Christmas Wrap up!

Took the tree down this past weekend and attended the last Christmas party of the season. Finally, the cookie crumbs have settled. Now that all the gifts have been opened, I can share pictures of several that I made.

Vintage clear glass buttons make this icicle sparkle!  The buttons are strung on light blue embroidery floss.

This hanging snowman’s hat is actually a rosy color. Made of cotton quilt batting, I sprayed stiffener on the back of it to give it a little more structure.

Here’s a close up:

The Victorian Santa was made for my son. He’s patiently waited years for me to make it for him. I presented him with the basic Santa on Christmas morning and let him go through my bins of trims to choose what Santa would hold. 

I love writing my stories, but creating these items reminded me how much I also enjoy the process and satisfaction of  creating with my hands. Looking forward to 2015, there will be time spent in my craft corner.

Available on Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

Have you signed up for my newsletter? Before writing INTO THE DEEP, I interviewed Jack ‘Preach’ Conroy. The January newsletter will have that interview. If you’d like to know a little more about the man, be sure and sign up here:

Sign up for my newsletter at:
http://eepurl.com/A1Wkz

Denim Coaster

My guys wear out jeans at an alarming rate. I iron on patches to extend the life of the jeans, but still I have a stack that I’d like to recycle into useful items. I found this easy craft on Polka Dot Pineapple and set about creating a coaster for my desk.

Cut the long thick seams from the legs of the jeans. Using fabric glue, roll the seam in a tight spiral applying glue as you go.

From a cork tile, I cut a circle of the same size and glued it to the bottom. It adds another layer of protection and keeps the coaster from slipping.

My coaster is 3 3/4″ diameter. The size for a mug. A much larger size could be rolled to use as a trivet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Note of Encouragement

These vintage daisy sequins were part of a mixed bag of trims I discovered in a small shop in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The little price tag says ‘Woolco’.

To create this card I used Craft Concepts Funky Flowers embossing folder and attached the sequins using Stampin’ Up’s Stampin’ Dimensionals – the only adhesive in my box of choices that made the sequins stick. The stamped Bible verse is from the Stampin’ Up set  Say It With Scripture.

Make-And-Take

Shoppers at the  Rubber Stamp & Paper Arts Festival created this pin at our booth this weekend. It’s a tiny bit battered from wearing it on my apron while moving boxes and such, but I just love it! The rosette die is from Tim Holtz. The ‘beads’ are made with Pearl Pens and monofilament line.

I never seem to have the right size word stamps for the card I’m making, so that was my shopping quest this weekend. Finding small stamps with ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘Get Well’ and a few other sayings. I wanted them very plain. No flourishes or curliques. I was thrilled to find exactly what I wanted at Endless Creations.

Had great fun working the booth with Haylie, Kyle, Lisa and Bobbi. And Kristen, Sue and Laura helped with set up and break down. Laughter made the hard work easier.

A wonderful weekend all ’round.

 

Happy Birthday Card

Happy Birthday Card

The last four cards I created were sympathy cards, so it was a nice change to make a card for a happy occasion. I used the Stampin’ Up Cupcake punch and the Happy Birthday embossing folder from Crafts Too. (Darice has a very similar Happy Birthday folder). The paper is Core’dinations paper. After embossing the paper, I sanded it to expose the white core. I like the roughed up, fuzzy look. Considered adding sparkles, but decided I liked the simplicity instead.

Now I’m off to bake a birthday cake and then prepare a nice grilled steak dinner.

How are you spending your Memorial Day?

Declare the Glory of God

I picked this tiny bouquet of violas yesterday. It sits on my computer desk, a touch of nature surrounded by high tech hardware. The petals are delicate and soft to touch. Each flower is unique in color and detailing. These flowers, small as they are and with no voice that can be heard by the human ear, declare the glory of God.

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. (Revelation 4: 11)

Creative Recycling

I don’t know who thought this up, but what a creative use for an empty water bottle. Make a non-sealing plastic bag water and air tight.

Cut off the top of an empty water bottle. Take the cap off and stuff the open end of the plastic bag up through the bottle neck. Fold the open end of the bag down over the bottle neck and screw the cap back on.

Someone thought outside the box… er… bottle… on this one!

Do you have a creative way of reusing or recycling an item destined for the trash?

Happy May Day!

A roast is in the slow cooker and an apple pie just came out of the oven. I’m heralding this new month by creating a beautiful dinner for my family.

My talents take me only so far, though. I make a great pesto, but pie crust – not so much. So my personal chef, Betty, helped me. She pre-mixed the ingredients and all I had to do was add water and roll out the dough. Not up to Martha’s standards but my old roady and son will be thrilled.

Do you make a dish that requires a little help from a ‘friend’?