Whirlpool of Imagination

Swirly Reindeer

I have been digging from the same Inkadinkado set for today's card that I used for yesterday's card. I really like this swirly image set (as if you couldn't tell) and it's been my "go to" set this week.

Another quick and easy holiday card here. The reindeer (Inkadinkado) is stamped with Memento rhubarb ink. The sentiment (Papertrey Ink) is stamped in Memento cocoa ink. The patterned paper is Bo bunny evergreen dot and I added a couple of crystals to the sentiment to jazz it up just a bit.

That snowstorm that dropped tons elsewhere was kind of a dud here. We got some but no where near what they predicted. A bit of a letdown really - it was the perfect time for a good snowstorm which would lead up to a white Christmas.

A quick post today - I have tons of hand made gift items that I need to work on, all needing to be done by Wed. morning (or sooner!) so I must get back to work. Have a great night!

Swirly Tree

I hear snow is heading our way - I guess it is actually snowing here but the air is too dry so the snow is not making it to the ground. I've always thought that was kind of a neat idea - that it cold be snowing in the atmosphere but not down on the ground. I'm actually looking forward to the white stuff - it's the weekend, we can stay in tomorrow and the afternoon would be perfect for the kids to go sledding so hurry up and snow already!!!!

I'm still working on Christmas cards although I really (really) need to work on teacher's gifts. The problem is I'm not too sure what to put int he teacher's gifts, hence the last minuteness of this whole thing. I'm hoping for that snow so I can stay home and create tomorrow.

 

Here's a quick one to add to my stash. The tree is from Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento ivy ink. The star is colored with a lemon (#5) spica pen and the tree is "decorated" with a gold spica pen and christmas red stickles. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and also stamped with ivy ink.

I must say that I am really impressed with the Memento ink. Stamps of all companies ink up really well with it - if you know me, you know I love buying inks (and ribbon and paper and stamps and.....) so I see some more of these in my future.

Here's hoping the snow makes it to the ground eventually and I hope you have a wonderful night!

Dreaming of a Pink Christmas Ornament

I have one more day of ornaments for you. Today I'm back with my favorite fairy, the candy cane fairy and she's pink.

 

Here is the first of my two fairy ornaments. She is a digital stamp from Pink Cat Studio, printed on my laser printer and colored with copic and prismacolor markers.

Copic: E00, E37     Prismacolor: pink

Her hat and dress trim have clear stickles on them but this picture really doesn't show that well - the next picture shows that better.

The base of the ornament is a chipboard coaster, painted pink. The patterned paper is Bobunny (really???? I know you're shocked at my use of bubunny dot paper) blush dot.

Here is my second fairy, same digi stamp, the only difference is the black hair. The base on this one is made from the thin chipboard from a stampin' up paper order and my nesties. The patterned paper is Frances Meyer glamorous pink. My tree is looking much fuller now with the recent influx or ornaments. Luckily, now I can move onto other projects!

I have spent the last couple of days in my studio but haven't seemed to have accomplished much. I have a bunch of things started and ideas moving around but can't seem to get much to the finish line. Since most of this has to do with holiday gift giving, I better get a move on! I will most definitely have fun ideas to show you all the way up until the holiday, once I finish them that is!

Hope you have a great night!

What Else Is On My Tree?

More ornaments today but I switched what I would show you. I have more candy cane fairies for you but I decided to leave those for another day. Today I bring you men. Gingerbread men, that is.

I must add a quick disclaimer - I tried to take these pictures on the tree but the light was washing them out completely. Just trust me- they look super cute on the tree.

 

I'm loving this little gingerbread guy from Papertrey Ink. He is stamped with Memento Cocoa ink. His eyes are Taylor's Tiny Twinkles from Taylored Expressions and I sewed on the buttons with Martha Stewart string/twine.

The white base is a very thin layer of chipboard saved from Stampin Up designer paper orders. I was so excited with my discovery that this was thin enough for my nesties and wizard. I wanted a smaller size than the chipboard coasters I do have (and I did try to run those through the wizard but its too thick for a clean cut) and this worked like a dream. I'm sure loads of you discovered this long ago, but it was a neat discovery for me!

