January Birthdays

Both my daughter and her husband celebrate their birthdays in January.  It has been a crazy month for mail delivery around here.  I knew that my SIL's card was going to be late because I held on to it for a couple of days while HWNSNBP was recuperating from covid just after the first of the year.  I used the colors of Notre Dame - one of his favorites - even though they lost.  The geometric die shapes are from my macrame sets from The Greetery.

Rachel's birthday was this week and I actually had the card done a week in advance ......and it was mailed a week in advance but it took over a week to get there...... just to the next state south of us.  I was getting worried that it had gone missing forever and then it showed up yesterday thank goodness.  I used a never-used stamp and die set from Alt & New.  Once again, the Misty was extremely helpful in letting me stamp those layers in multiple colors.

I'm going to try some different color combinations on these mandala halves.  The samples I've seen also close that gap to form a circle.  I'm now wondering if it can be stamped that way...... I'll have to do some experimenting and might just have some time tomorrow during the snowstorm we're expecting.

We face-timed with Rachel on her birthday and Maverick was bouncing all over the place as he's been during his quarantine.  He knew it was her birthday and when I wished her "Happy Birthday Chickadee" as I usually do, he quickly corrected me and said "that's not chickadee grandma, that's mommy!".  His mind was blown when she tried to tell him that I was her mommy.  We'll leave that until he's a little older.  

Hey - I Can Do That

Whilst we were out Christmas shopping I came across these signs at a local gift barn that simply said "Someone in _______ Loves Me".  They go over a doorway or window frame, or I guess they could be hung on the wall.  Well, anyway, I couldn't see myself buying one when I knew we had wood scraps, paint, and paint pens at home.  I did buy other things from the store so I don't feel guilty about taking the idea and using my own materials but, it's not something that I would sell to others though as it wasn't my original idea and I did not purchase a pattern.  I think the ones in the store might have been done with vinyl, but I used a paint pen for the lettering.  It took a little while to pencil in the writing to get it centered and everything, but I was glad to have a paint pen for this because years ago when I was selling crafts, the things that I lettered were painted and I am really out of practice with that.

We made one each for the grandsons.  Well, actually, we made four because the first two that I completed were ruined by trying to use very old spray fixative.   HWNSNBP noticed that there were blotches of the clear sealant on the wood after he sprayed it and when he tried to smooth it out the lettering smeared.  Was I happy about that - no, but it wasn't really his fault in trying to fix it.  If we hadn't had more wood I would have been more annoyed, but this just took some more time.

So I mentioned cookie cereal in my post for the Jingle Belle challenge last week.  If 8-10 year-olds could do it on the Kids Baking Championship show, so could this grandma.  I found a recipe on Pinterest (click here) for chocolate chip cookie cereal and gave it a whirl.  I got 6 trays of cookies from the batch of batter.  I would put them closer together next time because they don't spread out very much at all and it would take less time baking and use less parchment.  I used the mini chocolate chips and a pastry bag without a tip to squeeze them onto the sheet.  I did notice that the longer I held the bag the more the chips were melting inside because they were so small.  So I would work faster next time.  

You can see the average piped size in relation to a penny.  They could be even smaller next time.

I divided the finished product into three portions - one each for the grandsons and one for here.  We got to deliver one yesterday and the other will be mailed as they are quarantining because GS2 does have covid this time.  The school nurse told Rachel it was probably only a matter of time before she and her husband started showing symptoms even though they are vaxed and boosted.  GS2 is too young for the vaccine, but so far his symptoms are very mild, in fact, Rachel says he's bouncing all over the place much more than usual.  Go figure.  

And lastly, I found a use for one of those plastic coffee stirrers that Panera puts in the top of the cup lid so it doesn't spill.  It makes a perfect scarf/shawl closure...... which I would only use at home of course.  It's been so cold that I've been wearing this shawl when I sit at the computer.  We moved a piece of furniture to where the bird cage used to be behind me and I think that it's blocking the heat from the baseboard behind it.  There's already a larger cabinet under the window there and this just blocks more of that area so we're going to try moving the cabinet off to the side for the colder months.  I also had to move back the lemon tree to that area and away from the sliding glass door because it was too cool there and the leaves were curling from the cold temps as you sometimes see the evergreen shrubs like rhododendrons do in the extreme cold.  I'll just have to water it more frequently being nearer to the heat source.  

