MERRY Christmas Banner

Christmas is just days away and I wanted to share my last

handmade holiday decorations.....

My "MERRY" Christmas Banner was super easy to make!!

The base of my banner consists of:

a bit of CCB Ticking

7gypsies Vintage Pennant ~ Holiday Table

and a length of vintage trim

I then created a layers of

Red & Kraft Ribbon Stripe

French Script on Ivory ~ Tissuestock

and

Hunter Green Burlap

I added Avocado ~ Small Clothespins and loved 'em!

The ends of the banner were adorned with berry picks,

local pinecones and pieces of garland

topped with a burgundy burlap bow.

I case you missed my Christmas Stocking.....

you can pop over and check it out HERE!

I WANT TO WISH ALL MY FRIENDS
a Very MERRRRY Christmas
and a WONDERFUL Holiday season!

MERRY Christmas to YOU!!

Hello my friends.....I don't know about you but
I've been on a roll pumping out Christmas Decorations.
You see all of my decorations from "christmas past" are
packed away in my storage unit,
and I can't get to them.... (POOR PLANNING on my behalf!)
....and I just can't make it through this season with our ANYTHING!

So here is one of them..........

I have been working from CCB Farmhouse Christmas Mix and Match pad
.... because IT'S ALL THERE!
printed canvas
 various burlaps
 several printed papers
 kraft paper
 canvas and flute
what is there not to LOVE ABOUT THIS??

I did add my current favorite CCB paper Red & Kraft Ribbon Stripe

I tried to capture the Tattered Angels ~ Glimmer Glam ~ Chandelier
.....it didn't work, but it sure is pretty in real life!

I painted Santa's beard, hat and the bottom of his britches
with the Chandelier Glimmer Glam
Can I say.......it just shimmer in the Christmas lights.
If you look closely you can vaguely
see the snowflakes I stenciled onto the CCB Large Stocking

I created a video to share with you showing how I created the flower cluster....

I hope you have enjoyed my creative journey!!
....and I hope you have a very merry Christmas!

Product List
Large Canvas Stocking

Farmhouse Christmas Mix and Match pad
or Red Burlap
Burlap
Farmhouse Christmas on Ivory
Farmhouse Christmas ~ Printed Canvas Sheet
Farmhouse Christmas: Black and Kraft Merry Christmas
Kraft Flute

Organic Garden ~ Glimmer Glam
Chandelier ~ Glimmer Glam
English Ivy ~ Glimmer Mist

PAPERCRAFT:U premiere class

I AM BEYOND EXCITED....

Something, I have dreamed about for YEARS

is coming to life....

I LOVE to teach
but due to extenuating circumstances

I don't teach as much as I would like to.

SOOOOOO.....here is my answer!

I am an online instructor at ....

which will be debuting December 1st. 

PLEASE NOTE: we are having a PreSale good through November 30th
$25 Rustic Christmas Card Class for $20

 Discount Code: PCUCYBER2016

class will not be available until December 1st!

Here is my premier class....

"Rustic Christmas Cards"

Upon class subscription

Canvas Corp and Tattered Angels products

will be offered at 15% off and FREE shipping!

I am also using Perfect Paints products

Shimmering Matte Acrylic ~ Moss Green

Pearl Plaster ~ Bavarian Cream

Shimmering White Stucco

Of course, you can use what you have in your own

stash and create along with me!

I will be opening a Private Facebook Forum

for us to share our creations, ask questions

and see what I will be whipping

up for the next class.

I look forward to creating with YOU!

Holiday Birdhouse

Hello peeps....

I wanted to share with you a project
I've been working on for the past few weeks.

The folks at the Howard Shawney VFW Post 816 in Littleton, NH

asked me to "decorate" a solid wood birdhouse that had been

fabricated by a local autistic teen, that they are selling for the young man!

Can I say....I've been waiting for a couple of months

for inspiration to hit....and hit it did.

I knew I wanted my birdhouse to have a "Nature" theme to it!

So, I went on a nature walk to collect sticks and
birch bark from felled trees.

It took me several days to create the patchwork birch bark
siding for my birdhouse. Thanks to good ole
Ranger Inc, ~ Multi Medium ~ Matte
the birch bark isn't going anywhere.

I am rather limited on my
shopping options here in the "country" as there
are no creative big box stores,
soooo.....I took a trip to Walmart. 

I gathered up a few supplies
Burgundy Burlap Trim
and a length of Pine Garland
and the way cool Pine Cone picks.

I began by covering the roof and back of the birdhouse
with a length of CCB Burlap.

After I had cut apart the garland and picks
I attached them to my birdhouse with
a staple gun and hot glue.

