More Ornaments Mini-Reveal

In one of those 'best laid plans' sort of things, Sunday's Blog Hop didn't quite go according to plan.   A couple of packages were delayed, and not everyone's ornaments were featured.  What this means is we get to go again!

whimsical Log Cabin Santas stitched up by Jane Knaub

JJ's presents within a present

Jane Knaub sent Mandi a Log Cabin Santa. A fun quilted cone that can be used as ornaments or bottle toppers, like the ones shown above.  In a fun note, Jane wrote "I had seen the Santa made from a Log Cabin Quilt Square at a recent quilt guild meeting and I found the pattern online.  However, it was in Italian.  So good old Google translated it."


Meanwhile, JJ Jacob's fused glass ornament got missed in the initial reveal.  JJ creates delightfully playful, fused glass ornaments, often creating a new design each year.  She even teaches classes on how to make your own fused glass ornaments!  Swing by her blog to see more of her designs. 


Margo Lynn's package to me was another of those that took the adventurous route.  But oh was it worth the wait!  Inside I found the cutest miniature stocking, a beautiful card and two extra little gifts.  Thank you Margo Lynn!

Stocking and Stocking shadows!

It's been terribly grey here the past week, something that I truly realized as I tried to photograph the stocking.  To make it worse, I think all of my photography skills have flown out the window (perhaps Santa will catch and return them when he swings by next week).  Margo Lynn knit the stocking from this lovely gold, glittery thread that's really, really hard to do justice with my current (lack of) skills. And something funny - I didn't even notice the purple bugle beads along the top edge until I had it under bright light to photograph.  Remember what I said about how grey it is here?

Then I had to find its new home.  First, I hung it on our Christmas tree. 

Hanging from the tree

It looked nice there, but I wanted to put it somewhere a little more prominent.  I have a thing for stockings.  The stocking I still use was made for me by my grandmother, who passed away when I was seven.  I still remember opening gifts at her house, that last Christmas with her. 

old and new stockings hanging together

So I decided to hang Margo Lynn's stocking with my grandmother's.  Oh, and I filled the little guy with a handful of treats, and am allowing myself one a day.  There's just enough to make it from now until Christmas, so long as I don't get greedy!

Margo Lynn also sent:

Two lotion bars - one for myself and one for my friend who acted as my mail drop

 A lovely letterpress card. The buildings feel like they're embossed

sneak peak of Carrie's ornament, in process

Carrie's package was another one that took the scenic route to its destination.  And the two of them agreed to both open their packages on Wednesday.  Carrie wrote a fantastic guest post on what she made for Therese, with wonderful process photos of her design/creation process, over on Therese's blog.  Definitely head over and check it out. 

Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas!

And Happy Solstice, the days will be growing longer again after today! 

2018 Ornament Swap Reveal

Today's the day to see all of the lovely ornaments everyone made in this year's Swap Hop!

Margo Lynn and Karen Williams

Carrie Johnson and Therese Frank

Jasvanti Patel and Becky Clay

Jane Knaub and Mandi Bugatti

Sherry Eagle and Amy Severino

Judy J Jacobs and Judy Deshaies

Adrienne Hendrickson and Francie Broadie

Cyndi Nason and Karen Williams

I'll update the list with direct links to everyone's posts as soon as I have my morning tea.  I'm on the West Coast, so it won't be first thing for my East Coast friends.

In order to make the numbers match, I was fortunate enough to pair up with two swap partners, Margo Lynn and Cyndi Nason.  Originally, I thought I might create a bead embroidered ornament for each of them, but nothing quite worked out the way I wanted it to.  In the end, I decided to combine two of my favorite beading patterns into a new design.  Not what I'd envisioned, but better than what was coming from my other attempts.  It did feel good to be beading again!

Snowflakes and Lantern Beads for Cyndi and Margo Lynn

paper-cut luminary with LED candle

I used the same pattern variations for both of their main ornaments, varying the color palettes to hopefully suit each.  For Cyndi's, I added in a pair of earrings, while I added in an extra snowflake ornament for Margo Lynn.

Cyndi wrote that her "ornament is going on a chain and being worn with my Christmas shirt to our Christmas Dinner/Square Dance this coming Tues. (then back on the tree). I'm figuring out where it can go, so it can be displayed year round."  Yeah, she liked it! 

