Thirteen Days of Christmas Finale Days 12 and 13

Day 12 artist is Terry Pitzel

Terry is great at texture and combining elements. This base of this bird is a sturdy watercolor paper.

Look at all the textural elements. You can also see the fold edging. I love those little tail feathers, too.

Day 13 artist is Pat Winter.

I just love Pat Winter's work and am so happy to own a piece of her art! My daughter and I love miniatures, and this little pin is a mini masterpiece. It is a lavendar sachet brooch.

Pat has embellished the ice skate image so beautifully with beads, and a flower and ribbon embroidery. Can you see the tiny snowflake in the bottom left corner? 

Thank you to everyone of the artists who participated and filled my holiday season with lots of good cheer, and to Elizabeth who was the mastermind behind the whole project. Every single day of this project was such a joy!

Thirteen Days of Christmas Days 9, 10 and 11

I have been enjoying all of my gifties so much, and haven't been sharing them with you! Here are three more:

Day 9 Artist is Hope Clinchot.

Hope made this amazing little flower fairy pin. I just love her face. I've never been able to do faces, so I really appreciate it when someone else can!

Look at all the layers of fabric, and the little pearl trim around the inside. Each of the edges of the fabric had to be singed to give the flowery effect.I have the perfect flowy scarf to wear this on, too.

Lily was a little confused when I was taking this photo. Usually when I get the camera out, it is to take a photo of her! So she jumped up on the chair to help me out.

Day 10 artist is Terrie Lightfoot

Terrie sent this beautiful spool ornament, perfectly balanced with crystal, wire and pearls.The music in the center came from a children's songbook, and there is sugary glitter all around. So elegant and Christmasy.

This is the packaging that Terrie's ornaments were wrapped in. The number ten is a vintage Christmas tree candle holder with the center part removed. How smart is that? I have a paper bag of these somewhere...I really wish I could find them!

 

Day 11 Artist is Linda Morgan

I have long admired Linda's work, and I finally got to meet her recently. We both share a love for vintage dolls, and assemblage work, so I was thrilled to receive this doll from Linda:

Linda is great at mixing 2-D and 3-D items together. I love the way my eye travels around the piece when I look at it. Look at those sweet little feet!

There is so much detail. I think I see something new every time I look at her. There is something to see from every angle.

She will stay right here, on the front of my cabinet for the new year. 

Introducing Lily

We have a new family member in the household. Lily came to us about 8 weeks ago and is now seven months old. We are still grieving the loss of Merlot every day, and I was hesitant to get another dog, especially a puppy. 

Two things made me change my mind. The first was the fact that Bordeaux was so despondent. We could barely get her to play, and she spent long hours moping in the dog bed that she used to share with Merlot. The second was this paragraph on the  cavalier king charles spaniel web site:

Everyone grieves over the loss of a dog differently. What is right for one, may not be for another. For many, the only way to properly grieve for a dog is with another Cavalier in his/her arms. For others, it may take a long time before they can even consider getting another dog. There is no "correct" protocol! Go with your own instincts.

My instincts told me that Bordeaux needed a companion.

Bordeaux is like a puppy again since we got Lily. They run through the house and get into mischief together.

I still can't figure out how the two of them got a five-pound dictionary off of the shelf.I think they were trying to help me get some collage pages ready!

Lily doesn't always understand what we're trying to tell her, but she tries really hard! And no matter what she does, it's impossible to resist that cute little face!

Thirteen Days of Christmas Days 7 and 8

Wow, the days are just flying by. I held off on this post and the last one, thinking I would get better pictures if I took them in daylight. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get my camera and the ornaments in the same room during daylight hours! At least I'm getting lots of other things crossed off my to-do list as Christmas gets closer and closer.

Day 7 Artist is Vivian of Viv's Whimsy.

I just adore this little snowman. I could see a bit of him peeking through the packaging, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on him!. That little face is so sweet. I don't know if you can tell from the photo or not, but his  head is coated in glitter, giving him an icy-snowy effect.

Every little detail on this guy so perfect. I think I may need to name him!

Day 8 artist is Corinne Gilman

Look at the fabulous garland that Corinne made! My whole family was impressed with this one.

Here it is without our Christmas stockings in the background. I just love the colors! It has all of the colors that I've used on my little silver tree. In fact, it is on my little tree now, but it blended so well with it, that the photos didn't do it justice.

Here is an even closer view, so you can see all the wonderful colors and textures in it. After Christmas it will go in my studio. This will brighten up even the most dreary February days.

Thirteen Days of Christmas ~ Day 5 and Day 6

Day 5 artist is Patti G. of Patti's Creations. 

This ornament is so inspiring. I have wanted to make an art quilt for the longest time, and now I have my own beautiful art quilt ornament. It is made of muslin, music paper and cheesecloth blended together in the most ethereal way!

Here is a close-up of that sweet vintage image of a girl and her dog.

