bridal best wishes and blessings altered tin

You know, I really like making altered tins,


even more than I like that vintage blingy button
right there, and I REALLY like that button!



The idea is to have friends and family fill it with
strips of paper, where they have written (what else?)
best wishes and blessings for the couple.

I also like tiny beads and glitter--not too hard
for me to join in the white glitter Spicy Supply
Challenge at Gingersnap Creations!

It's almost time!!

Did you have a Merry Christmas? I hope so!

It's almost time for the amazing One World, One
Heart event. I participated in the last three;
this year is the fifth and final OWOH, so if
you haven't had the opportunity to play along
with the biggest blog hop in the whole wide
world, now is the time to start planning . . .



Details are HERE.

do you ever?

Enter blog giveaways? I do, sporadically--
it just depends on what's going on, you know?

Today, I'm goofing on the computer:
Look here--

YUM! (That's a link, btw!)


Pretty, right? From Gyspy Jewels, at Ecleticisms.


These gorgeous beauties from Daria Bukesova at
The Country Chic Cottage really caught my eye!


Lovely earrings at Indie Spotting!

When your teenage daughter helps wrap gifts . . .

. . . you have to be willing to accept tags like this:


Hey, I'm not complaining. We're almost finished
wrapping all the presents. Next, back by popular
demand, is candy making!

I hope your Christmas plans are all going smoothly,
and you're enjoying the holyday season!

one of my Christmas favorites . . .

one good picture

And this ain't it. B l u r r y.


You know, you'd think that by now I would
be able to take a decent photo. Made some
ornaments (was exchanging with some friends),
and got one acceptable picture before wrapping
them.


But, one is better than none, right?

Are you making ornaments? My friend (real and
imaginary), the Contessa, is--LOTS of gorgeous
ornaments, and some sweet tutorials to go along
with them. I'm officially on Christmas break,
so am planning to join her in some creating.

If you've made any ornaments this year, please
leave me a link, I'd love to stop by and see!

*****little update*****
Well, at least my friend Rhonda can work
her camera! Totally swiped this pic from
her blog!

baseball card Christmas ornaments.

No, I did NOT use real cards; that would have
been silly. Not to mention expensinve! The
husband wanted to decorate a tree at our store,
and asked me to make some ornaments.


Babe Ruth is the "star" on the top.


This is Frank Chance, very popular in his
day, a T205 ("T" means tobacco card, by the
way). These were originally printed in 1909,
I think.


And this is Lefty O'Doul, on his 1933
Goudey bubble gum card.

These are very simple, but they were fun to
make, and they made my honey happy!

:)

snow people?

Three 4x4's, using a painted background, but you know
it's mostly covered up at this point! Lots of stuff--
glitter, feathers, doilies, snowflakes, netting--I'm
thinking about adding hangers, as well. Hmmm.


All the images are from Altered Pages; they're
vintage ice skating posters, two advertising
the lovely Charlotte and her ice ballet.



Anyway, these are my snow people for the Gingersnap
Creations challenge, but they aren't actually made
of snow . . .

What do you think?

Snowy enough?

Add the hangers?

glitter (haiku)

It is on my face--
also in my hair--even
in my underwear.


Just sayin' . . .

Has this ever happened to you?

G L I T T E R F A C E.

Know what I mean?

Thanksgiving tags

Made some Thanksgiving tags today, to tie up
some Thanksgiving treats. Kind of a quick
make, but it was a relief to get my hands
inky again, know what I mean?

If you click on the pics, they will enlarge
for you . . .



The vintage Thanksgiving postcard images are
from Altered Pages, and



the crown stamp is from Stampin' Up. First
time I'd used it--it's a keeper!



What are you thankful for today?
:)

this song makes me laugh.

Plus, it kind of goes with the lovely little
hair arts below! C'mon, make dolphin noises,
you know you want to . . .



I need a kick in the creative bum--haven't
made anything arty for what seems like WAY
too long. Need to sort through some Altered
Pages images, and check out the challenges
on Gingersnap Creations for a little inspiration.

C'mon, give me a link to something fun you've
made or seen lately. I REALLY like these
that Cameron made with sea glass:

Looks right for fall, yes?


But this is my favorite--gorgeous!

the minky project revealed.

Our niece requested a custom made car seat cover
for her new baby.

"No problem," I said.

Well, it really wasn't a problem, but it sure took
a lot longer than I thought it would!! The first
one is the practice cover, made with repurposed fabrics:


Kind of a fun vintage 70's print. It turned out
okay; the car seat strap holes don't look quite
as nice as I'd like, but I gotta say, the canopy
made me feel victorious.

Here's the custom made cover; the new mommy chose
the fabrics (the flower is removable):


This was the first time I'd worked with minky,
which, as the name suggests, is incredibly soft.
I kind of want some minky undies . . .

(Lola, every time I put a pin in my mouth, I
thought of you!!)

***update***
Here she is, modeling her new car seat
cover, on her first outing:

Inking Pink

Blog hop for a good cause:



Starting blog is HERE.

Don't let this happen to you.

You're scared, now, aren't you??

You can see more creepy stuff at Gingersnap
Creations; this little gal is off to a swap
at the Altered Pages group.

(Still haven't cut the minky, by the way!)

I'm afraid!!

Really afraid.

To CUT THE MINKY.


I'm making my niece a car seat cover, and using
real minky. Real fabric. Store bought and
everything, like someone who can really sew!

