And the winner is....

A little random number generator has selected 12. The 12th comment happens to be Miss Margeaux, or Mux as her friends call her. Miss Mux, email me your address and 102 1/2 wishes will visit your mailbox in a few days.

There are 2 criterias I use to buy wine; either I've already tasted it or it is in a really cool bottle. The above was purchased for criteria #2 but I thought it was relevant.


Thank you for all your posts, your kind words. I hope that each and every one of your wishes materialize. Just keep fighting for it-whatever it is.





"Any given moment can change your life, you just have to be there for it. " (Curly Girl)


P.S. Kits for the "girls" coming soon in the Etsy shop.

The Girls and A Little Gift

The day after Christmas I always get the post-holiday "blecks". Not wanting to take down the Christmas tree but not really wanting to look at much longer, I decided to indulge myself in a few projects that I (for nothing then more than my sheer enjoyment) wanted to do and ignore the decorations.

These supplies have been waiting to be transformed. Thanks to the (the Queen again and her Ezine)

From the pile of junk, came 102 1/2 wishes. An old book, some paper scraps, a velvet ribbon-Voila! A blank canvas to house all those wishes.

2009 is lurking around the corner. I don't do "resolutions"-non-commital Gemini-but I do have an ongoing list of to-do's with this life.

*****Giveaway Alert******

To celebrate 2009 and a blank slate from which to wish and dream your butts off, 102 1/2 wishes will go to some lucky person. Leave a comment to this post with one of your wishes and on Tuesday, the 30th, I will randomly draw a winner. In the meantime, start your list!

Wow, that was fun.

Now, the Girls.

Whatever intrigued me about clothespin people, I haven't a clue. These two are the first. For the practical people of the world (and who share in my life here on this blog)-No, I haven't a clue what I'm going to do with them. But aren't they cute???

Off to take the tree down, I can't stand it anymore.

Wish #33-That life's irritants continue to be what they are today. Little miss, put my scarf back.

First-

No, I really don't have 567 "to-do's" on my bucket list. Just sounded better than #20. The pajamed princess ornament was also featured on One Pretty Thing so I must give some love to Rachel and her awesome sight. Thousand of darling to-do's, neatly organized, and hand selected.

That my friends, is #567 and 1/2-CHECK.

Second-

I spent the day baking cookies with little miss and mister..literally there was flour and food coloring everywhere but we had a great time. Little Mister asked to wear an apron--my heart skipped with glee when he donned the original Fruity Bitch apron and did a little dance. His first comment was, "Mom, I think you need boobs to wear this thing." (Maybe they help, but he sure looked cute, er, handsome?)

After cleaning up the "glue" (what happens when you mix flour and water), I hightailed it up to the studio to finish an order I promised for Monday.

Turned out very cute, if I say so myself. Present for a "friend" from a "friend" but after receiving this they may just end up as more than friends. I ran out of pink cardboard cake boxes and had to substitute. (Martha Stewart, or her packaging, saves the day.)

So, that's it for today. One more official day of work, one more to finish Christmas shopping, and then pure home hang-out time..bliss.

Bucket List #567-Check.

The Market is both killing me (not really,but I'm tired of finding stray strings hanging everywhere) and causing me immense joy this Holiday season. I've got orders that I need to complete before Friday but let's face it..we all need a time out. I took one tonight. Bad girl, I'll regret it on Thursday when I'm up until midnight.

We (the subscriber's of the Bella Ezine Comfort and Joy) are on day 8 and I've yet to play with any of the awesome tutorials Ms. Silver Bella herself, Teresa McFayden, has put together. Seriously, if you are in an "inspiration slump", these will yank you right out. There's a little sneak peek at Vintage Indie of Day One.

So, friends, my version of Day 1:

There she goes again with the damn glitter..I know.

Please note: The center silhouette is a freebie (the good kind) courtesey of Vol. 25..Her purpose was to use them as gift tags but,oh the possibilities.

And, Oh yes, the bucket list part.....

Bucket List #567-Publish Something

The writer gig is up there on my top things to do before I die.

However small it may seem, The Pajam-ed Princess Ornament Tutorial, which I wrote and designed, was featured on a crafting blog-Whip Up. I'm going to count this as, "publish something." for now. Thanks Kathreen for the press. Go on over there and visit-your inner crafty girl will explode with glee! (I'm doing the woo-hoo dance as we speak)


One more useful yet random tool I just learned about. If you read more than 5 blogs a day-use google reader. The seasoned blog community is yelling at their computer screens, "Duh, chick, it's like been around forever." But, this newbie is thrilled. It's like e-mail for blogs. Keep track of all the blogs you read and when they're updated. You don't have to visit each one--a little efficiency to our lives is never a bad thing.


