So I wanted to share shots from December 22 when we went downtown Philly to the Christmas Market.  We appropriately hit the Nut House in the Reading Terminal and then went shopping.

Dan got chicken and waffles for brunch. It was delicious! Really gets you into the Christmas spirit!

I made a new friend, an adorable little white llama!

Barbie ephemera

So ever since the new year I'm obsessed with cleaning out the detritus in our house.  Particularly the basement where storage is competing with my craft supplies.  

Just to lay the groundwork on the type of hoarder I am, I've actually come across w2s from my earliest jobs dating back to the 80's.  Now the silver lining is that these were all filed together and labeled, so it's not like this paperwork is stacked in aisles in my house and might fall and crush me. It's a journey.

Don't worry, those have been shredded and I'm setting about changing my habits.  I think that this resurfaced when I had to shred and dispose of lots of my Mom's paperwork.  It made me realize I can be like her and hold on to paperwork for much too long.  I only want stuff that sparks joy, so I am yearning to de-clutter.

Side note: isn't it funny how newly discovered stuff that's been sitting around for decades can't be purged from your house fast enough?

So the best part of this clean-out chore is finding little surprises.  Essentially, time capsules.  This one I had to share. My Barbie collection of accessories.  This includes brightly colored plastic clothes hangers, princess phones, a color tv, turntable,  Coca-Cola bottles and martini glasses. Also, brand named foods like Libby's corned beef, who knew?

The trip down memory lane is really fun and eventually I'll have to donate these.  I'm sure some little girl would love to play with them!

Halloween in January

I just happened to be browsing pictures and had to share this from Halloween.

Check out my Frida Kahlo costume from 2019. I did my eyebrows (using eyeliner), ordered some fun dangly earrings, donned a ton of rings and bracelets, made a wig from yarn, got a beautiful flowered headband and made a skirt from an old denim dress. I sewed a ruffle on it and attached ties to the back to make it like an apron skirt. 

I sewed a panel to the skirt with one of my favorite Frida quotes: 

My neighbors Kelly and Quinn were so excited I had to get a picture with them, and their Sesame Street Costumes.

I love all things Mexico and all things Frida.  I cannot believe it took this long to make a Frida costume.

Waves of creativity washing over

Okay, hope you are ready because I have some major sharing to do.

Here's the card for 2019 and I was hesitant to post it until all my friends and family have received it.  Think it's safe to finally do so now!

Love the Concord and Ninth Birthday stacks stamp and die cut set.  I might have to rank this the best birthday set of all time. No rules that I cannot use it over and over each year, just have to shake things up when I do.

So you create the pieces and I used Neenah desert storm cardstock and white embossing powder and ink.  Then I had a blast using my Gansai Tambi watercolor set to color in the balloons, candles and presents using the blues.  Nothing like khaki and blue (unless it's khaki and pink, etc.).

Hope you love it!

Here's another one I did way back in early 2019.

Altenew Dahlia Stencil Card

I'm blog hopping for Altenew's 5 Year Anniversary. I decided to post one of my favorite cards using Layered Dahlia A and B stencils.

I used Simon Says Stamp Script Thanks and used Distress Oxide Inks Worn Lipstick and Spiced Marmalade.

This is one of my all time favorite stenciled cards.  The dual stencils are so gorgeous on white card stock.

Go check out the blog and get in on the hop to see all the great artwork Altenew Blog

Pen Storage unit using Amac boxes

Several months ago I was shopping at a local art store for the last time.  Allegheny Art was going out of business. I had shopped at the store for years and I was sad to see it close. I found an inexpensive pen rack for $3 and purchased it. I loved using it because my pens were stored horizontally and they were accessible.

I have been trying to organize my supplies for so long and what I realized is that my pen collection was much larger than I thought. Primarily, because I had pens stashed away, in cute zippered bags, in drawers. So, like Marie Kondo would recommend, I decided to pull them all out. What I discovered was a bit shocking.

My first reaction was to rush out and buy something to store all these pens. Then I decided to peruse Pinterest and see what others had done. I decided that for me, having the pens out and available was important. I eliminated the idea of drawers and found this link to pen storage

Pin on pen storage using amac boxes

This gave me an idea. I took stock of what I had, measured how deep the cubbies should be and decided what I would need. Then I visited the Container Store and got 21 Amac boxes sized 2 5/16" square by 5 1/16" high. 

I decided I wanted to make a 7 box-high storage unit and have three columns. Why seven? Well ROYGBIV of course. What I didn't appreciate is that indigo and violet are rarely part of a huge collection so these can go in one box. So the 7th box was great for neutrals like brown and gray.

To glue the boxes I did some research and learned that acrylic can be "welded" chemically by using acetone. So I got myself a small syringe and glued them by applying a small amount of acetone to the gap between the boxes. The acetone does leave a cloudy mark, but I tried to keep this to the bottoms of the boxes, so you cannot really see the marks.

Here's the final result:

I am so excited to have my pens out, available and visible. That's all for today!!

Mis en place

Hey there campers.  I've been having fun with a great die set from Penny Black called What's in your Cup?

Here's a link to the set on Simon Says Stamp:

What's in Your Cup by Penny Black

Initially, I confess that I didn't want to dabble in all the tiny bits and pieces. However, after I started working on the elements I could not stop. Choosing fun colors and arranging all the pieces to make cards, it was addictive.

See the back of the die set below, there are three mug "styles" a mug with a snowflake, a mug with a teabag (complete with a heart) and a swirl of steam and a frothy top that I decided had to be made with flocking.  Also, the hand stamp is from Earth Tone Images.  

The cards have Jane Davenport washi tape along the side and I created a huge stack of tags that I colored with Distress Oxide inks and water.  Just smoosh the inks on the Tim Holtz glass mat and spray then mop them up with the tags. I finished the tags off with two stencils and some dye inks.

Have a warm and sweet day!