Usually, everything I sew is made from upcycled,
recycled, rescued--whatever you want to call it--
fabric. Those are all nice words for "fabric
I got really cheap or free, usually clothes or
drapes I cut apart to make something else."

See, "upcycled" is much easier to say . . .

Sooooo, you can maybe see why I'm afraid to
cut into double-digit a yard fabric, using a
pattern I made myself. Yikes.

VERY AFRAID!

A wise woman . . .

builds her home, but the foolish
tears it down with her hands.
Proverbs 14:1


The proverb is actually removable, so I
can change it out. I can use all the
wisdom I can get, know what I mean?



This goes along with the Gingersnap GC72
challenge, and the Simple Treasures challenge.

These pictures did NOT turn out as well
as I'd hoped. Hmmm. Things never look,
well, like they do in real life. Anyway,
the tag hanging down off the corner, says
"Which one are you?"

Happy Weekend!

these are amazing!

I love the pieces at Antico Valore's etsty shop!




This little gem is currently in a giveaway,
but you'd better hurry, it ends SOON!
Get the details HERE.

inchie canvas

Most of these inchies are from swaps.


One swap was hosted by Jana--she was an awesome
hostess--I didn't even open the super cool
clear package she sent until making this canvas,
as it was a work of art unto itself.


The other was hosted via Art42 by the lovely
Faith Marie.

The inchie challenge at Gingersnap Creations
inspired me to crack out these little cuties,
and actually do something with them. It's a
6x6 canvas, with Diamond Glaze and microbeads
as "caulk" between the tiny inchie tiles.


Which is similar to how I finished off this
inchie treasure box, some time ago, using inchies
I had made, plus many from this swap at art-e-zine.

I really have a thing for inchies right now;
if you have an inchie project posted, please
leave me a link; I'd love to come see!
:)

Update: Thank you, Gingersnap Creations, for
the choosing the inchie canvas as a Ginger Gem!

teeny tiny triptychs

Oh my gosh, I "opened" my new e-issue of Altered
Arts magazine--totally forgot about the teeny tiny
triptychs I had submitted for publication!

(Pardon me while I do a little happy dance. And
be thankful you can't see me--my dancing is somewhat,
ahem, well, not good.)

Made these for a kit at Altered Pages in mind,
but was so pleased with the way they turned out,
submitted them at Altered Arts instead.

After they were accepted (thank you, Altered Arts!),
I made a new one for the Everything Inchies Kit
at Altered Pages. It's not available at this time,
but if you're interested, I'll just bet if you ask
Jackie real sweet like, she'll fix you up.



Inchies is one of the challenges right now
at Gingersnap Creations--I'm hoping to have
a little time tomorrow to make a few, or maybe
incorporate the ones I have into a new project.

Maybe another teeny tiny triptych? If YOU make
one, comment me the link--I'd love to see!!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

:)

*************************
Just a little update--Lucy asked if these were
an actual inch, but they are a bit of a cheat,
as the arch extends about 1/2 inch above the
inchie.

I can hear you.

The teacher opens her book, preparing for the next class.

From the hallway, she hears lockers closing, and a harshly
whispered
"You wanna skip second period?"
"What?"
"You know, skip second period!"
"Sure. I guess. What's second period?"

From the hallway, now there is nothing but silence. Then,
a stifled giggle.

The teacher puts her head on her desk and sighs.

"You know I can hear you, right?" she asks. "Did
you forget you're HOMESCHOOLED???"

(This happened today. We really do have lockers in
the hallway, and my kids really did try to skip class.
They think they're soooooooo funny!)

did you spank him?

"Mom, that naughty dog is sleeping on your bed!"

"Did you spank him?"

"No, I took his picture."


Please note that not only is the dog sleeping on the
bed, he is actually using a pillow. Hmmmm.

series of See

Still using that mixed media collage background;
the Theme Thursday challenge this week is SQUARE,
and I'd been invited to join a twinchie swap at
Art42, AND I had a "new" vintage alphabet
set from an estate sale, so there you go.

I don't usually work in a series, so this is a
little different for me. If you have a link to
a series of something you've done, please share--
I'd love to come see.

shabby little heart

Serendipity style background, but lookit up in the
top left corner? See the bit of music, and the
"my heart?"

Now that, my friends, is some fun serendipity.

Heart is a hand painted cut-out, machine stitched
to the background. A little crayon, a little
glitter glaze . . . I think it may need some ink
around the edges of the card . . .

Thank you to Let's get shabby for the MUSIC challenge.

serendipity backgrounds for atcs and???

It's almost time for school to officially start;
since we don't do snow days, or parent-teacher
meetings, or in service days, etc., we have the
luxury of delaying the inevitable.

Almost all of our textbooks are in, the schedule is made,
been peeling wallpaper in the kitchen, still no gelatin
prints, the oldest two are at it at college.
(That's the quick and random update.)

Joined a crazy swap on swap-bot: 20 atcs for
20 different partners. Mega ATC Swap. Appropriate
name, yes?

Seemed like a fun end to summer. Here are
the backgrounds, made using the mixed media,
serendipity style background technique that
is my personal favorite:


There is still a pretty big chunk left; not sure
what that will end up being.

How are YOU wrapping up your summer? Any projects
in the works? I feel the need to blog visit, so
be expecting me . . . :)

teenagers again . . .

So, today I'm walking through the living room with a
bottle of Clorox Clean-Up when the 17-year-old says

"WAIT a minute, just where do you think you're going??"

"To clean the toilets."

"Pffft. You and your crazy hobbies . . ."

(For real, this happened. Welcome to my world.)