allsorts

Advent Countdown

We're back from our annual trek to Lake Charles, LA (or the Land of Lagniappe as Katy calls it) for the week-long feast of Thanksgiving with my dad's family. It was fabulous as always, and was over much too quickly. Oh well, on to the craziness that is December!

But wow, can you believe that Monday is December 1st? Already time to get out the ole Advent Calendar. And to remind everyone of the Flickr group Creative Advent Calendars. Its just been added to the left sidebar with the other groups. There have been some new and very creative ones added since I last checked.

These three are all from neu4bauer...

And this...

And this...

This is from scrappyfran...

These adorable slippers are from Carla Alexandra...

And this is from leelaglitzer...

So creative! Lots of ideas abound, there is something about the nature of the calendar that excites one's creative energy. I love the variety!

Please feel free to add yours as well if you like, we'd love to see it!

Cheers,

Jenny

Yay Mimi... yay me!

Couldn't resist this darling pincushion from Mimi Kirchner!

I love her blog, too.

Cheers,

Jenny

Speaking of garlands

I can't take credit for this fantastic garland made by Elizabeth, except that she used my patterns for the scotty dog, felt peppermint stars and holiday dangles. Don't they make a cute combination? I would have never thought to do that. I'm blown away by her incredible knack for putting things together, and also for figuring out how to make things just by looking at a photograph. For example, in this photo of her craft shelves, you can see that she's made her own versions of Peek-a-boo the baby monster, Lulu the sock monkey and a couple of dollypops. I burst out laughing when I spotted them! How clever is that?

And she makes her own adorable original lovelies, just look at this sweet pincushion she created! I really love it.

She is truly a generous and talented artist. And if you knew her full story, you'd be even more amazed!

Thanks Elizabeth, I see the world as a much happier place through your eyes.

Cheers,

Jenny

Going gaga for garland

In between the gatherings of the weekend, I've done some material gathering for my next project. I lusted after this this and this last Christmas, so I rounded up the materials to make my own pom pom garland! Its for a new little white tree that followed me home from Michael's... I have a weakness for trees. Some people like to dress dolls. Me, I dress trees.

Ahem. Soooooo... I strung about nine feet or so, but ended up unstringing it. Too many beads, not enough pom. I also scored these bright aqua blue flocked beads marked way down at Joann's and they'll go into the mix. You can find great cheapo stuff in the kids arts and crafts aisle. I was so happy to find these stars there, too. I think Alicia used some in her garland. Too cute.

There are some fabulous ideas out there for all sorts of garlands. Check out the Gaga for Garlands group on Flickr to see just a few. This garland makes for a great lap craft while watching telly. It goes very fast so I'd better watch out. Its not that big a tree!

Cheers,

Jenny

ps - everything is fixed on my site, and the activities are ready and waiting for you to enjoy! And if you were not able to reach me via email last week, try again 'cuz its all working now.