Okay, time to refocus on some Valentine projects.   

Jingle Belles - Getting Fit for 2022

Well, who doesn't want to be fit in 2022?  I sure would like to find those zero calorie goodies........ oh wait...... here they are.  Just as the Jingle Belles requested in this fortnight's challenge.  

I have had this stamp set from Neat & Tangled set aside, along with the background paper just waiting for a baking/cooking/food challenge.  There is more to this set which might make an appearance before the challenge period is over.  But, since I was stamping and fussy cutting those little bits (there is a die set but I didn't get it) I thought I'd make a couple.

I was even lucky enough to find a cupcake holder in my collection that matched.  I have to note that the sentiment is a conglomeration of two of the sentiments in the set which I was able to put together with some masking skills.

I was watching the Kids Baking Show last night and they were making "cookie cereal" which intrigued me so I had to check Pinterest for some recipes.  There were a few out there that I thought I might try.  I even asked HWNSNBP to pick up some mini chocolate chips at the store today.  Of course, it would be so much better if they had zero calories like this card.  I'll post results if I give it a try.  In the meantime, be sure to check out the Jingle Belles blog and see what our hostesses have cooked up!

Original Artwork

I have been lucky over the years to have made some wonderful friends through this blog whom I share my personal life and creative life with.   Since I've been on Instagram I've also made some wonderful friends that I've mostly been sharing my creative life with.  I do have a private IG account that I can share family pictures on, but I have a separate public account that I just use for my more artistic endeavors.  There is some overlap on these two accounts depending on who has requested to follow and some of those followers on the private account are people that I've made friendships with through the challenges that I have participated in.  Sounds confusing but it isn't really.

One such person is my new friend Nanette in The Netherlands.  I previously shared the Christmas card that Nanette sent me and now I'll share the story of how that came to be.  We have both participated in the 25 Doors of Christmas Challenge in the past and also Inktober.  This year I did the Inktober challenge using Zentangles while Nanette did the challenge prompts provided by Alexandra Sillos McVean.  Nanette is an art teacher in an elementary school and she is a gifted watercolorist.  Most of the prompts for the ASM Inktober challenge involved a woodland animal and an object.   The painting Nanette did of the owl & hanging lights prompt prompted me to ask her if she sold her work.  She answered no, but told me that when she was done with her series and scanning it, she would send it to me.  Of course, I was thrilled and ever so more thrilled when the package arrived filled to the brim with little treasures from her homeland and other things that she had made.  I was so touched by this, not just because of her kindness and generosity but because my father's side of the family comes from The Netherlands and I've always been interested in the customs and traditions.  Our Van Doren family has been here in the US for more than 200 years and a lot of the Dutch traditions were lost through the generations so I just loved this and enjoyed every little bit of it. (Dutch tea, caramels, and original stroopwafel were a very nice treat.  I totall enjoyed that and the Irish chocolates that Sabrina sent me.)

I treated myself to some other original art.  This dimensional painting comes from Josie Lewis as part of her dragon petals creations.  She mixes acrylics with acrylic medium and applies it to the canvas with a spatula - like frosting a cake.  This is a 4 x 4 canvas and it's more green IRL.  This is how the computer can change or enhance colors.  I like the picture on the computer more, but the original is still beautiful and it will be an addition to our condo.  

This next one is from Dar James.  It is another small piece - 5 x 5 on cradled wood.  These colors are more true to life (I photographed both pieces in the same light and in the same place). 

And I have to share the gorgeous bag that my blogging friend Lauren made.  If you check out her blog and go back a bit you can see more examples of her gift-packaging skills.   She happens to live nearby so she did a drop-off just before Christmas.  I usually send my elf (HWNSNBP) to her which he did.

And there was a little culinary treat that I ordered for myself for HWNSNBP to give me for Christmas.  

This oversized clear ornament held three French macarons from Simply Sweets by Lauren.  The macarons were delicious.  

Happy National Bagel Day and a Few More Pics

It's a cream cheese on an everything bagel for me today! Something about the warmth of the garlic, the nuttiness of the sesame seeds, the salt, and the cream cheese that makes it a great meal for a cold winter day especially when the wind chill when you wake up is -4º.  Thanks to HWNSNBP who stood in line at the bagel shop for 20 mins. to make sure I had this today.

