The last two days of the 12 days of Christmas gift swap

I have been celebrating Christmas and have not put the last 2 days' gifts for the 12 days of Christmas on my blog. But all the celebrations all calming down and I finally have time to do that today.
The first gift is a sweet blue pair of earrings from Darlene in Ohio on a Christmas card.The second one is a calendar from Laurie in Iowa. The light above the calendar is reflected in the shiny surface of the calendar.
Thanks to all the girls who did the swap. You made Christmas special at my house!

12 Days of Christmas and a RAK

This is Day 8 of my gifties and this one was sent to me by Barb L. in Washington and it is a set of 3 book markers. One is a corner marker, another is a ribbon book marker and the 3rd is a paper clip marker which I cannot find due to the craziness of Christmas in my craft room. Hopefully it will turn up soon! I know I will enjoy these I my bedside table where I do most of my reading!

Day 9 us a gorgeous white bracelet from Judy in Illinois. I will feel so pretty in this! Can't wait to wear it.

Day 10 is an adorable little red cardinal to go onto my Christmas tree from Teresa in Utah . He looks awfully cute sitting in my tree. And Teresa also sent me a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) of a Christmas 4x4. Isn't she cute too? She will go into my little Christmas book that I received from Yooper in Florida last month in an anything goes swap.

Only 2 more gifties to go and then it will be Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 7

This is what I made for Day 7 for the 12 days of Christmas. It is not a Christmas item but we can do that so a cuff braclet is what I decided to do so that everyone can use them any time and not just at Christmas.

12 Days Christmas - Day 5 and 6

Day 5 is  a calendar from Shellie in Washington and Day 6 is a bracelet from Gwynn in California. Thanks Shellie and Gwynn, I know I will enjoy both of these!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 3 and 4

Here are the gifties that I received for day 3 and 4. The first one is from Alice in Texas and is a cute little ornament done on canvas with my initial. the 2nd one is from Joan in Washington and it is a vintage bingo card Christmas hangie. I have it hanging on my glass front library shelves with some of the grandkids and kids next door's pictures.

 

 

12 Days of Christmas

This is a swap that I join each year with my online art group, AAWA (An Affair With Art). These are my first two gifties in group two. The first one is from Susan in Texas and I just think it is adorable!
The second one is from Julie (also from Texas). I love the ornament and the writing pad is so thoughtful this time of year!

 

Our local Altered Book Club Christmas party

These are pictures of our Altered Book Club party which was held at my house and some of the pictures were so funny that I almost cried laughing looking at them so I decided to make them into a fairy tale. I love a good fairy tale, don't you? Some of the pictures are funny because sometimes I cannot tell what they look like until I view them bigger on the computer. Blame it on my old eyes!

The first few pictures are of my house with the Christmas decorations up and those are not the fairy tale. The fairy tale begins with the people pictures. With apologies to Jean and Brenda here goes –

Nothing like an early party to make you get your decorating get done. This is a table I set up for Claudia and Martha & I was unsure if they would be able to make it to the party and sadly they were not able to come to the party due to health issues. So this table became a display table for our gifts and art we had made to show each other.

These are the other tables that I had set up for us to eat.

So Now the fairy Tale begins -

Jean decided to make some new laws for our group so she laid down the law while Linda and Karen read the new laws.

Brenda could NOT believe it but Char just laughed! We all love to hear her laugh!

Linda tried to be supportive while Karen was unsure but Jean just let them know with a look that she was dead serious!

Autumn and Nancy thought that it was funny too but Pam had to call Roxie & Claudia and tell them!

Mitzi was surprised and Brenda was still trying to figure it out and Char was still laughing!

Pam was desperately trying to explain the new rules to Claudia!

Linda and Karen finally got the joke and they laughed about it too! Jean was only teasing and we really don't have new rules! Aren't you glad Brenda?

Angel collage

I did an angel for Mix It Monthly where the challenge is "What wings are For" and we were asked to use real feathers. I always see angels depicted as female but my angel is a male. When the Bible speaks of angels, they speak of male angels. I don't know if all angels are male or not but I wanted my angel to be a male who was in adoration. I used the yellow in the blue to represent light because in the Bible most of the time people see a bright light when they see angels. My depiction of him is not perfect but he certainly reminds me of the reason for the season and the Christ is to adored and worshiped especially at this time of the year when we celebrate His birth. I am also linking this to Art Journal Journey where the theme is collage with writing. I hope you enjoy seeing my angel and I wish you a very blessed and Happy Christmas.

Thankfulness - Leaves

I have a new spiritual journal and was thinking about thanksgiving and what I am thankful for. I was outside cutting grass and picked up leaves to draw in my journal. I haven't thought about it until a friend of mine was coming to our area to see the beautiful Autumn leaves. She doesn't get to see the seasons like we do here. So I really studied some of the leaves in my own yard and drew them so that I can enjoy them much longer than just a few days. I have many things and many people to be thankful for but today I am thankful for the beautiful scenery that the changing leaves provides for us in Autumn.
What are you thankful for today?

Mix It Monthly - Cups and Bowls

Here is my entry for Mix It Monthly Whose theme is Cups and Bowls. This was very fun to do in my new spiritual art journal. The colors were done with Color Burst pigment powders.

Morning Glories in my friend's altered book - Mix It Monthly Challenge - Flowers

This is my friend, Claudia's altered book. She did textured wallpaper on the front of it and it really looks cool!

Claudia's book is all about birds, butterflies and dragonflies. I did some hand carved stamps of Morning Glories and the orange butterfly is also a hand carved stamp. The dragonfly and the blue butterfly are hand drawn in the middle section. I hope you enjoy seeing my layout in her beautiful book.

 

 

Halloween File Folder Book

This is a file folder book and my friend, Claudia is going to teach us how to do this little booklet in our altered book club. She found the tutorial here. She taught me how to do the book while she spent a few days with me. She wanted me to know how so that we both can help anyone who might be having trouble learning how to make it. I decided to make my booklet into a Halloween book. I did have some 4x4s that I had on a ring that this group had made for me in the past. So I put the 4x4's into the book and plan on putting some Halloween tags that I will be receiving soon from my online art group, AAWA (An Affair With Art). The booklet has many pockets that I can put the tags into. I thought that you might enjoy seeing the booklet on my blog.

Jeri's and Jan's visit to our house and canvas we made

I am a member of an online art group called AAWA (An Affair With Art). I have been a member for many years and the leader of our group is Jeri and she lives in Texas. We got the joyful new that Jeri wanted to visit our house along with another member who is Jeri's good friend, Jan. Jan is from Salt Lake City, UT. We were so glad to have them visit us and we had a wonderful time! My dear hubby only remembered to take one photo and there were several more South Carolina girls that visited with us. Claudia, Pam, Linda, Autumn, Charlotte and Jean were there to have some meals with us and have some creative fun with us. This photo is me, Jeri, Jan and Charlotte.
This is the cute canvas that we made. I saw the directions for it here -
http://www.oneluckyday.net/2015/06/possibilities.html
We all did our canvases different and I wish I had taken photos of all of them.
I am tired but so happy to have had everyone here enjoying themselves!

A small flower canvas and a Julie Nutting Prima doll tag

My online art group AAWA (An Affair with Art) is doing a small artsy canvas swap and a Julie Nutting - Prima doll tag swap. Here is my canvas for the swap. The canvas had to be between 4"x4" and 5"x7". My canvas is a 5x7 size. The theme of the swap is "Who doesn't love a flower in bloom?"
I love nasturtiums and used to grow them in my flower gardens. I love them because them are so pretty and brightly colored and they are edible! They are peppery and spicy.
The tag was to be done with a Julie Nutting - Prima doll stamp. I did her in a red, white and blue theme because next week is flag day and July 4th is coming up shortly. But she could also be used on a card for any celebration. This doll is supposed to have boots on but I drew her some new legs and flip-flops for her 4th celebration. I hope that you enjoy looking at them!
I don't often do this but I updated my drawing of the nasturtium. I kept looking at it thinking something was missing and looked at some real flowers online. Now I like it better!

Profile - June Mix It Monthly Challenge and feminine and masculine - Art Journal Journey

Over on Mix it Monthly, the challenge was to do a profile. I love faces so this is right up my alley. I found the face in a 1955 Look magazine. The picture under the model says, "The Balenciaga Hat,
like one worn by a circus pony, was frivolous idea shown with dinner clothes."
The hat reminds me of fascinator hats sometimes worn by the British as some wore at the royal wedding. I think someone would have to be a fun loving person and not deterred by anyone making fun of their hat in order to wear any hats like these. I want to encourage you and those who read my art journal to go out there and have some fun!
Valarie on Art Journal Journey told that this would qualify for their theme of masculine/feminine also so I linked it over there too. I was unsure if we had to show both in our art work or not but glad to know this would work over there also! Thanks, Valarie!