
  Here, I have a little after-Christmas theme going on.  I can't remember where I heard the sentiment, but I knew it was the perfect sentiment to go with my Christmas present corset.  Inside, the card reads. "And what did you get for Christmas?"
  So, whether you have been nice or naughty, what did you get for the holidays??  If you are still looking for some good rubber, QKD has an end of year sale on stamps that ends, well, today!! No coupon needed, go get yours HERE before the sale expires!!

Another Year bites the Dust...

Wanda by Suzanne Urban

...and to celebrate the coming new year, I present to you Wanda, whose love of wine leads her to believe that pigs can, indeed, fly!  The Squigglefly digi image is from Suzanne Urban, and is one of my favorites.  I got the idea to use her when I received a Holiday card with coupon from Vera Bradley.  You know, once you go Vera, it's very hard to go back to any old purse! 
Anyway, the card they sent me had a beautiful pattern (as all Vera Bradley bags do) and I couldn't just throw it away now, could I?   So the pattern led me to New Year's wishes, and the theme led me to the image, and the rest is blogging history (at least in my little nanobyte on the net).
I wanted to go with minimal embellishments, so I added a gorgeous handmade flower, thanks to my crafting friend Shannon, and some faux pearls.  I colored the image with a combination of Copics and my new Spectrum Noir alcohol markers (I got a set of Reds and of Pinks for Christmas).  I added some shine with Stickles and Liquid Glass.
Squigglefly starts up a new round of challenges in January, and I have been blessed to have been "kept on" as a design team member.  Those designing with me are posted on the right, all talented crafters!  So stock up on your Squigglefly digi images (don't have any?  Freebies HERE) and get ready to challenge yourself for fun and prizes.

TIME for a New Year...

...and with a New Year comes new releases, new inspiration, new techniques to try, new cards to make--the list is endless!  Time to make your resolutions for a new crafting year.  Personally, I would like to make more time for myself, to craft, to create, to explore, to discover, to share.

Meanwhile, I do have a little time to get crafty with a new release from QKD.  It's a stamp from Jeanie Dickinson called Time Piece.
I thought it worked perfectly for my New Year's card.  Every year we get together for dinner and the evening with friends of ours--actually, I met my girlfriend in college, and our families have lived close by since. We've shared a lot of play dates with their son and my daughter.  Anyway, we usually start the evening off with a special dinner.  one year it was crab legs and lobster.  Another it was a turkey and a ham.  Another year we enjoyed finger foods and sweets all night long.
Back to my card, I used a leftover piece of patterned paper from My Mind's Eye Christmas Stack and used the stamp a couple times on the paper, as well as on white cardstock, which I then inked up, distressed and Stickled.  Some flowers and sequins embellish one clock, while a flourish hides behind another.  I used my jute lace on the bottom of the card, and let the little New Year's mouse scamper across it, on his way to climbing up the clock.
Simple, yet timely, don't you think?  And here's my resolution:
A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~Edgar Guest  (from thequotegarden.com)

Going Crazy, would like some company

This is the first Christmas that the stress is really getting to me.  Between family drama all because of a restraining order, working until today, free time shared with 4 year old granddaughter, feeling the loss of familiy members who have gone before me, presents unwrapped and only half the decorations up, and guests for Christmas dinner, I am trying to relax with Christmas music but the owrds are not making much sense (or making the wrong sense).  Has anyone heard of these songs, or is my mind rewiring the words?
 Do You Hear What I Hear?
 We Three Kings Disoriented Are
 I Think I'll be Home for Christmas
 Deck the Halls and Walls and House... and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and... Trees and.....
 Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
 Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
 You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why
 Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?
 Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,...

Just kidding, got these disturbed titles off FB. 
Here's hoping everyone has a relaxing holiday, filled with love and laughter, fun and family. 
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!

Robin in Ivy

Chicago weather is confusing enough for us humans, but when it confuses the animals, you know it's bad.  We have geese flying north in November and south in February, squirrels looking for handouts at your front door when they should be snuggled somewhere in our bare trees, and skunks that go traipsing about our back yard when they should be sound asleep.

