Sunday, December 15, 2013

Ornaments

I’m not sure if this goes with my creation theme, but I wanted to share some of the ornaments that hang on my tree.  I have a very wide assortment of ornaments.  Some Kitschy, some homemade, some old, some new, and many that aren’t really ornaments at all. I just really like anything with a special meaning.  I especially like the homemade ones and the weird little ones that make me smile!
 
Here are some of my favorites…
 
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I’ve had this little guy for many years.  It’s my son, Danny’s favorite.
 
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Here is an example of the things on my tree that aren’t really ornaments.  It’s a tiny box of vintage mini-ornaments.  So, I guess since they are ornaments, they kind of fit into the ornament category, right?
 
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Remember these little characters from the 70’s?  My mother gave this one to my son when he was just 2 years old.
 
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Here is another “non-ornament”.  I have many photos on my tree, but this is my favorite. These are three of my grandkids trying to flee the scene during their visit with Santa.  Sometimes those photos that you think were a disaster at the time you took them turn out to be your favorites as time goes by!
 
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What Christmas tree would be complete without a spider made out of Styrofoam, pipe cleaner, and glitter?  This was made by my daughter, Mary when she was a little girl.
 
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Ok, I know…weird.  These go into the kitschy vintage category that makes me smile.
 
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Last, but not least, is an ornament from my childhood in the 60’s.
 
Hope you enjoyed my odd little ornaments!
 
Until next time…
 
I hope you make time during this busy season to enjoy the little things that make you smile.
 
Praising God for all of His blessings,
Jane  <><
 
 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

A Room With A View

I have a “fake” window in my house.  It’s hanging on an inside wall that has no real windows.  I bought this window, complete with shutters, at a Garage sale a few years back.

The fun part of having a fake window is that I can put any scene that I want into it.  So, what I do is change the scene for each of the four seasons.  I use my own photos to make a 13x19 print.  I have a large format printer that can do this.  If you don’t have a printer that can do this, you can have a photo processing place make one for you (surprisingly cheap).

If you don’t happen to have an old window, you can buy unfinished wood window frames with or without the glass at Menard’s or Home Depot.  You can paint them any color, or use an aging process for a shabbier look.  I haven’t checked for a place to buy the shutters, but I’m sure there is one.

Here is my window with a Winter scene photograph that I took…Seeing it reminds me of the endless amount of time I spent sledding and skating as a child.



My grandkids made the cute little penguins for me last year.  The old Santa bobble-head has been in my family since I was a little girl.

It’s fun to know that no matter what room you’re in, you can always have a room with a view!

Until next time…

May God give you the eyes of a child to see the wonder of the Christmas season!

Exalting My Savior,
Jane  <><

Monday, December 9, 2013

Let It Snow!

Here is a mitten holder that I made a few years ago.  Since I don’t have little ones with little mittens to clip on it, I use it for vintage black and white pictures of playing in the snow.
 
The piece was quite easy to make…a piece of wood, acrylic paint, clothespins, and paint-pens for the lettering and snowflakes.  I used metallic silver for some of the flakes.
 
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Now, back to work on my new Christmas creations!
 
“Let Your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in You alone.”  Psalm 33:22
 
Amazed at His unfailing love,
 
Jane  <><

Sunday, December 8, 2013

The Heart of Christmas

Happy Sunday to all.  I’m feeling so thankful today.  As I’m writing this post, I’m looking outside the big window in front of me.  I’m seeing lots of snow covering the trees, the yards, streets, and the rooftops of other houses.  I love Minnesota Winter!  I love the coziness of being inside with a cup of coffee and a warm blanket, especially when the tree and house are decorated, and you have no place to go.  After this, I get to work on a Christmas gift to give to my family.  Gregg is outside shoveling snow, so right now he probably has a little different attitude about Winter than I do.
 
Here is a simple watercolor I did with a verse that is fitting.  I love the traditional red and green at Christmastime, but the cooler colors of blues and purples seem to fit the cold weather outside.  It’s 7 degrees out today, which is actually quite warm compared to this past week.
 

 
Wishing you a December filled with God’s blessings – snow or no snow, wherever you may live.
 
Loving the Creator,
Jane  <>< 

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Ornaments

Today I’m sharing with you some of the ornaments that I made.  I made several of them for the Craft sale that I was in a few weeks ago.  Here is how I made them…
 
I used a canvas type fabric to make them.  Some of them were stamped with a permanent ink before I started sewing.  I put 2 uncut pieces (about 5”x 5”) of fabric together right side out.  I then lightly penciled the shape on the fabric.  Next, I sewed along the pencil line, leaving a small opening for the polyfil stuffing – for the first bird, I left the tail open and tied it with twine instead of sewing it shut.  Then I cut around it leaving about a quarter inch margin – You can use a pinking shears for this too.  Stuff it and sew the opening shut.  Now, a little hand-stitching, fabric glue, string for a hanger, burlap, buttons, or any other embellishments that you may want to use, and you’re done!
 
These are the ornaments that I had left after the sale... 
 
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I hope your creative juices are flowing this December!
 
Until next time…
 
Oh, what a wonderful God we have!  How great are His riches and wisdom and knowledge!   Romans 11:33
 
In awe of His riches,
Jane  <><
 
 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Silent Night

This is one of my (many) favorite Christmas songs.  Here is a watercolor that I did that attempts to express the peace that should experienced each day of this season.  This is the peace that can only be felt through the birth of our King Jesus.


“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.”   Philippians 4:7

 Until next time…

May you receive many moments of silence during this busy and often stressful season, so that you can experience His peace. 

 Blessings,  Jane  <><

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

December Days of Creativity

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged.  I was very busy doing arts and crafts for a sale that I was in at our church.  My goal was to blog throughout the process of the many different items that I created for the sale, and maybe even a few tutorials.  Needless to say, this didn’t happen.  As always I wait until 2 months before the sale to start on things, so I’m pretty much in panic mode just to get enough to put in the sale.  I’ve just never learned the art of pacing myself. 
 
That being said, I decided to challenge myself to a December of creative blogging.  This seems to work well for me and my motivation issues.  Notice that I haven’t said that I would blog every day of December…this gives me a more relaxed attitude.  The last thing that I want to do is add stress to the month of December by putting more pressure on myself!
 
So, I’ll start with some Christmas typography that I did in Photoshop.  It’s fun playing with all of the different fonts.  It’s also very time-consuming, but worth the time if you like this sort of artwork.
 
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Here is the same piece with color…
 

 
Now, back to my Christmas decorating.
 
Until Then…
 
May this Christmas season be filled with joy in our Savior and King.
 
Love to all,
Jane