Ornament Exchange Party 2023

I always have such a fun time at my annual Ornament Exchange party!  Even though December is a very busy time of year, my group of "crafty" friends make it a priority to make handmade ornaments and come over for our Christmas party.

We had a wonderful dinner and dessert time before our exchange.  Each person brings either food or desserts and we had a nice assortment of dishes.  

Amy made beaded stars displayed on a cute crock mini tree.  

Judy brought some painted tin stockings in a pretty Christmas basket.  

Tracy made some over-sized tags that she painted and decoupaged with vintage images and ribbons.

Carol brought some cute little fabric bird ornaments all dressed in checked fabric and polka dots.

And Linda made some fabric 9-patch ornaments using Christmas colors.

Here's a pic of the whole "crafty" gang.  We had such a great time together!  What things can we make for next year?

 

Angel Ornaments are Done!

This week is my annual Ornament Exchange with 7 of my crafty friends.  For my ornament, I made a little county angel.  I saw an idea on Pinterest, but changed mine up a bit.  

I made my own pattern for the angel and I used some coordinating fabrics.  Her hair is made from yarn that I braided for her face and then glued onto the back of her head.

I used a fabric pen to draw on her eyes and mouth and some pink Stampin Up ink to color in her cheeks.  

Originally I was going to make a fabric star to go with each angel, but the two projects took a lot longer to make than I planned on.  

I added some county-looking buttons that I've had in my craft for a long time (maybe decades!).  I think they look cute with this project.  For the wings, I made up a pattern, cut them out of some cream-colored felt and stitched around the edges.  I took up a little dart in the back to make them fit her body.  

Even though they were a lot of work, I still love them.  I hope the other girls love them, too.  :)

 

The Joy of Christmas

I was busy this week making some Christmas cards for my stamp classes.  Because of the broken foot situation, I'm way behind on my cards and classes.

For this set of cards I used the 2 stamp sets in the Joy of Christmas collection.  My first card is copied from Katie Drew and I just love the soft green colors.  I paired my cards this week with the Winter Meadow designer papers love the soft muted look to them.

Card #2 uses a larger sprig stamp from the Joy of Noel stamp set.  I colored the leaves and berries with Stamping blends and added a Pool Party focal circle.  The banners are 2" strips of paper from the Winter Meadow papers.  I used the same layout as Akiko Sudano did on one of her Christmas cards, but changed up the color scheme.

My next card is make using green papers from the Winter Meadow assortment.  My favorite paper in the pack is this subtle green tree paper.  I cut out some springs from the Joy of Noel dies and I think they look just like an evergreen branch.  The base of the card is Pool Party paired with Pretty Peacock accents.   

After I made the card, I thought it needed something else so I added the little bird from Bird's Eye Vew set.  He does make the card a little more whimsical, but I like him on there.  I wasn't sure if my stampers would like him on the card, but they did.  :)

The card on the left has the little bird sitting on the saying and on the right, he is on a little branch off to the side.  

I could have made more cards using this suite.  If only time would allow...

 

Beary Cute Christmas Cards

Last week for my stamp class, I made some "beary" cute cards for Christmas using the set, Beary Cute.  I used the designer paper as the highlight for this card.  I trimmed off part of the front of the card so that you can see the paper peeking through.  I stamped the snowflakes for the front panel and then added the bears to the focal point.  

I added some very light snowflakes using a grunge stamp to the background to help the polar bears stand out.  I got the idea for this card from Pinterest but can't find the demonstrator's name.  (If it's your card, please let me know so I can give the credit.)

For my second card, I cut out the background piece from the designer papers and added the bears and one of the trees to the card.  I embossed the white background piece using an older snowflake folder.  The saying is from a snowman set from a few years back.  

I added a snowflake cut from some blue glitter paper.  I like how it makes the card sparkle.  

This next card is made using Memories and More cards and envelopes.  I cut the card size down to 5 1/2" so that it is a standard US card size.  I adhered designer paper to the front of the card and a strip of blue glitter paper.  