I covered up the pick ends with pieces of the garland
I cut apart and a big bow accented with a bit of
Canvas Corp Brands Natural/White Hank

To finish off my birdhouse,
I pulled out a package of my
UmWowStudio ~ Merry chippies
and painted them with Perfect Paints ~ Red Wagon
and hot glued the letters to a piece of twine
by Canvas Corp Brands.

The Merry Banner is removable
as the front "door" opens.
Inside, I placed an American Flag on the back wall
and a Ultra-Slim Wire Light Set
to illuminate it!

My birdhouse is being auctioned off at
Howard Shawney VFW Post 816.

Let us remember our veterans, and 

FORGET NOT to THANK them for their service

so we can live FREELY in this AMAZING country
the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!

Upcoming Classes in New Hampshire

Hello my friends....
I wanted to let you know about a few of my upcoming classes.

I am so excited to be offering my latest
Girl's Night Out

to be held Thursday, November 17th at 6:00pm
at the Purple Peacock in Littleton, NH!
Class fee is $30 with a $5 studio fee.

Bring a Friend, your favorite beverage and
have a night of Fun and Laughs!!
PLEASE contact Jennifer at (603) 575-5409 t
o reserve your place in this workshop.....SEATING IS LIMITED!!!

-------------------------------------

CHRISTMAS CLASSES at Cropaholics ~ Wilton, NH
Saturday, November 19th

CHRISTMAS BANNER class $35 per person  10:00 am
We will be creating an heirloom Christmas banner you will want to display proudly in your home every year. We will be utilizing Canvas Corp Brand ~ Farmhouse Christmas Collection and Burlap shapes to create this 5 piece MERRY banner.
BRING:
Basic Tool Kit
Scissors
Multi Medium ~ Matte

CHRISTMAS CARD Class $30 per person  1:00 pm
We will be using Canvas Corp Brand ~ Farmhouse Christmas collection, as we create (3) Rustic Inspired cards. There will be layers of paper, burlap, flowers and various mediums.
BRING: 
Basic Tool Kit
Scissors
Multi Medium ~ Matte

FARMHOUSE CHRISTMAS BANNER Class $40 per person ~ limit 6 people   4:00 pm

We will be creating a Rustic Christmas Banner using items from the CCB Farmhouse Christmas Mix and Match Pad. We will be rolling our own flowers and pine cones for our multi layers 3 piece banner. Class size is limited so sign up early.

BRING:

Basic Tool Kit

Scissors

Multi Medium ~ Matte

CONTACT JENNIFER AT 603.654.1018 TO MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS!!
CROPAHOLICS ~ 39 MAIN STREET ~ WILTON, NH

The File Folder Has it!

SOOO...a few Crew Members were given a Social challenge....

watch Shannon Green's video on making File Folders...

and see where it lead us!!

My thoughts....just because I ALWAYS have to mess with things
....I really don't need any more file folders
....but this might be a kinda cool idea for a mini album.

So, upon my return to my studio...I watched Shannon's video
and let the creating begin!
SADLY, I have had internet and modem issues and
the video I created couldn't be loaded so....
finished PICTURES it is!!

To create my "folder"I pulled out
2 sheets of patterned paper from
7gypsies ~ Gypsy Seamstress Collection
12 x 12 Tape Measure
12 x 12 Buttons

I chose to fold the Buttons paper at 8", creating a deeper pocket
I then cut a 6"x 12" pieces of
 Tape Measure and adhered them together.
I then cut my folder in half.
My mini album measures 6" x 8".

I painted each of the pages with a 50/50 mixture of Gesso and
Perfect Paints Glaze Medium.
I love the texture of the Gesso with the transparency of the glaze.

Now......this is when I became impressed with the
7gypsies ~ Gypsy Seamstress paper...

I layered on Perfect Paints Polishing Plaster,

then spritzed and splattered with Glimmer Mist

AND MY ALBUM IS FLAT!!! LOVE IT!!!

Now, I love to tell on myself,

I recently had a conversation

that I have thousands of photos on my phone

and NEVER PRINT THEM OUT!!

SO....I went to my phone and

printed pictures of the family last Thanksgiving
to fill my mini album!

I have to say.....

Yvonne Blair Designs/Impression Obsession ~ Words for Art stamp set
was PERFECT to capture my thoughts!

I pulled out a piece of CCB Handmade papers

various colored Burlap and a bit of Flute to accent my photos.

Well.....there you have it!

My take on the "Make your own folder Challenge"!!

What inspiration did you get when you watched Shannon's video??

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU CREATIONS!!

I FINALLY was able to resolve my internet issue....

here is my video...
or should I say part of my video...
I got caught up in creating and forgot to turn
my camera back on!!
HOW DO I SURVIVE this thing called life!??!??!

To see what the other gals came up with.....pop on over to
the Canvas Corp Brands Blog!!

