Four Christmas Trees for 1012

This year I had four Christmas trees.

(I had my own silent competition)

 

This one was a polystyrene cone I bought last year.

I used gel medium, old book paper, flat back pearls,

paper twine and some glitter.

It was the part of the centre piece on my dinner/studio table.

 

Then I saw an idea in a magazine an my grandma's

blue ladder was the victim! It was perfect to put all the gifts underneath.

I also went GREEN and gave some plants as gifts. 

For the last 20 years this was our tree, made form an old pine book case

my sister used to own.

 I couldn't just leave in the store room and not let it

be part of Christmas this year.

But we decided to paint it white and

all the decorations looked so much better on the white.

 

Then this little one for a coffee table.

This one is from Green Grass Design.

It has a bit more of a Valentine feel to it,

but I added a few candles and small baubles,

and it was perfect.

 

I would love to see all the pictures of your trees.

Send me an email and attach a photograph

of your tree, and I would love to put it on our blog.

 



Old book paper for a Christmas banner

Old book paper

Manila Tags

Alphabet letters

Small paper bags

Doilies

Seam binding ribbon

Pearls and charms

Small tags

Small clothes pegs

and other stuff from my stash.... 

These are all the things that I used to make these tags.

 

Glue the alphabet letters face down to some old book paper with

gel medium and let is dry. Cut away the extra paper and then sand the edges

for a smooth finish. For definition around the edges, use a little bit of Distress ink.

 

On the craft bags I used a piece of a doily, a paper heart and a charm.

I used no glitter ( I can't believe it myself )

but there is bling!

 

One bead charm per craft tag and I made eight of these.

Some of them to put on a manila tag and the other to use on their own.

Some of the tags are tied to the string with the seam binding tape

and the others are kept in place with the clothes pegs.

 

You can put anything on the tags and bags, use the stuff you have

....... and your imagination!

 

Merry Christmas to all our Blog friends,

may your Christmas be peaceful and

the new year full of good surprises!

Love you all. x

 

 

The glitter tray and rack..

Some tools are must haves, other are nice to haves.

This is a nice to have, verrry verry nice!

A non-static tray, a brush and a drying rack.

(from Martha Stewart)

With the Sizzex's dies I cut a few Christmas trees.

Scored them and folded them in half. I took 3 three trees and

glued them back to back. Then I added glue to the edges.

 

The next step was to sprinkle some

glitter over the trees and put them on the rack to dry.

It was super easy to get the excess glitter back into the little bottle.

 

I used the trees on small craft envelopes which will

be put on each guest's dinner plate as a decoration

on Christmas day.

I haven't planned the menu.... but the decorations are all sorted!

If you met my Family

you would understand.....

 

This is one of my favourite quotes and I just had to make myself one.

I used:

A stretched canvas, VersaMark ink pad, some clear embossing powder,

Stampers Anonymous stamps (Tim Holtz Collection),

Dala Sun Paint, coarse salt, craft paint, old alphabet

letters, a diamante star, E 6000 glue and a Tim Holtz bird cage.
 

Ink up a stamp and carefully stamp onto the canvas to create a border.

Pour over some clear embossing powder and heat set.

Choose a colour and paint the canvas.

While the paint is drying wipe off some of the paint on the embossed area

and sprinkle a little coarse salt onto the canvas.

Watch how the magic happens.

Can you see the white dots on the background?

(See the sparks flying?) Ok!

 



Paint the alphabet letters in another colour and let them dry.

Then spray them with glimmer mist.

The easiest way to position the letters was to use a repositionable glue,

like Mono Multi glue. Let the glue dry and then position the letters.

If they fall off afterwards, just glue them back on while the glue is still wet.

For fun I added a piece of lace from my grandma's stash.

(we all inherit something!) 

 





The small charm star was then glued inside the cage.

(but never let the star inside you be locked away)

I used some of the craft paint and my finger to paint the outside of the cage.

To keep the cage in place I also used a bit of E 6000 glue and there you go,

all done.

 

I have another canvas planned and waiting on my studio table.

and another one......

 

Will keep you posted.

 

 

A coat of paint and a new look.

A girl must have her own set of tools....

I like my sander, in fact I have two. A Black and Decker Mouse and an old green thing

that takes me for a ride all over the place. (or piece of wood)

But it still works well, although I had to check with my husband

about the sparks that I saw inside the green machine one late afternoon.

So my project was to sand down my two studio tables and paint them a good colour.

 

 a GOOD COLOUR...... can spark a big debate....

I sanded the tables and gave each a few coats of paint, then my mom and dad

came to visit and he asked: "Did you sand in between coats?"

"of coarse, dad....."

 

Ok, then when the tables were back in the studio, it was time for the numbers! 

Each one of the six seats had to have a number.

I used stencil glue to keep the numbers in place and

 Dala's white craft paint and a stencil brush did the rest. 

 

So when my birthday came, my table was ready.

I must still find someone that will do the cooking, so I can just do the decorating.

But this time it was a lot of fun and hard work, because I had to do both.

 

I found some place mats and stripy paper bags in a "good colour"

that matched perfectly.

 

Candles.... always candles and fairy lights to create the right atmosphere.

 

I think it turned out perfectly and the new colour for the tables

is a big change. Now for the rest of the woodwork to be painted!

And there's lots!

 

 

 



 

 

 

Birthday Flowers

These roses are the most exquisite color I have ever seen.