Looking up last night I loved the way the light from my computer illuminated the paper ornaments on the light fixture.  I am contemplating making some of these with watercolored papers.

My dear, sweet husband has a habit of wanting to have a conversation with me when I'm in the middle of listening to something.  It's not as bothersome when I'm reading because I can put what I'm reading down or mark the place I left off.  When it's a movie or tv show however, it can be very frustrating because undoubtedly he'll strike up the convo or ask the question at the most inopportune time and through the most important dialogue.  I have learned to have the remote handy so I can rewind when this happens (all too often) because he doesn't like being shushed.  Then he'll ask me what's going on in the show and I'll have to pause to explain it to him.  It's a challenge.  Does this happen elsewhere?  

Why did I mention that, well because this also happens when I'm trying to follow a class, or video on the computer as it did while I was attempting to fold this owl from a dollar bill.  I would have been pausing and rewinding anyway, but if he's in the vicinity he throws my concentration totally off.  

Our red amaryllis started blooming around Christmas day.  These blooms are done now but there was a second stalk of blooms that are just beginning to open.

We also have a white one for the first time I believe.  When we moved it to the table one of the blossoms broke off so I put it in a vase on the kitchen counter.

The sun hitting the petal reminded me of the same sparkle you see when the sun hits the snow.

And speaking of snow, I think my crystal ball is telling me that an upside-down octopus means there's snow in the forecast.  The weather stations are ever changing with the amount, but we'll see some for sure.  Just hoping the wind will not be a factor.

Jingle Belles - More Christmas Goodies and My Specialty Trees

Yikes, I was so busy writing a different post I lost track of time and almost missed getting this in for the Thank You Santa Jingle Belle challenge.  This time my Santa was my blogging friend Sabrina who gifted me with this cool LeCrea Design Doodle Tree Stamp.  She even wrote in her note to me that this would come in handy for a Jingle Belle challenge someday!

The stamp is an outline with sections to doodle.

And doodle I did!  Then I colored in the sections with some watercolor pencils.  I couldn't find my Crystal Effects but did find a small bottle of glossy Mod Podge on my work table (which I've been trying to organize yet again).  I had the strongest olfactory memory using that to give my image a coat.  When I first got married, my Table 7 girlfriends and I used to make some crafts and sell them at craft shows - this was back in the late 70's/early 80's, and one of the things that we did was to mod podge gift wrap motifs onto plain white ceramic tiles, cover them with clear glitter, and add a velvet ribbon with a drapery ring to them so they could be hung.  They were simple to make and we sold a lot of them.  Funny what an odor can make you remember.

Anyhoo, this is my doodled tree that I added to some tie-dyed scrap paper.  I used some die cut letters over that piece of rainbow striped paper for my sentiment.  This card is supposed to be a mini slimline size which would be perfect not only for a card, but also for a money/check holder.

Before I go on, let me remind you that you can check out the other challenge entries at the Jingle Belles by clicking here.

Besides this fun stamp, we had a couple of additional decorated trees this year.  I had to move my lemon tree to another location temporarily so I used the beautiful handmade garland I received from Nanette (that post is coming) on it along with the origami ornaments I had stashed away that were light enough to put on this delicate tree. (Yes, we have an old door hanging on the wall.)  

I have about a dozen of these that I made from folded wrapping paper, metallic floss, and beads.

And the other tree is a new tree that first needed a base.  I saw something posted that someone had made using a dollar store basket, ribbon, and roping.  I picked out a red basket and the buffalo checked ribbon.  You can see my indecision in the store also caused me to buy another ribbon with black and white on the edges and burlap in the middle.  

I decided to use them both.  First I had to cut a hole in the bottom of the basket with an exacto knife.  Then I wove the lengths of ribbon through the sides of the basket alternating the weave on each row.  (It was nice that the ribbon was wide enough to fill two spaces and that there was an even amount of rows.  The roping, as you can see was just coiled around what was now the top - secured in place with hot glue.

To which we added our pencil thin bird tree.  We had accumulated so many bird ornaments over the years that we thought it would be nice to have this tree in front of the sliding glass doors out to the backyard.  