 

Of course I couldn't make just one. The eyes are also the twinkles and the twine through the buttons is from Papertrey. The patterned paper is the ever present Bobunny evergreen dots. I'm not kidding when I say you will see that paper is every project I do for the next several months. I adore dots and really like many of the shades Bobunny came out with.

The sleep and the coffee did the job - I was much more cheerful today (well, the massage didn't hurt either - LOL). I felt almost bubbly except for the single digit temperatures out there today. Man, that wind can hurt! The house is quiet so I'm off to enjoy the silence for a bit. Have a great night!

Let's Fill My Little Tree

Happy Wednesday! I had every intention of blogging last night but then I got caught up in the 30th Anniversary special (made 4 years ago but I'm a little behind) of "Happy Days". The cast was all there and boy, did I remember most of those clips - very funny!

So anyway, when it was over, I was off to bed rather than blog-land. Today, I've got myself here before I even look at the tv guide!

This week I've been working on ornaments. We have two trees in our house. The first is our regular big tree with all the usual ornaments. The other is a smaller tree I use for craft fairs in which everything on it has been made by me. I decided it needed a little filling (expecially with something besides all those glitter ornaments Meg and I made).

Today its a little tin ornament....

 

I had printed off a bunch of these candy cane fairies from Pink Cat Studio which is why you are still seeing them! The fairy was colored with copic and prismacolor markers.

copic: E00, Y13

Here hat and the bottom of her dress were made sparkly with clear stickles.

prismacolor: crimson red

I then cut out the fairy and pop-dotted her onto the patterned paper (Bobunny evergreen dot). THAT layer was then pop dotted (4 layers of mounted tape) onto the tin. I then used the cheapy coarse clear glitter that the kids have to fill in the bottom of the tin to make it a shaker of sorts.

Today, for some reason, I'm feeling cranky. I'm not sure why - I've got the holiday 'stuff' mostly under control and the kids, while they had their moments, were fine. I'm just out of sorts - I think a good nights sleep and lots of coffee in the morning will turn my mood around. Hope you are having a good day and aren't cranky like me - have a great night!

Glitter, Glitter Everywhere

This entire month I've been wanting to make some ornaments but was too busy trying to get the cards out the door. Now that those are done, I've been working on a few ornament projects. In the past, I've really liked the finished glittered reinker ornament but have found the process really a pain. I decided to give it a go again this weekend and this time around it was easy peasy! In fact, Meg saw me making these and decided she wanted to make some with me too.

So Meg and I present to you the following glitter reinker ornaments (with most colors chosen by Meg, BTW):

Here are two more pictures with the reinker and in most cases, glitter color breakdown...

 

1) CTMH key lime ink + MS (Martha Stewart) peridot glitter

2) CTMH autumn terracotta ink + MS fire opal glitter

3) CTMH crystal blue ink + MS turquoise glitter

4) SU pomegranate ink + SU glitter (pinkish color - didn't have a name on it)

5) CTMH orange ink + MS fire opal glitter

6) SU brilliant blue ink + MS turquoise glitter

1) Memories mint ink + MS peridot glitter

2) CTMH bubble gum ink + unknown pink glitter

3) CTMH smoky plum ink + MS clear glitter

4) CTMH holiday red ink + MS red glitter

5) CTMH hydrangea ink + unknown lilac glitter

6) CTMH sunkiss yellow ink + AI (Art Institute) tangerine glitter

A few notes:

a) Meg is eight and was able to put in the ink, swirl it around and shake the glitter around - I did help her with putting the glitter into the bulb and sometimes the darker inks are harder to see when the entire ornament is covered inside

b) We used 35 drops of reinker for each ornament. The glitter amounts I eye-balled.

c) I did let Conor shake the last one but at six he was too impatient for the other parts of the project.

This experience was much more enjoyable than last year so I will definitely make more of these. It's fun to experiment with the different colors - you don't know what you'll get. I've had to hold Meg back or we would have made another dozen so it's fun for kids too.