Patti's package came wrapped in muslin and lace. Maybe they can be the start of my very own art quilt.

Day 6 artist is Martha Brown

Look at the adorable packaging she made from a bird seed bag! I borrowed this image from her blog, because, as usual, I opened my present without taking a photo of it first.

The theme of this ornament is joy, and it brought me great joy when I opened it! The ornament is made of glass, and the joy collage is showing through the glass. 

But wait, there's more! The back is collaged as well. This is a collage on the opposite side of the "joy". Doesn't it look perfect on my little silver tree?

The Thirteen Days of Christmas Day 3 and Day 4

Ready for more Christmas-y goodness?

 The Thirteen Days of Christmas artist for day 3 is Elizabeth Woodford, our fearless coordinator.

Look at the beautiful stitching and button details on this ornament. It had a lot more candy in it when I got it, but somebody got into it. That somebody would be me. I love, love, love peppermint! The inside lining is barely showing in this photo, but I had to mention it because it is a beautiful dark green velvet. 

I had to show the back, too, because in true Elizabeth style, she went as far back in the process as possible to bring us an original piece of her art. The cone is made from one of her hand-dyed sun print fabrics.

Day four artist is me!

This is my group of ornaments before I sent them out:

and here is a single ornament:

Apparently these snow people are mischievous little travelers. If you go to Barbara Burkhard's site you can get the full story. First, the tag popped off and attached itself to the day 8 packaging. Then, once it was open, the snow people apparently decided they didn't need to be in the basket. Hmmmm.... They are affixed to a little wooden clothespin which was attached to the branches of the tree. I say was, because Barbara's snow people clearly have left the building --er, basket!

The Thirteen Days of Christmas - Day 1 and Day 2

Photo by Elizabeth Woodford

I am so excited to be part of  Elizabeth Woodford's Thirteen Days of Christmas Swap. There are thirteen artists in our group. Each of us made thirteen little gifties and sent them to Elizabeth. She redistributed them so that each artist got thirteen different gifts to open. And now, we are opening them one day at a time. Fun!

Photo by Elizabeth Woodford

Day One Artist is Barbara Burkhard. 

This ornament was inside Barbara's package. I should've photographed it from the side so you could see it better. It is a glass ball with a snowman image and lots of sparkly jewels at the bottom. A silvery bow with a little jingle bell tops it off.  I can't wait to make some of these myself. They are wonderful.

But, wait! There's more! Inside the box was also this beautiful cuff bracelet. It has a felt base with lace and netting and buttons and it is just gorgeous. I have gotten so many compliments on it already. 

Photo by Elizabeth Woodford

Day 2 was just as amazing as Day 1. Notice that all of the packaging pictures are taken by Elizabeth. That's because I get so excited, I forget to take a picture first!

Day 2 artist is Mary Zimany

This ornament is made from a small tin, and it has a wonderful collage image inside. Here is a close-up of the collage:

Isn't it wonderful? One of my favorite holiday sentiments, as well.

I have to show the back of this ornament, too. Look at the sweet little button at the top, and the way Mary used alcohol inks on the tin. It is just gorgeous!

Bip! Bam! Pow!

Christmas is fast approaching, and the days are just flying by! Here is a sampling of what I've been up to.

The first batch of comic book wallets that I took to the PonShop sold out, so I dropped off another dozen just in time for First Friday (and Christmas shopping) last week.

I also completed 13 Christmas ornaments for a "13 days of Christmas" swap. Here are the packages on their way to coordinator, Elizabeth Woodford. More on that soon!

Karen Scudder

Terry Pitzel

On Thanksgiving weekend, I participated in a "painting around" group inspired by Ro Bruhn. We gathered in Elizabeth Woodford's brightly colored studio, and each artist placed a blank canvas on the table. Then, we chose a color palette and a theme -ours was circles- and started painting.

 We painted on our own canvases, and on everyone else's, too! It was really, really fun! We worked for about two hours, stanidng and walking around the table the whole time. Then we took a break for lunch,. At the end of the break, we each settled into working on our own canvas.

This is my piece at the end of the day. Quite a departure from my regular color palette. In fact it seems that everything I'm working on this month is brightly colored...stay tuned to see if this trend continues.

Ice Resin and Steampunk jewelry

Here are some photos of my newest work. I am still finding new and interesting things to do with ICE Resin, but filling a bezel with some dictionary paper and bits of vintage costume jewelry is so simple and so satisfying that I still do a lot of pieces like that.

I adjusted some settings on my camera in an attempt to get better photos.Obviously, it didn't help much.  I have plans to take some lessons from Donna Hopkins, a kindred spirit, and amazing photographer. Check out her blog to see her gorgeous photography.

Here is another resin piece. Thanks to Barbara Hawley for sharing this dear little deer with me.

And another foray into my steampunk phase. I have just started doming my gears, and using micro bolts to attach them together. I wish I had the time and space to experiment all day! Don't we all?