Christmas Crafting!

I've been busy this month with crafting for Christmas - stamping, knitting, beading and even a little stitching!

Stamp Camp was at the beginning of the month - I LOVE Stamp Camp, we always make such cute things!

The first thing I made was this adorable snowman plate. First you stamp on mulberry paper, then you Modge Podge it to the back of a glass plate. So easy and so cute. I gave this to Dad and Lynn, but I might have to make another one for myself sometime!








Next I made two different boxes which are filled with candy - the triangle one was really clever!









And last, but certainly not least was a set of three cards. Aren't they cute?










Now, on to the knitting :)




I made Lynn this Light and Lovely Boucle Wrap from JoAnn.com in Black/Gray. It took just a LITTLE longer than the weekend the pattern said it would! LOL














I also made my girls special toys :)




I found the pattern for a cat nip mouse on Lion Brand's website, but I made a few changes. I used wool - and not very well washed handspun wool, so it smells nice and sheepy - LOL. And it took more than 20 rows to make it into a square, so I just kept going until it looked right - I think it was 32 rows. And I stuffed them with mostly fiber fill and only about 1/4 catnip - that's more than enough! ;)

And the girls loved them!



Here's Minnie just after she unwrapped her mousie.














And here's Odette hiding behind the love seat with hers.








Ellie had fun killing this poor little guy. She then proceeded to kill the rest of them over the next few days! LOL I've already had to sew back up the bottom of the gray one.











After a while, Akasha decided the catnip scented paper was just as much fun as the mouse - LOL








So, on the beading front, I made this bracelet, called Endless with matching earrings for Jodi. It's from the Design Collection II that was released this fall.







I also made Jodi this bookmark with the ribbon ends and sleigh charm, just adding crystals and ribbon from my stash.






For Leigh's birthday, I made her these pink shell and crystal earrings.





Sorry these pics didn't turn out that well - I was in a rush to get them in the mail - LOL.











And I don't think I ever showed what I made Jennifer for her birthday in November. This one is called Crab Bisque from the Sapphire Collection. I know how much Jen loves crabs and I knew I had to make this one for her as soon as I saw it!







I made a few other pairs of earrings as well, but I didn't get pics taken before they were given away.





Besides the ornaments I made for Dane which I showed in the last post, my only holiday stitching was Holiday House by Elizabeth Designs. And this one was a present for ME! LOL




I think that's about it for the last month or so! I'm looking forward to getting back to some serious stitching. I have a goal of getting my Papillion Creations Mystery Sampler finished before the new year - I only have part 12 left to go! Then I'll have to take a look at what my stitching goals will be for this year :)

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

Well, it's Christmas Eve day, and I'm ALMOST ready for tomorrow - LOL. The house is decorated, the presents are wrapped and I've started preping for tomorrow nights dinner. The only thing I really have left to do is finish up some kitty toys I'm making :)



I've got lots to share, but I'll start with the exchange package I sent to Dane. Her package included a scarf knit with Lion Brand Fun Fetti in Rainbow Black, some blue fat quarters, charms, buttons and a Bead Retreat bracelet I made called Blockbuster in Sky.









For her stitched gift, I made a set of ornament from three different issues of Just Cross Stitch magazine by Jeanette Douglas Designs. They were full of specialty stitches and were lots of fun to make. I was so lucky to find the perfect frames for them at Hobby Lobby!!






I've been busy with lots more Christmas Crafting, but since not all of it has been received yet, I'll save that for the next post.

I had fun with my decorating this year and got a good portion of my decorations up!







I started with my Department 56 Village, which I haven't had up since we moved in this house 4 1/2 years ago.









I also got out my Santa collection. I have two more in the kitchen, which I'll have to take a picture of later.











Here are some more decorations, some of which I made when we were first married almost 20 years ago. The picture hanging over the chest of drawers was drawn by DH and it's one of my favorite things!









Here is my stitching tree for this year!










And last, but certainly not least, my main tree :)


Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas is Coming!!

I figured I'd better get in a bit of a post before I had so much to talk about that it would feel overwhelming!

I'm almost finished Christmas decorating! I love Christmas decorations, and this year will be the first time in this house that I'm going to try to put most of my stuff out - and I have a LOT of stuff! LOL I have my village up and my stitching tree decorated. My main tree is almost finished, just need to add the poinsettias I always use to "tie" the tree together. I've got garland to hang and my Santa collection to put out and I think I'll be done.

I was joking with DH that I really need another tree - my main one is so full, I decided to not put the regular balls up. Maybe we'll get one in an after Christmas clearance sale and stick it in the kitchen :) I'd like to have a Santa tree - I have SO many Santa ornaments and I think that would be fun.

I wanted to post about the wonderful Christmas exchange package I got from Angela!!! She stitched me my very first Bourse!! It's Black Bird Designs Evergreen, but she changed the colors to match my favorite Christmas burgundy & dark green. She also sent some lovely burgundy cotton fabric that will be perfect for finishing and two charts off my wish list - Indigo Rose Beads, Buttons & Bows, and the one I was REALLY thrilled about, Just Nan's Holly Noel! That chart has been on my wish list since it came out in 2004 and I didn't even think it was still available any more. She also sent some German marzipan - I LOVE marzipan!!






Here's a closeup of the inside of the Bourse.











And the outside. Isn't it beautiful? The only problem is both sides are so pretty, I'm not sure how to display it - I'll probably alternate between the two - LOL.

Thanks again Angela for the beautiful Christmas package! I can't wait 'till all my presents are made and I can start on Holly Noel for myself!!!


My Christmas exchange package is winging it's way to it's recipient, and I hope she's just as happy with her package as I was was mine.

A Slightly Late "Happy Halloween"!!

Only two days late, so not TOO bad! LOL I've been down for almost a week with a bad case of food poisoning, or I would have gotten this posted sooner. The irony of the whole thing is that I recently started a new eating plan, and in the process switched from ground beef to ground turkey, and I think that's what ended up making me sick. I think I'll go back to beef!





Anyway, I never posted about the Halloween exchange I was in. I sent to Laura this year, which is great, because she LOVES Halloween!! I had a fun time finding stuff for her, including eyeball and finger candy - LOL








The piece I stitched her is from Autumn Minis by Waxing Moon Designs. I added leaves that I found in the Scrapbooking section to a plain black frame - quick and easy!!









And my Stamp Club made the cutest Halloween projects for October! The card is a pop-up card that folds down flat. You can find the directions for the technique here. And the bag was really fun - we stamped the image, colored it, and then sprayed it with water to make it run. I liked the projects so much, I made two sets - I knew I had to send them to Laura, but I wanted to keep them for myself too! LOL






And I got a fabulous package all the way from Germany from Gaby! I was just blown away by everything she made me!









She made this adorable pillow (I've GOT to try this finishing technique sometime!) . The chart is from German designer Gisela Suskind. It was originally charted as a monochrome design, and Gaby added the colors - I love it!






She also made this clever scissor holder - complete with a beautiful beaded scissor fob and these great Halloween colored scissors! This is a wonderful addition to my scissor/fob collection :)

Thanks again Gaby for the great Halloween package!!









And I finally got the light situation fixed on my holiday tree. It actually meant several hours of cutting off the original lights and replacing them with LED's, but I'm glad that I now have a fully lit tree, and these lights should last for years! So here is my 2008 Halloween Tree :)

Time for a Monthly Update!

I can't believe I started this update 10 days ago! Where on earth does the time go?



First I want to share a beaded set that I made for Jodi for her birthday (yes, it was in July, and yes, I was late with it, but luckily, Jodi is very understanding, especially when it comes to jewelry - LOL). The necklace & bracelet patterns came from the book The Beader's Palette, which Jodi sent me this summer. I asked her what her favorite project was and this is the one she picked, so hopefully she wasn't lying to me! :) I had to come up with something for matching earrings since there wasn't a pattern, and I'm quite pleased what I came up with. I wish the colors would show up better - this really is stunning in person (IMHO!)







And speaking of Jodi and jewelery, I made a necklace out of my Bead Retreat Family Tree bracelet (which you can see at the bottom of this post) for Jodi's mom.









Here's a close-up. I can't wait to hear how her mom likes it!! My step-mom was quite taken with it, so when I get my replacement bracelet in and the kit retires, I'll be making another one.










So, on the stitching front, I'm working on SALexandre with some of the ladies in my Yahoo group. I'm using Anchor 1206 on an unknown 32 ct ivory fabric from my stash. We're suppose to SAL every Saturday, and I try to make sure I get at least a few stitches in!









And I'm still keeping up with with my Papillon Creations Mystery Sampler! This is though part 9. Just a few more months and it'll be finished!!









And I actually pulled out a project from the 2006 Shepherd's Bush Retreat! This is the Haunted Needle House from Charland Designs. I had started the project in class on the kit fabric, but since I don't like evenweave OR blue, I decided to change it out and start over again (luckily, I hadn't gotten very far!). I have no idea what this fabric is, but it matches the pumpkin fabric for the inner box perfectly! At the retreat, my roommates and I did some dying - one of them brought this huge piece of linen that she hated the color of and wanted to try dying it. Several of us loved it and wouldn't let her - LOL - so she cut it up and gave it away! I can't remember if it was Jill or Tracy or someone else, but whoever it was, thanks again for the fabby - it's looking great!!


Here are some close-ups of the front, back and one side.

















I hope to get the rest of the stitching finished this weekend and HOPEFULLY will have the chance to do the finishing before Halloween!!

The Rest of the Story

I finally got pics taken of the rest of the stuff I've been working on lately! I was hoping to get that post in by the end of August, but we'll call this a good start to September! LOL So, I started this post on September 1st, and here it is the 15th, and of course, by now I have more to share, but we'll just start with this :)






First up is a pic of the Scavenger Hunt package I sent to Juli. I had more fun with this exchange! I can't wait to do another one. The first picture shows everything wrapped up complete with tags showing her words. The second picture shows what's inside all the packages.









Juli's seven words were:

purplebee ( local huckleberry honey from Cox Honeyland and a scissor fob I made), tree (a giant colored pencil made from a tree branch which I found in a gift shop in Bear Lake), sunshine (ribbon), frog (growing frog), sheep (Spirt Goat soap), daisy (cosmetic case, frame & punch), and garden (address book).




Here's a closeup of the scissor fob. I've wanted to try making a combination stitched and beaded fob for a while now, and this was the perfect opportunity! The little motif is from Répertoire des Motifs by Valerie Lejune.

I've gotten a head start on Halloween stitching! DH took me to Shepherd's Bush last month while we were in Ogden - I only had 10 minutes 'till they closed, but I managed to pick out a few things. The real reason I went there was to get something for my Halloween Exchange partner, but I really loved this little piece and got the chart and all the materials for it.



It's the October Baubles from Samsarah Designs. Shepherd's Bush made a couple of color changes and added some different buttons, so I went with the same changes. I started it that night and had it finished in just a few days. Now I just need to frame it!



And speaking of Shepherd's Bush, another recent finish (started before the Baubles, but finished after - LOL) is Shepherd's Bush Apple Kissed Autumn. I just love there kits! I'd like to frame this, but it's so skinny, I'll have to have one specially made.




At the beginning of August, my stamp club had our semi-annual Stamp Camp. I made 5 projects this time.





A cover for a tablet of paper...





















A packet of six note cards in a matching folder...








A gift card holder with matching gift bag...
















A medium sized gift bag...











And my favorite project, an altered tin to hold recipes!

Our next Stamp Camp will be the Christmas one in December. I'm anxious to see what the projects will be, but I'm in no way anxious for it to be the Holidays again already!!