Merry Christmas!

I am taking a few quick moments to wish each and every one of you a safe and joyous Christmas!

Today is a very busy day of cooking, my sister and I prepare an Italian traditional Christmas Eve. We cook many variations of fish.  They taste best when prepared the same day, thus all the preparation and cooking.

This little elf likes to hang out in my plants... must be the extra oxygen :-)

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Quilled Nativity Ornament and Snowflakes for Newton

Good Morning Everyone!

Today I am going to share with you one of the new ornaments that I made this year... I usually share ornaments from prior years (lest someone get a sneak peak and ruin the surprise - lol)... I made an exception this year, because I think this ornament is perfect to go with the "Snowflakes for Newton" request I have included today.

I made this ornament (and have hand delivered it) to my friend Lucy.  I cut the nativity from my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine (yes, it is all Lucy's fault - lol)... The image is one I purchased during a sale they had recently... I am getting used to the cutting machine, and am still in the learning process...

I don't know how it works with you, but I truly believe that I am an "accidental" creator... Here is why... I cut the image from a few different colors, and as I peeled them off I placed them on the table I was working on, as luck would have it, I happened to place this one on a purple piece of scrap paper. As I laid it down, I was struck by the color combination and said that's it (see what I mean by "accidental")!

I have a cuttlebug (and you know how much I love my dies) so I whipped out my Spellbinders dies and tracked down my purple paper and cut an Oval and then layered that over a double sided paper that had that antiqued cream look to tie back in the image that I cut with the largest Lacy Oval die.

No project is complete without glitter, so I added glitter to the purple oval and then glued down the nativity.  I had my quilling supplies out and added a quick quilled element (we can call it a flower maybe - lol)... pulled out some pearls and added them as well.

Before I leave you today, I wanted to let you know about a special project I learned about from several online friends and bloggers.  This is for those affected by the recent tragedy in Connecticut.  If you are like me, every time you think about it your heart breaks.  So many lives and families hurt by the actions of one.  I have a young son, and cannot imagine him not returning from school one day.  That is why I selected the ornament above, it is through His mercy that these families will get through each day!

Snowflakes for Newtown

When school resumes for Sandy Hook, it will be in a new building.  There are many parent-volunteers who are working to ensure that the students are welcomed back by a winter wonderland.  They are doing this by decorating the new school with as many unique snowflakes as possible.  This is how you can help, and get everyone in the family involved young and old alike.

From the organizers: 

"We encourage senders to be as creative as possible, remembering that no two snowflakes are alike. Please make and send snowflakes by January 12, 2013 to the Connecticut PTSA"

Here is the Address for those wishing to contribute:

Connecticut PTSA

60 Connolly Parkway

Building 12, Suite 103

Hamden, CT 06514

I know it is a small thing, and hope that those who return find some wonder and awe in the snowflakes that will surround them.

I am joining these linky parties:
One Stop Craft Challenge - A Christmas Carol - mine is "Silent Night" inspired
The Answer is Chocolate - Link Party #84 - anything crafty
Alderberry Hill - Tis the Season 2012 Holiday Link Party

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lovely Quilled Winter Wreath Tutorial

Happy Wednesday Saturday! (as you may have guessed, I forgot to publish this post... you know what they say, the first thing to go is the memory... sheepish smile... but as a bonus, there will be 2 posts today :-)

It is a brisk day filled with sunshine today (it was, hope today will be too)! So nice to have the sun out and no rain in the forecast for the day :-)

I wanted to share with you a Winter Wreath project I did - this is one of my old ones... I used fringed flowers that create the wreath (this is an oldie but a goodie and there are lots of possibilities)

Wreaths are a lot of fun to make and use on your cards or as ornaments.  Or, if you go on a bigger scale, you can use them around your home...

The fringed flower at the top of the wreath is made in the following way:

• 1 - 3 inch (7.62 cm) tight coil
• 1 - 3 inch (7.62 cm) White fringed strip
• 1 - 4 inch (10.16 cm) Green fringed strip
• Glue the white and green fringed strips together at one end. At the end that is glued together, glue it to the red strip. Beginning with the red, roll the paper, keeping it tight and gluing it together.
• After the glue has dried, place the flower on a hard surface and gently push down on the fringe so that the fringes are spread apart.  A tip is to take your needle tool or a pin and curl the edges as this will add a little extra to the fringes (you can do this if you haven't fringed a very dense flower).

The remaining 5 flowers are arranged around the wreath and are made in the following way:

• 1 - 3 inch (7.62 cm) tight coil
• 1 - 2 inch (5.08 cm) White fringed strip
• 1 - 3 inch (7.62 cm) Green fringed strip
• Glue the red, white and green strips together end-to-end Beginning with the red, roll the paper, keeping it tight and gluing it together.
• After the glue has dried, place the flower on a hard surface and gently push down on the fringe so that they are spread out as shown.

To fill in the wreath, I did the following:

• 8 or more - 3 inch (7.62 cm) teardrops that are placed between the fringed flowers to fill in the design.
• 1 - 3 inch (7.62 cm) heart, see photo for placement
• 2 - 3 inch (7.62 cm) curled strips (see photo). Cut the ends at an angle, and weave through the wreath for added color

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Filigree Friday Christmas Card

Merry Christmas! 

I love making homemade cards, don't you? C'mon, admit it. I mean, how else are we going to attempt to use up all that lovely paper that is starting to take over your home one room at a time?

I love the crisp white and green against the red background.  The flowers are made using alternate side looping.  Alternate side looping is a technique where you don't use a tool, instead you fold your quilling paper  and wrap it to create the flowers.

I was going for a more modern look to this card, and placed a less traditional butterfly on the large flower... and let's not forget my scrolls, they are simple and easy to make and are so pretty.

The red card base is one that I bought at Michaels (a few years ago, when their $1 bin was actually a dollar).. yeah, what were they thinking when they made them $1.50? The cards were purchased embossed.

As I searched for a project to post, I selected this one because I really like these types of flowers and scrolls too :-)  I have to admit that this card was given as a birthday card, but the colors work for Christmas and I didn't take a picture with the sentiment - so don't tell :-)

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement!

Enjoy!

Throwback Tuesday Quilled Wreath with Spiral Roses

Welcome to Throwback Tuesday! 

I  am truly enjoying "re-sharing" past projects with you.  I have a lot of wintery / Christmasy projects, so it is a perfect thing at this time of year!

I love wreaths, and I do think of them this time of year as the season of Advent kicks off.  This year we setup a wreath on our kitchen table with ribbons of purple and rose to ensure we had the correct colors (didn't plan correctly, so couldn't find candles with the proper colors)... No worries though :-)

Alas, I digress.... So this wreath was on a birthday card and is also an ornament.  I may have to pull up some other wreath themed projects I've made, but haven't yet shared... Let's plan on next week being "wreath focused" lol...

I created the wreath shape by taking 2 circle punches and punching one inside the other to create the general wreath shape (I used my 2 and 2-1/2 inch punches)

I then punched fern leaves from various green papers (I am one of the few people who purchased the Empunchler many many moons ago, and used their fern punch).  Some day I am actually going to remember to take out my punches and just punch the shapes over and over again so that I have a ready made stock pile, or I can do what I always do and make it at the last minute :-)

I made certain to punch a 1/16" hole at what would be the top of my wreath.  I do it after I add the greenery just in case it looks better with the hole positioned in a certain place... yes, I spend lots of time worrying and changing my mind.

I made 9 Spiral Roses (click here for a link to the spiral rose instructions)
you can make more or less, I actually created more than 9 and then played around until I found a grouping that I liked... that's what makes this so fun, you can change your arrangement and each wreath you make will be unique.

I then made about 20 - 3 inch (7.6 cm) green shaped teardrops for the leaves on my roses... again, I played with the arrangement until I liked what I saw.

Then I created a few spirals and sprinkled them around for good measure.

Finally, I added a jump ring, and later added ribbon for my hanger to complete the ornament.


I do enjoy creating pieces of my final project and each step along the way agonizing over how I am going to use it...  Truth be told, many times I will create the parts/pieces of my project, and lay the pieces down but won't glue it down right away, this gives me the opportunity to "sleep on it" - do you ever do that? I find that I sometimes get inspired to try something new or to try a specific layout... of course, sometimes the thoughts in my dreams work better than the actual end design - lol.

I'd love to hear from you!

Linking up here:
     Tuesday Talent Show #63 - Chef in Training - Share your Talent party
     Open House Link Party #82 - Answer is Chocolate

Enjoy!

So Much to be Thankful For

Hello Everyone!

This time of the year makes you think about so many things... taking stock in yourself and what you have to be thankful for is humbling, isn't it? We made it through the recent storm Sandy with minimal damage. We have family members who lost so much more, but compared to some who lost everything we are the fortunate ones.

I wanted to share with you a project I was fortunate to participate in... I recently collaborated with some talented women from the North American Quilling Guild, NAQG, on a project for the New York Times Style Magazine.  They have a signature "T" and they search for people to recreate it in various medium.  We were thrilled when they contacted us to create a quilled creation!!!!!

I joined Rita Anderson, Donna Del Giudice, Sherry Rodehaver, and Fredricka Whitman to create this sweet "T"... I contributed various flowers and leaves and the cute little lady bugs (they were just too cute not to include)!

Have a great day!