Christmas Blessings

For the past 12 days, I have been taking part in an awesome art swap with some

of my very good friends, the Canadian Chickies.

Today, I would like to show you the beautiful gifties everyone created for the swap.

Day 1 ~ Arlene Travnik ~ Hand-Stitched Leather Bracelet

Day 2 ~ Brittni Carey ~ Mini Booklet with Turtle Dove Decoration

Day 3 ~ Mar Gray ~ Tree Magnet with Mini Painting and Easel

Day 4 ~ Kathryn Ssedogo ~ Altered Matchbox

Day 5 ~ Martha Brown ~ Fabric Joy Banner

Day 6 ~ Sabina Parsons ~ Fairy Angel in a Jar

Day 7 ~ Dawn Supina ~ Vintage Hang Up

Day 8 ~ Heather Robinson ~ Altered Composition Book

Day 9 ~ Kim de Broin Mailhot ~ Soft Sculptured Heart

Day 10 ~ Nicolette Anderson ~ Retro Beaded Decoration

Day 11 ~ Jennifer Conway ~ Bottlecap Pin and Scrabble Tile Necklace

Day 12 ~ Cindy Hogg ~ Jar Snowman

Thank you Canadian Chickies, for making the days leading up to Christmas so enjoyable.

To all the readers of my blog ...

May you have a safe holiday season filled with the warmth and love of family and friends.

Christmas Blessings to all!

Can't forget the 13th day of Christmas!

Lelainia Lloyd created a package of pure fun for the 13th day of Christmas (which occurred for me, on the 7th day when everyone else opened my gift). Lelainia's gift was stuffed full of ephemera (inspiring stuff to get me going on some art projects in the new year), a yummy looking recipe, a Christmas CD (which I've played almost nonstop since I opened it) ...

... and an exquisite Shabby Chic-ish star which predominately hangs on my little pink feather Christmas tree.

This 12 Days of Christmas swap has been a lot of fun with such talented artists taking part.

In a couple hours, it will be Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas to you all.
God bless us, everyone!

7th Day of Christmas & the Ties that Bind

The 7th day of Christmas is my day to give back to all the wonderful artists participating in the 12 Days of Christmas. It's just after midnight here, and I wanted to post this so that it would be up for the overseas gals.
It took me the longest time to decide what to make for this year's swap. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a serious Sewing Phobia, so I am very proud of myself. I stretched real hard, and jumped completely out of the box by making these little Tie Pockets. Each gift was created by using an old neckties from the the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s! I found some of these delightful ties at the ReUse Centre, one was my dad's, and a couple I snuck out of my husband's closet! Once I had assembled 12 ties, I tried as best I could to match everyone's colour preferences. Also whenever possible, I added embellishments I felt each person may like. My friend Shelly, was kind enough to lend me her sewing machine, and I was off ... going where I hadn't gone since eighth grade home ec. class ... to use a scary, scary sewing machine. Argh! The first couple ties I made were pretty rough. (You'll probably know if I made yours first ... or maybe you won't *smile*) However, as I went along, I actually started to enjoy myself. I decided that straight lines weren't that important, which took a lot of pressure off, too. Each Tie Pocket has a button with Velcro fasteners to keep them securely closed. Finally, I made 3 cards to stuff into the completed Tie Pockets: Permission to Play, Permission to Make Mistakes and Artist of the Year. I had photos of some of the 12 day artists, so for those folks, I added "Photo ID" (or would that be Faux-toe ID?) to the Artist of the Year cards, just in case they have to use it at an airport or something. MOO cards seemed to be an obvious choice for one last item to stuff into the Tie Pockets for my friends ~ each MOO card features some art piece that I've done in the past. Finally, I wrapped the gifts in simple old-fashioned tissue paper with sparkles and added little Christmas tags featuring little children and angels (another great find from ReUse). I hope everyone likes the Tie Pockets I made them and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.
Now please excuse me while I secretly open the mysterious #13 gift from Lelainia ....

