Elf's Snowman

I have a bad case of Elf-on-the-shelf-itis.  I actually came up with this idea in my sleep.

Ever wonder where those socks go missing?  Our elf rolled up these sock balls, and even used lint for the eyes and buttons.

Merry Christmas!

Doodling at the Dentist

I had some extra time to kill while at the dentist with Katie.  Here are my Christmas (mostly) doodles:

And here is what our elf was up to:

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Christmas Tree Photos

I've been playing around with photographing the Christmas tree.  I'm no pro, but Katie made a lovely little model, and I like how these photos turned out.  So I decided to share.

Shiny Objects

Oh the magic of Christmas!

Easy and Perfect Snowflakes

I don't know about you, but we spend many hours every Christmas season, making snowflakes.  I'm talking finding-paper-scraps-in-the-carpet-all-season-long, many hours.  I've also found one quick trick, that makes them look great every time.

First, here's how you fold a basic 8 sided snowflake.  Start with a square piece of paper folded into a triangle, then follow the steps below.

Here are 3 snowflakes that I'll demonstrate on:

Cut away the extra paper.

Now, here's the "trick".  To start with, cut away one large section in the area pictured below.  This will leave a nice bold shape on the outside of your snowflake.  This cut should take up at least half of the length of the snowflake, and will be your one main cut, that defines the entire shape of the snowflake.

Next, you can never go wrong with cutting away a smaller version of your first cut.

On the remaining portion (this will be the inner part of the snowflake), cut away any shapes and  designs you want.  It really doesn't take too many cuts to make it look great.

Here are the 3 I worked on for this example.  The bold shape on the outside makes the snowflakes look perfectly lovely.

Have fun creating!

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Studio Before and After

Today I tackled perhaps my largest project to date.  I cleaned my basement studio.  I thought this deserved some before and after shots.

 All right, so here we have it.  No, there wasn't an earthquake, or a tornado.  Or a little family of Tasmanian devils living in there.  And before you start counting all the safety hazards... just give me a chance.

Before

Ta-da!

After

Yay!  Time to be inspired and put those blank canvases to good use.  Yes, there is still paint on the floor, and sawdust in the corners.  But that's what I love! There is not much I enjoy more than creating something in all it's grand messiness, and taking it out of that messy environment, into a beautiful setting.  It's magic.  But I do need floor space to do it.

This canvas is ready to go

I found some great things I had forgotten about during this clean up.  

Like this fork.

I also found some strange things.

Like this... thing.

What in the world is this?  Better hang on to it,
you never know when one of these will come in handy.

I hadn't realized I have horded so many frames, now they are all nice and tidy in a box of their own:

Here's a peek at two other hoards I have in my studio, my buttons and vintage lace.

So much to be created- so let's get to it.

Last, but not least, while I was doing all this, look where I found this nosey little bugger!

Pine Wreath

I love wreaths!  There is something about putting together a lot of smaller items, to make one big thing, that I really enjoy.  

I started off with some giant pine cones, a plain base for the wreath and a glue gun.

 Repetition can be beautiful. Here's what I ended up with:

At first I just had the pine cone wreath on it's own, but later realized I wanted the edges to be softer.  So, I simply added the garland behind it.  That really did the trick.

Here's one more of my Christmas wreaths, just for good measure.  You can find the tutorial for the book page banner here.

Happy holidays everyone!  Christmas is in the air!

Handmade Sketch Book and More Elf Mischief

Today I'm giving you a peek inside my handmade sketch book.

Several years back I took a bookbinding class, and have been making my own sketch books since.  For the cover of this one, I used an old leather purse, and added the embellishments.

Inside is where the real fun is.

I enjoy trying out many sketching styles.  Here I'm going through my "lettering and doodling" phase.  Always changing, always evolving.

I really like the creatures with the nests on their heads.  Not sure why, they just make me happy.

And now, a picture of Katie and Lily (just because it's too cute not to share).  Katie is sharing one of her 8 spare fingers with Lily.  I know Katie is WAY too old to still be sucking her fingers, but this is adorable none the less.

And here are some more Elf on the Shelf ideas

The quick and easy ones are my favorite.  He doesn't have to be reeking havoc all the time.

Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way!

Merry Christmas
From: Elf