Red Velvet Art Ornament Swap

I forgot that MadRetz asked if I would post the ornaments I received from the Red Velvet Art ornament swap. As I always say, better late than never!!!

So, here they are! Very cool!!!

We should do this next year...A Nudge-Nudge Ornament Exchange...Draw names maybe??? I'll try to remember to bring it up in October or November. Or sooner, yeah! A Nudge-Nudge Valentine Swap???

ChAiN sTitcH

Sitting here with my Dad, watching Kill Bill Vol. 2 and teaching myself how to crochet flowers. (Okay, if that isn't incongruous!) Definitely addictive, this crochet thing. I'm all ready to rush out and buy some more hooks and colorful thread. If you're interested in trying these easy flowers, here are the two patterns I used...

FlowerPower and Flower Brooch

smash cakes

My friends' twins turn 1 today! I made their smash cakes for them (a.k.a.-the cake just for the birthday boy/girl to smash into). They are just the small 6" cakes. They aren't that great seeing as I had JUST enough frosting, so I had no leftover frosting to correct goofs. But they aren't completely horrible either. The twins' invitation reads, "All the kings horses and all the kings men invite you to celebrate Prince Andrew and Princess Annabella's birthdays with them!" The invitation had a picture of humpty dumpty on the wall on it. So on Andrew's cake I made a brick wall around the edges. And I tried to make Annabella's sort of look like a castle. The dark blue areas on Andrew's cake are where I accidentally dropped too much shimmer dust. (something I would have corrected if I had more frosting. oops.) You can't really tell in these pictures, but the tops of the cakes are shimmery.

What I've been up to

Hey there...so I figured since I outed myself in the comments of the roll call post, I would out myself even further in the name of shameless bragging.

Some of you know that I lost my job at 8:30 in the morning the day my husband and I returned from our honeymoon this past September. It is a long, frustrating story that could be titled, "101 Reasons Not To Blog at or About Work". But we have moved past it and are getting on with our lives.

Losing my job was a huge blow, but I was able to turn lemons into lemonade...or limoncello if you will...by starting a new business all on my own, aptly titled: LimoncelloSTYLE. LimoncelloSTYLE is a company specializing in Custom Cards, Custom Invitation Suites and DIY Rescue, which I have defined here.

I have been developing my website for the past month or so and I finally went live on December 7, the day I walked into the Boston City Clerk's office and filed my Doing-Business-As certificate.
I hope you will come by to my site and check it out. My website is http://www.limoncellostyle.com/ and my blog is http://limoncello-style.blogspot.com/. It truly is a labor of love and I am really glad to have this chance to make a dream a reality.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!!

--Miriam aka Girl

quickie x-mas tags!

How many days until X-mas?! I'm so ready to rip open presents!!!

Some quickie gift tags. I didn't measure or anything, just cut the colored cardstock and lil ornaments out of old dictionary pages.

Click on the photo to see it up close and personal! : .)

Church Baby

This is the second portion of my crafty endeavor. It's a church baby for Bitsy's stocking. Princess got one for HT at a craft fair last spring & I thought it was adorable. I found the instructions on line at: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/churchbaby.html



She's made from red flannel scraps & Mary Englebright cherry scraps. I think I may name her Charlotte after Laura's doll in the Little House books. Her head could look better...but I doubt my 5 month old will mind.

I have to say, I love projects made entirely with scrap fabric.
(I'm having problems with the picture. If you can't see it, let me know.)

Head Bands

Saturday I was over come by the spirit of craftiness. These are a portion of the fruits of my labor. They're head bands for my sister, Princess, for Christmas. I saw them at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago & figured I could make them myself instead.I tried it and it didn't turn out quite the way I'd like, so I went back & bought one (the black & white hounds tooth is from Wal-Mart). I used that one to make a pattern, dug out all my scrap fabric, and cranked out the other four. I hope she likes them. I wear mine constantly!



And in case you're wondering, no, the two purple ones are not made from dupioni silk. They're actually polyester made to look like silk. Left overs from my bridesmaid dress from my best friend's wedding last spring (you may remember it if you read my blog). The one with flames matches a blanket I made Princess when she was pregnant with my nephew, and the Elvis band (green polka-dotted) matches the diaper bag Art had made for her. The Elvis band is reversible. If anyone wants instructions, let me know & I'll post them.

Getting a little crafty. . .

I was so very inspired by Madretz's button tree. My version using vintage buttons is included here.

Somewhere on the internet, I spied a mobile/wind chime made using an embroidery hoop and cookie cutters. This is my take on it. I used embroidered ribbon, star cookie cutters, an inexpensive hoop and a ring at the top.

I suspect these are the only non-knitted items I have posted here.

A little Christmas Twinkle, anyone?

I only wish I'd made this myself. It was a gift from my dad's co-worker. He and his wife make them. It's a glass block (the kind you get at the home improvement stores for remodeling bathrooms) with a hole drilled in the back. White twinkle lights are strung through the back (I think it's a short strand) and the bow is made with wired ribbon so you can re-fluff it every year.

