My Sister's Pups

Here's what else I made my sis for Christmas this year: portraits of her beloved dogs, Maggie and Zoey.

These are painted with acrylic paints on 4" by 4" boards, and then sanded on the edges. The knobs are by Tim Holtz, and the feet are bead caps.

Here's Maggie in real life:

And her portrait:

Zoey:

And her portrait:

I am by no means the best painter, but I think there's some resemblance, and my sister seemed to really like them, so I'm happy with that.

Wooden Photo Ornament

I wanted just one more little thing to give to my sister this year for Christmas, but I wasn't sure what. Then I remembered some photobooth pictures we took one year when we were Christmas shopping together, and thought that it would be fun to take some of those photos and make an ornament. I went rummaging around in my craft room for inspiration, and came up with the idea of using some of the old wooden blocks I've picked up at thrift stores.

It was pretty simple, really. The square block is from a set of puzzle blocks. I love these when the pictures are distressed and ripped. They make for a nice bright background. I copied the photos to size, and then gave them a slight hint of color with some Copic markers. I added the scrapbook paper hats and then glued an image onto each side of the block. The round part on top is an old wheel, covered with a ribbon and some ric rac. The wooden knobs are from Alpha Stamps, painted and distressed so they fit in with the vintage blocks.

 

A few sequin stars and rhinestones give it a little bling. I hope this will be a nice memory to hang on her tree. I think I'll have to make one of these for me!

Can you believe Christmas is so close? A happy holiday to you and yours!

Gift Card Holders For Alpha Stamps with Tutorial

It's the 3rd Day of Christmas at Alpha Stamps' 12 Day of Christmas event! Welcome!

 

Here's my take on day three: three kids a'gifting! Above is a holiday ATC, and below are the projects I did for the day: a gift tin with a sleeve, and a little elf on a spool. The tin is the perfect size to hold a gift card or a small present; the elf can also serve as a gift card holder, a place card, or a Christmas countdown. Here's the sleeved tin. 

And the elf on the spool, holding a gift card.

Tutorial 

Supplies can be found here. 

Step One: Using Copic markers, color images from the Little Darlings collage sheet. Add red rhinestones and paper hats made of scrapbook paper. Trim hats with contrasting paper, rick rack, or ribbon. Glue onto contrasting scrapbook paper, and cut out.

Step Two: Cover a blank tin with scrapbook paper. Click here for a tutorial on how to cover a tin.

Then, make a template for a sleeve that will fit over the covered tin. Once you are comfortable with the size and fit of your template, use the measurements to create a sleeve using a thin piece of shirt cardboard covered with scrapbook paper. Using a bone folder, score the folds.

 

Step Three: Wrap the sleeve around the bottom of the tin. To make the feet, glue bead caps into place on the bottom of the tin with E6000 glue.

 

Step Four:  Glue bottle brush tree to the cardboard sleeve. Wrap miniature Christmas bulbs around the tree and glue into place with hot glue. Glue a little cotton around the base of the tree, and place a couple of tiny wrapped gifts where the children will stand.

 

Step Five: Glue the two children in place, attaching the backs of their legs to a package. Fill in the rest of the base with more tiny gifts. Glue some sequin stars to the tree, and put one in the hand of one of the children. Put the end of the string of lights into the hands of the other child. 

Here's the tin with the sleeve removed, and a gift card enclosed. This image from the Silly Santas Collage sheet fits perfectly on the lid of the tin!

Spool Place Holder/Gift Card Holder

Wrap various ribbons around a wooden spool. Stack gifts and glue figure onto the top of the spool. Make a flag using a bamboo skewer, a bead, and some fibers, and glue onto the back. For placeholders, stamp a name onto a tiny address label, and have the figure hold it.

Here's the elf holding a little countdown to Christmas card, made using the black chalkstock ATCs. You can use a piece of chalk to change the date every day. Only 22 days to go!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you enjoy the 12 Days of Christmas.