Thanks for visiting me today - have a great night!

Sending Them Out Into the World

This week I have worked at getting my Christmas cards ready to go out. This year caught me by surprise and I sort of scrambled for a picture and then a design. Today I was able to send the majority out into the mail and thank goodness I had already bought stamps - the line at the post office was 20 people deep!

 

I haven't actually taken individual pictures but I need to before they all get sent out! I hope you have a wonderful night - stay tuned tomorrow - Meg and I worked on some ornaments today. I'll take some pics tomorrow for a little show and tell.

Laura

Pretty Paper Tree

Today we had a lovely day trip. Mo and I took the kids into Boston to the Children's Science Museum. Wow, what a place. The initial drive for the visit is the Harry Potter special exhibit. Meg and Conor are obsessed with all things HP so that was a must. Very cool exhibit - if it makes its way near you, the detail is amazing. We also had a grand time exploring other parts of the museum and didn't even make a dent in all the exhibits - we'll be back again another day! Luckily for my blog, I do have a project to show even though I didn't do a lick of creating today.

Last year the paper Christmas trees were all the rage. I had started one but the holiday obligations got to me and I never got to finish it. I put it away for this season and decided this week to finish it up.

These are not difficult but time consuming (and those pins can be rough on the fingers!). I started with a plain styrofoam cone. The paper used is all from Basic Grey, the Wassail line - Snow Storm, Cranberry Sauce, Falling Snow. I cut strips of this paper into 1 x 3 inch strips and loosely folded them. Using straight pins, I just worked my way row by row up the tree. The stars on the top are made with Spellbinder star shapes.

Right now this tree is currently residing with my Dickens Christmas Village as the town tree - looks kinda neat in that role actually.

I am fading fast after our busy day so I'm off - hope you have a great day!

Snow, Snow, Snow

Apparently the snow day dance that Meghan did worked - no school today! This was what we were treated to this morning.....

The kids went outside for a little while, threw a few snowballs and made this.....

So, in homage to the snowman in our backyard, I am showing you my snowmen project today. I was in the mood to make some cute little clip bookmarks this afternoon. The hardest part of the whole project is usually deciding what stamp to use! Today I went hunting for snowmen.

I made three different ones, basically the same with just a change in colors. The snowman stamp is from Elzybell's. It's stamped with Memento tuxedo ink and colored with copic and prismacolor markers.

Copic: E39, YR16, R24, R29   Prismacolor: cool grey 50% & 80%

Copics: E39, YR16, B06    Same prismacolors as above.

Copics: E39, YR16, G05, G09  Same prismacolors as above.

Here's the group of three. I used nestibilities to cut both circles and clear stickles for the "snowflakes". I use a glue gun to attach all the pieces. Not only do I have the front piece glued to the clip but I also cut a scallop circle from the appropriate color to glue to the back of the clip. I like how this finishes the project off as well as makes me more comfortable that the glue will stick with use.

As I write, our little snowman has been washed away as the rain followed the snow. We've even had thunder and lightening to top the night off. Here's hoping for warm enough temperatures to keep all that mess from freezing over again. Have a great night!

Red and Green Snow

In light of the fact that we are predicted to have snow tonight (not as much as other parts of the country to my delight and the kids' chagrin), I have some simple and easy snowflake notecards today.

 

I wanted an excuse to use some of my new Memento inks so I decided to go crazy with snowflakes. These snowflakes (Inkadinkado) are stamped with Memento rhubarb and cottage ivy ink. This is a FLAT A2 sized notecard and I very often use these for notes to the teacher or other times when I need a quick note.

Here is a picture of the set I made up. As I look at these, I'm thinking I want to use them on the horizontal with the flakes to the left of my writing. It's funny how looking at a picture can change your whole mindset.

Today's post is a quickie by necessity. I am smack in the middle of making three picture calendars for grandparent gifts and I need to get it done by the 10th (Snapfish is having a 35% off sale if you are interested) so I need to get back to it. Have a great night!