Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas


This will probably be my last post for the year due to holiday broo-ha-ha, so I thought I'd post some photos of the ornaments I made for two of co-workers. I've made tons of stuff as gifts so I will have loads of things to share soon! I've been really stressed the past week with trying to get all my crafting and cooking done. I am looking forward to spending time with my family and friends and relaxing a bit.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a happy New Year!

Friday, December 12, 2008

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I thought I'd share some photos of my tree! I usually put up a 6ft white tree that I absolutely love but, this year due to space, I bought this smaller 4ft pink tree. I'm actually pretty pleased with it and like how it looks all lit up. I also have alot of my grandmother's balls that give it some shimmer. So here's to smaller spaces, vintage ornaments, and my new Hallmark ornaments which I spend way too much money on every year.

Some of my new Hallmarks--I collect the Disney, Dr. Seuss and Star Wars ones.



I love this one that belonged to my grandmother.

This one was hers too!


Also, check out these great Christmas items I found at the thrift!
Two little ceramic elves. So darling!

This chubby Santa which is actually a painted gourd!

This handmade Christmas mouse that needs just a little TLC but I had to buy her! She was $1.50! She was made out of a large soda bottle and what seems like a styrofoam carved head. So sweet! I had a good week at the thrift!


I cant wait to have a larger space someday to decorate like I vision it all in my head. I hope everyone is getting in the holiday spirit. I know it always help me get in the mood when I put my tree up.

On another note: I'm crafting like mad for the holidays. I'm doing the 12 Days of Christmas swap and of course things for family and friends. I don't think I've gotten a good night's sleep in two weeks. I just hope I can finish everything in time!!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Christmas Favorites

I'm not gonna lie to you----------I love Christmas!! I'm a sucker for everything Christmas. I am so excited to watch the Peanuts special tonight that it got me thinking about all of my favorite holiday movies and tv shows that I MUST watch every year. So here's some of my favorite Christmas movies!

My most favorite is A Christmas Story.

Who can resist the story of Ralphie and his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun (with a compass and a stock). I laugh every time I watch it and have been known to watch it in July.

The Battle of the Lamp

A deranged Easter bunny--a pink nightmare.

Football? What's a football?

Next up is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Hysterically funny! Saucer sledding, fried pussycat, yacking on a bone, yuppie neighbors, twinkling lights, kidnapping, and who can forget.........
Cousin Eddie and his green dickey. Awesomeness.
Colby's favorite line is....

Shitter's full. My favorite is "this is going to be hap hap happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny Kaye! Clark has that crazed look in his eye and it's just hilarious.

Number three: Scrooged. I love Bill Murray. He is a genius and this role was made for him. For those of you living in a cave, it is a spin on the classic Christmas Carol. My favorite scenes are the ones with the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present. Absolutely fantastic!

The ghost of Christmas Past is played by none other that Buster Poindexter. My favorite line of his: "Go back to Jersey you moron!"

The ghost of Christmas Present is played by the fabulous Carol Kane and this scene is my favorite. She just totally abuses him and all the while is "so glad she wore my pretty dress."

Next up is a classic; White Christmas. It is such a wonderful movie filled with great songs and dancing. My favorite is the "Sisters" song.

I mean look at those costumes. Absolutely fantastic.

And I can't forget the finale. So beautiful.

Number 5--A Nightmare before Christmas. I'm not going to say much about this movie becaue I could go on and on. It's one of my favorite movies of all time and is absolutely wonderful. Great songs and characters.


Next up--ELF What a fantastical and wonderful movie.

Buddy the elf is a great character and Will Ferrel does a great job with the role. I love when he leaves the North Pole and travels with a penguin and through the candy cane forest.

Next, another classic--It's a Wonderful Life. We've all seen it and love it. It's a fantastic story, great actors and Zuzu's petals.

My favorite scene.

Lastly, Miracle on 34th Street.

I love this story about Santa Claus and believing in something even though you're told it's not real. I love this version of it. The newer one is ok but it's something about Natalie Wood as the little girl that makes it so great. Just wonderful.

I know there are tons more holiday movies out there, but when I think of the ones that I just have to watch every year, these are the ones that come to mind. They all just make me happy when I watch them, which is what makes them special to me. What are some of your favorites?

Monday, December 1, 2008

Chuck Palahniuk Swap: Part 2

I received the most awesome crafts from my swap partner for the Chuck Palahniuk Swap. She was so inventive and creative and really blew my mind! I love everything-- so on to the loot!

A Shannon doll from the book "Invisible Monsters." She is the main character and wears a veil because the bottom half of her jaw is missing. This is my favorite book and was glad that she crafted something from that book for me!! She also has a secret.....

When you remove the veil she turns in to Brandy Alexander another character from the book. Just look at the embroidered facial details! Such a fantastic job!