By the way, I made an extra Artist of the Year card for my son Zachary because he is fast becoming an
excellent artist in his own right!

The 6th day of Christmas is pretty, pretty!

Ruth O'Connor crafted this pretty, pretty pink (!) lace cuff bracelet for me on the 6th Day of Christmas. I love the vintage-ness of it all! It's very clever too, because this bracelet is kind of a one-size-fits-all type. The crocheted holes allow for the button to be done up anywhere. And doesn't it look lovely on my pink tree?

Tomorrow is my big day in the 12 Days of Christmas swap ~ my Day 7 gifts will be opened up by the other ladies and I get to open Lelainia's #13 gift! I hope everyone will like them.

5th Day of Christmas arrives with lace & bling ...

Arlene of Art De Me created one of her masterpiece wallets for me ... finally! I've seen some of these wallets before that she has made for her family, and I've hinted quite loudly that I would love to have one for my very own, and now I do, thanks to the 12 Days of Christmas Swap.
I love everything about the wallet, Arlene. From the blingy buttons, to the nativity postage stamps, to the vintage doilies to the handwriting ~ you really do know me, my friend. As you say: more glitter!
For anyone fortunate enough to now one, you should know that these babies wear really well. Arlene still uses the original wallet she made as a prototype and it's holding up after years of use. And with all the pockets inside, there is plenty of room for one's myriad of cards (including MOOs).

P.S. Arlene, I love the face inside the pocket area of my wallet. Was that done intentionally? Very cool!

1st day of Christmas ... or biting the bullet?

Kathy Strittmater has started off the 12 Days of Christmas with a bang! She ingeniously crafted a beautiful pendant using a bullet casing. Here's her story...

The Long Lost Bullet
by Kathy Strittmater
A long time ago a friend of mine gave me a bag of tarnished used bullet casings in various sizes and he said "I know you'll figure out something to do with these". I've had them for years and recently thought about making a pendant out of them for our exchange. Since there were several sizes, and I'm not the least bit knowledgeable about guns and bullets, I took the bag to work to ask some of the men that hunt if they could tell me about the different sizes.
I started with my boss, and that was the wrong person to ask. He promptly told me that I had violated our company policy on bringing firearms and contraband into the workplace and he could immediately terminate my employment. I stood there stunned and said "are you serious – they are empty bullet casings" and he said it didn't matter, it was a violation of our policy and I needed to get them off property immediately. I was not allowed to go put them in my car as we have a vehicle search policy at any time and now that he knows that I have them, I cannot put them in my car or they could search it.
I am still in shock and disbelief at this point because to me it was so innocent. So, I took the plastic bag of casings across the street from our building and put it in a ditch. I wrote myself a note and taped it on my steering wheel so I would remember and pick them up after work that night. I figured I was now good to go.
Well………lo and behold, I leave work at the end of the day to come out to the parking lot and I see a street resurfacing crew tearing up the street and they are right by the ditch where I left the bullets. There were several pieces of heavy machinery right there moving dirt and I knew for sure the idea of getting my bag of bullets was long gone. They have to be buried in dirt and asphalt by this point.
I was so distraught – I was about ready to cry. I was bound and determined to get more casings, so I looked up in the phone book to see if there was a gun shop in this small town where I work, and I went on my lunch hour the next day, found what I wanted, purchased the casings, left them there to come back and pick up after work (explained to the old man why I couldn't take them with me at that time) and I made what you have today.
The original ones were all tarnished and I was in love with them, but hopefully the new ones will get tarnished sometime. So, something so simple could have cost me my job, but never my spirit. I hope you enjoy wearing the "Long Lost Bullet".

Thank you Kathy for the beautiful pendant. I shall cherish it ~ especially after hearing what you had to go through to create it.

