I had so much fun making those beaded snowflake ornaments (except when I poked my thumb with the wire) that I decided to do more and use them on packages for Christmas. I still had the bead bins all over my work surface so it was easy to come up with sets of beads to use. Other than pinching my palm with the pliers, this session was injury-free.

Here are the 6 new flakes I made:

Red and gold:

Black and Gray:

Amber and Silver:

Blue and Clear:

Pink and Clear:

Green and More Green:

I may need to get a new set of wirecutters for jewelry since this wire is SO hard it nicks the edge.

I still have about 10 of these wire frames to use next year. Hmmm, maybe for a necklace?

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Another Christmas gift from the sewing room.

I got a free pattern from the internet of a hobo bag small enough to be a purse. I edited the pattern to add a split pocket on the inside and the outside. Since this is a reversible bag you always have one in and one out!

I used scraps of fabric with paw prints on them - one black with multicolored light paws and one tan with darker paws. When I used this fabric for a quilt they were dog prints - but since the recipient is a cat lover they've magically been transformed into cat paw prints.

This is the view with the black side out:

And here is the view when reversed to the light side:

The pockets are on opposite sides of the bag so one side will not be bulkier than the other.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

Updated: Tuesday, 17 December 2013 6:59 AM PST

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For a time the short adult clothing protectors (bibs) were a grand success but as circumstances changed so have the needs. These are the changes that I made to the original pattern:

1 - from short to long: Originally waist length, now down to the knees. Now they will no longer have to put a towel on the lap to keep spills off their clothing.

2 - short open pocket to deep split pocket: The original pocket could hold a napkin, kleenex or hankie but  a shift could open the pocket for these items to tumble out. Now there is a seam up the middle to create two pockets that will not gape open.

3 - from cotton to terrycloth: These needed to be more absorbent so spills would not simply slide or drip off. Terrycloth met the criteria.

4 - from completely bound to partially bound: The old style had all the edges bound with bias tape. These new ones are only bound around the neck and across the top of the pocket. The rest has a single-turned hem with a decorative stitch over top.

The neck still closes with velcro.

I made a 'wardrobe' of 6 clothing protectors in yellow, green, brown, blue, lavender and coral. All the bias tape and decorative thread are in coordinating colors.

These take just one-half yard of fabric each. So they start out at 18 inches wide and finish at around 17 1/2.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Here's a peek at the holiday table setting. I had fabric napkins and looked online to see how to fold them like a poinsettia. This version was simple to do but ended up with a plain center.

Off I went to the studio to make some centers with paper crafting.

I used a diecut flower as a base but it was rounded petals. I hand trimmed them to a point. There were two sizes of the flower so I treated both the same. I used a stylus to score a vein down the center of each petal then layered them. I popped in a golden center of a punched sunburst.

To turn these into place cards I free-hand cut three green leaves and scored a center vein on each. The name was hand lettered and the leaves glued to the back.

These just lay on the center of the napkin.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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M*E*R*R*Y  C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S

So you can get back to your holiday festivities I will quickly show the holiday decor at our house.

ENTRY

MANTLE:

MIRRORED CASES:

FICUS:

Alright, everyone! Back to your presents and pie.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Many moons ago I bought some wire snowflake frames to use in a workshop. Plans changed and I put them away for personal use and never got around to doing anything with them.

Today's the day!

I got out the bead stash and sorted the little bags into color groups. Then I gathered several bags together that I wanted to combine and started stringing them on the wire frames, one spoke at a time.

On five spokes the wire gets bent about 1/4 inch from the last bead. The wire is then clipped and turned back into the last bead. On the last spoke the wire gets a right angle turn right at the bead. Then the wire is clipped at about 1/2 inch and curled up with round nose pliers to make a loop for hanging.

This one combines some paper beads, copper, clear and amber beads:

This one uses yellow, amber and pink:

Another paper bead with lavender, clear, green and silver:

Shades of lavender and purple with pearl and clear:

The worst thing about working with these is the hardness of the wire. They are not likely to ever get bent out of shape because it takes a lot of muscle to bend and to clip the wires. You definitely have to have the right tools for these - and I hope I am not ruining my good jewelry tools on them.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I decided to have a little holiday fun with my nails again.

I chose a dark rose and a bright green to color each nail half and half. Then I used black to create a dividing line in the center and covered over them all with gold ultra-fine glitter polish.

Very festive!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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This is from another 12 x 12 sheet, this one with a border print. I would have prefered the reindeer to be leaping toward the tree instead of away, this is how the layout worked out.

I only added chocolate borders to the top and bottom and a vinyl sticker greeting before bordering with sage green.

Like yesterday, my embellishing spirit wants to add ornaments to the tree with tiny rhinestones - or at least a star on top. We'll see.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Some of the 12 x 12 papers I bought in closeout a couple of years ago had such large elements printed on them that they weren't really suitable for cards. I though this was going to be one of those but with judicious trimming it works pretty well.

It may be difficult to tell but the only thing added is the Happy Holidays greeting and the striped paper at the base. Everything else is printed on the chocolate background with glossy ink. 

I am sorely tempted to add a red rhinestone to the end of the nose on the reindeer. What do you think?

