WOYWW? #184---Christmas, of course!

Well I'm late with my What's on Your Workdesk?  Wednesday post.  It's
all Christmas--first, a nativity atc for Altered Arts Magazine:

collage image from Altered Pages

I have to say, I feel somewhat victorious with this photo--you can see
the glitter!  Here's the second pic:

Holiday baking in progress--these are coffee rings, kind of like cinnamon
rolls.  And if you were here last week, I finished the nests--you can see
them in the post below (HERE).

Happy (belated) WOYWW!  If you'd like to join in the blog visiting fun,
the party is open to everyone, just stop in at Julia's and jump right in.  :)

needle felted bird's nest Christmas ornament

Finished the little nesties (from this post)!  Here is one with a bird added:

It's easier to see what the clothespin is for now--the nest is glued to the top,
and the pin is used to clip the nest to the tree. The bird is from the
Vintage Illustrated Birds set, and stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.

My friends seemed to like them--several decided to clip them in their hair at
dinner, so apparently these are multi-purpose ornaments.

I'm glad I made myself one as well--this little nestie is on our tree right now!

Happy Sunday!

WOYWW? #183--can you guess what these are?

It's time for What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday, #183--this week
I have the makings of some Christmas tree ornaments:

Can you tell what these are?  Probably not--they look a little like fuzzy cookies
at this point.  The clothespins will be attached at the base, if that gives a clue.
I don't have any finished yet, but here is a pic of one I made last year--it's in the
background, though:

Can you guess what it is now?  I'm making these for a group of friends, we
meet once a month and have dinner and talk for hours, and this week we're
having an ornament exchange.

Are you WOYWWing this week?  If you leave a comment, I'll try and find
you--occasionally there are comments from google connect people, and I
can't find links to blogs, but I really do try to visit everyone who drops in here.

Happy WOYWW, and thank you to Julia for hosting this weekly event.
(PS--in case you haven't seen it, here is a link to the annual free Christmas
issue of Altered Arts magazine.)

O Holy Night--a Christmas atc

O Holy Night Christmas atc

For my first Altered Arts December post, I'd like to share with you this
Christmas atc--lots of layers and glitter, yes? 

Have you seen the annual free Christmas edition of Altered Arts Magazine?
I have a little Christmas atc shrine in there, along with directions--here are
a couple of pics:
Here it is closed up and tied with
some silky seam binding.  The
hinges are made of burlap.  All
the images (in both atcs) are from
Altered Pages.

 Are you making lots of Christmas things?  I need to get started on a few
gifty things--it's hard to believe it's December 3rd.  Today the husband
and I celebrate our anniversary--twenty-four years already, they seem to
have gone by in a heartbeat!

Thank you for stopping by, and enjoy the Christmas issue of Altered Arts!
:)

Inchie collage easel card, Passion for Paper, and a free magazine!

Wow, I haven't posted in a while--I've missed my blog snooping visiting time
this week!  It's basketball season, and between the husband coaching Junior
Varsity and the son playing Varsity, I've been spending lots of time at games.

Here is an easel card made using lots of vintage ephemera and Blockheads
stamps, in honor of the new Easel Card Reader's Art Quest at Unruly Paper
Arts.

(If you've never made an easel card, there are lots of tutorials on-line that
show how--I made up a quick and easy one (HERE) that uses generalized
dimensions.)

Used several sets on this one:
Nature Medallion, Greco-Roman, Full Sheet, Feeling Regal, Honeybees,
Vintage Birds, Seashells and Round Frame, and Verses, Full Sheet

Every year, Altered Arts Magazine puts out a free Christmas issue, and it's
that time of year!

Here is the link for you:  Altered Arts Christmas 2012.
I have a couple of pieces in this one, and will share those Monday.

So I hope you have time to check out the free magazine, and will join in
the latest rounds of Reader's Art Quests at Unruly Paper Arts--you do have
a Passion for Paper, don't you?

Happy Sunday, everyone!  I hope to have more time this week to visit with you!
:)

super simple easel card directions/tutorial

There are plenty of great easel card tutorials on the intraweb, but here is a
generalized, super-simple version that may be easier to start with than some
of the more complex varieties.

Stuff you need--cardstock, adhesive, paper cutter

Just like any basic card, whatever size cardstock you are using, the finished
card will be half that size.

1.  Fold the cardstock in half.  This is your card base.

2.  Cut a piece of cardstock the same size as folded-in-half base.  Or, in
other words, a piece one half as big as what you started out with:

(The piece you just cut will eventually be the front of your card--you can
stamp/collage/embellish it at will.)

3.  Fold the FRONT of the card base in half, from the outside edges to
the fold, like this:

4.  Adhere the front piece to the folded flap of the card base, like this:

Now the card front can be set up like an easel.  You probably need to put in a
strip of paper, or ribbon/trim, underneath the base, to act as a lip that will hold
the easel front in place, like this:

A sentiment generally goes beneath the strip/lip, but that's up to you.

That's it--simple, right?  Here's a pic of the loosely folded card, in case you
still aren't quite seeing how these work: