Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange Winter 2015

For several years now I've participated in the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange, and it's always a blast! This round I was paired with the lovely Lisa Hickey of Caron Designs. She sent me such neat things! This was round one (yes, round one).

First was this gorgeous flattened wine bottle cheese tray. I've been fascinated with flattened glassware for years, but as I'm lacking a kiln it's not really a craft I can do, so I was thrilled with it. Unfortunately this beautiful piece got cracked in shipping. However, it worked out, as you will see.

She also sent this adorable handpainted flattened jar soap dish which currently lives beside my kitchen sink.

There were also these two delicious smelling soaps, one of which is in the above soap dish in my kitchen and the other of which is in our downstairs bath.

Last were these awesome original artwork greeting cards.

I contacted Lisa to let her know how much I loved everything, and I mentioned that the cheese platter had been cracked in shipping. The break was a very clean one, and I wanted to ask her advice on the best glue to use to repair it. I also wanted to let her know in case she wanted to contact her shipping company to be reimbursed for this damage. She generously told me that she would take care of it and that I should expect a new one later in the week! I promise I was not trying to wrangle a new one from her, but I was so touched by her generosity!

So a few days later I got another package in the mail, and sure enough there was another gorgeous platter, this one clear.

But also included was this lovely pair of glass bead earrings.

And this beautiful fused glass star ornament. When I was getting to know her work online these stars were one of the creations that really caught my eye, so I was thrilled to get one! It went waaaaay up high on my Christmas tree to keep it away from the grabby hands of the short people in my house.

So here's what I sent Lisa:

I made her these two little Christmas pillows from drop cloth and heat transfer vinyl. This one was made from drop cloth I hand dyed a deep cranberry red. The bell shape was purchased from the Silhouette Design Store. My favorite part of it is the tiny bell dotting the i in Jingle.

This one was left the natural color, and the heat transfer vinyl was cut from a Tulip Twilight Shimmer Transfer Sheet. (Not an affiliate link) I actually found these on clearance at one of the discount stores (Ross? Burkes? TJ Maxx? I can't remember).  I was a little nervous cutting it with my Cameo, but it worked great.

Next I made her three memory wire bracelets. I love these as gifts because they work for any size wrist and are easy to put on and take off for little hands that can't manage clasps well yet and older hands that struggle with arthritis and everybody in between. I wanted them to work well for Christmas yet still be versatile enough to wear the rest of the year, so I chose the colors accordingly.

I also made these fun snowman earrings, and they were embarrassingly easy to put together. 

They started out like this, so all I did was literally add the ear wires and backings.

Like always, this was so much fun, and I'm so grateful to Linda of Craftaholics Anonymous for hosting again and Lisa for partnering with me! I'll be linking up at the Handmade Gift Exchange Linky Party.

Simple Ornament to Year Round Display

Guys, we are hardcore into this getting-ready-for-market thing over here. The storage unit is rented and more or less filled, the new linoleum is down in the bathrooms, and the new carpet is in (squeeeeee!) People, we have pulled back out the baby gates. That's right, we are doing whatever it takes to keep little kiddos with crumbs and exuberant puppies well away from the deliciously soft and fluffy goodness carpeting our bedrooms and hallway.

And moooooost of the painting is done. By which I mean we still have to paint the ceilings (how do ceilings get dirty?) and do some touch ups here and there. And we are right smack in the middle of painting all the kitchen cabinets white and ohmygoodnessIlovethem! Why didn't we do it years ago? SO. A bit slow here on the blog. But crazy, overwhelming, Ijustwantanap busy behind the scenes.

But I managed to break away to slip in a post here. A few weeks ago I became aware of the imaginative world of Patience Brewster. Patience Brewster is a one-artist company featuring the whimsical renderings of Patience in the format of stationary, home goods, art, accessories, and Christmas ornaments. I'm dying a little over this gorgeous Zelda Zebra ornament and think she would look great in my craft room (when it happens).

Like Zelda, many of her pieces are versatile enough to be displayed year round, and I thought I would share with you one of my favorite Christmas ornaments that stays out all year.

I collect Willow Tree figures, and I have a number of them displayed on a shelf in my living room. Several years ago Nick's grandmother Gail gifted me with this beautiful Heart of Gold ornament, and it's very special to me.

Source

I normally have it hanging on the wall above the shelf displaying my collection of figurines, but this year I decided to up my game on the display to tie it in with Valentine's day. This was a super simple project. I grabbed a two pack of 6x8 burlap canvases from Walmart for under $4 and wrapped one around the top with narrow satin ribbon in red. I crossed the ribbon through the elastic string on the ornament and tied it in a bow, then wrapped a bit more ribbon around the center of the bow to finish it off. Then I just hung it up!

This is easy to change the ribbon on to keep the display fresh for the current season, and the neutral colors and the gold of the heart will play just as well with springy blues and greens as it does with the red. And if I decide to use the canvas for something else, it couldn't be easier to take apart!

I am not affiliated with Patience Brewster, was not compensated for mentioning or linking to her products, and there are no affiliate links in this post.