A Pleasant Surprise!

When I checked my e-mail last night before bed, I saw one from a member of the Yahoo Art Charms group that I joined last month. I had sent in photos of the snowflake charms I had finished and was planning on mailing out soon. It turns out they chose one of the photos to be their header photo on the site for the week! You can visit the site (and join if you wish) by clicking here. As part of the swap, each charm is supposed to have a tag with the maker's name and e-mail address, so I tied mine onto tags as shown above. Now I'm finishing up the "All Hearts" charms I'm making so I can mail them out in time for the January 15th deadline. For once, I'm done early!

This is my 100th post for 2011! I think I'll end the year on this positive note and wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2012! See you next year!

Light Holiday Reading

Earlier this month, I came across this title at the library and had to pick it up. I've recommended it to several dog-lover friends, including my neighbor Gail, and they've all enjoyed it. I even gave it to my sister, the dog groomer, for Christmas. If you love dogs and find yourself wondering what they're thinking, you'd probably enjoy this book (although sometimes I think we personify dogs and exaggerate their ability to actually "think."). It is a touching, memorable story and one worth reading.

After I finished reading that, I kept finding other books I wanted to read, so I borrowed them all! First was Brian Selznick's latest Juvenile fiction novel titled "Wonder Struck." Brian Selznick is the Caldecott-award winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret which was recently released as the film Hugo. It's told through both intricate pencil drawings and text, as is this book. Both are full of layers of meaning, as well as being interesting and captivating to read.I also started Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book which won the Newbery last year, but I wasn't able to get through it. It's about a boy raised in a graveyard by ghosts and other spooks and although it was well written, it just didn't hold my interest. Neil Gaiman also wrote Coraline, which I found a little spooky as well. Hopefully I'll get onto Wicked, Beauty Queens, and these others sometime this week or in January.
Finally, I couldn't resist checking out these two books by Ruth Rae, one about fabric collage and one about charms. I've looked through them quickly, but I'd like to spend some more time going over them more slowly to see what new and different ideas she has that I might be able to apply to my collages and charm. Once all the holiday happenings slow down, I'll be able to get back into the creative swing of things. Meanwhile, it's 5:40 and I'd better get dinner started!

Oh, Holy Night

Tonight we went to the early vigil mass and sang all the beautiful, traditional Christmas Carols with a harp accompanist. It was lovely. We came home and had a seafood feast, with a crisp salad course and a pasta course of fresh Arthur Avenue cheese ravioli. Yum!
I'm even too full for cookies!
The girls are loving their new footie Christmas pajamas. I think they're ready for a long winter's nap! I know I am... but first I have to stop in next door to visit with Gail and her dogs. Her husband Al makes a knockout chocolate martini for the neighbors every Christmas Eve.
Have a Blessed Christmas, everyone!

Edible Gifts

This year I wasn't sure if I'd get to any of the baking I traditionally do at Christmas time. A great time to get started on baking is when we have a snow day and are stuck at home, but that didn't happen this year (except in October, and then we didn't have power for baking!). I did finally get out the pans and ingredients last weekend and got started. I made some of our old favorites like the Jewel Brooch cookies (see the recipe here) which call for only egg yolks, and Coconut Macaroons which call for only egg whites. In addition, I baked a batch of Chewy Chocolate Cookies which are exactly what they sound like, with chocolate chips in them. I needed something quick and easy to add a little variety to the mix, so I dipped some pretzels in melted white chocolate and sprinkled them as you see above. And last, but not least, I made up a batch of these homemade Peppermint Patties, which I got from the Family Fun website (find it by clicking here).

The batter is really more like a paste of confectioners sugar, corn syrup, water, lemon juice, and peppermint extract. It is very stiff and you basically flatten it out, refrigerate it, and cut shapes with a cutter. Then you dip each one in melted chocolate. Last year I melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they were so thick that the coating didn't really drip off much. It used a lot of chips and was kind of slow going. This year, I tried using the candy melts from the baking section of the craft store. They melted easily and went on much quicker, but the taste isn't quite as delectable. I think next time I'll try a mix of the two for a compromise.
Yumm! I sure do love that peppermint-dark chocolate combo!

I've been packing up assortments of all these homebaked goodies and giving them to friends and co-workers as little gifts. I hope I have enough left for us! If not, I'll have to get busy again...

