Christmas tags and tea bag luminaries

Well with no car, baking pretty much done, even wrapping, and a bit of time on my hands while hubs worked the last 2 days, I tried to clean up my work table so we may eat on it during the holidays...yeah right.
I was doing some blog hopping the other night and I was on Karen's site, The Graphics Fairy and found some wonderful vintage Santa's. I knew immediately what I wanted to make.
I got out some shipping tags and distressed them in Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap and Tea Dye. I really wanted a vintage feel to them so I darkened them up pretty good. I even wet some of the tags first, crumpled them then distressed. Dried all in the oven, ironed the crinkled ones smooth and then went about decorating them. I have seen those beautiful accordian rosettes out on the web and thought I would finally get around to making some, I don't have the fancy Tim Holtz die but hey you do with what you have, a little more work but I managed quite well without it besides you can at least say they were made with a little more hands on.
I also managed to make some more of my tissue tape and I was gaffawed at the results. I don't know if gaffaw is actually a word but just the same it sounds good and the results I thought were just what I had imagined even better. I added some extra colour to the tissue tape by just using a blending tool and lightly coloring the already brownish tissue sent to me by my friend Jenxo. I then used various stamps and colours depending on the Santa in the image. I used papers from my holiday stash, My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey and whatever was hanging about. I even added some sparkly snowflake stickers courtesy of the dollar store. A few I added some clear sticker words, or typed some on the puter for the little banners. Just love  those banners too, seeing a lot of those around.
These will be attached to some gift bags or gifts and can be used to hang on a tree later or maybe on a door knob etc. At any rate, I love them. Might have to make a few for myself if time permits.

Next up are luminaries made of tea bags. Jenxo posted last week that she knew another blogger, Kim, who made these so I jumped over to take a peek. I am always intrigued with new ideas.

Having a cat makes one take another think about lighting candles and setting them on tables the Princess might jump up on. We surely don't need the princess running madly with a tail lit on fire. Who needs that, so avoid it before it even happens.

I had some rather older teas in the cupboard that I didn't fancy too much, they are the type of tea bag that are folded in half and then stapled. I removed the staples and then emptied the tea out.

I carefully slit the one side where the seam was ,then opened them up. As you can see here they are quite large. You need 2 tea bags per side a total of 4 tea bags, sew up each short side to make this complete. But, before you do all that, I took a napkin that had these beautiful roses and a rose bug and took away all that white tissue that is attached to the napkin leaving the printed part. I carefully cut away the images, sandwhiched it between the 2 tea bags. For more interest I stamped the top tea bag only with a french script. When the battery operated light flickers, you can see the rose through the script and the soft glow of the light. It doesn't show very well here but in the dimmer light, they are quite attractive. I did some sewing around the top and bottom like a border before sewing the sides together but I actually prefer no sewing of the border. I think it looks better without but that is my preference.

I then used Modge Podge to seal the bags together, I put some wax paper underneath so I could peel the tea bags away when dry.

Kim wrote an article for a magazine but I wasn't able to find it this time of year. I had to sort of figure it out.

Jenxo made some illuminaries just using napkins for her Market show.

I think they are just lovely.

What a great simple gift to make and very kitty friendly.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you are getting ready for Christmas.

We have no snow, just rain and very mild temperatures.

Sure doesn't feel like Christmas is only a little over a week away.

Til next time friends

♥

It's starting to smell a lot like Christmas

Hi Everyone,

bet you thought I dropped off the face of the earth??? Well no not really, I have been busy getting things done for the holidays, it's been a real struggle for me this year to get into the mood. I went shopping the other day and I was having a hard time finding the one thing I wanted for hubs, 3 stores later and still nothing. Might have to go to the mall, not sure how long it has been since I have been there maybe last Christmas. No kidding. 

My car being in the shop still probably is a major factor why I am not in the mood, worrying about it, not having my own wheels to get out and do what I need to do. Hubs gets called into work and I am either stranded or we have to juggle things around. Hope I get it back this week. I am running on nerves now

worrying about the cost. Last time Bill didn't charge me anything but I am sure something major is going on.

Anyways today I dug in and got some baking done. Hubs went to town to run errands and do some shopping of his own and I decided to start some baking. I want to make a few gifty items and decided the home baked kind might be a better and more economical plan for me. I like baking, I can't eat any of it but I enjoy making things from scratch. I generally have to have hubs taste things since that dept is out for me.

Today I made Johnny cake, lemon snow bars, butter tarts and shortbread.

I will tantalize you with pictures and hope I get you drooling.

 Hubs used to deliver home oxygen years ago to people who needed it and one of his clients used to be a Home Economics teacher and actually gave him a cookbook she had published. It isn't a fancy book but boy Mary sure had that special touch according to JB.

I have used her no fail recipes for years and I never have a problem with any of the recipes. The book is now tattered, has spills on it and well you get the idea. If it is a good cookbook you can always tell by it's condition.

I also made some tea bag luminaries over the weekend but I was too close to the one and the picture ended up being very blurry so will attempt for my next post. You will want to make a few once you see them. Very cool and with a battery operated tea light they are safe to burn with fur babies around. =^..^=

Anyways hope you are all getting ready for your  holidays, time to spend with family and friends and to enjoy time off.

Take care and thanks for stopping by.

♥

Inspired by Nancy Maxwell James

Hi dear friends, well the continuing saga of my car and it died while I was in town shopping late this week. Thank goodness for cell phones, I had to call hubby who came to boost me then we went directly to the garage. I have even the mechanic stumped and he has been in business for over 30 years. Just when you think they have seen it all and nope, my car has to be the one that is the odd one.

Anyways I can't keep harping about it, it doesn't help the matter nor does it help my state of mind...so....now that shows are over I can get back to doing a few things I love to do. Play with paper and make some small ornaments for gift giving. If you get a chance check out Paper Whimsey's blog, they are having the 12 days of Whimsy and you can click on the button on my side bar to take you directly to the site. Right now Nancy Maxwell James( I visit her blog SugarLump Studios) has inspired me. This ornament I made is not part of the 12 days but was posted over a week or so now and I just had to make some. I did a few things differently, I printed my images on T shirt transfer paper and ironed the images on. The fabric I used my dear MIL found at Walmart, it is flour sack rags, 3 or 4 to a pack and the material is lint free and so soft. I just loved how these turned out and although the images look a bit grainy here they are really quite nice. Some are heading out in the mail this week I sure hope the recipients like them. Mum gave me a load of lace last year and I have been putting it to good use. I even cut some of the patterns of lace out from the main part of the fabric to embellish these. I made the coat hangers and I had these cute mini clothespins in my stash.dabbed a bit of white paint and they are ready to be hung on a tree or even a drawer pull. I never knew what to do with the clothespins til I saw Nancy's idea. Aren't they the cutest?

I made a couple special ones for gifts so I can;t show them because I know YOU will be peeking. tee hee

And the one show I did and made a new friend Sara (you saw her table in my last post) had these cute little TicTac holders. So I routed around the Internet and found a tutorial for them. There are several versions but this one is easy and I wanted a tutorial for the smaller container of TicTacs. You can find it here.

Well that is it for now. I have a few other things going on, I do need to get more motivated to get my painting orders complete. I did some painting today but it was a real struggle. I think I am burned out, I have been painting since the end of July so once I get these few things done I need to take a break from it.

Til next time, thanks for dropping by and always love your comments.

♥

Gourdy Folk for my next show

Hi everyone, boy this week is surely flying by, tomorrow is Wed already, I start my show Friday evening and all day Saturday. Am I ready, don't ask. Will I be? don't ask. Is there ever enough stock, probably but you always need to do way more than necessary.

I want to show you the last items I have been working on for a while now. The gourds I grew in my garden last year and the drying process takes a while so this year I was happy to try painting them for the first time. I got a little addicted but had to stop because I need to finish a few things up before I start packing up on Thurs. I used Air dry clay for the noses on the snowmen, flippers on the pengy's and hats and bow ties. I love that air dry clay, it is so light, I use white so I can paint it and dry brush it any colour I want. I did just recently find black which I didn't know it came in black but I bought some to have on hand. I may be doing a few more of these before Christmas if these sell, but, who wouldn't want a painted gourd to smile at on your bookshelf, table or display over the holidays. I certainly would if I didn't paint. :)

I did all the painting free hand, no patterns, I even drew the faces on, for someone who is not a skilled drawer or sketcher I think I did pretty good. Although I did use Jamie Mills Price's patterns as models for the penguins but these were all done by me.

Hubs helped with some of the designs and suggestions and Rosie assisted with the painting. Of course whiskers had to be groomed during the whole process. Maybe that is why it took me forever to paint these.

Cats.....such demanding critters.

I will keep this short, sleep is calling my name. Tomorrow I will be finishing up some odds and sods and I have scrabble tile charms to do as well.

Til next time, I always enjoy your comments and I will be visiting more blogs once this show is over.

Stay crafty my dear friends.

A Christmas Ornament swap on FlickR

Hi everyone.

I am still finishing up details for my show this weekend. I will be busy Friday thru to Sunday so I had better make a quick post here regarding this great Christmas Ornament swap.

I have posted it on the Matchbox group because I am not starting a new group just for ornaments. You can click on the blinkie on the right sidebar and it will take you directly to the page.

I would love for you to join us, all the details are there for you to read. I know we just got over Halloween but with the US Thanksgiving then Christmas in December, and it gets crazy, I thought I would post this now and we will take a break during the month of December.

I have a few ideas for you but you do not have to use them, I am just giving a bit of inspiration in case you need some and I am sure you don't.

As you know I did up a bunch of birdcage dies for tree ornies, I cut them  out on the Cuttlebug. You can find templates online, I Googled Ornament coloring pages and found lots for just basic shapes. You can use tree shapes and decorate with vintage images, digi images etc. Just have fun.