Sights & sounds of Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching. I love the sights and the sounds of the season, don't you?
The 12 Days of Christmas Swap is about to start (this Saturday ~ yay!) that's gonna be fun. This is the third year I've participated in the swap, and every time I get very antsy waiting to open the treasures the other artists in the swap have sent my way.
And usually we have our tree up by December 1st. This year however, I haven't got around to it yet. Yep, I've been rather slow this time round. We have a few Christmas items out of the boxes, but no tree yet. Who knows, maybe this will be the year we actually get a real one. I really do miss the scent of a real tree in the house.

I hear that the weather's supposed to get real cold come this weekend. They're throwing around predictions like -24 degrees Celsius ... and that's the HIGH for Sunday. For Fahrenheit enthusiasts, that's -12 degrees! Oh the low will be -30 Celsius or -22 Fahrenheit. Brrrr! I'm not ready for temperatures like that.
Guess this would be a good opportunity to wrap some gifts and hibernate indoors with a piping hot mug of hot Chocolatey Chai Tea and enjoy the sights and the sounds of Christmas time ... indoors!

Done

It's official folks. I am a winner for the second year in a row of the National Novel Writing Month thingie. And look at the ultra cool and amazingly nifty banner that I can add to my blog's sidebar now.

Tonight I will celebrate this great victory by attending a Christmas Concert in which my son David will be singing in his university concert choir (along with a bell choir).

Tomorrow I will contemplate the idea of actually finishing off my Faux Gogh chair and awaiting the First Day of the 12 Days of Christmas Swap.

There's no snow on the ground, but I am trying to get into the mood for Christmas. Now that nanowrimo is over for another year, my head feels as though it is suddenly starting to clear after living in a continuous fog for the past few weeks.

Stay tuned for more fun ~ and I promise to post more now that the nasty month of November is coming to an end.

Still here ... still writing

Hi, it's just me checking in to say hi to you all. I totally apologize for my nonexistent postings as of late. As many of you know, I do this incredibly crazy thing in November called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The basic premise is to write a novel of at least 50,000 words in 30 days. I'm a member of the Edmonton branch ~ along with my hubby and two sons ~ of this insane little project, the EdMoWriMos.
Writing a novel, along with a 2 day job that has turned into a much longer commitment has made posting on my blog a rarity, indeed. My novel's word count as of this evening is 26,707 words, so I'm over halfway there. Yay me!
So my ever-patient blog adherants, hang in there. Once NaNoWriMo is completed, (I'm creating 2 awards for the Thank God It's Over Party -- ohh the pressure!) I will start in on the 12 Days of Christmas Swap play-by-play; showing you the wonderful treasures I've received as I open them every day.
Oh! And I still have the fourth panel (Irises) of my Faux Gogh chair to complete. I hope to have that done before we decorate our Christmas tree. So much to do! Agh!!!

12th Day of Christmas is WOW!

It's Day 12 already. All good things must come to an end. And what a wonderful ending ...

The first thing I noticed was the too-cool wrapping the 12th Day gift arrived in. The ever clever Kelly Snelling created her own paper. But the wrapping was only a forshadowing of the incredible artwork tucked inside the box. The necklace that Kelly created for the 12th day is amazing! I am in awe of the workmanship that was put into this piece. For a full "technical" explanation of this necklace, check out the 12 Days of Christmas Swap site.

Thank you Kelly for sharing so generously to wrap up this incredible swap. Thank you Lelainia for heading up this swap for the second year in a row. And thank you everyone else who gave me these wonderfully artsy gifts. I shall cherish them (and show them off!).

On the 9th Day ... Penelope gave to me

Because the gifts I made are being opened today, I got to open Penelope Harris'#13 gift. And, since not everyone has opened her gift yet, we're not supposed to show any photos of it. However, Photo 1 gives you a sneeky peek. Penelope's gift is amazing and must have taken a lot of time and care to create. Thank you Penelope!

And Photo 2 is of the giftie I made (looking rather red by the light of my Christmas tree) for the other artists in the 12 Days of Christmas swap. It's an Altered Button Card. I had a lot of joy putting these babies together ~ with collage, and individualizing them by adding Scrabble tiles initials on them, antique keys and ribbon. Hopefully everyone will enjoy them.