Finishing up some Gifts

Look what I made! It's a Christmas gift for my good friend, co-worker, and next door neighbor, Gail, the one whose dog had puppies in September. I sort of borrowed this photo of two of the puppies off her Facebook page (I didn't ask her because I want it to be a surprise - I don't think she'll mind...). I printed the photo onto a purchased printer-ready fabric sheet and cut it into a heart shape, then stitched it onto a felt backing, which was also stitched onto the checked background. The base of it is that heavy fusible interfacing (Peltex) and the heart is a gold scrapbooking-type brad. I put a pin back on it because we wear lanyards at work and often decorate them with fun pins. It's about 2 inches square, so it could also be a refrigerator magnet, but I think it will be nice for her to have a reminder of all the puppy love she got this fall while she's going about her day. I'll give it to her on Wednesday with a bunch of cookies (I'll post about those tomorrow!). Keepin' busy!

Distractions!

I did something crazy, considering Christmas is just around the corner - I joined not one, but two (count 'em - 2!) charm swaps!! I just couldn't resist. After I joined the artcharms yahoo group, I saw a list of all the fun swaps they did this past year and couldn't wait to join one, even though this is such a busy time of year and the last thing I need is another item on my to-do list! The first swap I joined is an "anything goes" swap, meaning you're not limited by color, metal or material. I chose to do these sparkly snowflake charms, similar to ones that I put on my wintery bracelet and cluster necklace. I've made 6 so far, and I think I only need to complete 6 more and they'll be ready to send out. They're not due until January 15th, so I have some time. They are pretty quick and easy, considering I punched out the snowflake shapes using the Accucut machine at the library.

The second swap theme is "hearts." The deadline is also the 15th, but it was too tempting to think of all the creative possibilities for charms with hearts! I decided to do more art paper charms like the leaf ones I did in the fall (see it here). I started by marbling some watercolor paper with shaving creme and acrylic paint. Below is that mixture spread on a piece of plexiglass...
... and here is the paper which I layed on top of the shaving creme and then pulled off.
I left it to dry for a little while, and then rinsed off some of the shaving creme and let the paper hang to dry. Then I collaged some squares of pale pink tissue paper on top of it and added some little hearts punched from a gardening magazine and other assorted papers. After that was dry, I stamped it all over with white acrylic paint and stamps with a leaf print and a paisley shape.
I punched out some hearts from the final collaged paper. I really like them!
I wanted my charms to be interesting on the back as well as the front, so I glued two hearts together and flattened them between two pieces of wax paper in a heavy book. Then I added a few more embellishments with little crystals, sequins, and words like "love" and "joy." I added eyelets, and now I just need to coat them with that Dimensional Magic to protect them.
I really like the way they look and the fact that they are totally unique and not created from store-bought beads and components. I guess I have about two dozen in various stages of completion. There is a "red-pink-white" themed swap coming up next month... maybe I'll join that one as well and use the extras I have from this bunch. Something to look forward to in the New Year... I could make a nice Valentine's Day charm bracelet!

Now I'd better stop with all these charming distractions and get back to focusing on the rest of my Christmas to-do list!

Candy Houses

Last Wednesday, the library held its annual Gingerbread House decorating program. We provide a plate with 6 graham crackers and an empty ice cream cone and patrons bring their own frosting and candy. Most also bring an empty food carton of some sort to use as a building form. On the afternoon leading up to the event, my colleagues and I each decorate our own little candy houses. Above is my good friend and neighbor, Gail's house. Gail is a powerhouse of positive energy, fun, and laughs, but she claims she is not really artistically inclined. She tends to make many things into a contest and last year was bribing innocent patrons to tell their friends that her candy house was their favorite. This year, we weren't as competitive, but cheered each other on instead. My other co-worker, Joan, and I both agreed that Gail's was our favorite of the three. It reminded us both of the town of Whoville in Dr. Seuss' classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas,especially with that leaning chimney! Don't you agree?

Below is Joan's creation. She really thought outside the box for this one and gave it a hexagonal base. A jewelry lover, she really went overboard on the candy embellishments. Pretty fancy for a bunch of graham crackers, huh? Wow!
And below is my creation. Before Gail and Joan had finished theirs, I was pretty pleased with the peaked roof and the chimney with Santa stuck in there, but now in comparison, I think it looks a little plain. I guess my style is pretty much classic but not ostentatious, do you agree?
If you've never decorated a gingerbread house, get some colorful candy and whip up a batch of royal icing and give it a try!