Christmas Card

I suppose that since most of our cards are sent out, I can share our Christmas Card pic now (with last name blotted out).

Birthday Cake

Edited to change out the old pics for better pics.
Here is Juliana's birthday cake for her party tomorrow. The green didn't turn out as limey as I wanted... I forgot that the fondant color gets darker in the fridge. The cake and fondant caused their problems, but decorations will cover a multitude of errors :)

Button Tree

Here's another fun crafting project that I just finished today. I originally saw the idea here, which led me to this post that gives amazing instructions and an amazing photo of her tree. Go there if you really want to be inspired to make one. It took about 400+ buttons, 400+ pins and about 1.5 hours while watching tv. This is our only Christmas tree this year, small but I love it. And so does the husband.

Peppermint Patty Ornaments

Here's a real quick and easy ornament:It's a treat and an ornament all in one.

This is what you'll need:blue and white paper. some small peppermint patties. a glue stick. ribbon, about 5" per patty. a snowflake punch (or snowflake stickers). a 2" scallop circle punch. Substitute whatever supplies you have to make it work for you. Do red circles and green trees. Make birthday favors with cakes or flowers.

Put glue on the peppermint patty wrapper, stick on the ribbon, stick on the circle. Repeat on the other side. Glue on the snowflake.
Make s slew of 'em and attach them to your christmas packages. Or hand them out at parties. Or give them to your kid's class. Feeling motivated? Make 'em next year for Halloween. A great project for kids, too.

PS: the local crafters mall was selling these for $1.99 each.

the selective accuracy of toddler speech is amusing.

I could give you a gazillion examples of things that Juliana says. But what cracks me up is how sometimes she can say words completely accurately, and other times she still says it in toddlerese. For example, she may know a lot of words in a song, but when she sings it she slurs it all together. And when Juliana says "all cween" for all clean. That's pretty close. But when she sings the clean up song she sings "E up". Why not cween up? And she calls play-doh "toe-toe". I'll say, "Can you say Play?". She'll say "play". "Can you say doh?" "Doh". "Can you say Play-doh?" "Toe-toe". I just don't get it. :) hee hee.

sort of crafty

This isn't entirely crafty since I didn't make the whole thing myself. The wreath already had the pine cones and berries on it when I bought it, but I added the poinsettas and the ribbon.

Ornament Swap!

Some ornaments I made for a swap sponsored by Red Velvet Art. The mission was to create (at least 50%) handmade ornaments to send to 3 other participants we were matched with. I think their Flickr account is also Red Velvet Art if you'd like to see some of the other ornaments. They're due to be shipped by December 1, so I'm sure more will be posted.


Oh, I should show you these too. Since Starbucks is switching to the printed packaging for their coffee, they've been using the old coffee labels to cover the holes in the cup lids so you don't spill on yourself transporting your beverage. I've been hording 3 each time they put a new roll on the bar where they serve the drinks. I got this brainstorm to make ornaments out of some of 'em, adding tassels and beads. Kinda goofy, but kinda cool too, hee!!! : .)

I posted a couple of cards on my mini art card blog a skosh more and a few scrapbook layouts on my main blog.

I hope Y'all had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Thanksgiving Card

I made this a few years ago but still love the idea so I wanted to share.
The card says: "Count your many Blessings and name them one by one...". I made this basket from a rubber stamp, the handles move independently and are attached by brads. In the basket are all my blessings:
Listed on individual pieces of paper so they can be pulled out and counted 'one by one'.

Can we do a roll call?

I don't know anyone besides my sister (I think), and you all say such nice things. Can everyone post a brief description of yourself so I kind of know who I'm talking to?
I'm Becca, 25. My DH is a youth pastor. My daughter will be 2 in December. I'm Lauren's little sister. I like crafty things, particularly those that involve doctoring up photos.

Bitten by the Bow Bug

For some reason I got in the mood to make some hair bows today. I don't usually get in that mood. Although I love hair bows for Juliana (there's no such thing as having too many) and I usually like the end result when I make the bows, my OCD tendency to want everything to be perfectly symmetrical aggravates me fairly early on in the bow-making process. If you've ever made a bow, you know that exact symmetry is nearly impossible. But alas, with leftover ribbon from card making and scrap-booking (and with the extra clips my sis so kindly gave me), here are the bows that were created today. I have a tendency to want to make 2 of everything in case she needs pigtail bows that match. I stopped at 1 with the Christmas bow (she already has 2 matching corker Christmas bows). The ribbon for the Christmas bow is what I'm using on our Christmas cards. Consider it a sneak peek :) Although the bow on our cards will be much simpler.

One page done.... MANY more to go

I finally decided to scrap the pages I am inspired to do with the photos I have already printed and put them in chronological order later. I was stuck on thinking I had to do it in "order".. but silly me, that's the beauty of movable pages!

