presents on the tree--Merry Christmas!

A Very Merry Christmas to you!

Here is my present on the tree at Unruly Paper Arts, simple instructions to be found there:

Have a wonderful day, my friends, and a Happy New Year, as well!

tiny mixed media ornaments--liquid paper mache and sparkly paints!

Short and sweet today, but wanted to share some tiny little Christmas ornaments:

More pics and details HERE

 

 

Used Li-Qua-Che liquid paper mache in silicone candy molds for the frames,

and of course my favorite metallic and glittery paints for shine!

These are really very small.

Happy Thursday, and a very Merry Christmas to you!

it's the most wonderful time of the year . . .

List of things for me never to do again in December:
Get new carpet.
Paint the sewing room.
Get an antique booth at the local antique mall with MIL and DIL.

Don't get me wrong, all of these things are good things, just not when one is trying to Christmas . . .

In lieu of something new, here are some of my favorite Christmas goodies from the past:

This needle felted bird's nest:

on our tree

 An ATC sized triptych:

You may remember these from last year--Christmas ornaments, all in non-traditional colors:

these were all given to friends

 And back when I still had time to do swaps, oh I love love loved this box of goodies from Lynn!

still love it, and all on our tree!!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish moving stuff back into that newly carpeted and painted sewing room!

Happy Wednesday, and if I don't "see" you again beforehand, a very Merry Christmas to you!

A Christmas Alphabetica

Are you Christmas crafting?  I've been working on a Christmas ABC book.

You can see more of it in my share today at the Altered Pages Artsociates blog, along with how I made that shiny little embellishment, but how about one more pic for good measure?

 Thank you for stopping by today, and Happy Christmas Crafting to you!

apple of my eye--Unruly Paper Arts

Today, in keeping with the Noteworthy theme this month at Unruly Paper Arts, I'm sharing some sweet apple stamped (seriously, stamped-with-an-apple!) notecards, perfect for thank-you notes or a quick hello.

  Love those DecoArt Traditions acrylic paints!

Stop by and say hi if you get a chance--if you do, AND e-mail me your snail mail addy at: 

trisha2too at hotmail dot com, I'll send you one of the card as a little thank you.  And probably some ephemera, because really, if I'm mailing something, I like to get the most mileage outta that stamp as possible.  

I've actually put rocks in Flat Rate boxes. 

Because I can.

:) Happy Thanksgiving to you!

give thanks--an altered spoon

For my share at the Altered Pages Artsociates blog, today, an altered spoon, and a peek at a baseball themed book.  I made the original for my nephew, and now the basic book with instructions and lots of quotes is available in kit form HERE.

Love this photo of Babe Ruth--we've had several Babe Ruth autographed baseballs in our shop over the years, but you have to be careful to get an authentic one, as his secretary was quite adept at forging his signature!

Happy Thursday!

Dr. Who wedding card. What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday, #337

A good friend of mine, her son just married, and the happy couple are quite the Dr. Who fans.  Being a watcher myself, from way back in the Tom Baker Dr. days, I figured--"When else ever am I going to get to make a Dr. Who wedding card????"

It's accordion fold, and opens to be quite large, but I used a photo from their wedding, so absent permission to post the photo, I'll leave it open at the first fold--

the die cut is actually a piece trimmed from the wedding invitation, and it repeats at the end of the accordion.
Okay, I cropped out the center, it has a really nice photo of their first dance, and their clasped hands are at the center, which goes with the quote:

That's it for me today!  I'm not overly ambitious about having time to visit everyone today, but will always return WOYWW visits within the week, so watch out!  Not sure what WOYWW is?  Drop by the lovely Julia's for more info. 

DIY dresser into tv stand, swap returns, and an awesome new industrial lamp--What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday, #336

Lots of photos for this WOYWW, but I'll keep it short and sweet otherwise--first up, a dresser before and after I repainted.  It's now in the living room as a tv stand--

BEFORE--rough enough I don't mind repainting it

I love it!  Used DecoArt Chalky Finish paints, even on the ratty hardware.  Chalk paints are GREAT for pretty much everything!

Received these lovely Wings and Things themed atcs from a swap at Unruly Paper Arts:

Ugh, I can't remember who they're all from, as these are at home, and I'm at work--however, the bottom row left is from my long time bloggy friend Michele, and right is the wonderful Unruly editor Danie May.  Will credit the other two tomorrow, so sorry!

Now my awesome new lamp.  Please note that I did not make this, my talented daughter-in-law did, and I LOVE IT!  It seems like something my WOYWW friends would enjoy seeing, too:

I REALLY like the switch and Edison type bulb.

What do you think?  Industrial?  Steam punk?

Happy WOYWW to you, and thank you Miss Julia for the bloggy party!

baseball baseball baseball World Series baseball baseball!

You may not know that we live in the Kansas City area.  We attended one each of the division, league championship, and World Series games--it was especially nice (for us) that the Royals won each of those games, but even nicer that they won the series!

Anyway, all that baseball explains the atc I'm sharing today at Altered Pages, as well as this baseball themed mixed media book I've been working on.

I really like this photo of Babe Ruth.

Have a great weekend, everyone!  :)

DIY elephant key hook

The daughter-in-law has been diy-ing alongside me lately--this key hook she made for her sister is so cute, I had to share it with you:

The background is a piece of wood from the lumber pile, painted with DecoArt Chalky Finish in Treasure--one of my favorite colors, so pretty, and  Dazzlling Metallics in Emporer Gold=SUPER SHINY.

