What I Made For the Children's Lit Craft Swap: Alice in Wonderland Edition

Here is the second half of what I made for my #childrenslitcraftswap partner, Katie. Aside from the Chronicles of Narnia themed wall art piece and bookmark I made Katie, I also included Alice in Wonderland themed items too. I made her two "Let's talk over Tea" printed kitchen towels and an Alice and White Rabbit paper weight.

I designed and carved the tea cup stamp out a linoleum. I made the stamp in 2012 when I was in The Bookies Bookclub, for invitations I made since it was my turn to host bookclub. I used it again to make a brooch for a "DIY Let's Talk over Tea Brooch" post I made as a guest for a Tim Burton blog party. 

I stamped the white kitchen towels on my birthday. I hadn't done printmaking in a long time and it was nice to get to do it again. I hand stamped each tea cup using a Speedball Block Printing baren (a hand press). Each tea cup print varied slightly in color since I have to press very hard to get an even print. I love the way both towels turned out. After the oil based ink dried I put them in the dryer and ironed them to help the ink adhere to the fabric better.

I have a plastic tote in the garage marked homemade gifts where I keep art supplies to well you know, make homemade gifts. While going through it I found a glass paper weight and took it out thinking I could draw something for Katie and put it in the paper weight. My daughter and I had gone to the library and I saw a used copy of Alice in Wonderland in their bookstore. I didn't buy it at first; however, we went back a few days later and I told myself if the book was still there I would purchase it. It was! I colored the illustration I believed would look the best in the paper weight, removed the glass, and insert the illustration. Before I cut the illustration out, I did take a picture of the page so I could read the book later.

This is how I gift wrapped my #childrenslitcraftswap partner's package. To use up the extra ink I had behind and clean off my linoleum tea cup stamp, I printed it numerous times on brown wrapping paper. I was going to roll up the wrapping paper and send it to Katie for her to use but it didn't fit in the shipping box. I used the paper to wrap the hand crafted gifts I made for Katie instead. This wraps up, pun intended, "What I Made For the Children's Lit Craft Swap: Alice in Wonderland Edition" post. The next swap I'll be participating in and actually co-hosting with Emily from The Morose Bee is Viva La Frida Swap, were I hope to put my printmaking skill to good use again. 

What I Made For the Children's Lit Craft Swap: Narnia Edition

The #childrenlitcraftswap is a craft swap I joined on Instagram. My partner was Katie and she happened to be the host of the swap too. Katie received her package yesterday so I thought I would share my progress pictures of the The Chronicles of Narnia inspired goodies I made for her. When I received Katie's information and read that one of her favorite children's classics is Narnia among others, I knew I wanted to paint a wooden wall decoration based on the first place Lucy and Mr. Tumnus first met, in a wintery forest landscape under a street lamp. I knew I was heading in the right direction when she posted a picture of Mr. Tumnus on her IG account and mentioned that he is one of her favorites. The Narnia wall decor ended up being my favorite art piece I made for this swap, it took the longest to complete, and was my big project for the swap. I also included an Aslan themed bookmark as another Narnia inspired goodie.

I was good at taking many pictures along the way so be prepared to view many pictures.

This was my first check in picture for the #childrenslitcraftswap. I doodled a few Lucy and Mr. Tumnus characters on voting advertising material and took out some of the supplies I planned to used. I ended up changing the unfinished wooden plaque to a more rectangle shaped one because it looked more like the Narnia closet. 

This is a screen shot of my hidden Pinterest board, to give me some inspiration for this project. 

I sketched the clothes pins first.

 I painted the sides of the unfinished wooden plaque and then painted the Narnia characters. I painted Mr. Tumnus legs three times because I wasn't happy with the way it they were turning out. 

I made Mr. Tumnus' ears and his signature burgundy scarf out of felt. His package is made out of a mounting square, wrapped in wrapping paper, and tied with embroidery thread. 

 

I sketched the wintery forest landscape with trees and a street light. I ended up re-drawing the street light before I began painting the background.

I painted the background a little each day. One night I stayed until 3am because I mixed my own paint and knew it would be difficult to remix the exact color I was using again. I tend to do my best work at night. I sealed everything that I painted with two coats. 

This is what I wrote behind the wooden plaque with an oil based pen that way Katie will always remember who made this art piece for her.

After gluing Lucy and Mr. Tumnus to their background, this project was completed!

As you can see, I put more detail into Mr. Tumnus than Lucy. Other can making his dimensional ears, scarf, and package, I also painted his horns and his little umbrella. 

After remembering that I owned some Narnia trailer film I decided to make Katie a bookmark out of it. 

I went through the whole trailer one night looking for the perfect scene she would like. You may be asking yourself how I got this trailer. Well, I worked for a movie theatre company for 10 years. I met my husband working there. The Narnia film actually belonged to him and he gave me the okay to use it. 

I ended up finding the perfect scene which shows Lucy and Aslan together. Supplies wise, I had everything to make the bookmark but decided to order a lion charm to attach to the tassel. That night I also printed out an online newspaper article written about my local zoo because the African lion that was used to animate the character of Aslan is a resident there. Isn't that way cool!?! 

 The day the lion charm finally arrived I took out my jewelry tools I attached it to the bookmark's tassel.

 

I included the zoo article with the completed bookmark. At the last minute, I decided to include 38 individual film slices from the trailer as well.  Each film slice had a picture of either Lucy, Edmund, Susan, or Peter. The film slices are for Katie's 6th grade class who are currently reading The Chronicles of Narnia. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing the Narnia edition of what I made for my #chrildrenslitcraftswap partner Katie. I'm relieved that what I had in mind for my big swap project turned out even better than what I had imagined. I'm glad to say Katie loved her #childrenslitcraftswap package from me and today Katie's 6th grade students made their own bookmarks with the Narnia film slices I sent them with quotes from the movie. 

Bee Creative Stocking Swap: What Lily Received

My partner, Julie, for the Bee Creative Stocking Swap, Emily and I hosted, was really on her game. She was the first to ship her stocking swap package from all the gals that signed up. Lily received her package in early October. I signed up for one stocking meant for Lily. It felt like Christmas had arrived early at our doorstop the day we received the package.

This is what Lily received. I really enjoyed watching Lily open her stocking. It felt wonderful watching Lily open a gift from a complete stranger who put so much love and creativity into making a stocking and the stuffings just for her. Obviously, crocheting is Julie's thing and she's damn good at it! She crochet the stocking, the fox headband, and the purple teddy bear or what Lily calls, "Baby Bear."

Lily loved everything, absolutely everything, she received. She kept kissing her Baby Bear, which was crochet in her favorite color and her squirrel. The fox headband was a huge hit with my husband and I because foxes and woodland critters are our thing for Lily. 

Julie really outdid herself! I was so happy I got paired up with her and was looking forward to finishing up my family's themed Halloween costumes so I could continue to work on her son's stocking and stuffings and spoil him like she did Lily. 

If you're interested in seeing the other awesome stocking swap packages received, check out the Stocking Swap Album on the Bee Creative Facebook page here!

Halloween Swap: What I Received

Yes, I know I should probably be posting holiday themed posts but if I don't post what I received for my Halloween Swap I might never get to it. Pictured below is all the awesome goodies I received from my swap partner Tanya.

Tanya made everything herself. I got a Halloween themed tree, a skull head candle holder, a beautiful skull bracelet, and a haunted house that lights up.

For the Halloween themed tree, Tanya repurposed an old door knob. It's a great addition to my Halloween cemetery decorations.

I love all the detail Tanya put into this awesome candle holder. Details include the book she chose, "The Book of Shadows," roughing up of the book, the spiderweb stamping on the sides, the pearls in the eyes, etc. It makes me feel special that all this work was done for me.

This bracelet has become one of my favorite accessories. I love the colors used, the different shades of purple and the grey. Even with the skulls, which are my favorite part, it still has a girlie feel to it. It is totally my type of jewelry.

Here's another awesome repurposed goody I received. Tanya found this haunted house that light ups and painted it black, added glitter, and the little skull beads on top. Another great addition for the cemetery scene I put up for Halloween.

Isn't everything I received just awesome!?!? Thank you again Tanya! Okay, okay. I'll let you guys return to your holiday posts; however, I hope you enjoyed this post.

Let's Swap! But First, Let's Vote!

Wow, yes I know it has been two years since I last blogged! But, I am really passionate about this upcoming swap brought to you by Bee Creative Swaps. Emily from The Morose Bee blog and I began Bee Creative Swaps because we enjoy sharing handmade goodies with others. After a long absence, we have decided to return with a bang - a Frida themed swap! You heard right, a Frida swap!

Before, we spill all the beans, you know all the details, we need your help naming this amazing swap because it will be amazing! I promise. Sorry, I'm getting a little too excited over here. Emily and I have narrowed it down to two swap names, United Unibrow Artist Swap and Viva La Frida Swap. Once we named this baby, sign ups will start on May 1st. Will it be United Unibrow Artist Swap or Viva La Frida Swap, click on the link below and make your vote! Voting will be open until the end of April. 

On a side note, I am excited to be back to the blog world and share my new life with you! 

CLICK HERE AND VOTE!

This Year Cooking Will Be Fun

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2013 is to learn how to cook. So, I was thrilled when I received this mini cookbook from Nicole for the Out With The Old, In With The New swap.

Nicole, who loves to cook, included simple recipes she uses all the time and uses and tricks for common spices in the cookbook. All the recipes were hand written. My favorite part of my new cookbook is the beautiful illustrations, which were hand drawn with pencil, paint, and color pencils. I also like the personal comments Nicole wrote with each recipe. For the Pizza Poppers, the personal comment said, “These are super easy, and dangerous for your waist line.” On the back of the cookbook is a list of Nicole’s favorite food blogs, which are “friggin great,” according to her.

I can’t wait to try all my new recipes. Here’s to making cooking fun!

Click here to see what I made for Nicole.

Put Your Big Girl Panties on, and Stop Whining!

To stop whining and acting like a grown up lady was one of my Out With The Old and In With The New Swap partner’s New Year’s resolution. My swap partner name Nicole also wanted to go to the gym more and save money since she was recently engaged. From the three resolutions she gave me I had to choose one to make her something for this swap. The stop whining and acting like a grown up lady resolution seemed to be the most challenging and fun. After brainstorming many ideas, I came up with this funny encouraging frame to help remind Nicole to stop whining.

I took pictures of the process of making the frame. I hand sewed eight mini panties out of old t-shirts, all different colors and fabric. I embroidered my favorite part of the frame, the saying – “Put Your Big Girl Panties on, and Stop Whining!” I positioned the mini underwears were I wanted them and marked were I planned to embroider the clothesline. I embroidered the clothesline with white embroidery thread and glued the clothespins holding the underwear with a hot glue gun.

For this swap project we had to incorporate at least two unwanted craft supplies from our own personal materials. I already owned the old t-shirts used for the mini panties, I had the blue fabric from my thrift shopping trips, and I also owned all the embroidery thread used. The only items I purchased were the clothespins and the frame. The main idea of “Out With The Old and In With The New Swap" was for us to use our old items and make something new out of them for someone else.

“LOVE IT SOO CUTE,” was Nicole’s reaction when she received her frame. I’m thrilled she loved it and like all my babies, my handmade creations, it was hard to see it go. I still have supplies left over from this swap project and plan to make one soon and sell it on my Etsy shop. No need to get your panties in a twist. You can own a Stop Whining frame like Nicole too.

Check out the other awesome Out With the Old and In With The New Swap creations at Bee Creative Swaps on Facebook.

Out With The Old and In With The New Swap

Start this new year being more creative and join the Bee Creative Swaps for our first swap of 2013!!! Emily and I would be thrilled if you joined us!

Out With The Old And In With The New Swap!

• Each person will be matched up with one partner.

• You will share one of your New Years Resolutions with your partner to use as inspiration for the item(s) they are going to make for you and should share a resolution with you as well for the item you will make for them. If you have more than one goal for 2013, you can feel free to give them some choices.

 • The actual items made can be anything: decorative wall plaque with the goal in mind (eat more veggies!) to hang in your pantry, a fun headband to celebrate your goal to grow your hair out, a coin purse as a reminder to save money, whatever!! Just be sure to communicate with your partner to see if they have any likes or dislikes about the type of item.

HERE'S THE CATCH:
To really make this a fun "out with the old" New Years Resolution swap, the item you make for your partner should incorporate at least TWO unwanted craft supplies from your personal materials. We all have those scraps from projects past that we're just not sure what to do with but we also don't want to throw away because they are still perfectly good and intact supplies. This is your chance!

 The Timeline 

Sign up by Jan 14th by e-mailing me at creativitylizette(at)yahoo(dot)com 

You will be notified of your partner by Jan 16th 

You should contact your partner by Jan 18th

 (If you any problems contacting your partner, please let Emily or I know.) 

Mail out your swap item by Feb 1st 

As always,
We love to hear your stories! When signing up for the swap, let us know what the supplies were that you found new life for in your craft or, even better, send us photos of your process and finished item.

Don't forget to check out my swap partner’s blog here and the Facebook group for our swaps here. Welcome loyal followers and new faces!

Twelve Days of Creative Christmas: Day 2

 

My second homemade gift goes to Diane, my other Ornament Swap partner. Diane loves nature and all sorts of trees. After sketching ideas on sticky notes and napkins, and googling nature themed ornaments I came up with the idea of making a little tree stump dressed up as a Christmas tree. Hence, “Christmas Tree in Training” embroidered around the stump’s skirt. For its shining star, I put a plastic tea light sticking out of the stump’s head. I added scrapbooking Christmas light on it and also embroidered a smiling face on the stump. Isn’t he the cutest thing ever? He was chilling on my Christmas tree for a few days before I shipped him out to Diane’s. I miss him so that I’m going to have to make one for myself.

This is what Diane said when she received her “Christmas Tree in Training” ornament, “I got it today! Thank you! It was the end of a very long week, so it was a great surprise! Thanks for the Christmas tissue too! The ornament is just darling and on my tree now! Love it! Merry Christmas!”

I’m glad her “Christmas Tree in Training” ornament lit up her day and her Christmas tree a little more.

Oh, and Hallmark if by chance you happen to fall upon my blog and like what you see, hire me! I would love to create an ornament for you!

To see more ornaments from the Ornament Swap check out Emily and my facebook page, officially called Bee Creative Swaps!

New Ornaments from Ornament Swap

This week I received two new handmade ornaments from both of my partners from the Ornament Swap Emily and I put together. I received a bulb ornaments with different colored hippos painted around it and in between some of them have a flower, a camera, a music note, a heart, and a ball. One hippo even looks like a tiger. I told Diane my favorite animals are hippos and I don’t have a favorite color. I love them all. It was love at first sight when hippos became my favorite animal. My dad took my siblings and I took the LA Zoo when we were kids and I saw this huge gray mass in a tank under water. I don’t know what attracted me to hippos but I just love them. The ornament made its arrival on a perfect day, December 5th. I was having a bad day. I had gotten home from the Chiropractor who told me that my neck was out of ligament and he would have to see me three times a week. My firefighter also told me the Christmas wreath we had made from real pine tree clippings that was hanging on our fireplace had fallen and broken one of my firehouses. From all that negative stuff, my hippo ornament brightened up my day.

The other ornament I received was from Tristin. I made her the “Princess in Tower” ornament, which she received yesterday and loved. Tristin made me a sock monkey with a mustache made out of clay and bottle caps that said, “Stashing through the snow…” and “2012.” I’m very proud of Tristin. I know she was having trouble with the ornament swap. She says she isn’t crafty but she is. She did a wonderful job making me my ornament, even though her husband helped her a little. I love my sock monkey ornament! I love sock monkeys because they are one of those old homemade toys, made out of socks. For some weird reason I also love mustaches. They make me laugh.

Do you have a homemade ornament hanging on your Christmas tree this year? I have two new ones I absolutely love. Thank you Diane and Tristin!