And because paper is my second love, I also sent each of them a snowflake luminary, and made little pillow boxes to hold their ornaments.


In return, Cyndi sent a gorgeous seed-beaded ornament created with Delica's in rich Christmas tones.  Between a late mailing and my travels, I just received her ornament today.  It definitely brightened a very, very grey day.

Cyndi's ornament complete with decorative hanger

after trying it on the tree, I instead hung it in the archway to our dining room

 I immediately hung it on our tree, but decided I wanted to give it more prominence.  It's now hanging from the center of the pine roping decorating the archway between our dining and living rooms.   So lovely!

Margo Lynn's ornament hasn't made it quite yet, but I'll add photos as soon at it arrives!

2018 Ornament Exchange - Adrienne Hendrickson

Adrienne's freeform bead embroidery ornament

Adrienne Hendricks made this lovely ornament for Francie Broadie.

When I asked about her inspiration, Adrienne wrote back, "Francie said that she liked bright colors and sea life. There is no pattern, it’s just bead embroidery using one of Brenda Miller’s painted ladies cabs, a small piece of Shibori silk ribbon, some pearls and an assortment of beads." 

Reading her email, I found myself wanting to put her 'just' in quotes or italics.  There's definitely no just about this original design as far as I'm concerned!

In return, Adrienne wrote that she received:

• Two adorable little ornaments
• A cute flamingo card (very appropriate since I’m in Florida)
• Candy! 

And sent this picture:

Adrienne's exchange package from Francie (who knew there were Christmas peeps?)

When I asked about the little tree, Adrienne responded "The tree is beaded, from seed beads and those Czech 2-hole triangle beads. I can’t tell how it’s made; it may be done with wire as opposed to thread to hold the 3D shape. The Santa is a cork with a knitted hat and scarf. Right now they are living on my desk as we don’t have our tree up, not sure how the 7 month old puppy is going to react to it."

A closeup of the two ornaments

Want to see what everyone else made?  Here's the full participant list:

Margo Lynn and Karen Williams

Carrie Johnson and Therese Frank

Jasvanti Patel and Becky Clay

Jane Knaub and Mandi Bugatti

Sherry Eagle and Amy Severino

Judy J Jacobs and Judy Deshaies

Adrienne Hendrickson and Francie Broadie

Cyndi Nason and Karen Williams

Last Day to Sign up for the Holiday Ornament Exchange

Today's the last day to sign up for this year's Holiday Ornament Exchange and Swap Hop.  Tomorrow I'll be pairing everyone up and the real fun - getting to know our swap partners and creating ornaments will get under way.

Want to sign up?  Here's the link. Signups now closed for 2018. 

You can find more information about the Ornament Exchange in my earlier post, here.


Want to see what people have made previous years?  Check out these posts:

2015 Ornament Exchange 

2014 Ornament Exchange organized by Sally Russick.  I'm afraid Sally's links no longer work, but almost all of the others lead directly to posts about the Ornament Exchange so you can see what was made.

2013 Ornament Exchange - also organized by Sally Russick.  Her blog is still there, but I couldn't find the ornament post.  Again, most of the rest of the links lead directly to the participant's 2013 ornaments. 

Join me for a Handmade Ornament Exchange and 'Swap Hop'

This week's cold, foggy mornings have me in the mood for holiday crafting.  Too many ideas running through my head, but this morning, I'm focusing on Ornaments.  More specifically - a Holiday Ornament Exchange where participants create a handmade ornament, and then exchange them with a trading partner.  One of my favorite holiday activities, it's been several years since I felt capable of participating.  This year; this year I'm totally up for the fun!  Want to join in?

Since seeing what everyone made is half the fun, we're going to celebrate with a Swap Hop Reveal Party - a blog hop - at the end.  You don't even have to have a blog.  As long as you can email me photos and text, I'll make sure you're included in the hop.  And if you do have a blog - make sure to include its address, so we can all visit!



How to Join
Sign ups are open through Halloween, October 31st.  Once I know who's participating, I'll send out emails on Friday, November 2nd letting you know who your trading partner is.  You'll then be responsible for trading emails and exchanging postal addresses.  Then it's time to make your ornament!

