I have been a little silent on the blog front - mainly because I am enjoying my time with family that I don't get to see very often.
I'll post pictures once I have weeded through them. In the meantime I wanted to share something slightly different for this week's Music Saves My Soul. It's not really a song but I thought this was just too good to pass up.
Just thought this would put everyone in the right mood for Christmas time...
The current Scrap Our Stash December Challenge is near and dear to my heart. It is through this wonderful group that I got my first "recognition" for anything crafty and dear Kathy gave me a chance to be a Guest Designer. And now I have been on this team with a bunch of talented, fun and caring ladies - it's been an amazing journey thus far.
So when this month's challenge is in honor of Scrap Our Stash turning the big ONE, I thought what better then to post a birthday project that I had not shared with you.
This birthday project was actually a CASE study on Claire's really creative work. I fell in love with her boat, so when a friend had a birthday coming up, I knew that the perfect gift was going to be a gift card for a day's worth of sailing. He has picked up sailing as a hobby this year and went to sailing school to get his license. What I love most about this friend is that when he says he wants to learn sailing, he'll actually follow through and go get that sailing license. The only sad thing is we were not sure where he goes sailing, so we could not gift him a gift card. Instead we had to give him his sailing trip in the form of cold, hard cash. I hope, he didn't mind.
Here another up-close look at the captain's face. It really looks like my friend ;)
Funnily enough - I popped over to see what my favorite wee Memories crew was up to this week to find this challenge...
Someone has been gracious enough to give me a little break with all my crafting madness still in progress. At least I can throw this one into the mix and have a little play time...
I've been crafting like a crazy gal and trying to shrink my Holiday Production List. So to keep me going I have been putting up some Christmas music to motivate me along. They make for great "sing a longs" at home.
I really love "O Holy Night" - it's just one of those beautiful song, and especially fell in love with this Celine Dion version when I first heard. It's just so majestic, regal and a great reminder of what this season is all about.
What are your favorite Christmas carols or holiday songs? Any favorite versions?
Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Those were my thoughts when the weather temperatures dropped to below 0 deg Celcius. I was Monday in Boston and could not believe me thinking The Great White North is warmer than Massachusetts. On a great note, this week marks my last business travel for this year ;)
Can't wait to be back later, since I have my huge holiday production to still work on. In the meantime, here is a Waltzingmouse Sketch contribution with a wee, little twist - har har.
I hear you guys groaning. I thought it was punny way to share the current wee Memories challenge with you. And here the actual sketch from Waltzingmouse.
When I first saw this sketch, my brain associated Pokémon ball. I could not get this image out of my head. Thankfully the wee Memories sketch gave me something new to focus on and I finally moved on to "cold" and "snow." Before you know it, I had snowflakes on the mind!
My Stickles were lined up like little toy soldiers on my desk from a few cards ago, and I decided to put the Diamond Stickles to use. The white section was cut into a fun wave to simulate a mountain of snow. And I am so in love with the little flourish scrolls!
In the mean time, I really pray and hope it does not snow on Friday, because I do want to make it home. Last business trip, my 5p flight was cancelled and I was chillin' (quite literally) at the airport until the (delayed) 9:30pm-ish flight departed at 20 minutes past the hour.
Needless to say, I really need every waking and free moment at my crafting sweat shop desk. After all, the holidays are fast approaching...Anyone else feeling the home stretch?
{2010.12.05 - Edit} I know I had post this song before, but I didn't have a chance to share it through the official Music Saves My Soul Round-up. There was a short break during our weekly sharing.
This song was playing a lot when I was driving home for work and something about that cello line in the background just makes me fall in love with the song over and over.
I haven't been too diligent with my crafting cards and haven't pulled out a Sweet Stop Sketch for a while. Can't believe they are #84. Where has the time gone?!
Another fun place to check in on are the weekly wee Memories Challenges. This week's theme is "Ribbons."
I had thought of all the fun things to do with ribbon, and immediately thought of Vera's awesome Ribbon Fish Tutorial. Isn't it amazing? It is still on my list of things to CASE. But I was not feeling the summery, fun vibe. At least not recently when the windy cold has been hitting my face and my fingers have that cold, numb feeling when leaving for work in the morning.
So I decided to do a ribbon wreath, in spirit of Christmas creeping up. I can't believe this weekend is already Second Advent! Half way there, right?
Stamps: (Musical Backgrounds, Compliments of the Season, Around Christmastime) Waltzingmouse Stamps Paper: (Brown Parcel Wrap) Scotch; (Paper Basics Card Stock - Kraft, True Black) Papertrey Ink; (Boxer) Basic Grey; (Basic Card Stock - Cream) Recollections Ink: (Earth Elements - Ruby Red) Stamping Up!; (Momento - Tuxedo Black Green) Tsukineko Embellishments: (Inkssentials - Glossy Accents) Ranger; Value Ribbon - Green (Michaels);
I took two twisty ties and created a shady-looking circle (it was not much of a circle) and wrapped and glued ribbon at strategy locations. The wreath should have a full, 3-D effect. The berries are stamped, cut, and glossied up.
This is my first time playing with Glossy Accents and I was surprised how long that thing requires to dry! In addition, I decided to stamp a background onto the Kraft-colored background, but decided that I could not let the wee, little bit of parcel paper go to waste, that was lying around due to my Wine Label project.
Interestingly, it tends to absorb ink and bleed more. But I like the un-even, vintage-like look. I guess more reason not to throw out my other brown parcel paper.
Well, then, hope you enjoyed this post. I'm off to go back to my sweat shop to create tags for my upcoming cookie swap.
So, when Santa checks his "nice" list, will you be on it? And what are you wishing for? I remember how one Christmas I was wishing for a huge set of color pencils. The kind with 3 tiers in a wooden drawers. Needless to say, it cost a fortune and the little third-grader Ren-Yi was no where near an amateur artist ;) But I digress...
My Christmas memories inspired me to pull my Around Christmas Time stamp set out. And they were in my recent Waltzingmouse Stamp order which naturally meant they had to be acquainted with my ink pads.
I inked up a text background with brown on pink and decided that the brown card stock was too stark. To soften it up, I inverted and added Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid onto brown. The picture below shows this better...
In addition I have been meaning to add Tim Holtz Distress Inks to my collection and have recently ordered four fun colors (mainly inspired by Claire): Antique Linen (I wonder why!), Walnut Stain, Chipped Sapphire, and Sugar Spun. Here the Sugar Spun in action...
I love, Love, LOVE my new inks. And I can't really explain why it took me this long to try 'em. In fact, love them so much that I am starting to eye other colors...What are your favorite shades of distress ink?