STARTING from the Same Place!! ARTIST Collaborative

Welcome to 

"Starting from the Same Place"

artist collaboration.....

what an HONOR to be apart of this

FABULOUS group of SUPER creative peeps!!

We were all sent similar packages and
encouraged to use EVERYTHING.
our kit contained
There were ALL KINDS of pieces parts
from a strip of resisters
to some BEAUTIFULLY dyed fabrics...
oh the list goes on and on!!
(see above picture)

I pondered on this project for a few weeks....
until it hit me and
this is what I came up with....

a rather shabby lookin' mini album!
We were allowed to add from our own stash as needed.

There were (3) GORGEOUS resin pieces in my kit.

For the first one I applied a layer of

Perfect Paints ~ Shimmering Matte Acrylic ~ Ballet Slippers
to the resin rose and let it dry.

I then created a 50/50 glaze with

SMA ~ Vintage Mercury and Perfect Glaze Medium
applied the mixture to rose and whipped off excess.

JUST GORGEOUS!!!

.....and did I say there was fabric in our kit more LOVE!!

I added the Light Pink burlap and Flute

along with Polishing Plaster

to the die cut gears.

OMW....there was so much goodness to work with!

The resin clock.....totally AMAZING with Shimmering Matte Acrylic paint.

How cool is the View Finder packaging???

.....the next spread!

How about that StencilGirl Products Stencil.....LOVE!

....another beautiful resin!

A HUGE THANK you to Tina Walker, Susan M. Brown

for all your hard work putting the collaborative together.

Beacon Creative Adhesives, Amazing Casting Products

and StencilGirl Products for adding to making our kits AMAZING!

Here are ALL THE FABULOUS creations!

An InLinkz Link-up

Other Products used:
Perfect Paints

Polishing Plaster ~ Organic Sugar

Shimmering Matte Acrylic Paint

Ballet Slippers

Moss Green

Vintage Mercury

Canvas Corp BrandsLight Pink Burlap

Natural Canvas

Kraft Cardstock

Flute

Tissuestock ~ Ivory

Tattered AngelsGlimmer Mist

Tarnished Silver

Vanilla Breeze

Ranger InkMulti Medium Matte

Archival Ink ~ Watering Can

Yvonne Blair Designs/Impression Obsession

Words for Art

UmWowStudioLeafy Mash

Journal Buddy Blog Hop

We, The Art Girls and Yvonne Blair Designs
 are celebrating being picked as the editor’s choice in the Oct-Dec Issue of 

Stampers Sampler by Stampington. 

 Each one of the Art Girls will be giving away 

a journal buddy on Friday Oct. 7. 

What is a Journal Buddy you may ask.....

The Journal Buddy is a multi-functional tool that helps you
add artful journaling to any paper crafting project.
The Journal Buddy is made out of high quality stencil material t
hat is not only pliable but see through so you can see where you are adding lines.
The Journal Buddy features a wavy and straight edge, a ruler,
straight edges on each side to line it up so your journaling stays straight,
as well as line guides for you to ink, trace, paint, or spray onto your page.
You will be amazed at how easy it is to use adding decorative journaling to your
 art journals, scrapbook layouts, cards and envelopes and more.

In case you didn't know....

I love working with NEW product

(or new to me)

so I pulled out my
Inky Art Journal
the place I like to work when trying
NEW THINGS!!

NOW.....when I am working in my Inky Art Journal

it not necessarily about the end product

but the step getting there!

I began my creative exploration by applying

gesso using the wavy side of my Journal Buddy!

(I had run masking tape down the spine)

I liked that look!!

Next, I wanted to try using the wavy edge of to apply

texture medium to a defined area....

that was pretty COOL, too!!

Next, I pulled out a Calendar Mist Kit and let the coloring begin!

When I was happy with my coloring, I used my Journal Buddy to

add more lines to my background.

Now where to go from here!

'Cause I had been LOVING each step so far!!

I then painted color into the various shape I had created

with my Journal Buddy

OK....THIS IS AWESOME!!

Here is my finished page....

(I had to add a bit more color and of course a few flowers)

I love cutting up stamped verbage

so, I decided to use the Wavy Edge of the Journal Buddy

as my guide to apply ALL the cut up words....

it worked like a dream.

.....here are some closeups of my page!

I chose an Yvonne Blair/Impression Obsession stamp
She Was Tired

along with Sketch Twig

Make sure to pop by the other
Art Girls Blogs
to see their AMAZING creations using the Journal Buddy!

Yvonne Blair

Tonya Gibbs

Lisa Nazario~Gregory

Your comment must be received by noon October 7. 

If you leave a comment on each blog
you will be put in for a drawing to win a Journal Buddy,
Art Journal and Stampers Sampler Magazine Bundle.
The winner will be announced October 7th at 7:00 pm Yvonne’s blog.