I took some photographs of them while they were at their best, but the surprise came when I harvested the leaves to let them dry and then I saw this incredible colour combination.

 

The roses never really opened. They had a slight fragrance and after a

few hot days they dropped their heads and started going off.

 



Yellow and vintage pink, and each petal perfectly formed and folded

around the next one. This picture was taken on my newly painted studio table,

 



and this one was taken outside.

 



Here they are, all ready to dry. The colours will fade,

but I have my photographs.

 

 





Mills and Boon for Christmas!

My theme for this year is old book paper.

Here are a few of my ideas to decorate your gifts and your table.

 An old Mills and Boon paperback

works great as a source for the old book paper.

 

I used my Martha Stewart Paper Punches to create this lace border.

I had to punch three pages at a time, it just works better than one.

Then a Spellbinders Nestabilities die for the base of the flower and

a red paper rose to get the colour going.

 

Cut some pages in half and then do the punching. Join the pages at the top and bottom.

 Now you can use it as "ribbon" to wrap it around a gift.

 

For the stars and the hearts I used the Sizzix Framelits dies.

(all available from Scrap-a-Doodles)

Book wrapping paper works great as gift wrapping paper, but it can be very boring,

so you need to Zoosh it up with a piece of string and some bling.

 

Use the different size hearts. Cut 5 and fold them in half.

Glue them together and arrange them on the gift. Remember to bling it up!

 Here I used Zig glue and because you can work very accurate and it still sticks when it is dry.

 

A paper rosette with a red rose on each plate will look FABULOUS!

 

How to - Bath and Beauty Gifts for Christmas

On Saturday, November 10th, 2012,

Elna taught at the Pretoria branch of Soul Sisters.

The ladies made their own 

Atomisers (Spritzers),

Bath Salt Tea Bags and

Body Scrubs.

Most of these products can be "concocted" from supplies which are

available at you local pharmacy or health shop.

Here are the links for the 

Bath Salt Tea Bag

and Salt Body Scrub.

For the Atomiser you need to mix:

a tablespoon of Rubbing Alcohol (or Vodka) and

7 drops of your favourite essential oil

in a mister bottle before

filling up the bottle with distilled water

(We used a 50ml (2 ounces) bottle)

Another one of my favourites is a 

Sugar Body Scrub:

 Pour 160ml (5 ounces) of sugar into a jar with a wide neck;

Add 60ml (2 ounces) of Soluble Bath Oil (Mineral oil / Technical Oil),

a teaspoon of Vitamin E Oil and

10 drops of your favourite essential oil.

Stir with a wooden stick until it forms a paste

(the sugar will remain gritty).

Apply to hands/feet, rub and rinse with warm water.

********

You can also make your own 

Diffuser Oils

Mix together 60ml (2 ounces) Mineral Oil (Soluble Bath Oil / Technical Oil)

a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol (or Vodka) and

10 drops of your favourite essential oil.

These recipes are ideal for making inexpensive handmade gifts

for family, friends, teachers and all the other special people in your life!!

For great labels to use on your gifts, go to the Graphics Fairy website.

Karen has some amazing labels that you can download!!

Wise words

 

I am addicted to Pinterest..... terrible? No..... !

To me it is a galaxy of ideas.

 

But I am not a very active facebooker. Anyway,

 one of my friends had this to share today

and I think it is very true.

                              

 

A friend of mine's dad passed away last night, another

friend's mom is terminal. My mom and dad are both 86.

We can't all be strong all the time.

 

Keep well,

keep strong or do a good job of crying!. x

 

 



Pamper Hamper

Bath salt "tea bags", a Lemon grass atomizer and a fragrant body scrub.

These are the products you will be making during the class on Saturday.

Then you will decorate all of them so it will make the perfect gift.

 

  You will use lace tape, seam binding, doilies, bling,

tissue tape, heat seal tea bags and tissue paper.

 

There will also be.....

Soy wax candles for sale!!

Still one of my favourite things to make,

because it smells so gorgeous.

 

See you on Saturday, we will be mixing and shaking and blinging!

La Vie book - Part 9

Page 16 and inside back cover.

 Another greeting card from Elise Grey Collections,

a flower and brad from Making Memories,

some flower trim and an angel dangle complete page 16.

I used the back of a greeting card from Cavania Cards 

as the focal point for my inside back cover.

The front of the card was used as part of my book's front cover.

Also on the page are ephemera by K & Company,

a metal quote by Making Memories and scraps of patterned paper.

La Vie

 Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is bliss, taste it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is costly, care for it.

Life is wealth, keep it.

Life is love, enjoy it.

Life is mystery, know it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.

 

 

After a few glasses of really good red wine,

a friend and I decided to translate the La Vie quote into Afrikaans.

Here is our version of it:

La Vie

 Die lewe is ’n moerse kans

Die lewe is die dood se dans;

Die lewe is ’n fuifparty

Die lewe is ’n spoelgety;

Die lewe is wel pragtig

Die lewe is ’n willewragtig;

Die lewe is ’n blye lied

Die lewe is ’n spergebied;

Die lewe is beslis begrens

Die lewe bly ’n blye wens;

Die lewe is die hart se seer

Die lewe is probeer maar weer;

Die lewe is die grys tristes

Die lewe is die runderpes;

Die lewe is ’n avontuur

Die lewe duur van uur tot uur;

Die lewe is die lewe!

(Vry vertaal uit die Frans met apologie aan Moeder Theresa) 

Click here if you want to look at all the posts

relating to my "Little Book of Inspiration".