A different angle.

And a little closer top and bottom.

I got the battery operated (with remote) fairy lights from Amazon.

Someone suggested leaving this up but as pretty as it is, I don't want it to get dusty.  HWNSNBP inadvertently tossed the box for the tree so, if there is enough space for it in the storage area, we'll just  undecorate it and cover it with a plastic contractor's bag until next year.  I don't want to move it with the glass ornaments on - that would be asking for trouble.  I will be missing it being up, but the lemon tree will move back to it's home until it's warm enough for it to go outside again.  Maybe I'll put the fairy lights on it just for fun.

Jingle Belles - What Did Santa Bring You? .... and....National Bird Day

Well, it wasn't exactly THE Santa that brought me these goodies, but more like the Santa I know as myself who did some pre-Christmas shopping taking advantage of some of those last minute craft sales that were flooding my inbox incessantly the last few weeks of December.  I tried hard to just hit delete but curiosity got the best of me and I succumbed to the lure of a good sale.  Oh, and there were those enablers out there who were sharing some of their wonderful creations that used some of these new products that I couldn't resist, or didn't want to.  Truth be known, some of the ordering happened after the 25th and the packages are still coming in causing HWNSNBP to raise an eyebrow when he brings in the mail.  So it feels good to put these goodies to use for the Jingle Belle Challenge this week.

Both of these cards use the Sweet and Sassy Berry Branch Background stamp.  I stamped it in fade out ink on kraft cardstock and colored the top one with an SU marker and white gel pen.  The bottom was colored with alcohol ink markers as were the birds on both cards.  The birds are from the Sweet and Sassy Winter Birds set.  

I had the snowy wreath and peace die cuts, and the greenery die cuts and sentiment on my worktable - lucky me saving some time putting these cards together.  Oh, and you might notice that I now have the red and black buffalo plaid card bases as well as the black and white.  Those were in the clearance section at Michael's the week before Christmas and I grabbed them up.

These weren't the only new things amongst my stuff, but since today was also National Bird Day I thought it was fitting to use them on these first Jingle Belle cards of 2022.

Don't forget, you can visit the Jingle Belles by clicking here and giving some love to the hostesses and participants by leaving a comment on their beautiful work.  I will be checking in there soon and should probably have a couple more cards to show before the deadline next week.

Sharing Their Creativity

I am always grateful for cards and gifts that I get, but I am especially touched when someone takes the time to share their creativity with me and I like to share what I get here.

My good friend J made these wonderful ornaments out of scrabble tiles and she used the popular black and white ribbon on them which was a special touch along with those buttons and bells.  She told me she hadn't done any crafts in a while and it felt good to get back to making things.  Thank you J!  I hope you continue to reacquaint yourself with your creative side!  The results are much appreciated.

Our Jingle Belle hostess Lauren, a fellow Jersey Girl, crocheted this sweet smores ornament - I think in honor of our mutual love of marshmallows!  Thanks so much Lauren - I love it!

 

Sabrina, my blogging buddy in Ireland, made this adorable felted penguin who is sitting in the decorative votive holder she also made.  She is an accomplished needleworker and is always pushing herself to try more things like needlefelting.  I am in love with this penguin and am honored to have it become part of my bird tree.  Thank you so much Sabrina.

I have a new friend from abroad - Nanette in the Netherlands.  We have become IG friends and when she posted a picture of the Christmas card she made and was sending this year I told her I loved it.  I was so surprised when she said she found an extra one and sent it to me because she had already sent me a package with an original artwork that I'll share in another post soon.  This little house with the star and the deer and trees all fold up flat.  They were wrapped in a belly band with a special wax seal to be mailed.  I love, love, love this idea!  Thanks so much Nanette!

This card was the first card I received this Christmas season and it came all the way from Sunshine in New Zealand.  Those pretty pastel snowflakes are so glittery IRL.  It's summer there so I imagine that if there were to be snow, it would be pastel.  I am angry at the USPS though because they have stopped delivering mail to New Zealand for the time being - something to do with lack of transportation or such nonsense.  So the card that I have for Sunshine is still here.  Thank you Sunshine - I do appreciate your thoughtfulness and I keep checking to see when they are going to lift that hold on mail so I can get mine to you.  

