My sweet friend Deryn had injured her shoulder right as her Adorn ornament exchange got underway in November. But that girl is no quitter! I received this gorgeous crystal ornament from her today. It has a little tiny bell on the hand-forged hanger and a sweet sequined ball along with a tassel of ribbons. It's so pretty! Thank you, Deryn! I'm so glad you are feeling better!!
Making more banner hearts today. What are you working on?
Working on Valentines for a banner exchange this morning (using a paintbrush so tiny I think it only has three hairs).
Today, I was reminded to look deep inside the gray for the joy of the every day. Today I was happy. It was that feeling of forgetting all my troubles for a minute and relishing the satisfaction of having a few things all into place that I've been working on and praying about. They're just little things but seeing results made me practically giddy. I took the time to celebrate my joy by singing songs of thanks Loudly in my house. My dogs jumped around as I came down the stairs and danced to my noisy approach.
I hurried off to help at my sons' school. As I got close to the large elementary front door I heard a little bird declaring its presence for everyone to hear. It was singing in it's crystal clear voice quite emphatically. I looked up and there it was, high up on the flagpole, above California's bear flag and Old Glory. The flagpole had a large ball on top and that was where this tiny songstress was perched. There was bird poop at her feet but she was celebrating fully in her best voice. It made me laugh out loud with happiness. I was being serenaded and it was grand.
"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is a new year on my calendar. I feel slightly like I can believe it. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes Christmas comes and goes and people say they never "got in the spirit" of the holiday. The new year is like that for me (and birthdays). The page for December is torn from the calendar and the whole thing is recycled. I go to bed with champagne in my head and wake up feeling like...like what? Like it is just another day? Like the world was reborn overnight? How does it feel?
I don't make resolutions on the first of the year. I make them every day all year long. Sometimes, inside my head, they sound like this, "I won't yell at that woman for cutting me off. I won't yell at that woman. Ok, ok. I yelled at her. She was an idiot. Ugh. Now I feel bad. I will try to be nicer. I will try to be more patient. I will learn to Relax."
Do you get that? When my son is down on himself he can be so brutal. It makes me hurt for him to see him being so hard on himself.
I remind him that we all fall short of our expectations at times.
No one is perfect.
And we shouldn't seek perfection either. It's unrealistic. But we should seek a better direction. We have to strive to be more (fill in the blank). And that is something I try to do every day because some days I move forward and other days I fall so short I can't even remember what square one looked like.
So here I am moving forward and reaching out to say hello to you. I miss my blog friends. I've been drifting for a while. I keep trying to put my feet back on solid ground underneath my pink bubble. I think I am closer. I feel like today is new.
Even though the heading (which I made way in advance of actually opening anything) says the sixth day I truly opened this one very last. It is from precious Jackie. Jackie doesn't have a blog but she is an art loving Texas girl who is a treasure.
And she is so clever, too. She mailed her ornaments out in these sweet little cookie tins. They were well protected through the postal system and quite cute, to boot.
The little tag with bells reminds me of the ones we used when I was a little girl. it looks so vintage to me. And inside that pretty red glittered bag is something special just for me.
Jackie's ornament is an assemblage featuring the tiniest
frozen Charlotte doll I've ever seen.
She is only about an inch or two high. Here's how Jackie described her ornament to our group, "The ornament is supposed to tell the story of a little girl wishing on a star for Santa to bring her a doll. The doll is under the tree (which is symolized by the little crystal salt shaker) in a package with ribbon (the wire) and bow on top. The red swirl of beads and the snowflake represent the snow outside."
I loved hearing about the story behind my beautiful ornament and I hope you enjoyed it, too. I has been yet another memorable exchange. These girls don't let anything hold them back from doing their best work. They are such sweet people who I am so happy to be able to share my Christmas with each year.
From the top of my tree to the bottom of my heart, I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas!
Miss Maija sent me a pink Santa surrounded by bunnies. Yes, oh yes!
I love my Maija girl! And this year she had to farm out her ornaments due to life behaving too unruly. It just had to happen. And while I missed her own colorful creation, I am super delighted with this gorgeous little sparkling house from
Jenny and Aaron at Every Day is a Holiday! I wish you could see how this pretty thing glitters! I've never seen such sparkle before. It is absolutely precious!
And there's sweet little Jingle Bells on the back. Perfect! And it looks super pretty on my tree. Thank you, bff!
I am finishing up my posts about the ornament exchange. I've turned into a lollygagger, haven't I? This sweet image comes from dear Diane Cook, who stood in for our injured ring-leader Deryn, this go-around.
She gave me this pretty turquoise box which stamped and tied up with sari ribbon.
And that was surely a promise of things to come...
Because inside her gorgous ornie was swimming in lovely ribbon!
