Happy 2010! (and a long overdue post!)

2010. I'm so excited about this year... lots of good stuff ahead. I've been thinking about some goals for the year in terms of my photography. Besides the usual "upgrade gear" (MKII anyone?) I'd like to attend a workshop or two, maybe hit WPPI, and keep up with this durn blog better. :-) Yes, it's been a whole month since my last post. Yes, I am about six sessions behind. Yes, I've been busy! I had a lot of Christmas card orders come in (thanks, all!) and despite my vow to take some time off this winter, also had several sessions recently. The lack of snow this winter is making it possible to continue shooting outdoors! I'm loving the way the light is so different this time of the year. It makes for some striking photos.

December was a very crafty month for me. I'm not sure where it came from, but I was on an artsy creative kick. I wandered through the aisles at Michaels with a dazed, in-love expression and overflowing basket -- much like the proverbial kid in the candy shop. I surfed design and art blogs with fervor and ate up the inspiration that is so abundant on the internet. I'm not sure if this crafty kick is here to stay, but its been fun thus far! I ended up making all handmade Christmas gifts for both sides of our family. Here's a peek for you. Maybe it will spark an idea for your own project -- I love getting ideas from other people and then customizing them.

To start with I made these magnets. I used a variety of scrapbook papers with bright colors and geometric designs as well as photos from magazines as the base. I cut them out with a circle punch and glued them face-up to the bottom of the clear marbles you find in the floral section of Michaels. Then I finished them off with a magnet on the flat side as well. I also printed various words and added one per batch.






I found the tins at Michaels as well, but didn't like the Christmas themed design on the lids, so I recovered them with my own paper. Peter bought me some handmade India paper at a Fair Trade show recently, and I was able to put some of it to good use. Hot glue is just amazing, isn't it?



Then (even though I am NOT a seamstress!) I attempted double-sided cloth napkins with a flower applique on the backside. I drew a petal on cardboard and used it as the template, then attached it to the fabric with an iron-on application. Not sure it was the best route, but it worked.





This next one was my favorite project (and most time-consuming.) Have you ever heard of needle-felting? I hadn't either until a month ago when my lovely neighbor showed me and sparked an addiction. I fondly refer to my frenetic late-night activity as "animal stabbing" but "needle-felting" is the official term. :-) I ended up making about twenty assorted animals and dolls -- turning most of them into ornaments by adding the twine. I made a few more giraffes, reindeer, and dolls after this pic was taken, as well as three snowmen (which were so fat and adorable!) and a whole little family of baby ducklings to go with Mama Duck. Yeah, I really got into it. :-)



A few close-ups:









This is how it's done. You start with dyed wool:



Then you begin shaping it and with a special needle (and a thick piece of foam to protect the knees) start stabbing it like crazy. The stabbing binds the fibers in the wool together and felts it. It takes a whole lot of stabbing, but eventually it becomes hard and felted. I made the legs/arms/necks/heads separately and then stabbed them into the body -- the same with the hair, ears, halters, etc.

Word to the wise: make sure you're current on your tetanus shot as you WILL stab yourself! My poor hand looks like it doubles as a pin cushion.





For packaging I found these colorful take-out boxes (at Michaels, of course!) and made up little cards that gave each animal a unique identity (name, favorite color, etc) Anything to try and make Aunt Amber's handmade elephant a little more special to that seven-year-old nephew that just really wanted a power ranger from Walmart. Sigh. I hope the nieces and nephews forgive my whim this year. :-)





And finally, Peter helped me make these boards. We used reclaimed lumber from a 200-year-old East Coast fence and used magnetic paint and chalkboard paint for the bottom part. Magnetic paint is STRONG! We applied two coats and those tester magnets were NOT going to fall off!





I also made up a few pairs of earrings and some butterfly hair clips, but I didn't get any pics of those. I'm thinking I should start a little sooner if I decide to do the same thing next Christmas, but I really love the idea of making gifts. It's personal and goes against the Christmas consumerism that I try so hard to avoid. Christmas should be about Christ, love, family, traditions, quality time... but it's so hard to teach that to kids with the massive assault of advertising during the last two months of the year. Maybe making a tradition of "make it, bake it, grow it, sew it" will help with that. (And somewhere a five-year-old niece is groaning in dismay... ;-)

Happy Crafting!