Wow, I've been doing this project for two months now. 60 days. In some ways much easier than I thought it would be, but still a bit daunting as I realize how much time is left. Now that spring is springing outside, there are some days that will be harder than others to work on Christmas, but it will happen!! :)
One brand new project this week. Fun and super easy. I bought a couple of packages of button candy. Cut them into strips, and have created a button candy chain for the Christmas tree. Really cute, and it's made me think how fun it would be to do a candy-themed Christmas tree. Hmm .... might have to seriously consider that one. I'll have to start cruising garage/yard sales and try to score some small artificial trees. I have several ideas for theme trees.
Here's what the chain looks like. I only used one package for this one, and it goes completely around the tree,
I also worked on some knitting. A few strips for the knitted tree chain, and I started another bell. This one isn't really in any Christmas colors, just various shades of blue. Got to mix it up a bit!!
And today, I'm back working on schrenschnitte, the paper cutting. It's very intricate and time-consuming, but so satisfying when I'm done with one. As I said when I first wrote about it, I found all of these printed on heavy, parchment-type paper, so there's no tracing or transferring of the patterns. Just grab a small pair of sharp scissors (I use the kind that I think nurses use for bandage cutting.) and start!
Here are a few photos of a couple that I've recently completed and the one I started today.
Just looked at my logbook and realize that I haven't made any cards in almost a week!! Well, I have, but the ones I've been making aren't Christmas cards. I've been working on birthday, thank-you, anniversary, etc. I just might have to make some Christmas cards tomorrow. Or over the weekend for sure, since the weather is supposed to be pretty cruddy.
Take care,
-Jayne
Happy Day After Easter! We enjoyed a nice, small celebration here, including an Easter egg hunt. People driving by must have wondered at the sight of 5 adults running around the yard in search of candy-filled eggs. Now we have more candy than we know what to do with. Happiness for a girl who gave up chocolate for Lent!!
Since my last post a few days ago, I've worked primarily on the paper prep work for the Advent Calendar that I've designed in my mind. The template was traced over and over; the heavy paper was cut; and all the templates have now been folded. I'll start playing with the rest of it soon. Putting the numbers on will be easy. The "windows" are big enough to hold a square of Ghirardelli chocolate, but I want to mix those with Christmas-themed photos and some Bible verses of the story of Jesus' birth. Finally, I need to start thinking about how to attach all these parts, and to what.
Today was a dreary, mostly cloudy, kind of damp and cool day here in the Denver area. The kind of day to curl up with a kitty or two, maybe a book, maybe a nap. I did read for a while, curled up with a cat. Skipped the nap though. And spent part of the afternoon working on some of my knitted Christmas crafts. First up, I finished some more bell ornaments - stitched up the sides and attached the jingle bells. I've run out of jingle bells, but not the knitted bells, so I'll be picking up some more soon.
I started working on my knitted chain. Remember how we used to make the chains for our Christmas trees with construction paper? Well, my Mom told me about making them by knitting strips with your leftover yarn, and then stitching them so that they make a chain for your tree. Very cool idea. It will, however, take a lot longer than a construction paper chain!!
Here are a couple of photos of the start of the chain.
Luckily, I have lots of yarn!! It's going to take a bunch. My Mom has knit some strips as she finishes some projects, and sent those along, so that helps a bit. Hers is the purple one in the photos. Thanks Mom!!
It's supposed to be dreary again tomorrow, so maybe some more knitting.
-Jayne
Happy Earth Day! I hope you're doing something today to celebrate our wonderful world and all its resources. So far today, I've kept all the lights off. Except for the one on the timer. And the refrigerator light, but that was only when I opened the door. :)
There were a few days of knitting this week. I now have a pile of knitted bell ornaments that need to be finished -- side stitched up and jingle bell attached. At the rate I'm going, I'll be handing them on out on a street corner in December. Hmmmm ....
Since I'd picked up a package of a dozen glass ornaments last week, on Monday I decided I would decorate one or two. Funny thing, I ended up decorating all of them! Once I started, there was just no stopping.
I started work on an Advent Calendar that I've been thinking about for a while. This one is going to take a while, so there will be updates here from time to time. I got the template on paper for all the parts, plus a few extras. I cut one out to see how it will work. Now, I've got to cut out the rest, do A LOT of folding, then figure out what will be inside each "door." I may only make one of these, depending on how involved it ends up being.
Yesterday I tried something that I've always admired, but never tried: schrenschnitte! It is the art of paper cutting. I was lucky enough to find some with the designs already printed on heavy paper, so "all" I have to do is cut. The first few are pretty simple, but there are some tougher ones coming. Don't know what I'll do with the finished products - maybe ornaments, card fronts or something else.
And today, in addition to continuing to work on some scherenschnitte, I also revisited another favorite: the photo cards. At Christmas, 2010, Jon had taken a bunch of close-ups of ornaments on the tree at the cabin. I printed a few out and voila! More cards. I really like the way they look. I'll put the message inside them over the weekend, and they'll truly be complete.
Coming up in the next week, I'll continue work on the Advent Calendar, make some more cards (of course!), and try a few new ornaments. I'm sure some other stuff will come up along the way as well!
-Jayne
It's been a pretty quiet week in the world of this project. I still got a lot done, but most of it is stuff I've already been working on: embossing, cutting, coloring, putting the cards together and knitting. I've done a few new and different things with some of the cards, but no photos this week since everything is pretty similar to what I've posted before. I am pleased with one new card interior design - a play on a birth announcement.
Still a lot going on though. I celebrated my birthday, which, even with the years piling on, I love. Jon, Sam and I went to The Keg for a great dinner. Good steak and lobster tail (yes, even in a land-locked state!!), and creme brulee for dessert!! Yummy! I received a few gift cards to some of my favorite craft-type stores, so I stocked up on some new stamps and supplies.
In addition to the cards made for Christmas, I also completed a bunch of Birthday, Thank-You, Easter, Mother's Day and misc. cards this week. Yeah, sometimes I get a bit OCD on the card making!!
I was excited to have our next door neighbor, Marge, stop by and see what I do up here in my creative land. I get a little nervous showing my stuff off sometimes, so I'm always glad when someone likes my work. And, I packed up a dozen assorted greeting cards to send to Gretchen, a friend from High School who I've re-met on Facebook, for a silent auction that she's involved in.
Photos with my next post, I promise!!
-Jayne
What a glorious day!! The sun is shining warm, the sky is clear blue, there's NO wind, and I can hear the birds singing outside my window! Spring is such a wonderful time, of new birth, re-birth, growth, creativity and joy. I can't help but be happy!! The grass is green in our yard, the tulips are starting to bloom, the lilacs are almost ready. Our fruit trees are beginning to blossom, and there are things (hopefully not just weeds!!) beginning to sprout under the cold frame in the veggie garden.
Because the weekend was so beautiful outside, most of what I did for the Christmas project inside had to do with knitting. In front of the TV watching baseball and, of course, the last day of the Masters Golf Tournament. I got a bunch more bell ornaments knitted, just need to stitch up the sides and add the jingle bells. I did some embossing and coloring in of the designs for card fronts. And today, I made about a dozen more cards. Most of them were done with stamps that are either new or that I hadn't used yet for this project.
Here are a few of them:
I've got an Advent Calendar design that I want to begin work on this week, and thanks to my wonderful father-in-law, who sent me a generous gift card for my birthday, I'll be out buying supplies in the next few days!! And because I enjoy it, probably more embossing and coloring!
-Jayne
It's been a busy week in the world of Jayne!! Not only have I been working on this project, but also on "seasonally appropriate" cards for Easter, Mother's Day and several birthdays. Most of them are using photographs and are really fun and beautiful.
I began the photo card project on Tuesday, April 5. Printed out a bunch of photos from last Christmas, and a few from before that. Mounted them on pre-cut cardstock from a previous project. They look great. The next day, I finished the first batch (both Christmas and other), and printed more photos for another batch of cards.
I don't think they photograph well, but these are okay shots. The first is artwork I created on my tablet. The second is a close-up shot of Mary from one of our nativity sets; and the last one is a close-up of one of our ornaments. I'll have more ornament shots, once I get into Jon's photos from last Christmas. He took a ton of shots of the tree up at the cabin!
Yesterday I made more gift tags. These are made on some pre-cut tags I found when going through some stuff this week. I tried to use a few stamps that I haven't used yet on this Christmas project.
Last night, my favorite husband took me to Hobby Lobby and treated me to a bunch of art supplies, some of which I'll be using on this project. I got a few new Christmas stamps to add to the mix. One is a "Merry Christmas" stamp, because I have no idea where my original one has disappeared to. I suspect a thieving kitty cat, so eventually it should show up again. But maybe it was time for a change.
Today is the 40th day of this project. So far, so good. The cards continue to be the main part of the project, and I don't think that will change until we get under 6 months till Christmas. It's not worth it to bake (even with a freezer) until October, but at that point I'll probably focus much less on making cards and much more on baking, gifts and wrapping. It will all balance out in the end!!
Today I'll wrap up the latest batch of photo Christmas cards, probably do some knitting, and a few other miscellaneous things that I've got in a basket (ornament repair, cards to cut into gift tags, etc.). Happy Friday!!
-Jayne
A quiet few days, but the projects continue.
On Friday, as I reflected on the life and gifts of Alden Tyrol, the former conference center director who passed away last week, I created a God's Eye ornament. God's Eyes were often one of the crafts our groups would undertake during our week at Silver Lake. It had been years since I made one, but my fingers remembered after only a few minutes. Funny thing, I didn't have any thin dowels around to use as the "frame" for the God's Eye, so I had to use an old pair of chopsticks from takeout! Not Christmas colors, but it looks great in the tree. I'll be making more in "appropriate" colors for the holidays.
Friday was all about finishing some more knitted bell ornaments. I've completed 15 so far. May not seem like a lot, but I'm not the fastest knitter!! I've done a couple of difference sizes and three colors.
On Saturday, my wonderful husband took me shopping. I got some more of the yarn that I've enjoyed using to make some of the bells; and I got two more sizes of knitting needles. I'll be a veritable bell factory!! I also had a fun idea that I'll have to try eventually - I want to get some orange yarn, knit orange bells and then add black jack o'lantern faces on the bells, for Halloween. Fun!
Yesterday and today, I was back to some cards, thank you cards to be specific. Started them yesterday - cutting, stamping and embossing. Today some gluing and finishing touches. Same basic design as the previous thank you cards, but a little fancier, glued on the dark green cardstock.
Not sure what's coming next, but I have some ideas for some cards using photos of ornaments that Jon and I took last Christmas. Other cards, too; and, of course, more bells!!
-Jayne