So this little robin decided to brave the Windy City winter, and is seen resting amongst the ivy.  To celebrate the 23rd day of my 24 Days of Crafting Christmas The new QKD stamp set from Joanna Bromley is aptly called Robin in Ivy, and I love coloring this little guy over and over.  Today I set him against a blue sky twinkling with snowflakes, and gave him more color than is normally seen in the winter.  That's because I remember a poem/song from my childhood called "little Robin Red-breast" and wanted him to match the song lyrics.

To celebrate the 23rd day of my 24 Days of Crafting Christmas, I made this card to give to my mom Christmas morning.  She's the only one who keeps my love of crafting in mind when buying Christmas presents!  I gave her my wish list from QKD's  shoppe. 
I plan to ring out the old year by bringing new stamps into my craft room, and keep on crafting!  Ho-ho-ho!

Faux Bottle Cap Christmas Tree

I was at work this morning when a couple of Youth Group girls from the church I work at asked me for some craft ideas for a Christmas Party they were hosting at a Home for Seniors with Disabilities.  They had already planned the carols they were singing and an activity, but needed a craft or two that a nine or ten year old could handle (mental age of most of the residents).  Did I mention our youth group has garnered awards for their social justice and service programs?

Besides the Candy Cane Reindeer craft, I came up with ornaments made with these wonderful free digi's I got online.  They are circles with images and greetings inside, and two of them were Christmas themed.  I printed enough of them for each resident to color and glue onto paper doilies on which the girls had already attached ribbon hangers.  But when I was playing with the right size, I printed up a bunch of circles that were too small for their needs.

So being the miser that I am (although I prefer the terms "frugal" and "upcycler"), I thought what a great size to pop into bottle caps and make a Christmas tree.  Problem was, I hadn't been saving any bottle caps!  Then I thought, I don't necessarily need the bottle caps, let's see what they look like by themselves.

Hmm, pretty plain, if you ask me.  So I used some metallic glitter glue around each of the circle images and by golly, they look like bottle caps!  I dimensionally popped them onto my green cardstock tree frame, gave my tree a leg (or limb) to stand on and adhered it to this awesome patterned paper from Me & My Big Ideas paper stack.  I added some jute lace ribbon, which was recycled from packaging on a gift I received (thank you, Liz, for the chocolates and the ribbon).  Of course, every tree needs a star, but my brown rose with glittered leaves looks perfect perched on top.

Here's a close up of the two images I used.  I just wish I knew the designer so I could give credit where credit is due!  If you happen to know the artist who made or offered these, please speak up.  If I come across her work, I'll come back and ID the images.

Meanwhile, take a cocoa break and breathe deeply.  relax your shoulders, stretch your neck, and be in the moment, right now, and enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas.

Merry Crafting!

Day 19 - Christmas Tree Ornament

With my Christmas cards all postal, my creativity turns to tags and packages and ornaments for the tree.  I made an ornament lsat month using Crafter's Companion Christmas Tree stamp set and, believe it or not, empty toilet paper rolls.

This time I had an extra colored image left over from a wreath I had made using the Cute Companions stamp set called Christmas Magic.  So I made an ornament for my tree.  I decided to try my hand at one of those handmade flowers, the ones you make out of patterned paper and a gazillion folds!  Well, my Ultimate Crafter's Companion Tool made short work of scoring my paper (3"x6") at half inch intervals.  I did this to two pieces of leftover Christmas paper.  Then I adhered the fans into two semi-circles, and then adhered them  together, holding them in place with binder clips until the glue dried.

Next I inked the edges of my "fan flower" and adhered it to a paper doily.  Then I had to add some shine, so I Stickled the edges of both my flower and the doily.  Last two steps were to pop on the image, which had already been Copic-colored, Stickled and framed, and to attached some gold cord from which to hang my ornament.  (I also added a white ribbon with pearl embellishments to hide where the cord was tied to the ornament)

And now you see it proudly displayed on myChristmas tree!  I can't wait for hubby and the kids to "discover" the new ornament!  BTW, have you been over to the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog?  This month their challenge is to "make it shine", whether it be cards, layouts or altered art.  Just use a CC image and give it some glow and play for a chance to win an awesome prize!