Day 6 gift is out of the bag!

This morning I opened a bag containing a cute little treasure for Day 6 from Linda Koch. It's a teeny shopping bag (made out of matt board, maybe) with old text, gold paint and an antique photo.

Linda stuffed the inside with some old German text and the words and music to "It is Well with my Soul" ~ one of my favourite hymns.

Things coming together on the 5th day of Christmas

Maija created this little magnetic board for the 5th day ... "coming together" ... magnetic ... get it? Anyway this little retro-inspired number is not only charming, it's kenetic art too. I love the buttons Maija ~ thank you!

Funky Fourth Day of Christmas

Look at the copper necklace Melissa made for me to celebrate the 4th day of Christmas!
I hung the necklace on my tree to take the photo (right) and thought it actually looked kinda cool as an ornament. Talk about versatile, eh?

Black & White Surprise for Day 3

It's Saturday morning, so I slept in until 7 o'clock. Oh the luxury of weekends, eh?

Anyhoo ... the first thing I did when I got up was to go to my 12 Days of Christmas basket to see what was in store for Day #3. Amy Huff made a cute miniature domino soldered necklace.

In other news, I am hosting a cookie exchange this afternoon. I'll try to get some photos on here of the goodies later on today.

2nd Day ...Two Ear-r-ings

Jennifer Rowland made these cool earrings for the 2nd Day of Christmas. They have LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST them. Are they real dimes? Not sure, but I'll be wearing these lovelies tomorrow at my Christmas Cookie Exchange. Thanks Jennifer.

On the First Day of Christmas

... Edina gave to me ...

a really quaint Shabby Chic Banner with my initial on it. I love it! Isn't it gorgeous?

It is a little brighter than in the photo shown here (facing out of my livingroom window), but as we get to the shortest day of the year, things are pretty much dark by 4 p.m.

Thankfully we have Christmas and the 12 Days of Christmas swap to brighten these dreary December days, eh?

13 Days until Christmas ...

... can only mean one thing. Tomorrow, us participants of the 12 Days of Christmas swap finally, finally get to start opening the gifts which have been ever tempting all of us since they arrived one by one via snail mail. Yippee!

It's snowing like crazy outside today. A perfect day to stay indoors. So the natural thing to do was to take my basket of goodies to photograph them outside in the snow to show ya'll.

In other news, I'm currently reading David's novel that he wrote for NaNoWriMo. He proof read mine and now I am returning the favour. Many times as he read my book, Scrabble Secrets, I heard him laugh hysterically. I was certain that it was the witty dialogue and the unrelenting humour throughout. Sadly, for the most part, he was mocking me for my too-numerous to mention grammar faux pas, the "gratuitous advertisements for the Pointy Hat ART Posse", and intermittent song lyrics. Cruel son I've raised!

Oh ya, and his novel, Modern Kind .... It's good, very good. Drat! The boy is making his Ma look bad. Sigh!

ReUse Wonders

The oh-so-cool 12 Days of Christmas Swap is here and I've completed my gifts! They're wrapped (see right) and ready to be mailed. Headed up once again by Lelainia Lloyd, this year promises to be another fun-filled experience. I can hardly wait!

My ART buddy, Arlene is participating this year too ~ yay! She's in the other group of 12, so I'll get to see all 24 creations. Plus we are making an additional gift to exchange between each other which will be fun.

Can't tell you what's inside the packages though, but I can tell you that (1) I created the gifties with stuff entirely from the Edmonton ReUse Centre (my favourite-est art supply store, e-ver!). (2) People who receive these babies will be able to hang them on their Christmas tree if they wish. (3) The item has a vintage feel to them. (4) The gifts are wrapped in florist foil wrap and topped with a slide with the number "9" on them (since my gifts will be opened on the 9th Day of Christmas). A little red, green or gold bow tops the slide for a little added pizzaz.