Rhinestones stacked over hearts dangle from a little copper backed book just for me. :)
Mother of pearls make it extra scrumptious! Diane did such intricate and detailed work. I so appreciate all that attention and care. I love it! Thank you, Diane!!
Moving right along in my slow holiday way, here come the last few elegantly beautiful ornaments made by my friends.
As I told you before our numbers are all mixed up. So this gift says number 11 but we opened it before then. Whenever it was opened, it was from sweet Danita, and so that means it is sure to be Fabulous!
And look at this pretty, pretty ornament! I am not sure what the medium is, ceramic or plaster, maybe? But she has added a copy of one of her awesome paintings. This one is a little ice skater and her partner, Mister Penguin. Then she has covered the ornie with beeswax which gives it more of an opaque, dreamy quality. And then Danita has carved into the wax and added paint (or ink or crayon) to create designs onto the heart. So cool!
The back has snowflakes and trees to keep me in the Christmas spirit. It is lovely and I do love it!
Do you know how you have things that you love to do but sometimes you just cannot get to them? That has happened to me this year with my ornament opening! I didn't even have time to snap pictures of them so I couldn't open them. I am late and feel like a lame loser but I am jumping back in the game with apologies. I have them all opened and hanging on my tree now. So I am rewinding to share Lou's pretty ornie with you.
She used this wonderful old German text to wrap her ornament up in.
Made with love is surely the best thing ever!
Lou's pretty ornie is an arted up domino complete with more German text, a glittered girl, ribbons, and beads.
Inspire. Thank you, Lou! It's going on my tree this morning!
Is this right? The seventh day? Not only are we opening on different days than the tags say but I got waylaid and mixed up and am sort of flying along guessing as I go. LOL! A girl should have such problems as which gift to open on what day, right?
This little boxlet comes to me from the supercalifragilistic Sally Turlington.
I love Sally's edgy, colorful style. She always makes the most cool stuff, and by stuff I mean art.
Ooooh! This is very cool. I wish you could see it in person. It is a fairly large, double sided, brass snowflake...
But it is so much more!
Sally covered it in paper clay, painted it, collaged it,
and elevated it in true Turlington style! I love it, Sally! Thank you!
Be sure to head over to Sally's blog to see her step-by-step process on making these big, beautiful snowflakes.
For the sixth day of Christmas I received this cool envelope from my friend, Crystal Neubauer. Crystal is such a creative girl. She works in a variety of media and does them all with her own awesome style.
No Peeking!
Inside is this sweet little stitched up star, topped with a vintage pearl button. I think she painted these pretty papers. It's dainty and dear and will be a perfect addition to my tree. Thank you, Crystal!
Crystal is also teaching at EncaustiCamp next year in Oregon. If you would love a weekend of wax on, wax off, check it out!
For the fifth day of our dear exchange I received this beautifully wrapped package from sweet Melissa. This Texas girl is a precious soul whom I gotten to know through Adorn over the past few years. Not only does she create beautiful ornaments every year but she is just the most terrific girl. I feel so lucky to have all these wonderful, truly lovely people as my friends through this Christmas event.
Melissa made these cool envelopes to enclose her ornament. I always love anything with handmade paper!
Once the envelope was torn open, there was a note from Melissa which recounted a time just before surgery where she needed to call upon her faith. In doing so she found herself enveloped in the loving arms of God as she imagined Him as an angel surrounding her with His wings of love.
This experience was the inspiration behind Melissa's ornament,
which is a tiny fabric book in the shape of wings.
It is Beautiful.
And I will treasure it always.
Thank you, sweetest girl!
Melissa and her husband are also busy fostering a lab puppy named Smokey as they train him to become a guide dog. You can check out their adventures HERE.
Hello friends! I fell off the face of the universe for a few days. I'm sorry to leave you hanging mid-exchange! Talk about rude! Life ran away with me as is prone to happen during this busy time. But I'm back in full ornament swing again with this gorgeous package from my fantabulous friend, Pilar.
Pip and I both love a grungy style. And her package is representing! She has stitched it up and given it a colorful hide of my favorite lucky number 5 (have you noticed we had to switch the opening days and everyone's numbers are off. LOL! Some mornings I have no idea if I am opening the right gift. :) We should all have such problems!
And look inside...
She has printed out one of her gorgeous drawings onto fabric
And then stitched her over and given her a pretty skirt of rhinestones and silk sari remnants.
I love her, Pip! She is going to hanging around with me long after the holiday goodies are packed away.
The other night we had an awesome time at church where we were gathered for the
tree lighting,
hot cider, cookie decorating,
silliness,
naps,
sledding down a hill,
watching the Grinch on a huge screen,
more silliness,
and, my very, very favorite, singing Christmas carols.
Kazoos included!
The music director had us download an app that helped to update that beloved classic song, Jingle Bells. It is this free iphone app called Ginger Bells.
It turns your phone into a variety of bells that you play by shaking your phone. It was so cool to hear everyone ringing their bells and singing Jingle Bells together. The kids really had a great time with it.
There was also an app called Free Candle. It was great when we sang Silent Night and everyone held up their candle. I tried to post a picture of it here but it really messed up my typepad post. :( But the app itself is very cool. And, if you would like to sing carols and have lots of fun, be sure to come to the tree lighting next year at Mariner's Church or anytime during the year. It's a wonderfully friendly community of people who love God and helping others. Merry Christmas!
Today I was yet again a lucky girl. I have this teeny little treasure before me from my loving breast friend, Joanna Pierotti. She is so clever! I love how she put her ornament in this tiny old envelope.
When I first met Joanna she was going through treatment for breast cancer.
And within a few months, I had found out that I also had breast cancer. We were already art friends and soon we were breast friends, as she called us.
She helped me in so many ways by walking that road a few steps ahead of me but always being right beside me.
Not only is she a super talented artist but she is a beautiful Christian girl with a heart as big as the moon.
And look at this beautiful soldered ornament she has made for me!
Joanna makes gorgeous dolls so it is only fitting that she put an image of a little doll with a K for Kelly under this faceted glass for me to hang on my tree.
And it is all finished up with this sweet bundle of antique lace and ribbon. Perfect! I love it so, Joanna, and I love you! Thank you, friend!
Today is my day. As usual I have a long story to tell and little time to write it all down. Youngest son is home with a sore throat today. So I am running to catch up on what was already so overdue. Still, I love how things come together and hope my other artist friends do, too. So I will tell you about my ornies and how I came to make them.
For the last couple years now (whew, that long!) I have been in a funk. I've let my art making dwindle to almost extinction. This is a terrible thing to do when you actually have a task at hand. At least for me, it is so difficult to get back into the rhythm because my hands feel clumsy, I am easily discouraged, and I am critical in ways I never am when I am working in a regular routine.
So as I began way back in early fall to work on ideas for my ornament, I was having a terrible time. I decided I would start early because I so hate feeling overwhelmed against the deadline as I have the past couple years. And I did start early. But none of my ideas worked out. I went through at least three designs. All were deemed unfit for one reason or another. I tend to come up with a labor intensive idea. And, after felting all those little dogs last year I knew I couldn't do it again. My wrist is so easily injured I was afraid to work metal, which is to what I am always pulled. I hate sewing but I love sewn and stitched things. But I knew my frustration would be so high it wasn't worth it. I tried and I tried and eventually even thought about dropping out for this year.
Then, quite randomly, I came across this tiny picture one day.
Look at them. Their wistful faces. Their beautiful hands and detailed dresses. It is easy to see from their faces that they are sisters. I think about my own sister all the time. She is on the other side of the country from me. And as our father died this summer, I think of her even more. I miss her. She is my very first friend. And that was what I thought when I found this picture. I thought Sister Friends. And, in that thought, I knew I wanted to work with this image and build a little house for them to hang on the tree of all my artist friends, my soul sisters, for this year's exchange. So I aged their image and built little houses for these Sister Friends.
In past years I have gone out and bought all new materials to work in a medium previously unknown to me. This year, I knew it was time to use what I have and do what I love. I have plenty of materials here. It is silly to always be adding more, more, more. I wanted to keep the little house in the style I love, colorful and whimsical but with a bit more white and sparkle.I wanted them to be simple like something I would have made when I was girl.
Also, I wanted the ornaments to look old, to feel loved and worn, but, again, simple. I'm not sure I accomplished all that, but it was my purpose.
Anytime I have to make 13 of the same thing, I struggle.
While my intention is for them to be similar I cannot bear to make them identical.
It's too boring. So I pulled out my treasures, like these very, very old white ceramic letters, 60 year old stamps, subway tokens,
acorns I collected from my Mama's tree many years ago, and magic threads from my husband's Grandmother.
I tore into the cardboard on the back layer. I wanted them to look like a worn out house that is still standing through years of a well-lived life.
That's sort of how I am feeling these days. And gilded and loved. And I wrote some of the lyrics to one of my VERY favorite Christmas carols on each one. Also, I added a beautiful stamp from the 1950's given to me by my sweet sister friend, Mija.
For this house, amid the golden mica lives a little bunny.
So those are my ornies this year. I hope the girls do love them and I hope you all enjoyed them, too. I'll try to get a tutorial up this week for you. And, please leave a comment if you have one. I adore hearing from you all!
So finally, today begins the Adorn Artist Group's 12 Days of Christmas ornament exchange! And we open up with a bang brought to us by my old friend, Ruth Rae. As you may know, Ruth and I wrote the book A Charming Exchange together a few years back. And she always brings a piece of her heart to her work. This time it is both a literal and figurative description as you will see...
Underneath the lovely wrapping is...
Ruth's Sacred Heart.
I believe she plastered a little box to create a home for the heart, which is molded in polymer clay, painted and then covered with wax before giving it a crown of thorns. The symbolism is beautiful. I love the contrast of the delicate crystals,the barbed wire and nails.
Along the bottom is a chain of sorts with "beads" of fabric, buttons, and book pages strung and glittered with mica. These details give so much texture, curiosity, and added interest to the piece. It's really lovely! Thank you, Ruth! Be sure to pop over to Ruth's blog to see more details about her ornament.
Tomorrow the girls will open my ornament so stay tuned for that.
Happy Christmas, everyone!
- We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
- Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act III
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)
has sadly been postponed until December 5th! A couple of our lovely members have had serious health and life problems. We needed a few extra days in the preparatory phase to relieve some stress for our friends. Even our fearless leader had to call in a surrogate to fill in on her day while she is healing. She will hopefully still get her ornaments out before Christmas but that girl needs to take good care of herself. So we have an extra (and extra-talented) new player this go around. And come Monday we will be on like Donkey Kong!
In the meantime I am re-posting my felted ornament tutorial from last year. I loved these little guys. The hardest part for me every year is when I am all finished and I have a whole dozen ornies all together. I so don't want to send them off! I want to keep them and hang them on my tree! LOL! But I also want to share them with my sweet friends. And I am always so, so happy to receive their beautiful gifts that I soon am over the small sadness of sending my creations away.
Here's the step-by-step. I hope you give it a try and if you do please let me know! I'd love to see your creations!
If you've never needle felted before, I'm here to tell you it takes a long time to needle felt one dog with one needle. At least it took me a terribly long time.
And the needle is VERY SHARP. Out of twelve ornaments there were maybe two that I didn't drive the needle into my finger until it bled. Even when you think you are being careful it is easy to be lulled by the repitious quality of pounding the needle into the wool. And then, POW! You're bleeding.
There are also multi-needle tools that can be used. But because my dogs are fairly small (most are three or four inches long) a six-needle punch seemed like overkill. I don't think I could shape them easily with that big tool. So this one tiny needle and thousands of stabbings into the wool produced each little doggie.
I didn't read a book or take a class. I just made it up as I went along. So, here's the gist of how I made the pups...
First, I created a small armature with a single piece of 20 gauge annealed wire.
And then I wrapped it, bit by bit, with wool roving. Wool roving is wool that has been combed but not spun. It's pretty much like cotton candy.
One thing about that...All wool is not created equally. I learned this the hard way. The off-white wool was great for felting. It would matt up fairly readily. But this grey wool! And the black! Oh my! They were so soft and beautiful that they resisted felting at every punch. These took at least twice as long to felt as the off-white.It was very frustrating to realize this well into an animal.
So that's why I have so few gray or black dogs. Most ended up being white with spots of gray and black. So if you are getting roving, don't get an especially soft, silky kind for felting.
Then I placed the wrapped armature onto a block of foam (the kind you might find inside a cushion). It was on this that I felted the wool by driving the needle repeatedly through the fibers to wrap them into one another creating felt. First I did the body, then each leg and tail. Lastly I would do the head. Sometimes I would start felting the piece of wool before I added it to the armature. And I would felt layers as I went along so it wasn't one big puffy piece that had to be felted down. Finally, I created the ears individually on the foam, leaving a fluffy bit at the base to connect it onto the head. Then I added the eyes, nose, collar and a hanger.
Speaking of the hanger, each is made from the same 20 gauge wire as the armature. I made a loop at the top and hammered it.
Then I filed the end into a sharp point so it would work more easily through the dog's body.
After all that felting I didn't want to have to mangle the shape of the body in order to get the hanger through.
Lastly, I coiled the end of the hanger and bent it to act as a stopper and hold it in place. It's kind of like a belly button now. :0)
My little dogs aren't perfect. The legs on most aren't exactly the same size. But, I'm not a freak about that sort of thing. I like it when a piece has its own life. I'm the guide to bring it about. Besides, I think I'd go crazy if I were such a perfectionist.
So that's it. That's the basics of how I made my pups. I hope you enjoyed the how-to. And I hope I didn't frighten you away from needle felting. It was fun to make all the dogs for each of the girls. I really wanted to make each one to look like their own dogs. But that got a little nutty. And, I don't recommend starting at the last minute when you aren't sure how to go about what you are doing. lol!
Happy Christmas! I hope you'll be inspired to make some ornaments this year!
