I’ve created this Creation of Beauty Hang Tag for the Words of Wisdom challenge over at the Gingersnap Creations blog. The challenge is to utilize some favorite words of wisdom (profound, funny, or otherwise) in a creation.
For this Hang Tag I’ve once again utilized a combination of both paper goods, ephemera, and digital touches to create this Altered Art piece. I love the vintage photo of the girl…she’s so lovely. And she is perfect for the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson too, don’t you think?
I just thought I’d share something today since, for some reason, I was thinking about the ocean. I love the ocean…love beaches and almost any place near the water. So each year on our anniversary weekend for the past few years, the Hubs and I go someplace that is by the water, and preferably with a beach. We live fairly close to Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, so our destinations frequently end up being in a town by one of those lakes. And each time we go, I collect sand, shells, and other little natural objects as sort of souvenirs. When we get home, I choose a Mason Jar or some other bottle to put my sand and other beach goodies in, and I label them on the bottom with the town we went to and which year. They’ve become my collection of “Sands of Time in a Bottle.”
I have 4 of these Glass Bottles and Jars full of beach memories so far. They sit on my kitchen window sill, so that I can see them everyday, and in my own way, I’m close to the beach. I would have had 5 of these, except one year we got rained out on our beach day and I couldn’t collect anything to bring home. But that’s OK.
There’s always next year.
Time for another challenge at the Gingersnap Creations blog…this time it’s a supply challenge and we had to use RIBBON somewhere in our creations. So this Timeless Beauty ATC is my creation for that challenge.
This Altered Art style ATC is a mixed media piece, combining paper, ephemera, ribbon, a vintage photo, and digital graphic elements. It definitely has a sort of timeless feel to it, don’t you think?
This is yet another Christmas gift I made this year (OK, well it’s last year now). This is a paper collage piece that I made for my mom using a vintage photo of her and my great grandmother.
This is made mostly with scrapbook paper and stickers, but I used a clear acrylic clock stamp as well, along with a brad for the center of the clock image. And when it was finished I framed it in a black frame for Mom. Just another little special photo memory captured in time. 
I made my sister, Chantele a special Christmas gift this year. Being that I’m the one that got her hooked on Twilight (the books, and the movies!) I decided all her gifts would be vampire related this year. I got her a Twilight shirt, along with the entire first season of The Vampire Diaries on DVD. That show is my latest vampire addiction so I figured I’d send it to her and see how she liked it. But I also made her this special Twilight-themed framed art I’ve called, Bitten.
This is made primarily from scrapbook papers that have a Twilight theme. I also added some ribbon and gems, and a Bella and Edward photo from the first movie in the saga. She loved the gift and I was so happy to make something special for her. Now maybe next year I’ll need to make something related to The Vampire Diaries.
I was looking at my tree today, which is full of mostly handmade ornaments. Most of the ornies were made by country primitive crafters that I was in Ornie Swaps with. It was a great way to build up a collection of creative, unique, handmade Christmas ornaments for my tree, and I use them every year. Some of the ornaments were made by me too, including these Grapevine Mini Wreath Ornies.
I have 4 or 5 of these Grapevine Wreath Ornies that I’ve made, very similar in style, but each a little different. I just used lace trim, satin ribbon, bows, fabric roses, pearl beads and hot glue to make each one. They are very quick and easy to do and they look great too. There are so many things you could do with the grapevine wreaths, using all sorts of embellishments and notions. They really make wonderful ornaments. I’ve had these on my tree each year for over 15 years. Except for a random missing bead here and there, they’ve held up very well over time. And I really love how they look on the tree.
My Peace Angel Hangtag was inspired by the Starry Night Challenge at the Gingersnap Creations blog. This time of year, Angels are a perfect subject matter so that was my starting point as I brainstormed for this hangtag.
I combined a vintage photo of an angel with some moon and sky images, along with some digital paper, to create a digital collage for this hangtag. Then I added that digital collage to a plain white paper hangtag, along with some embellishments, to complete the altered hang tag. I love the angel imagery so much, I may just use it for some Christmas cards this year! I really love how it turned out.
Here’s a another quick and easy Seasonal Craft project, perfect for the holidays. It’s my Snowman Bucket Light.
What you need for this project:
Instructions: First you punch a hole in the bucket to fit the carrot nose into. The nose I used has a pointy back end that I wanted to secure through the bucket. So I used a hammer and nail to poke a hole, then added the nose. Next I used hot glue to glue around the back end of the nose (on the inside of the bucket) to secure it in its place. Once that dries you can just paint on any little snowman face you like. Then add your tealight and it’s all finished.
These are small enough that they could be hung on the Christmas tree. They would also be great as holiday table decor, or just as a cute little Christmas accent around the house. And really, since it’s just a snowman, you could use these all winter long!
This is a Seasonal Craft project you can do with old mittens that aren’t worn anymore. Just something really quick and simple, and a fun way to do some Recycling in a festive way for the holidays. This is my Recycled Mitten Ornie.
Here’s what you need for this project:
Instructions: Spray the mitten with the adhesive. Then pour Mica Flakes or Glitter over it so that it is completely covered. Pat down the flakes to make them stick well. Shake off the excess flakes. Glue on your choice of fabulous craft gems. And that’s it! Of course, there are lots of ways you could vary this and make something else equally fabulous. You’re really only limited by your imagination.
I have never done more Halloween-themed art projects as I have done in this past month or two. Very strange for me. LOL But I’ve been enjoying it! I have carried through with that same theme for the new Ravens challenge at the Gingersnap Creations blog. I’ve used it to create this Altered Hangtag I’m calling Witchie.
The vintage photo is my witchie inspiration, along with the 3 stamped ravens, of course. All of my ephemera and embellishments have been added to a hangtag, which I’ve grungy’d up to look aged. Seemed only appropriate when I’m doing something with a Halloween theme to make it have an aged look too. Seems like I should make a gift just to go with this hangtag and give it to someone for Halloween!
