SIMON SAYS CHALLENGE - SOMETHING FROM YESTERYEAR

As the new year is upon us, it is a time of looking forward but also for reflecting on the past. What a great time for the Simon Says Challenge titled "Something From Yesteryear"!

This is a definitely a "yesteryear" for me.  It is an accordian book titled "Where I Come From".  It is a book I made including pictures and little "snippets" of memories I have from my childhood. 

This is the front side of my book.

This is the back side.

As I was looking through pictures to use in this book, I was instantly swept back to that time in my life. I remembered so many wonderful things that have been tucked away in my mind over the years...the people, the places, the things that meant so much to me.

These pages were devoted to my grandparents...some I never knew; some who passed on before I could barely remember them. But that is the beauty of pictures...they help remind us of those who were before us and in some ways, were a piece of the puzzle of "me".

These pages were devoted to my beloved parents. I am so proud to be their daughter and proud of the legacy they left behind. They were depression babies. They didn't have very much materially but they were rich in so many other ways.

I have wonderful Christmas memories and have carried on traditions to my own children and grandchildren that my parents began with my brother and I. My "yesteryears" are something I treasure and looking at this little book brings me so much joy.

COMPENDIUM OF CURIOUSITIES CHALLENGE #25

Here is my entry into the Compendium of Curiousities Challenge #25 using Tim Holtz' Scribble Stain Distress method on the background of this tag.  I have to admit that I have not used this method very much so it was fun to experiment with it again. I guess with all the cold, wintery weather outside, I am already starting to "Think Spring"!

 

I used Tim's birdcage die and cut it twice. Then I cut away the middle bars of the cage and added a cage door that is open. I glued the door in place but I wrapped some copper wire at the top and bottom joints to add some interest and metal. I love adding metal to pieces! The flowers and buds are from Tim's Tattered Flowers die. I used the smallest one and cut several out of crinolin. I sprayed them using a color spray I made using a mini mister filled with water, a dropper of Broken China and a little bit of Kiwi Perfect Pearls. I added a bit of spray made with Scattered Straw as well. I stamped the birds in dual colors - Frayed Burlap and Broken China and wiped a little bit of Vintage Photo over them.

For a subtle pop of pink and softness, I made a little vine out of Flower Soft and wrapped it in the bird cage bars. Finally, I stamped "THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX" on one of Tim's ticket stamps and added it to a memo pin that fits nicely on the bottom of the bird cage. I love that phrase and I think making the bird cage have an open door was a different use of that die. I glued it all down and added two ribbons at the top colored to match the tag.

A RANDOM TRANSITION....

Since this is a transition period between Christmas and New Years, here's something a bit random but funny I wanted to share it with you...

My husband and I were recently in Aventura, Florida on a business/pleasure trip. He was working, I was at the mall. Yes, that is how that works! Anyway, as I was walking around, I saw this and had to snap a picture because I had never seen one before!

You KNOW you're in the "high rent district" when there is a "CAVIAR & MORE" kiosk at the mall!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and I wish for you a blessed, happy and healthy 2011!



MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL ....



Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! May all your Christmas wishes come true!! 

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK ALOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!

I love Christmas time! It's my favorite time of the year! Here is my Christmas "BELIEVE" banner that I made this year and hung on my entry hall mirror. It features pictures of myself and my brother sitting on Santa's lap when we were children.  Never mind the date..but the picture is in black and white, if that gives you any indication! I also have a pictures of my children sitting on Santa's lap and of my three little grandsons sitting on Santa's lap tucked on different flags of the banner. This was so much fun to make and I love the vintage feeling it adds. 

I love anything vintage or retro looking around the holidays. My entry hall is reflective of that.

This is on the right side of my foyer.

This display of Christmas trees and vintage toys are on the opposite side. I had intended to make all my ornaments this year to redo these two trees. I want them to be all handmade vintage ornaments from snowflakes to cones and lots and lots of vintage Santas. Maybe this coming year...I will get that done!

I made these Christmas books out of plain paper mache books I found at Hobby Lobby. They are the medium size books. They open up to reveal a scene from the story. These are so much fun to make. I made the "Christmas Carol" one this year. Next year, I hope to add "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

 From Our House To Your House ~ Merry Christmas!!

THE VINTAGE VALENTINE TRINKET BOX~sneak peek

Yes, I know that Christmas isn't over yet but I just finished my new class project for January and I can't wait to share it! It's THE VINTAGE VALENTINE TRINKET BOX!  

This whimsical little guy is all decked out in his party hat, complete with a Tim Holtz rosette and a little heart "bling" in the center.  The body is out Fancy Pants' beautiful and nostalgic Vintage Valentine papers. Class sign ups are already underway at Scrapbook Generation here in Springfield, Missouri. Don't miss out! This promises to be a fun class full of techniques as you bring your Valentine box to "life". He will be on display at Scrapbook Generation by Friday, December 17th. Stop by to visit him and sign up! 

COMPENDIUM OF CURIOUSITIES CHALLENGE ~ #24

A VISIT WITH SANTA VINTAGE KEEPSAKE

~ using Rock Candy Stickles ~

Here is my first entry into the Compendium of Curiousities Challenges hosted by L3 Studios. All of these challenges are taken from Tim Holtz' Compendium of Curiousities book.