Get out your notebooks,kiddies, and make that bucket list...2009 is right around the corner and you never know when you just might get to cross one off.

The Pajama-ed Princess Ornament Tutorial

The 4-day Thanksgiving weekend was much needed. I spent much of it trying to get inspired to create.

I wrestled my Christmas tree and got it up-without the Christmas Tree Nazi complaining that I hadn’t fluffed enough. Every year, I promise myself that I will buy coordinating ornaments and have a themed tree. In my mind, this tree of calculated coordination would be Macy’s worthy-glittery gold and matching with pink and cream feathers and ornaments.

Yet, each year, I pull out the dried glue gingerbread man with a picture of little mister as a toddler and the glittery reused spool that little miss constructed in first grade and I just can’t make myself pack these away for the sake of design. So, yes, this time of year to me is about tradition.



This summer, I subscribed to Marie Claire Idees after reading about it on more than one blog. The kicker is that the whole magazine is in French and I haven’t a clue what any of it says. BUT oh my, the wait was well worth the pictures.

(Amazon offers a subscription but some bad reviews about people not receiving anything, so I subscribed through UNI-PRESSE. Got my first issue, as promised, 8 weeks later. The only glitch is that I am Mr. Rebekah on the address label, but whatever.)

On a side note: Do you ever play that game-“Would you rather be blind or deaf?” and have ridiculous debates with your friends? I never could come to a conclusion, but I’ve since realized-Deaf would be my choice.)

The inspiration for the rest of this post stems from this photo-courtesy of Marie Claire Idees.

I love my children, who doesn’t right? Why not immortalize them and add to my sentimental collection of ornaments?

The Pajama-ed Princess Ornament Tutorial

Supplies:
-Favorite Photo

-“Pabric” or Fabric (Don’t have time to wait, visit this link for printing from your inkjet directly onto fabric)

-Ribbon (3" piece or so for hanging)

-Fabric Scraps or Paper (for ornament backing)

-Some Type of Stuffing- Fiber Fill Etc (I have so many pieces of scrap fabric that sometimes I use these to fill too.)

-Embellishments, if you’d like

-Take your photo. Using photo editing software of some sort, remove the background from the picture. I use PaintShop Pro and the eraser tool. I also changed my photo to black and white.

-I like to insert my image into a text box in Microsoft Word. There I resize (this ornament is approx. 6” tall) and copy to get the correct layout so I can see how it will print onto an 8.5” x 11” piece of Pabric. “Pabric”. Not paper, not fabric. Genius.

-Layout your photos making sure you leave enough space to cut ½” border around each picture.
Print.

-Decide what you’d like to use for the back of your ornament. You can use fabric scraps, paper, whatever.
Pin the fabric with your photo and your backing fabric (or paper) wrong sides together. Cutting through both layers, leave ½” or so border around your image. (You’ll need somewhere to sew the two together.)

Insert ribbon into the top (fold in half) and pin, catching it in the seams when you begin to sew in the next step.

Using a ¼” seam allowance, sew around your photo leaving an inch or so opening to allow a place to stuff your filling.


Stuff your ornament to your desired fullness. I like the “less bloated” look so I used less.

Close the opening by handstiching or machining the opening closed.

If you’d like, you can now dress these up. My glitter addiction made me add some, and little Miss looks lovely with a little crown.

TADA..Easy, Personalized and so cute.....

P.S. Thank you, friend of little Miss, for your photo.

If you have any questions after embarking on this little journey of creativity, please contact me. (In a hurry? If you don't have time and would like me to whip some up for you, please email me.)

Happy creating!

Damn, I'm tired...

The Frozen Tundra Holiday Boutique is tomorrow and I am t-t-tired of the factory work. Once again, as is my creative process, I rushed around all day and forgot to stop and take pictures (other than these) of the goods.


I'm obsessed lately with all things "grandma-y". These little strawberries (yes, made by me) are so cute. Reminds me of a pin cushion I saw around our house when I was little. I packaged them as ornaments because if you don't buy things that haven't a purpose-then these just don't otherwise make sense. The practical people of this world.....(sigh)


An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have. -Andy Warhol

I whipped up some felt brooches (another grandma thing) too--Damn they were cute, I wish I would've taken a picture. Maybe I'll have some left??

I realized, too, that my carbon footprint has to be atrocious since I'm a sucker for good "packaging." My theory is, "If you're going to create something special, then it should be dressed up."

I'm going to clean up the studio because Hurricane Rebekaha has left a disaster in her wake. Plus, another Market happens again on Saturday. AND the Bella Ezine (a gift from the godess of creativity) posts tomorrow and provided it's everything I expected, I'll not sleep again.

More pics to come...in the meantime, SHOP HANDMADE.

I've decided something: Commercial things really do stink. As soon as it becomes commercial for a mass market it really stinks. Andy Warhol