She even included some pills that Brandy takes---for all my estrogen needs. (They were really Tic Tacs ;))

An altered book with a surprise inside......
hee hee little stuffed penis complete with veins. Could represent so many of his books really. Too funny.

A sex addicts journal from the book "Choke." This is absolutely hilarious. It has pages about how to tell if you are a sex addict, the 12 steps to recovery etc. I jus rolled on the floor laughing.

How to Tell if you're an addict page.

Some of the steps page.

A Marla Singer frame. She is one of my and my partner's favorite characters. The frame has quotes by and about Marla around the frame and an image of Marla from the Fight Club movie.

A Marla doll that I absolutely adore. She's wearing a prom dress and even has cigarette. I can't even describe how much I love this.

So another successful swap. I'm so glad that I've had really cool and inventive partners. I have been so lucky.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Phew!

I have been uber-busy lately. Lots of craftin' going on. I have been working on my stuff for the 12 Days of Christmas Swap and have only 2 weeks left to craft before sendouts. I'm a little stressed but looking forward to finishing everything and seeing what MissDisney makes for me!

On another note: A radio station here started playing Christmas music. So I guess it begun and this year I'm actually ready!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Chuck Palahnuik Swap

Wow I haven't posted in a while. Colby and I went on vacation and I'll try to post a few pics of that soon but I've been wanting to post these pics of some of the work I did for the Chuck Palahnuik Swap on Craftster. I love Chuck's books and was so excited that this swap finally happened. I had an awesome partner, nostrum, from Australia. So here's what I made for her!

I thought a bookmark would be appropriate--so I stitched this one with a quote from Choke that says, "If you're going to read this book, don't bother." Fitting really. I then added the knife and fork design from the book and free-handed a steak--a t-bone no less. I really enjoy the repetitiveness of cross stitch---seeing the design and lettering slowly take shape. Really enjoyable.


A small embroidered patch based off of the dead bird image on the cover of Lullaby. My partner mentioned that she liked the image so I know I wanted to do something with it. I had originally thought about making it a stamp, but the more I thought about it, I knew the lines of the image would translate well to embroidery. I backed it with felt so she could sew it what ever she likes.


A necklace with images of Chuck's book covers and of him, funky charms and beads. I wanted to make a wild, whimsical necklace that was like the ones he actually makes and has sent to fans. I used small wooden tiles and good 'ol Modge Podge to glue the images down. Then I added a quote on the back of the tiles that I thought best represented each book. I also added charms and beaded items to fill it out. This was so much fun to make and I truly wanted to keep it.

The back side with the quotes.


My partner said that Fight Club was one of her favorites so I wanted to make something based off of that book, but I wanted to do something different. I thought so hard about what to do for this, flipping through the book, looking at quotes. Then one day, it hit me--the haikus that the narrator writes. So I stitched it out in pretty lettering on pale purple fabric and added a queen bee design from an Aunt Martha's pattern and framed it all up in a fancy frame. I even used some metallic thread for the wings and didn't really fight with it that much! I love how it turned out.

The Queen Bee


So now I'm just waiting to receive my package from nostrum. I can't wait to see what she's made for me.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Jar of Mini Whimsies Swap Part 1

My latest swap was the jar of mini whimsies. Don't know what a whimsy is? I didn't either until I got on Craftster. A whimsy is basically a small item like a toy, button, charm, a bit of ribbon, game pieces etc. The whimsies are then collected and put into a jar and shipped out to you partner! My partner was mamaphunk from Missourri. She sent me some awesome whimsies, alot of vintage items and cute plastic charms. Here's my jar chock full of whimsies.

Everything all dumped out and sorta sorted.

Some close-ups. Mah-jong tiles ( I think), shells, metal flowers, plastic bowling pin.

Plastic charms including skates, boots, whistes, tooth holders, mini roulette wheel, hotdog, plane.

Some blinging rings.

I love these charms. They say "I'M IN THE DOG HOUSE." Way to cute.

Wonderful felted and beaded balls made by my partner. I want to learn how to do this! They are gorgeous and will make a great necklace or bracelet.

Some of my favorite items though I love everything! A graduate cake topper, plastic girl possibly also a cake topper, the mini roulette wheel, an old compass, plastic charms including the hotdog, flamingo cupcake topper. This was a fun swap and I began looking at things differently. I found myself saying--I could put that in the whimsy jar! So fun.

Just realized that Maggie is totally chowing down in the background. hee hee

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Tea Towels

I received some awesome towels from my Tea Towel Swap partner, zombiekilla. I mentioned that I was really into birds right now and she stitched the most whimsical and creative designs. She really did a great job with making something that it totally me! They were also stitched on these really vintage looking towels which I love. Without further adieu:

The bird with the red balloon. She used such fun colors!


The bird with flowers. I love this image and again such great colors. Really fantastical looking.


The bird looking at his reflection. Probably my favorite design. He's checking himself out in the mirror and loving what he sees.

Thanks zombiekilla for these great towels!