If you were doing Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas, one of the unique ideas he suggested was using packaging from his products to create art. I loved that idea and wanted to use it in this challenge. So, I took the inside packaging from his Ideaology Time Pieces to create this Vintage Christmas photo keepsake. I added Rock Candy Stickles and a bit of Picket Fence Stickles around the outer edge of the circles to resemble snow or a dreamy feeling of days gone by.

The base is a 5x7 stretched canvas covered with a wonderful paper taken from Tim Holtz'  Seasonal Paper Stash. I covered the paper with Rock Candy Stickles. Then I sized pictures of myself and my brother, my children and my grandchildren sitting on Santa's lap...three generations!

I ran a piece of silver German scrap across the center of the paper, placed my pictures into position and adhered the plastic cover over the Rock Candy stickled paper. Next I used the flowers on  Ten Seconds Studio's  Kabuka Mold #14 to create a border Barn Red sheet metal. That was my basic border. I cut another set of flowers out of the Barn Red sheet metal to create 3D "poinsettias". I sanded the center of the flowers and alcohol inked them with Butterscotch alcohol ink. Next I put Rock Candy Stickles all over the tops of my "poinsettias". After they dried, I cut them out individually so that I could shape them and pop them onto the top of the border. After covering the edges of the canvas with the sheet metal, I hot glued a piece of green tinsel garland in the center of the flower border. Finally, I hot glued the Rock Candy stickled poinsettias in place on top of the green tinsel garland.

SIMON SAYS CHALLENGE

I was so surprised today when I got an email from a friend asking me if I'd checked Simon Says' blog this morning. At that time, I had not but she informed me that I had won something for my Christmas wreath I had entered in their contest. I won an honored position of being selected one of the "Elite Top 3" from all of the people who entered this past week's challenge hosted by Simon Says Stamps. Check out Simon Says Stamps' Challenge. It was the first time I had entered and I had a lot of fun! I was given a "Blinkie" that is now proudly flashing on the right side of my blog.
Tomorrow...I will be posting a sneak peek of my new class that will be featured at Scrapbook Generation in Springfield, Missouri in January.

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS WREATH

One of the things I love about this time of year are all the decorations...especially wreaths. I wanted a "vintage" wreath that would take me back to my childhood and rekindle the wonderful memories I have of Christmases past. This was a basic 18" wreath. I added pinecones from my white pine trees, Christmas greenery and various leaves. A few of the items were purchased but most of them, I made...which was the FUN part!

I love the old vintage postcards, so I took some of them and made ornaments out of them for my wreath. They were made from a plain paper mache base, then the post card, then I added some tinsel garland and stickles to make them "pop". I also love Tim Holtz' mini Christmas collage stamps. You can see that I multi-color stamped with them and mounted them on a gold sparkly cardstock rectangle. They really added to my vintage wreath.

What would any wreath be without a vintage copy of "The Night Before Christmas"? I used a small composition notebook and covered it with a "vintage" cover of "The Night Before Christmas" book. Then I made the first two pages of the inside of the composition notebook look like inside pages from that famous poem. 

Growing up, our tree always had Shiny Brite ornaments on it. I took an image of a Shiny Brite ornament box and sized it for my wreath. Then I made it into a real little box and added it to my wreath. Some of my favorite stories growing up were Frosty The Snowman and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. So, I made those little book covers and nestled them into the piney branches of my wreath. I added some Dollar Store gold bell garland, sprayed with a little Glossy Wood Tone to take a little of the shine off of them. They amazingly look "vintage". 

Last but not least, I wired in a sweet little victorian bear doll on to the side of my wreath. I added a string of lights for her to hold. As a child, I remember how those big multicolored Christmas bulbs on the front of our house would softly wash the ceiling and walls of my room at night as I was laying in bed. How I loved those big ol' light bulbs!

I made this wreath for myself but ended up giving it to a dear friend. It ended up being a class and we had so much fun making this wreath. We shared stories of our Christmases growing up as we worked. It was a really wonderful way to spend a day!

I hope looking this Christmas wreath has brought a smile to your face
and a memory of your own childhood Christmases! 
Happy Hannukkah, Happy Holidays to all!

TIM'S 12 TAGS OF CHRISTMAS HAS BEGUN!!

All I can say is, I'm just like a kid on Christmas morning this time of year...too early for Santa but just in time for Tim Holtz' annual "event"... Tim's
                         12 TAGS OF CHRISTMAS!
I ran down to my computer this morning as soon as I woke up, so I could "open up" the first tag...and Tim did not disappoint!  It's a wonderful tag, full of technique, creativity and great ideas for using his dies. I love all the texture and layering.

 

Here is the link to Tim's blog so you can be a part of this wonderful gift he shares with all of us every year. Grab a couple of friends and a cup of cocoa and make some tags together. What a wonderful way to spend a cold, wintery day!

 http://www.timholtz.typepad.com/

Thanks Tim and Happy Holidays everyone!  The Christmas crafting season has now officially begun!