Simply Sunday Shadow Shot 1/22

Brrr... we had snow this weekend and it was quite the chiller outside :-)

We had a wonderful day sledding Saturday, even though the brisk wind made it a little cold for us moms - lol..... all that matters is that the kids had fun, right?

Sunday looks to be more of the same, but funny enough, Monday is supposed to go back up to 50 - how can that be, this is winter, isn't it? I won't complain because I am not a huge fan of the cold so I am grateful for the mild winter so far!

Make a wish! This wishing well is just waiting to deliver - lol... this is a picture from 2001, why? Dunno... I find that each week for Shadow Shot Sunday I roll the dice in a manner of speaking.  I pick a year and then go to a month and start looking at pictures, when I find one I like, I go with it.

I chose a quote from Goethe, this is on the Shadow Shot Sunday blog, and I liked it :-)

Where there is much light, the shadow is deep - Goethe (1749-1832)

I am very sad, did you hear? Picnik is closing  :-(
I really loved their super intuitive interface and the large selection of effects and borders - all free!!! Apparently there is something called Creative Kit from Google+ that we can use, and I went over to check it out, but they want me to add personal information to my account and I hate to share that kind of information... So, I will sulk and continue to use Picnik until it is closed completely in April and then figure out what I'll do next.

As always, I am happy to share my tutorials and freebies / printables with you, I only ask that you do the following:

• Please leave a comment if you download a  freebie / printable / digi, because I would love to hear from you
• If you enjoy the things I share with you, please become a follower so that you will see all the new stuff when it is posted (no pressure, join only if you want)
• Please do not share any of my digital images, printables, or tutorials directly with others, but please do send them on over to me so that they can peruse and collect the images themselves.
• I would be thrilled and honored if you would send me links to any images or posts that you've done using something that I have shared with you.  If you say it is ok, I will even feature your work here!
• If you want to recolor the images, feel free! 
• If you have a special request, please let me know and I will see what I can do.

Most importantly be Fantastically Creative You!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Simply Sunday Shadow Shot 1/15

Welcome to another glorious day! The sun is shining so brightly you'd never know that it was really cold outside :-)

Remember last week I talked about taking pictures while walking through New York City, well the picture you see is one I took of a tree that I had passed a few times.  This tree was damaged during the unexpected snowstorm we had in October, and every time I pass this tree on my way to visit my dad I am drawn to it.  The only problem is that this is on a road with no shoulder and there always appears to be someone behind me when I drive by... I started unpacking my little camera before I left the house just in case I had an opportunity to catch a shot (didn't always remember, but I really tried).  So I tried for quite a while and even sometimes resorted to holding the camera and snapping shots as I drove by.... Finally, I had the perfect day... it was sunny and there was no one behind me, so I briefly stopped and snapped some shots... and this picture was born!

While I was preparing my picture I decided to play (thank you Picnik!!!), so here are some of the fun things I tried....

This week there was no quote posted this week so I selected one of mine from Abraham Lincoln (he is my favorite President - I know, he is the favorite of so many)...

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. - Abraham Lincoln

Thought it worked with the picture I had selected...

Here are the quotes for you to play with this week.... may Lincoln inspire you!

As always, I am happy to share my tutorials and freebies / printables with you, I only ask that you do the following:

• Please leave a comment if you download a  freebie / printable / digi, because I would love to hear from you
• If you enjoy the things I share with you, please become a follower so that you will see all the new stuff when it is posted (no pressure, join only if you want)
• Please do not share any of my digital images, printables, or tutorials directly with others, but please do send them on over to me so that they can peruse and collect the images themselves.
• I would be thrilled and honored if you would send me links to any images or posts that you've done using something that I have shared with you.  If you say it is ok, I will even feature your work here!
• If you want to recolor the images, feel free! 
• If you have a special request, please let me know and I will see what I can do.

Most importantly be Fantastically Creative You!

 Enjoy! for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Punches and Dies and Glitter Oh My!

Here it is, my January calendar page! I wanted something that used snowflakes and represented winter, because in my neck of the globe, it is winter :-)  My plan is to create a calendar page for each month of the year and since I hope to post February next week, I figured I should start the year off right with January - lol.

I have a theme for this year, and if you recall I shared a link from My Owl Barn last year.... you remember, she lets you design your own 2012 calendar using owl art from various artists... So, I started with one of the owl images (this is the hardest part because they are all so great), added my own January calendar page (not because I am a glutton for punishment, well maybe I am, but because hers didn't quite fit... and January was started.

If you are wondering how I got the texture on the owl image, I printed it out on art paper - acrylic painters paper... I prefer it over watercolor paper because I like that it makes my printed image look like the artist painted it just for me :-)  Oh, speaking of which, the artist who created this beauty is Kelly Ann, you can see some of her other paintings by clicking here.

The paper is DCWV, the pink has been run through my Cuttlebug, using one of my friend Lucy's embossing folders, I also used one of Martha's snowflake border punches, and don't forget the glitter.

On the inside, I used the quote from one of the printables I've created (click here to get the quote) and added my Memory Box Frosty Border die (yeah, this is a fun one!)... I cut the die apart and framed the quote... and glitter here too!

Have a happy day! It is a cold one here, guess I shouldn't complain, it is winter :-)

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Simply Sunday Shadow Shot January 8

Have you heard that there is a new location for Shadow Shot Sunday? Tracey from "Hey Harriet" hung up her shadows but luckily there were some awesome people who stepped up to be the new hosts and share the responsibility.... THANK YOU!!!

