Teenagedom

Cole has officially joined the ranks of eye rollers and knowing everything.  I wish I could have back my toddler who would snuggle at the drop of a hat and give an endless stream of bear hugs and smooches.  As Cole moves into a new chapter of his life, we wish him success and happiness.  Junior high is rough and high school will be rougher.  He's a good kid with a kind heart.  I know our future scientist will do great things.  

xoxo

Mom

diy typography/subway art

My niece Ashley got married last year and the two lovebirds just bought the sweetest little house. They are both crazy about typography/subway art so I decided to make her a custom sign commemorating their big day. It turned out so well I thought you might like to see how I did it.

The first thing I did was to design the layout. I used a 9" x 12" gallery wrapped canvas so I designed the layout on a regular letter size paper. I used a serif (footed) font and adjusted the font size and kerning (spacing between letters) so that each word spanned from the left to the right edge of the paper. If you want to get fancy, you can add vertical words. I wanted to keep it pretty simple.

I used a black canvas but you could always prep a plain white canvas by painting it black first. Black gesso would work great...and would simulate chalkboard nicely. You could also make this on a painted wood panel.

Saral Transfer Paper in white is excellent for transferring the letters. You simply sandwich the transfer paper between the printout and the canvas. Make sure the transfer side is against the canvas or the transfer will be made on the reverse side of the printout...oops! Be sure to center the printout. Tape into place to secure it while you trace the letters.

White will be transferred to the background but I think that adds to the chalkboard effect. It's okay if you miss parts of the transfer. See how I missed part of the "Y"? There is enough there for me to fill in with the next step.

Using a white oil pencil (or you could use a white colored pencil or white chalk pencil), fill in the letters. 

Use a fixative spray to protect the piece. This is especially important if you used colored pencil or chalk.

This same process can be used to create art with special quotes and personalized messages.

Elfish Delights

You know when you receive an email with "Elfish Delights" in the subject field, it's going to be a good one!  I love how creative Robert was in displaying these ornaments.  Those lucky ornaments will be hanging next to beautiful amaryllis blooms before too long.  

Thanks for sharing Robert :)

St. Nick

Friday is St. Nicholas' feast day. When children leave their shoes out the night before, St. Nick will stop by and fill them with treats. He leaves children treats at Alfredo's school too. The children usually leave their shoes lined up in the hallway but last year St. Nick's helpers were caught red-handed. This year, I helped St. Nick by making paper shoes. Look how sweet they turned out:

 

I adapted this pattern by adding a shoe tongue and real ribbon laces. Then I printed the template onto patterned scrapbook paper. Here's the template for my adaptation if you want to make some too.

St. Nick traditionally leaves gold coins, a candy cane and a clementine. We have allergy concerns in the classroom so I used plastic coins instead of chocolate or candy ones. I added a few little gifts like a Christmas pencil and eraser, a ball, and a little pad of paper. I also tucked in a St. Nicholas prayer card. I put all the gifts (except the prayer card and clementine) in a little muslin bag with an ironed-on graphic. I used one of the sticker graphics from here.

 

Whew! 30 paper shoes, all set to deliver on Friday.  We'll set them out at their desks while they are at mass in the morning.

Happy St. Nicholas Day...December 6!

Dilly of a Pickle

Rebecca's daughter Madeline loves dill pickles and wanted a wood and clay pickle ornament.  She drew what she had in mind and I created this fella.  I've never had a request for a dill pickle, so there really is a first for everything :)

Greetings Ya'll

This is my mom's front porch all decked out for Christmas.  They live in Texas, so they can decorate without too much worry of a foot of snow being right up by the door.  The two gourd elves were a special request from last month.  I can just imagine how pretty it must be at night with the tiny rice lights in the wreaths and garland.  I believe that is a flameless candle in the lantern.

Tree Trimming

Rebecca was kind to take this photo of her Christmas tree with my wood and clay ornaments.  I love seeing how people decorate with my work.  Thanks for sharing Rebecca!