I made these a while ago and although they are ok they could use more sprucing up but you get the idea.

So come to FlickR and sign up. We would love to have you join us. It is fun and you only have to make 2.

Thanks for dropping by.

Ceramic altered ornaments

First of all I have to say these are not the best photos but I was trying to get these done and pics taken for a challenge over at Bella Creations in the Voila Ink group. We were to stamp on anything other than paper. So since I am doing a lot of ornaments right now and also will be doing the Sweet Sentiments Studio Tour show, I wanted to get these done and show you as well to get a head start on Christmas. I had these ceramic ornaments for a few years, I tried a stamping idea that never worked but then a few days ago after seeing the challenge I got a brain fart and dug them out again. I used Alcohol inks (AI's) in Lettuce, Stream and Caramel. On the Stream inked one I also used an old paint brush with a snowflake stencil and dabbled the ink on to get the snowflakes to show up against the lighter background. Oooo works for me. Added the image then when that was dry I applied Diamond dust around the bottom of the snowman and the children"s feet. So sparkly and dreamy....

I have used StazOn ink and coloured in the hollies and the Christmas lights with Bic It permanent markers then applied Stickles for glitz. Added ribbons and ready to go. These would look great with family photos or altered for swaps. I have recently seen them stocked at Michaels so grab them up while you can if you need any before all shapes get taken.

Again I apologize for the poor photos, perhaps red was not the best but you get the gist of it.

Have a super weekend and stay creative.

snowmen on my table???

Hi all. I have been one busy chick this last couple weeks. Last week I was a bit draggy but this week is whipping by and I am getting lots done. 

You are probably wondering about the title of this post but I assure you you will see why in a moment.

First of all I finished my matchbox for the FlickR Monthly matchbox and this month Gail chose the theme of book or books. So I got Miss Peach as my partner and I messaged her to find out what types of books she liked. I was given a list so I had no reason to get stuck on any ideas. So I found out that Miss Peach loves Beatrix Potter so I searched the internet for illustrations and made a little book for her. I am not showing all the pages but I am giving a little sneak preview in case she comes over to take a peek. I certainly know whenever someone tells me not to peek I do, it's better you tell me it's in the mail and wait or I go a lookin. he he, can't take the kid out of me.

So here is the little book, remember it fits on top of a mini matchbox so there wasn't a lot of room for many pages but I did use stamps to decorate the pages. I hope Miss Peach likes it, and of course I filled it with some goodies and I have some extras that just won't fit so they will be on the way to the US in the next day or so.

 Below is one of the inside pages. I bound my book with embroidery thread and tied it neatly to the side. I had all the pages lined up before I did this and somehow they ended up being a bit wonky. Oh well I never said I was a book binder or whatever you call it. This was fun, I got to use a lot of my miniature stamps for this project.

 And here is what I have been doing, making Christmas ornaments for my fall shows. So far I have 2 that I will be submitting my painted items to and the third show is at the local Sweet Sentiments scrapbook store where the lovely Laura and Krista take good care of me ordering supplies and helping me with stamping and other things that I need help with. So here are the ornies I have had on the go. Mr. B cut them all out for me and then I took it from there. I still have more to do but this is just a small number so far. As you can see they still need to be varnished and little embellishments to add, ribbons, snowflakes, rusty stars and their hangers but when I get this lot all painted I will stop and do that before moving onto the next bunch. I like to get the things painted then do the other boring stuff at one time otherwise I will leave it to the last minute. You might have already noticed I like snowmen, but, I am doing some gingers, cats and a few painted paper ornaments soon to be on the go. Can't wait to do those. I finally found the Diamond Dust with a coupon at Michael's and I have since found it at another craft store out of town. After hunting online for it I found out Michael's sold it so with 40% off that made Lesley a happy painter.

Well that's it for now. Garden is going to be harvested soon. Potatoes will be dug up. Beets are waiting for MIL to pickle them. I did a whack last year so I don't need to do any this year and the tomatoes are divine.

Take care, thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more painting goodies.

Away in a Manger

AWAY IN A MANGER

 

no crib for His bed,

The little Lord Jesus

lay down his sweet head.

The stars in the sky

looked down where He lay

The little Lord Jesus,

asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing,

the poor Baby wakes,

But little Lord Jesus,

no crying He makes;

I love Thee, Lord Jesus,

look down from the sky

And stay by my cradle

till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus,

I ask Thee to stay,

Close by me forever,

and love me, I pray!

Bless all the dear children

in Thy tender care

And take us to heaven,

to Live with Thee there.

May you find peace and joy this holiday season.

I want to thank all of you who visit my blog .

Wishing you a Happy New Year too!

~L~

The True Meaning of Christmas

Luke 2:1-14

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests"

Merry Christmas and may you find peace, health and happiness in the New Year.

XO