I've created a nifty form to use for signups (Signups now closed for 2018). If that doesn't work for some reason, email me, including your name, email address and blog URL, if you have one.  Also let me know if you're from outside the US, and if you're inside the US, if you'd be willing to ship internationally.

The Ornaments
The ornaments must be handmade by you.  That's the only requirement.  They could be beaded, stitched, painted, made of glass, cloth, wood, paper - whatever medium you love.  They don't need to include seed beads, though they certainly could.   Most simply, they should be something you'd love to receive.

Blog Hop and Reveal, Sunday, December 16th
On the reveal day, post a photo (or photos) of what you made and the ornament you received.  Include a paragraph or two about both pieces. 

Associated Dates:

Signups through Halloween, October 31st

     Swap Partners assigned Friday, November 2nd

Mailing Deadline:  All packages must be mailed by Friday, November 30th

Swap Hop Reveal Party, Sunday, December 16th

If you're a guest blogger - to be featured on my blog - I will need your photos by Thursday, December 13th so that I'll have time to put together your post.  Make sure to take pictures of what you make and what you receive, and include a paragraph or two (or more).  It's fun the learn about why you chose to make that particular ornament, your process, the swap, your swap partner - whatever you'd like to share.  Don't worry, I'll remind you as the time grows nearer.

Hope to hear from you!

Boxing Day Lantern Ornaments with a Beaded Tassel

It's become something of a tradition to post a little something special for Boxing Day on my blog.  Last year it was a paper box pattern, the year before a limited-time free download of my Beaded Acorn earrings tutorial.  This year, I decided to combine two of my current favorite crafts:  paper crafting and beadwork into a little Lantern ornament.  Depending upon the colors you use, I've found this pattern works pretty much year round.  In this sample, I've optimized for the winter holidays. 

What you'll need: 

• Index paper or cardstock (8 1/2 x 11")
• utility knife, steel ruler & cutting mat OR paper cutting machine.
• Bone folder & ruler
• 2 skeins embroidery floss
• Playing card
• Assorted beads
• Beading thread and needle
• PVA glue

 Instructions

The Basic Lantern Pattern

Download and Cut out Design:  Save the image of the basic lantern pattern above and print it out so that each box equals one inch (1") square.  Refer to the rulers on the left and top edges of the image.  Use this as a guide for cutting out your paper pattern with an utility knife and steel edged razor. 

Or, if you have a paper cutting machine, you can download a copy of my design, which fits two lanterns on a single sheet of cardstock.  I designed the pattern in Cricut's DesignSpace.  And because I hate wasting paper, I filled the rest of the sheet with some little gift cards and tags. 

Lantern's cut out - time to fold

Score and Fold:  Once the pattern is cut out, it's time to fold the lantern along the scoring lines.  Refer back to the pattern above - the dotted lines indicate folds.  I find it's easiest to do this with a bone folder and a clear, quilting-grid-style ruler. 

• Work from the inside/back of the paper.  
• Score each fold-line first by lining up your ruler, then running the tip of the bone folder down the line along the edge of your ruler.
• Then, without moving your ruler, slip the bone folder underneath the flap and use it to help fold the paper up along the edge of the ruler.  I couldn't get a good picture of this because it required more hands than I had available.
• Remember to score and fold the little overlap flap at the left edge of the design, too.  Use the pattern photo above as reference.

Create the Tassel
Now, it's time to make the tassel.  A while back, I wrote a detailed blog post on how I make my little tassels, so I won't repeat the entire process here. 

A quick review from my 2011 post

This time around, I ended up using a couple of playing cards stacked together for stability, because I liked their size.   I wound the embroidery floss around the cards width-wise, using about 1 1/2 half skeins.  Once I had the thickness I wanted, I tied off the centers on both sides of the card, and cut the ends from the edges of the card using the utility knife (Exacto blade).

going for the look of candle flames

This method makes two tassels.  I decorated the tassels with a little beadwork, including some peyote stitch around the neck, and then a beaded 'chain'.  Adjust the length of the chain so the tassel hangs where you want it. 

testing the length & fit

Putting it all together:  Finish the chain with a larger bead that will hanging inside the lantern, and a larger bead above the lantern, then a little loop of beads.  You need a large bead inside, and a large bead outside to act as 'stop' beads so the tassel stays where you want it. Test the fit with the lantern to make sure this works.  Adjust your beading if necessary. 

