Merry Christmas!

I had a very nice day today. I hope that all of you reading my post did as well. I reminded myself ever so often that the celebration of this day is not all about the gifts, the food, or even the gathering of family and friends however wonderful they all might be. It is all about the celebration of a child being born over 2000 years ago. A child whose name was Jesus. I have much to thank God for every day. But the most important one is that He has forgiven me of my sin and is my friend on a day to day basis. And it is all because a child was born in a manger so long ago who grew up to pay my debt.

And yet, we still love to give and receive gifts. We draw names with our children and their spouses now to be a more thrifty in our celebration. And my husband and I ended up with both our daughter and daughter-in-law. I would have said "both our daughters" but then those who know me would have said "What..?" My husband built a very nice wall shelf unit with a towel rack underneath for my daughter in law to put in her bathroom. (My idea... I noticed that she needed one.) I think she was happy with that. I wish I had taken a picture before she left. But I didn't think. My other daughter received a collage of portraits I had made of her little girl Lillianna. I was very pleased at how it turned out and now that she has it in her possession and it need not be a secret I can post a picture of it here. It is at the top.
I started out with photos that I scanned in and then spent hours editing in pnotoshop. I did NOT use any 'sketch' filter which is what people have been thinking. There is no way one of the filters will do this. I used a different technique to get it to a stage where I then printed it out onto watercolor paper and then used pencils to finish it by hand. She was pleased with it. I scanned the finished product in and have already printed another one of the completed sketch out for myself.
I had great fun making Christmas ornaments this year and plan to continue doing so all through the year next year.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas is almost here.
I have been working hard on lots of little Christmas ornaments to give as gifts. I love making Christmas ornaments. They are little works of art that people take out to make their holiday more special. They pause to remember who gave them the ornament and when. I have ornaments that I made over 30 years ago. I love to look at them and remember making them so long ago. I always say, "And these are older than my son."
I also enjoy wrapping them in a special way so that they seem to be a little 'more' than they really are. The package can make something inexpensive seem more special and costly.
I made Christmas Penguins from egg gourds, Santas from dried Okra, and little mice stuck in raisin boxes.

New Doll

It seems like a long time since I was able to post about a new doll I have made. But I am almost done with the doll I started at the Susie McMahon workshop I took in MD. She still need her unders and another more simple day dress. Maybe a coat and hat. I am very happy with her.
I love the new technique I learned for the hair. I worked hard on the dress which is made from one fabric. Although it looks like different matching designs i pleated the vertical lines to make the dress look like it was made from different fabric designs. I like the blue better around her face. The trim is all vintage or antique tatting. I do like her but I am willing to part with her so she is up for adoption.

I also am still waiting to dress the little pressed felt face doll I have made.

I love how she turned out but I will never make another one like that. It was really difficult to press the felt in the mold when I think I can get the same results by gluing the felt over a sculpted face.
I am also working on some really cool paper mache Christmas Carolers. Which I hope will be done before Christmas.

More Digi Stamping Fun!

I have joined a new community of artists who do digital art. Making cards, crafts, scrapbook pages, and embroidery. I have created digital art for years and rubberstamped so i thought this would be another good outlet for those small works of art I love so well.
Here is another card I have made using one of the freebie digi stamps. This digi stamp image was created by "Mujka Chic" and is called "lonely tree". I did manipulate the image and edit it. I added background with photoshop brushes and script which says "Silent Night, Holy Night, All is calm...." all around the border. I printed it, layered it on brown card stock and then printed another tree which I cut out and layered on top of the first tree. Then highlighted the tree and bits of the snow with glitter.
You can see the digi stamps and papers at My Grafico. There are pages of freebies that are fun to look at. including brushes for Photoshop CS. Having an older version means i can't use them. DRats!

Workshop with Susie McMahon

I spent the past weekend in Maryland learning some new techniques for creating dolls. The teacher was Susie McMahon and the host was Rose Gibbons. Rose hosts doll workshops on a regular basis. And Susie was in the states (from Australia) teaching workshops around the US. I was really blessed to be able to participate in the one at Rose's house.
My doll is very close to being done and I will post a picture of her soon. If you would like to see some of Susie's dolls check out... http://susiemcmahondolls.blogspot.com/

More Fair Stuff

Here are more pictures of items that won ribbons at the State fair.

I'm inspired. I attended a workshop in Maryland hosted by Rose Gibbons (who is a wonderful hostess!) and taught by Susie McMahon ( who is a wonderful teacher and artist.) I learned some new techniques and can't wait to keep trying them out. My doll is on her way to being done. I have to let her 'hair' dry, which will take a couple of days.. and then I can paint her. Painting the face is my favorite thing because that is when they really come to life.
If you have never seen Susie McMahon's work you need to check it out.
http://susiemcmahondolls.blogspot.com/
This is my doll before I put her in the dryer.I also took a few pictures of the things that won ribbons at the fair. For some reason my pictures have not been coming out very well. Some are across the top.