Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Line-up

Every Christmas and Easter my dad took line-up shots. You may remember these. For us it usually went like this...we would all get dressed for church and just as my mom had us all ready to go my dad would stop everything to take some photos. Now, as you can imagine, this was not the days of quick digital cameras. First daddy would load and wind the film into the camera. Then he would rummage through the drawer in the desk where he kept the flashbulbs. Yes, actual glass bulbs that screwed into the flash that snapped onto the camera in some way. Then the picture taking would start. Of course there had to be several poses and oftentimes the flashbulb wouldn't go off so there were retakes. All the while my mom is whispering (louder with each retake) that we were going to be late for church. And those knitted, tied-under-the chin hats were getting hot and itchy! There was no way to see the photos as you took them or delete the bad ones so when the pictures came back they often looked like this one...one of us has our eyes closed, someone's looking in the wrong direction or we all have that "flashbulb in the eyes" dazed looked. The line-up shots seemed like such an ordeal at the time...but how I enjoy looking at them now. Merry Christmas to Jan and Nancy and Lambie. How I wish we were together for another line-up shot this year!

Dolly's ready for Christmas...

Altered salt box ornament

I was such a lucky girl to win this fabulous altered salt box ornament from Tia at Domestic Underground. It's gorgeous...so sparkly and glitterfied! I found the perfect spot for it under my little feather tree. Tia did such an amazing job on this...it's filled with a vintage Santa on one side and a snowman on the other. Each time I go by it I have to switch it! Thank you Tia...I just love it!

Vintage Santa Skinny

Here's my vintage Santa skinny. I love this 3" x 5" size...it's a little more room to work on than an atc. I can't believe how fast December is flying by. I stopped in at Joann Fabrics after work today and they had put out all the Valentine merchandise!

Altered Cabinet Card Swap

It's been another fun swap at A Swap for All Seasons. Now that I know Deb's received her card I can post it for you. It took me awhile to decide what I was going to do with Albert...as I came to think of him...but in the end this is how her turned out. With such an earnest face I just knew he had to "believe." And here's a look and what Deb sent me. Along with my altered cabinet card there was a box full of vintage treats...sweet hankies and buttons, lovely vintage cards, a cookie cutter and even some Christmas chocolate! Thanks Deb...I love it!

Tag Tuesday

The challenge today at Louise's Tag Tuesday is to use the colors purple, green and silver. I happen to be wrapping a Christmas gift today for someone (who shall remain nameless!) whose favorite color is purple...so this will be perfect for her package! I've always loved images of Santas in purple robes. This lovely Santa was shared by Suzee Que and you can see the original here. Be sure to stop by Kard Krazy to see all the lovely tags!

Sneak Peek for Deb

It's sneak peek week at A Swap for All Seasons and I almost forgot to post my peek! This time we're swapping altered cabinet cards. I love these old photos...I always wonder who these people were and what their life was like. They have to have names for me...this man became Albert. He has kind eyes and a steady gaze. A solid, trusting face. I like him! I can't show you the finished card...only a peek. We're supposed to mail them tomorrow. So, come back in a few days if you'd like to see Albert in all his glory. In the mean time I'll show you the BACK of his photo which is often times with these cabinet cards as lovely as the photo itself!

Advent Calendar Pocket Day 9

Lisa Pace has added another pocket to her Advent Pocket Calendar project. I didn't have a red bird similar to the one she used so I substituted this little vintage ornament. I think it works just as well, don't you? This has been such a fun project...we're over half way now. I'm really looking forward to seeing what it will all look like when it's finished!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful day!

VooDoo Heart

The Voodoo Heart Shadow Box is another Artist Class project I got to work on this weekend. Tia Storm taught the project which called for a shadow box to hold a hand sewn heart. I didn't have a shadow box handy so I took a stretched canvas and painted it black, added paper to the sides and old sheet music to the center and made my own. My heart took a bit of a different direction than Tia's...not too much angst in my heart these days thankfully...but that's the beauty of a project like this. You can create it in whatever manner that speaks to you! Artist class is now officially over but I still have several projects to complete. Good thing I'm off today!

Artist Class - Digital ATCs with Joy Ott

Joy Ott has a nice and easy tutorial at Artist Class for making digital ATCs. Here's the one I made using the digital kit she provided us. I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to digital art...I think I'll always love the actual cutting and pasting best...but it's fun to play around and learn something new.

Advent Calendar Pockets 3 and 12

Here are two more Advent calendar pockets I've finished. Don't you wish you had all the time in the world to play at things you love? I could sit at my craft table and be happy as a clam cutting and pasting all day! What have you been creating lately? I'll check back later...I'm off to work now...have a fun Saturday!

Artist Class

Artist Class is an online collection of projects that I've been having a great time with. I only wish I had more time to complete them! But here's one I finished this morning. This little snowman ornament was made using Paperclay following Dawn Edmonson's (of The Feathered Nest) easy tutorial. I've always wanted to try a project with Paperclay and this one was nice and simple and turned out great...I love his little round cheeks! There's still time to join in for all the projects if you'd like to take a look.

A Sweet Girl

Is this a sweet looking child? I wish I knew her name. I found this photo in a thrift store recently and could bear to leave it there. Please feel free to use her in your art. I think she'd like that!

Advent Pocket Calendar

Lisa Pace of It's In the Details is sharing a fun project called 12 Day Advent Pocket Calendar. Over the next couple of weeks she plans to share a tutorial on how to create each of the 12 pockets that "when finished and put together will create a 12 Day Advent Pocket Style Calendar." Each pocket will contain a small strip of paper that has a fun holiday thing to do each day. I've always loved Advent calendars and usually buy one each year but this caught my eye and looked like a lot of fun. It helps that I already had some of the supplies on hand. I had bought a set of Tim Holtz fragments not too long ago at Michaels when they were on sale. But the beauty of this project is that you can really use whatever you have on hand to embellish your pockets. Lisa's making the pockets randomly so today's pocket is number 1. She's already shown us how to make days 5, 10 and 11. Go take a look!

Red Lead Artist on Call

I was honored recently to be invited by Chris and Sharon of Red Lead to be one of their Artists on Call. If you read my blog you know how much I love Red Lead products. In addition to having a great shop full of wonderful things they host a Yahoo group full of warm and talented "swap sisters" who constantly inspire me. The only downside...the shop is in St. Louis! If it were closer I'd be there every weekend taking one of their workshops. Not that distance has stopped me completely...Quinn treated me last year to a weekend in St. Louis that included one of my favorite workshops! Hmmm...Christmas is coming...maybe I need to whisper something in Santa's ear!

Here are the projects I made with the Red Lead supplies Chris and Sharon sent me.

A Gorgeous Giveaway at Mudbay

Cathy of Mudbay Musings and Mudbay Images is celebrating her 100th post with a gorgeous blog giveaway. Just take a look at all the pretties she's including! All you have to do to be entered in the giveaway is stop by and leave a comment on this post by midnight November 25. So, go on...take a look!

Scenes from the Mixed Media Market

Here are a few shots of our tables all set up for the Mixed Media Market. We had a great time. We would have loved to have a better day weather wise but for our first venture like this I think it went real well. Mark your calendars for March 23rd when we have our next sale. More info will be coming soon!








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Old Maid

I found this Old Maid game a few weeks back at the Funky Junk Sisters sale. I love these sweet images and thought I'd share them. There was no information on or in the box so I don't know how old they are or who made them. Enjoy!