I thought the bears were easy to stamp and cut out and looked great in the navy color.  I loved the designer papers, too.  This will definitely be a set that I will use again and again.  I want to mix and match it with other stamp sets.  

Which card is your favorite?

 

Quilted Zippered Bag

This week in my sewing lessons, I taught some of the ladies how to make a zippered bag.  Putting in zippers can be scary if you haven't done it before, but it's actually not that hard.  We cut our fabric into 2 1/4 inch strips.  For our bags today, we used 5 strips across but you can use any amount that you'd like.  

You quilt it with batting and backing and then put the zipper in at the top of the bag.  This is how mine turned out before I added the embellishments.  I made a couple of yo-yo flowers and added a tassel to the zipper pull.  

I am going to put together a tutorial on how to make this bag, hopefully this weekend.  I will keep you posted.  

This bag is made using fabric from the Folktale line from Moda.  I have quite a bit of this fabric and I love the soft, muted colors that are in it.  I made some key fobs to match the bag.  

And I paired it with the sweet little flower bowl.  I want to make a whole basket full of these little bags in a bunch of different sizes.  They are great way to get organized and also make a nice gift.  :)

 

Fall Fabric Basket

Fall is my favorite season of the year.  I love everything about it - the colors, the scents, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, pumpkin tea, squash soup and of course, the apple cider donuts!  I have a lot of orange fall fabrics and I wanted to make a patchwork fall basket.

I used a lot of fabrics from the Squirrely Girl collection and put together this fall fabric basket.  I donated it to my quilting guild because I'm in charge of the Opportunity drawings each month at our meetings.  Every month I include something handmade in the drawings.  

The woman who won the drawing loved the little basket.  Now I just want to make More!  

At the end of September this year I twisted and sprained my ankle and broke one of the bones in my foot tripping on the stairs.  So for the whole month of October, I was pretty much out of commission.  

During my time at home while my foot was healing, I tried taking some fall photos around the house.  Here is one that took in my room near the window.  It's not perfect but it's what I came up with.

A cup of fall tea in the morning alongside my Bible devotion reading.  :)

Once my foot got somewhat better, I did get to enjoy a lovely fall in nearby Lake George.  Although it's pretty cold here in upstate NY during the winter (6 months), fall is exceptionally beautiful.  I enjoyed a wonderful day with my friends looking at the foliage and sitting alongside the lake.

Here I am sitting and relaxing with my foot up wearing my fall crocheted poncho that I bought at the Cracker Barrel restaurant. When I saw it, I just had to buy it!  I love the retro look and I remember wearing a poncho similar to this when I was a girl in the 70's.  

Don't you just love it's pretty fall look?  

Now I'm off to make some Christmas items.  :)

 

Pumpkin Girl

Today I made two cards that feature a Pumpkin girl from the stamp set, Seasons of Fun, a set from a few years ago.  For Halloween this year, my g-baby will be dressing up like a pumpkin and I wanted to send her a fun Halloween card.

For this card, I used Copper Clay for the background cardstock and added some All About Autumn designer papers to it.  These papers have been out of stock for a while and I wish that had ordered more at the beginning of the season!  I just love them so much.  

I added the little Pumpkin girl, colored her in using Stamping Blends and Wink of Stella to make her shine.  I added the little dog from Seasons of Fun and some cut-out leaves for embellishment.  The saying is from Pick of the Patch stamp set, in the current Mini Catalog.  I think she looks so sweet skating across this card. :)

For my next card, I started with Pumpkin Pie cardstock and added a designer sheet from Let's Go Fishing papers.  I liked the addition of the new color, Pebbled Path and I cut out a couple of tags using the same two colors.  

This time, I cut out the image of the Pumpkin girl and added Happy Halloween and a little pumpkin from the Pick of the Patch set.  

Which of the two cards do you like best?  I had fun playing with some fall stamps and papers today.