Yet another hat

I don't know what it is about me and toboggans* I rarely wear them but I do like to make them and own them. Here's my newest creation. This one is made of fleece. Very comfy and warm.
I saw something like it at a store in Jonesborough.. and thought to myself "I could make one of those for a lot less". And so I did. $10 dollars saved.


*I realize that in many places a toboggan is a kind of sled, trust me.. DH's grandmother looked at me like I was crazy when I said he had forgotten to wear his. And in our ongoing battle of whether it is a hat or sled, he did prove to me that by dictionary definition it is a sled. But where I grew up we wore toboggans and they kept your head warm, and I refuse to give up the term. So there :P.

Juliana's 2nd Birthday Invitations

I suppose that since I've sent them out I can now post Juliana's invitations (with blurred contact information):
In case you can't read it, the trail following the butterfly and says: 'With love and laughs the time, it flew. Now sweet Juliana is turning 2'

Birthday Tutu

This isn't my own handiwork. It's from the talented Dallas. She's a work at home mother of 2 and her business is Miss Priss Tutus. I specially requested this tutu for Juliana to wear at her birthday party next month. (Of course, she'll wear it for other fun too). Dallas made it according to my color request (pink and green with a splash of purple) and here is the pic she took of it for my approval. You have got to check out her site and see some other pics... they are just too stinkin' cute! Especially the infant tutus :) They are even more adorable when you actually see them ON the kiddos. I just had to share!

I'm Glad Zann Said "Better Late Than Never"

Cake I made for grandson's birthday. The army figures and cans and barb wire were on loan from his big brother. I covered the bottoms of the figures with saran wrap just in case they had anything unhealthy in the paint.

Cake for niece's baby shower. Farm theme. Fisher Price Little People Cake Decorations. They came with plastic to keep them from touching the cake.

Late is better than never.

We made Creep Cakes on Halloween. With a group of (yes adult) friends.
I thought they turned out nice. You can see a bit of each of our personalities in the way we decorated our goulish treats. 10 points to anyone who can guess mine.

ooh... I just noticedd another newbie!

Welcome Steph from {Olive Tree}. I met Steph IRL a couple of years ago, and then stumbled upon her blog, and we've become blogging buddies. She is full of all sorts of creative talent. She posts a lot of her creations on her blogs, and it will be fun to see some of her work here, too.

Does this count as art?

I like to think it does.....
even if I didn't technically create any of it, just cut the flowers and stuck them in a bowl.

no more plagiarizing for me...

Now that my sis has joined us, it looks like I will have to post my own creations. :-) Glad you're here, Bec!

Recent Craftings

Here is my spider hat I knitted, which I wore to a costume party last Saturday:

Full Costume:



And Further Embracing the Sweetgum Tree
I was helping my co-worker who is a girl-scout leader come up with some nature-type crafts that her first graders could make out of Sweetgum balls. And here is what I came up with. A Christmas Tree, A poinsettia, A wreath, A mouse, and snowman or bobble.

Crafty Kiddo Ideas

Here are some things we had for J's preschool Halloween party yesterday:
-edible spiders
-mummy muffins
-tootsie pop ghost
-ghost foot print
-pumpkin thumb prints

Toilet Paper pumpkin

I cannot take credit for this in the slightest. BabyGirl brought it home from school today & I had to share it. It's too cute to keep secret!

As far as I can tell you take a roll of toilet paper and set it on a piece of orange cloth. Bring the cloth up the sides of the roll & tuck the cloth into the top of the toilet paper roll. Then a piece of brown paper is rolled up and stuck in the top to make the stem with green pipe cleaner for the vine & a green felt leaf. The yellow spider is a ring.

I wish I'd have thought of this!!

Halloween Cards

I ended up making 3 different Halloween cards this year.
This is the first one I made. I got the broom pattern from a magazine, but it'd be easy enough to sketch yourself. I used swirly rubber stamps to create the sweeping bristles, a bit of red waxed linen and some embossed scrapbook paper for the background. Printed the saying "Wishing you a bewitching Halloween" inside. I started making these in September and thought 18 would be enough but turned out I needed about 18 more.

So I decided to make this one:
And it looks pretty simple, but it was a very time consuming card because I had to dry emboss the bats then sand them to get the white to show through. I made the swirly embossing on the purple paper with a cuttlebug. I only made 3 of these.

So after I started getting batty with the bats, I switched over to this tri-fold card.
Super easy: take an 11"x 4.25" piece of cardstock and fold it in half. Measure 2" for each of the 2 folds and cut and discard the remaining 1.5". Measure out a rectangle to glue on top of the top fold - whatever size, I eyeballed it and think it came to about 3.5" x 2.5"-ish. That's it.

Wishing you all a fun, scary and safe Halloween!

I'm still sending out a call to everyone to post your fun autumn creations. Thanks to everyone who's played! It's great having more activity here!! Once again, if you know anyone who'd like to join our little nudges towards creativity, please just have them leave a comment in any of the posts with their interest and I'll pop them an invitation!