This picture is one that I took recently during our trip to New York City.  I love snapping photos, but I find that my family is not very tolerant if I do it too often, so I have gotten good at taking pictures as we are walking... As you can imagine, some come out better than others... I love how the barren trees look against the buildings and the speckled shadows against the buildings!  This was my first time using Picnik, and I will definitely use this free service again!!! I mean, look at how I was able to create this fabulous frame around my picture - love it!

I have decided that since the new hosts could volunteer to give of their time and host SSS each week that I would give something back also... They have these wonderful quotes on the main post and well, you know how much I love quotes, so I've decided to post free digi-s each week with the wonderful quote they have selected... So, here goes, my first Shadow Shot Sunday of 2012 and the quote this week is:

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. 

When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
Gautama Siddhartha, 563-483 B.C.

Here they are, in many colors / combinations for you to choose from:

I am happy to share my tutorials and freebies / printables with you, I only ask that you do the following:

• Please leave a comment if you download a  freebie / printable / digi, because I would love to hear from you
• If you enjoy the things I share with you, please become a follower so that you will see all the new stuff when it is posted (no pressure, join only if you want)
• Please do not share any of my digital images, printables, or tutorials directly with others, but please do send them on over to me so that they can peruse and collect the images themselves.
• I would be thrilled and honored if you would send me links to any images or posts that you've done using something that I have shared with you.  If you say it is ok, I will even feature your work here!
• If you want to recolor the images, feel free! 
• If you have a special request, please let me know and I will see what I can do.
• Most importantly be Fantastically Creative You!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Fabulous Filigree Quilled Blue Bird Ornament

Hello and Welcome!

I have a new addiction passion... I am in love with my new cutting dies... I now have a small collection of Spellbinders Nestabilities dies and these incredibly detailed Memory Box dies....

I have to share what I have done with them over the holidays... I made these super cute ornaments! It is always a bonus when the fun products you have purchased actually make your handmade gifts even more beautiful and special.

So my plan is to share some of the ornaments that I have made and also embark on my 2012 calendar project, so each month I will show you a new calendar page, I can see where this is taking me already, I cannot decide which images, so I may have more than one calendar - at least this is something useful that I can force my friends to take give to friends! lol

It is a new year, so I have lots of ideas and energy... now if I could just win the lottery so I could do all of them :-)

These dies are so much fun to use! I am really having fun cutting them out of different paper and seeing how they look, what I like best.... Oh, the possibilities - now only if I could get my imagination to catch up to those possibilities!

For this lovely Blue Bird Ornament I used the Nestabilities Lacy Ovals  -I picked those specifically because I knew I was going to make ornaments and I wanted to be able to have something so they would hang nicely, and this lovely die did the trick! I also absolutely had to use some of my new Memory Box dies, and this lovely Frosty Border is what I chose.

Well, maybe I should take a step back and tell you how the process works... You see the ornaments are for my son's teachers, so on those years that I think I will be able to make handcrafted ornaments he gets to decide what his teachers get... So, his music teacher needed an ornament with birds and music notes... So with that information in mind, I get to pull my hair out figure out how and what exactly to make... This year he was very specific that they had to be blue birds :-)

Ok, so now that I have birds and music notes, I really did need something for them to be resting on, and did I tell you I absolutely love my Memory Box dies? So you see I had to find a way to include them, I really did! And this lovely "Frosty Border" die arrived and the idea was born.

Now, for my blue lovelies, I could have chosen quilling strips that were blue, but as I was placing my order for Christmas colored quilling strips, I happened upon this lovely paper called "Touch of Blue Gilded on Edge" and I thought, now that will make a statement!  Isn't it pretty? The base paper is white, and on the top edge is this beautiful shimmery blue!

To make the birds I followed the same process, I just used a little bit more paper for the larger bird!

• I started with the tail feathers - I really did, and you'll find out why in a sec... So, for the tail feathers...
• 2 - 2 inch (5 cm) strips of paper, fold them in half, and curl the ends.  
• Now, I rolled the teardrop for the body of the bird
• 1 full strip of my Touch of Blue quilling paper, rolled and shaped into a Teardrop
• Don't glue it just yet... but hold on tight to the pinched end, because this is where the tail feathers go :-)
• Where you would normally glue your teardrop, you will take those tail feathers and glue them to the bird before you glue that outside strip to hold everything in place.  
• Squeeze tightly to get a nice set of tail feathers

Beak, Feet, and Wing

• For these remaining pieces, I took small scrap pieces and added them to the cuties
• I can't give measurements, because I literally cut small pieces (and didn't measure, just figured what I thought would be proportional)
• A small piece cut and bent for the beak and glued to the nice rounded end of the teardrop
• A small piece bent in half, and then bent again for their feet
• Finally 2 small pieces bent and rolled for the "wing"

I am entering this in the Sentimental Sundays "Snow, Blue, and/or Glitter" and my project has all 3 Yeah :-)

Make It Monday - Anything Goes!

I used the following products on this ornament:

Spellbinders Nestabilities Lacy Ovals and Classic Ovals




Memory Box Frosty Border from Ellen Hutson

Quilling Paper from Whimsiquills (thanks Pat)

Enjoy the ride!! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco