Christmas Card Party 2014

 My friend Karen had her annual christmas card extravaganza this past weekend.  It had a theme (of course!) of Christmas Red and Winter White.  Here we are beside her two hand made trees.

Here is the adorable invitation she sent up for the party - yes an altered Altoids tin!  

She encouraged us to dress in the theme colours.

   One tree was made with miles of red velvet ribbon and the other a dripping willow tree with white lights and red balls.There were even MORE decorations around the house.  Check out last year's party HERE.

 Here are the little presents i brought for the ladies.  I wrapped them simply in white deli paper with red velvet ribbon and a glass candy cane.

 Inside the tins i placed some bling - sticky gemstones and pearls. Here's how i made them.

 Here are just SOME of the supplies Karen put out to share with us.  If we brought nothing, she had us covered.

 Of course there was coffee, pastries, fruit and yogurt when we arrived.  But in addition she served a delicious luncheon - including this tasty and beautiful citrus salad with pomegranates.

 She made us individual chicken pot pies and an arugula salad with dried cherries and goat's cheese. 

For my cards this year - i decided to make the base from pretty scrapbook paper - the heavier weight card stock.  I made good use of Karen's generosity with her supplies!  I designed a simple pattern of trees in a landscape format.

 I cut down the scrapbook paper from 12" x 12" to 9" by 7 1/2" to fit perfectly into a standard business envelope when folded in half.  this was to avoid having to fold up my annual christmas letter to fit.  A simple tri-fold and i'll be done.

 I usually like to do a simple design that i can crank out pretty fast.  But i still want it to be nice.  I cut 100's of "trees" - in triangle shapes from coordinating papers.  Sticking mainly with a blues and greens palette. a splash of red thrown in here and there.

 Here they are work in progress all stacked up.

 After a few more hours of play, it was time for tea!  karen made this impressive layer cake with a white chocolate frosting.

 Inside was even prettier!  and theme appropriate - of course!  Red velvet cake and cheesecake.  luckily we all got a second piece to take home!

During "tea time" Karen gave us all a little gift bag.

 Inside were three festive napkins which had been coated with resin - which transforms them into a mica like material, suitable for collage.  there was also some rose soaps, a little calendar, a notebook, a music rubber stamp and some chocolates.

My friend Z gave us each a vintage christmas card and a little vintage photograph, prettily packaged in a vellum envelope with lace trim.  The colours were perfect with the theme of the day!

My friend D gave us each a pretty scented soap.  I wonder how she knew i like birds so much?  (snigger)

Our friend M owns a bead store and brought some of her "bead soup" - a box filled with assorted bead for us to choose from.  Sunday (after the party on Saturday) i made this necklace with the beads i had selected. I used waxed linen thread and simply knotted the thread between the assorted green and amber beads to create separation.  it turned out long enough to wrap two or three times. 

Since i got out my bead things - i went ahead and made this one as well!

I didn't get any pictures of the Christmas cards the other ladies made (just so much going on!)  But my friend D made these eclectic new year's postcards and offered us each one.  They look just like one of D's quilts all laid out together.

 She has such a talent for collage and mixing patterns and themes.

 I, on the other hand, stick to pretty and predictable!  Here are the 44 cards i made all lined up on my dining room table.  A veritable forest of christmas tree shapes.

Oh - must confess.  there is ONE card that was upside down when i glued on the trees!  OOPSIE!  so i just added a few more triangles, some sticker balls - and now it is a festive holiday banner!

It goes without saying that our friend Karen is UNBELIEVABLY talented at throwing these parties.  her hostess skills, her cooking and her decorating are over the top.  We are truly blessed to have her as our crafty buddy.  She knows just how exactly make us feel special.  Including giving us SHOES!  well, ok, just one shoe - this pretty sparkly red one.

Thanks Karen!

Altered Book Swap - Cherry Red and Teal

I just finished working in D's latest altered book - Cherry Heaven Teal.  She created a beautiful altered book for our 2014 colour swap using a book titled Cherry Heaven.  She added two vials attached with wires, each filled with colourful beads.

Here is an example of one of her deep and richly textured spreads.  D. really loves texture and colour to create interest in her altered books.

For my first spread I chosen to do an Asian theme.  I dug out my folder filled with Asian themed papers and illustrations and found these ornate gold doors. 

Open the doors and inside are more exuberant Asian interiors.  all featuring the theme colours red and teal.

Here is another portal- using a red chest with an Asian medallion.

Inside is a pretty figurine holding a little butterfly.

Here is another look at the left inside flap - with a collage of origami paper, a Japanese sticker and a bird and cherry blossom branch cut from wrapping paper.

For my second spread I started with a background of a legal stock document with bold red scrollwork.  I added a marble statue face on the left, and a series of renaissance images on the right.  I was playing with profiles.  Four faces - 4 eyes.

The faces flip open to reveal a little red bird atop a pedestal.  I added the words cut from a catalog - "Captivating Curiosity".

 

Here is a shot of the beautiful sign in page D created in the back of her book.  On the right is a niche containing a small religious statue, surrounded by paper flowers.

And finally here is my sign in tag - more Asian papers and another bird!
Check out the other books in this years swap Here:
Pink, Green, Purple and Bling.  We will start over again for the second half of the year.

Valentine Week Wrap Up

 Well, other than the unceasing rain and cold and bleak weather here in not so sunny California, it was a lovely week with Valentine's Day kicking it off.  And check out all the lovely little bits of joy i received in the mail!  I participated in a Valentine Card swap.  I showed you my cards HERE.  Here is a stunning orange and fuchsia card and matching envelope i received from Shelley.  Inside was a special treat - a Ghiradelli chocolate!

She did not participate in the swap, but my niece Erica made this card for me.  Click to enlarge - because that multi coloured heart is made up of dozens of TINY little hearts!  So nice to see Erica's beautiful handiwork.  Check out her blog HERE.

 This unique card was from the swap - courtesy of Alicia.  Don't you just adore the red crochet border? Apparently that Victorian lass is having steamy thoughts..!

 This was actually a RAK postcard from one of my online CAG buddies - Marie.  That's California Art Girls in case you were wondering!  Oh, and a rak is a "random act of kindness" - isn't valentines day a perfect time to send a happy little thing like this to your friends? Thanks Marie!

 This intense black, red and gold card was from my friend Karen, as part of the online swap.  The gold foil heart is removable.  Ya gotta love cards that are interactive!  Her husband is a car fanatic - do i see a checkered flag influence here?

 Here is another RAK - this one from Janene - another CAG buddy.  Isn't it adorable? Thanks Janene!  Note to self - postcards only require a 28 cent stamp!

 Here is another card from the online swap group - this one from Becky. The buttons are speared on a beaded pin and poked under the vintage postcard image - how clever! Love the soft palette.

This was my "bonus" card from Karen - have you ever seen anything so original? She got a little scratched in the post, but i think she is just as cute as can be!

  This was the first card i received as part of the swap - before i had even created my cards.  Let me tell you - this certainly put the pressure on to create something "worthy"!  Jen created this substancial heart with pleated ribbon and rosettes.  Love the red sparkly clothes pin!

This lovely two part tag and sleeve came in a matching envelope.  Pam must be a master with computer designed graphics - everything matched beautifully.  I love the little tag on the ribbon - it says Molto Bella.

 Thought i would throw this one in - yes  - it is STORE BOUGHT - but it came from my own sweetie.  One of FOUR cards he gave me after our yummy cheese fondue dinner and chocolate fondue dessert. Note to self: buy stock in Papyrus.

Here is a clever card from my friend Lucie, who also participated in the swap.  Lucie is French Canadian, and so the touches of French make a perfect accent on this queen of hearts card.  Inside was a special treat - lips shaped bath confetti!

I was going to say "last but not least" - but i am still missing a couple of cards from the swap.  One gal has had an illness so will get the cards out sometime in the near future.  And one card has gone astray.  Either due to the post office, or my pathetic pile of bills and junk mail might be holding it hostage!  So stay tuned....

Mixed Media Monday Challenge - Enchanted

Here is my submission for this week's Mixed Media Monday Challenge.  The theme this week is "Enchanted" - leaving the interpretation up to each individual artist, of course!

I knew i wanted to use a couple and the night sky, because i could not get ...Some Enchanted Evening... out of my head!

My Uncle Jussi used to always request that song when we were at events where my husband's band played - in a heavy Finnish accent. We got a kick out of that.

Anyway - while looking for romantic couples, i came across Little Red Riding Hood here, with her wolf buddy.  In Vogue magazine of all places. I cut them out and prepared a background.  A night sky printed scrapbook paper gave me the perfect moon and stark trees.  I coloured the moon a golden hue.  I also coloured the maiden's hair blond, since Vogue magazine thought it would sell more dresses if her hair was GREY.  GREY.  The cool thing is that grey hair is easily colourized with a yellow marker.  She didn't have a hood, so some red roses did the trick. The basket of apples is WAY out of scale - perhaps creating perspective?

The French dictionary paper has the words Enchante and Enchantement and Enchanteur - which apparently means someone who charms or seduces - how cool is that?

Please check out the comments section on Mixed Media Monday for more cool enchanted art from around the world!