Craft project in progress

Branches setting in place in plaster of Paris. The container is one of those potted plant leftovers from Trader Joe's. Branches will be painted white, and used to hang ornaments, hearts, birds, etc., year round. I already had an informal tree- now I'm making a nicer one.

Christmas Goodies

Well, the house is decorated, I've started shopping, and I've run out of Christmas cards. So I'm feeling relatively secure, although I still have lots to do. Here are some photos that show what I've been up to.  I gave away my cookie stocking at the ornament exchange, but I made another one to keep.

This is the cute Santa that I received in the ornament exchange, made by Darla. I just love him.

The tree's up. I go for the eclectic look, so there are lots of wonderful homemade ornaments, many made by friends, mixed in with ornaments that my kids made when they were little.

Small ornaments get lost on the tree, so this year I hung my favorite little guys on this branch in the dining room. It looks very cool. You may recognize a few of the felt balls I made last year.

Here are a few of the felt business card holders I've been making. I made some similar to these to give to my Cut-Loose friends. I'll have some available at the Craft Festival at the Muckenthaler on December 20 (more info in previous post). I dyed white wool felt with Silk Color and other silk dyes that I had. It's fun to make each one a little different.

I was so happy to get my "Go With The Flow" quilt back after its trip to Quilt Festivals in Long Beach and Houston in the "Detours" exhibit. I hung it up, and it looks great with my Christmas stuff.

My "Fifteen Selvedges" quilt also recently returned home, and I happily hung it up also, in the midst of my Christmas decor. It was part of the "Edges" special exhibit that also went to Long Beach and Houston Quilt Festivals.

Recent Creative Pursuits

I've been creatively busy. Can't tell you about everything, but these photos show some of the things I've been up to.  I made some Christmas cookies, inspired by the stocking I made recently. (No, they're not edible. They're fabric ornaments.)

I made new changes to my summertime cat's face. I think it's finally finished this time. As usual, Matilda (not Olive, the cat who inspired the quilt) had to get in the picture.

Here's the view from our hotel in Pacific Beach last weekend, when we were visiting our son. I played with it in Photoshop a little, can you tell?

Here I'm trying to find inspiration in the koi swimming in the dirty pond next to my gym.

I've been working on finishing the Christmas cards I started in the Experimentations in Letter Press class. The words of the inside message were done in class, and I made a block print of the Christmas Cactus design.

I made a few of this design, too. The "Noel" is Letter Press. The red design is screen printed using paper snowflakes. Each paper snowflake wore out after about 12 cards, so I needed to use two snowflakes. I still need to glue them onto cards.

Man, these cards are work! Can't wait to get back to quilts.