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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While searching for just the right background papers for all the colored images I made lately I came across two sheets of 12 x 12 that were printed with a photo of birch trees. I cut them both down to include some of the snowy ground and the stand of trees behind.

Snippets and strips of the scraps of papers I had laying on the desktop became the simple decor and I went through stickers and stuff for small items to embellish with.

The first for a teddy bear image I had colored eons ago. After the photo I added a faux stitching line around the image, so you'll have to use your imagination on that.

With the same layout I added a simple cup of steaming coffee.

Another part of the winter scene was large enough to cover the whole card. A simple holiday greeting of thick acrylic is the only added element other than the paper strip - one plaid, one stripe.

The last set uses the same plaid and stripe trims. They each for a cardinal acrylic sticker high in the tree. Then one got a Noel sticker and one a larger cardinal above the stripe.

I used the same taupe for bordering on all of these to call attention to the coloring in the trees. After doing so many where the focus was on the stamped element it was not easy to let the background be the focus. This called for restraint in the embellishment stage.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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The bear is back! And he brought the Christmas trees with him!

I used the same formula for stamping these scenes as I did when I stamped them on watercolor paper before. These three stamped on plain cardstock were colored with alcohol markers, though. I colored all of them at the same time until I was ready for the scarves. Blue for the bear and snow blended with a colorless blender, then the trees and ornaments. The noses and feet got a little cool gray.

For the first bear I gave him a scarf of yellow and orange. He was diecut and backed with a text paper of winter words. I added a strip of coordinating plaid and bordered everything with rust. I cut a couple of the words from the same background and used it as the sentiment.

The next bear's scarf was orange and green. this led to a green background and more of the rust bordering. I chose a dotted paper strip to echo the ornaments on the trees and added a gold peel-off greeting.

And then we get really chilly! With a two-toned purple neckscarf thish guy wanted some cooler colors for bordering and backing. I used some of the snowflake paper with purple borders and added just a small strip of green to pick up color from the trees. A clear sticker provides the sentiment.

All popped up on foam tape, these little bears look quite at home in the snow.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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There is so little coloring on the images today I probably should have found a different topic label for them. I did get lots of practice coloring white, though!

A very small image of a snowman was stamped on plain white cardstock. He had shading marks drawn in so I used those as a guide for adding some light blue. I used a colorless blender to soften the edges and then used soft pink and green to color the hats and scarves. A little brown for the twig arms was next. On some of them I colored blue for the snow and on a couple the snow has melted off the ground and he stands on grass.

I found some awesome snowflake paper for a background and added pink punched snowflakes and green bordering. I used a variety of diecuts, greeting styles and layouts for 4 cards.

For the ones with grass underneath I switched to green holly backgrounds. The first uses a mint teal bordering and pink snowflakes.

And the last uses shimmery rust bordering on the card base, mint teal on the feature and some patterned snowflakes. I added a sticker sentiment that has a little glitter on the text.

All of the features are popped up on foam tape and the snowflakes are all only glued at the center for some dimension.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Oh, those little singing girls are back! This time, though, they've come in watercolored velvet and all in matching outfits. They really are a choir.

I used the ink from Distress Markers to watercolor these three images. Then I used a black marker to turn their 'smirking' mouths into singing mouths and each of them came out a little different. Guess they're all singing different parts.

The first girl is on the 'Mer' part of her Merry Christmas greeting (LOL). I used a coral 'bubble' background paper and a single strip of a solid.

I changed up the diecut shape for this one and lightened the background color. It was too busy for a peel-off greeting so I went ot a plastic sticker. This girl is singing the 'son' part of her message.

This little girl is obviously singing 'JOY'. A coral floral paper with some of the 'bubble' paper frames up the dircut perfectly.

With the background papers allfeaturing the coral side of the coloring duo I used a muted purple as the bordering on all three cards to match the trims on her outfit.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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This little 'caroling' girl came with a Chrismtas set, though she does not have a single element on her to identify her with the season. Apparently children are not expected to sing at other times of the year!

I created three cards with her colored in alcohol markers. The first uses a not-traditional color palette of gold and coral pink. I used a diecut for the feature and added a thin border of shimmer coral. What a miracle when I found this gradient dot in one of my recently used 6 x 6 pads. The color was perfect! I just added a golden strip and a gold foil greeting.

The next coloring moves more toward the traditional but with a touch of lime in the green and a touch of orange in thered. Very close to fall colors so maybe she is caroling for Halloween. This coloring allowed me to use these variants in the background as well and I even used a mint green in the bordering. I finished this one with a gold peel-off greeting.

Yes, I finally did go strictly traditional in coloring: Christmas red and Christmas green. All the bordering is srtaight-up red and I even found an old paper that was red and green plaid. A red foil greeting with an antique font is the finisher.

THAT should appease the traditionalists!

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I like a little variety in my poinsettias so I decided to do up a set in pink. On the other hand, I'm not fond of the faded yellowed look of those petal tips so mine are not realistic - prettier, just not realistic!

I started out with a pale to medium range of pinks and some leaf to lime greens for the leaves. A pale blue was the way to go for the background. I I used a strip of pink stripe over the greenand added a sentiment in clear sticker.

After that I upped the intensity of the darkest pink and showed more of the lime green in the leaves. This called for more lime in the background green. I kept the pink stripe but used a rub-on for the sentiment.

I went back to the original set of pinks but drew the darkest out further from the center. Yeah, I'm liking this. I kept the same layout but freshened it up with a stripe that echoes the colors and makes me think of ribbon candy. The sentiment on this one is also a rub-on.

Anc, finally, the coloring just as the last one (since I found what I really liked) with a little pink plain background. As I was bordering and trimming the feature block I suddenly stopped before the last trim and realized it would be the perfect place for a silver peel-off sentiment!

Now this big block of four stamps can go back into storage until next Christmas.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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Three rich reds make up the velvet petals of this poinsettia. I controlled the bleeding of the red by not coloring up to the borders until the very last when all the other ink was dry. Both cards use the same two greens for the leaves but sport different values of blue background.

The first is the lighter blue. I found a scrap of red cardstock that had been run throught the Cuttlebug with the distressed stripes folder. This matched the lightest red from the image so well I fairly makes the blooms glow. I used blue bordering pieces and added a red foil greeting.

The second card is even simpler. I used a green background to echo the leaves and a yellow strip to pull out color from the flower centers. Blue bordering echoes the background in the feature and a red foil greeting nods to the flower colors.

Next time we'll be 'in the pink'.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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You've probably noticed by now that the cards you saw earlier in watercolor painting are now appearing in alcohol marker coloring. I have a limited number of Christmas stamps so I did a little marathon stamping session and made multiple impressions of each on a watercolor pad with Archival black ink and then on plain cardstock with Momento Tuxedo Black. The two inks are each designed to work with a specific coloring medium with out smearing or bleeding.

I colored up most of the watercolor images first and now I'm working on the multiple images in alcohol inks. As usual, I am using a combination of Copic, Bic Mark-It, Spectrum Noir and PrismaColor.

For the shading on this first set of cardinals I tried a method I had used before hoping to control bleeding with the reds. To do this type of shading you use a pale blue first to color the shaded areas. Then you color over the whole image with the feature color and get automatic shading. I used the same method in the pines but I should have used a color from the opposite side of the color wheel like a light orange. 

I used a diecut for the image and this one got plaid paper and a foil red greeting.

Back to the regular coloring method for the birds, using three reds. I used a different die cut shape and a striped background with glitter. The sentiment is a cardstock tag from who-knows-where and I covered the hole with a puffy acrylic sticker.

The coloring on this one is the same as the last. I fancied it up with a different diecut and a more solid background. A single strip of the glittered stripe and three sentiment pieces ( clear sticker, puffy acrylic, and clear thick acrylic sticker) finish it off.

The borderin on all of these is sage to match the coloring of the pines.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I bought this stamp several years ago thinking I would like it a lot. I like it very little! I never know how to color it but it looks so lame left in black and white. Many elements do not 'read' well unless they are colored to define them.

So I used pale alcohol markers to color the tree and other greenery and then do spot coloring throughout the rest of it.  I trimmed it out and bordered it in black.

Then I selected a very pale batterned paper for the backing and bordered that with black as well. It was still a little plain so I added a casual smappeting of gold stars along two borders and one in the panel (J*Y).

I was not happy with the definition in the tree image with gifts on the left side so I covered it over with a 'Frost Fairy' shimmer sticker. Much Better!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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I used the same stamp as yesterday but on watercolor paper. This time I colored it with Distress Markers and an aquabrush. I colored both panels at the same time to allow the paint to dry. the main difference is the first one did not get as dark of impression so it has a more casual look to it.

I took advantage of the casual look and found some patterned paper with a yellow burst on it. With careful centering and cutting I was able to make it look like the sun streaming in behind the window. I bordered with glimmer mauve and added a rub-on sentiment.

The next uses a printed paper with a watercolor look to it that echoes the colors in the feature. I added a single strip of mauve glimmer paper and bordered it all in pale blue. The sentiment is a clear sticker.

Both cards have the feature popped up on foam tape.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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This stamp is one of the first I owned when my daughter bought the set of four seasonal stained glass for me. For today's cards I stamped on regular cardstock and colored with alcohol markers.

I did not do any shading on these as I wanted them to look like flat glass rather than 3-dimensional objects. This one was done in 2 reds, 2 yellows, 2 greens and 2 browns. I trimmed the panel and bordered it in black. The base card is also trimmed in black and features a large diamond in two-tone green. The sentiment is metallic red stickers.

For the next I changed some of the colors. One of the blues is lighter and I swapped out orange for one of the reds in the border. I used a rust-colored base card and left bands of it showing downthe sides. Wide strips of yellow and green patterned paper form the background and are bordered in black along the outside edges. I popped the feature up on foam tape and added a peel-off greeting.

The coloring on the last one swaps 2 yellows out for the reds in the border and it certainly changes the character of the piece. I chose to change the orientation for this card and made use of brown and black bordering. The colored background strips were decorated with a gold foil sentiment and gold peel-off stickers.

Stay tuned for an encore....

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PST

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