This card is from Sabrina.  I love how she layered that snowflake diecut over that gorgeous background.  And speaking of gorgeous - look at that poinsettia!  This is a WOW for sure.  Oh, and remember I said she was a skilled needleworker - those little bluebells were knitted by her!  Aren't they the sweetest!  I think I will pin them to the lapel of my winter coat.  Thank you so much Sabrina for sharing your creativity with me and for always being such an inspiration with your cards, your photos, your recipes, and so much more including your friendship.

This beautiful card came to me from another blogging buddy, LeAnne in PA.  The color in my picture didn't come through as pretty as this is IRL.  I love the mint green and red combination and was thrilled to get this card in the mail.  Thank you LeAnne for being so supportive and inspirational too!

Dorrie, my blogging friend in North Jersey created this beauty.  I had to smile when I saw that little deer looking at me!  I just love the way she layered the snowflakes, deer, and sentiment and how the deer pops with the color.  What a great design!  Don't be surprised if I CASE this one Dorrie!  Thank you so much!!!

We have two hostesses for the Jingle Belles challenges, Stephanie in Iowa and Lauren here in NJ.  This card is from Stephanie.  I hope you can see that wonderful embossed background behind the tree as well as the beautiful embossing on the tree itself.  That little dear is just the sweetest!  Thanks Steph for sharing your creativity with me and for all the inspiration with the JB challenges throughout the year.  And thank you for enabling me with all those wonderful stamping resources you share on your blog.

And this beauty comes from our other hostess, Lauren.  Lauren's cards are always over the top beautiful with many, many layers.  She has a magical way with color and embellishments that always leave me in awe.  I am so lucky to have found the Jingle Belles and such gifted hostesses.  Thank you so much Lauren for all the support and inspiration too.  Looking forward to a crafty play date in the future!

I have a special place that I keep these handmade cards from my friends and I look back at them often, not just for inspiration, but for the pure enjoyment of their beauty.  Thank you to all of you for being such a wonderful part of my creative journey by sharing your creativity with me.

Happy New Year

Learn from yesterday,

Live for today,

Hope for tomorrow.

A. Einstein

Last January I started charting the daily high and low temperatures using this website (click here) with the intent of doing a temperature afghan/quilt (but I never got the yarn/fabric).  I put the information into an Excel spreadsheet and HWNSNBP, my in-house Excel Expert, helped me with the formula to get the average daily temperature.  I then created three sheets with that information - Average, High, and Low.  I created a color key for temperatures in 10 degree increments and filled in the boxes accordingly.

Average Daily Temperature

High

Low

Of course these all use the colors that I chose, but they can be changed.  I've also seen where some use smaller increments to have more colors.  This looks involved but it's the kind of stuff that I find fun to do.  

I have a cheap (I'm talking $Tree) desk calendar that I keep in front of  my laptop and record things on it as some might record in a journal.  Events, appointments, to do's, where we ate or shopped that day, things accomplished (like whether I made a card(s) that day) or what project I worked on, and a notation of the high/low temp of the day.  I can look back on the month and/or year to see what's been going on and when and I have last year's calendar to compare with.  The only downfall to this particular calendar, if you would call it that, is that it's a school oriented calendar - meaning it goes from August to July instead of the traditional Jan-Dec.  They came in a nice vinyl sleeve which I found I only use when the year is up because it's too much of a pain to take it in and out daily and easier to get to the current one with a quick note if it's not in the sleeve.  

We do still have wall calendars in the house - one in the kitchen/dining area and HWNSNBP has one in his workshop and I found that I had to order my calendar online this year as the pickings were slim at the bookstore we usually get mine at.  I have a wooden frame suitable for the larger Lang calendars that we've been using and would like to continue to use, so I usually look for something that I like in that size.  When we went to the bookstore after Christmas (when they're traditionally on sale) there was only one that I was vaguely interested in and they weren't on sale so I decided to order one that had art that I would enjoy.  Next year I'll order early as this one won't be in until mid week.  Funny that the first of January is one of the only times that I remember to change the month on the calendar on the first and this time I'll have to wait.  Well, I'll enjoy the december scene a little longer.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2022!