The idea is to hang your keys on their trunks--seriously, how cute is that?????

Have a great Wednesday!

a textured mixed media canvas

Mmmmmm, paint . . .  you can see the whole canvas in my share today at Altered Pages.

Every day is a good day when you paint.

diy shelf redo, making a bench, and PAINT! What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday, #332

What's On Your Workdesk??  (If you're not sure what's up with WOYWW, stop by Julia's to find out.)

What's on my workdesk?

NEW PAINT!  I'm anxious to crack these open:

A plain laminate bookshelf is in the middle of a redo--this is BEFORE any change:

This is with all the trim added, but no paint yet:

And this is the footboard to a twin bed we sawed in half yesterday, getting ready for a "make a bench" adventure:

(The headboard will be the back of the bench, these will be the sides.)

And PS, the bed was free off the side of the road--free is a great way to experiment!!!

Wish me luck! 

October already. Is that a trick or a treat???

I tend to think it's a trick . . .

Anyway, it's definitely time for me to check in here at the poor neglected blog!  Unruly Paper Arts has launched a new issue, this month is ANYTHING GOES, so there's no telling what the contributers will come up with for you!

Shadow Box House by Helene Huber at UPA

Today at the Altered Pages blog, I'm sharing some Halloween themed atcs with Gelli print backgrounds:

acrylic paint on deli wrap paper Gelli prints

Okay.  That's my check-in for today.  Have a great week, everyone!

diy desk redo--What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday, #331

Ohmygosh it's Wednesday!  I'm going to jump in at What's on Your Workdesk for the first time in ages!

Just so you know, even though I've been blog missing, I really have been doing stuff these last few months--here is a desk revival done for one daughter-in-law, using chalky finish paints from DecoArt.

BEFORE.  Garage sale chair, flea market mirror frame, we had the desk for ages.

AFTER.  My mom made the quilt top hanging on the back of the chair (which is now almost finished), and the new desk/vanity was made to order to match.  The mirror isn't quite where it was finally placed, but you get the idea.  The detail photo at the beginning of this post is of the top of the mirror frame, of the carved area.  I really wanted to antique this a little, but she likes the bright clean look of it, and the "customer" is always right, yes?

I'm going to WOYWW like crazy for the next hour at least . . . see you there?

a Christmas Alphabetica

We're "Wrapping It Up" this month at Altered Pages, and I'm sharing part of my Christmas Alphabetica.  If you have a few minutes stop by and say hi--there's a monthly giveaway for comment leavers, but I think in September it's on the facebook page.  (There are links at the AP site, easy peasy!  Peasey?)

still alive

Yep, still here, just no art to post lately--been doing some remodeling type projects, and at work have been sorting through a mess of GI Joes.  (Yes, seriously, GI Joes.)

I miss you, my bloggy friends!

a Wild West book and a DIY chalkboard book

Good grief, it seems like I never have time to post anything lately, summer and house renovations have taken over my life.  And GI Joes.  But that's another story for another time . . .

ANYWAY, just saying, the theme at Altered Pages this month is "Take a Trip--Visit the USA!"  And today at the Altered Pages blog I'm sharing a Wild West book (which my old friends may recognize):

You'll find this tab bound book HERE! 

If you're looking for any state themed images, there are collage sheets for almost every state HERE!  These would be perfect for not just altered art, but scrapbooking, too.  (Plus you can shop at home, and print them off in your jammies.)  Oh oh oh AND if you comment on my post, or any AP post in the month of August, you're in the draw for some really fine vintage travel postcards and a vintage map!

At Unruly Paper Arts, the new issue has been out for almost two weeks, and my first column came out a couple days ago.  But we've already established I'm behind this month, so here is a look at my DIY Chipboard Chalkboard book:

Super cute, and super simple!  You'll find more photos and instructions HERE.  The Unruly issue this month is all about utilizing chipboard and cardboard, and there are already lots of great project posted, with plenty more to come.  

Thank you for stopping by, and have a great weekend!  :)

postage people and things with wings atc swaps

Surprise, everyone!  Yes, I'm still here, but ridiculously busy this summer.  But I want to share the atcs I received in Marion's Postage People ATC swap--LOVE these!

 from Marion, at bockel24

 This one is from Lillian--I'm sorry I don't have a link!

 from Kati, at Mamapias-Stempelecke

Thank you to Marion, Lillian, and Kati for the fabulous atcs, and again to Marion for the wonderful swap!

These next two are mine, made for the Unruly Paper Arts facebook group Wings and Things ATC swap:

 I don't know where this bird came from, but he's adorable.

   
That's it for me--see you next Thursday with a post for Altered Pages.  Have a great weekend!

falling for fall?

Are you already looking forward to fall?

This month, the Altered Pages design team is falling for fall with a look at autumn inspired projects.  I'm taking a look back at one of my favorite fall projects, candle holders--this collection of altered glassware holders was featured on the cover of Altered Arts Magazine:

Don't you love the warm glow of candles in the fall?

Have a creative Thursday!

pocket letter pal--Basically Beach

For the month of June, Altered Pages is partnering with Pocket Letter Pals to create plenty of Pocket Letter inspiration.  The theme for my Pocket Letter Pal is Basically Beach . . .

If so inclined, you'll find the entire sheet HERE.

Thank you for stopping by, and a Happy Thursday to you!
:)