Now it's time to glue it all together.

Gluing the bottom - fold in the back first

Gluing the Bottom.  Start by folding in the bottom flap of the back (solid) side.  Apply glue to the outer (under) side; then fold in the two side panels and make sure they adhere well to the back flap.  Apply more glue to the bottom of the side panels. 

Before you fold in the bottom front panel, make sure that you apply glue to the outer edge of the little side flap.  Take a look at the next photo below.

Glueing it all together

Adhere the side flap to the inside of the front panel, and fold the front bottom into place to complete the little lantern.  It can take some massaging to get the glue to adhere the little flap firmly to the front panel.  Take time to line up the edges for the cleanest finish. 

The finished ornament

Final Notes:  I used solid-colored paper for my lanterns, and decorated the outer side with designs 'drawn' with a metallic gold pen.  But you can change the look simply by changing the color palette or using patterned papers. 

Next I want to make one using dark blue paper and silver ink, then make an 'icy' tassel to go inside the lantern.   Then I'd have Fire and Ice! 

So there's my quick little "Lantern" ornament idea. 

Happy Holidays!

Carrie Johnson's Holiday Ornament

Back in December I hosted my first  Ornament Swap and Blog Hop.  It was great fun, and I think everyone was pleased with the ornaments they were sent.  Except for one package which decided to take the slow boat to it's final destination.  I am so pleased to announce that it did indeed arrive, and was totally and completely worth waiting for!  I'd like to present the extremely-talented Carrie Johnson's gorgeous design:

Ornament and Photo by Carrie Johnson

Carrie also sent a fantastic write up, so I'm going to include it here, verbatim:

"After several back and forth emails, I had a better idea of what Karen might like in her ornament.  First, I had to find the perfect color combination that used jewel tones, but that would also have a slight Victorian overtone.

For the seed beads I went with bronze and wine metallic colors in addition to the cabaret permanent finish for the center herringbone section.  I used both Lt. Siam and Garnet Swarovski crystals.  Originally I tried to use royal blue on the outside of the arms in the ornament – but it just kept fighting me.  I even tried to use blue for the center Swarovski rivolis but they just didn’t pop and instead faded into the background.  So, I finally took the blue out (even though I wanted the contrast) and things finally came together.

Side view of Carrie's finished ornament

I had the idea of creating an open shape which you could look inside to see the middle – and you can see the resulting ornament.  It was made using one of my favorite stitches – a variation on cubic RAW in addition to CRAW, herringbone and peyote stitch.  I tried adding fringe and dangles from the bottom of the ornament, but it was just a distraction (and would probably get caught in the tree anyways).  In the end – I was thrilled to have everything fall into place with the ornament being very elegant and clean, utilizing Victorian colors and shapes, but at the same time giving them a modern twist.  It is my hope that this will become one of Karen’s Christmas ornament treasures!
"

 The finished ornament has a wonderful three dimensional effect that reminds me of a lantern, while the colors she chose are indeed perfect! 



Carrie was gone for several days right around the time that I sent her package, and she wrote that when she returned "there was a package just waiting to be opened by my front door.  I stared at it for several days, just dying to open it.  But, I thought it would only be fair to wait until the package that I sent to Karen, my wonderful ornament exchange partner, had been delivered."

How sweet was that?  Her package arrived around 5:00pm on Christmas Eve (yes, I've had it awhile, I was waiting for her write up to make the post and time got away from me!)  But I absolutely love  Carrie's design, and the colors.  It did NOT get packed away with the regular holiday ornaments, but is decorating my workspace as I type.  Today is another chilly, rainy Seattle day, but Carrie's ornament makes me smile!

And luckily, Carrie enjoyed the little Happy Fish that I sent to her as well; "As for the secret ornament in my package – what an awesome surprise.  My “little” fish is just stunning, using my two favorite colors - green and orange.  In addition, it uses an island theme which has become a featured part of my holiday decor since moving to Hawaii.  I’m honored to have received such a beautiful, handmade ornament – I will truly treasure it!"

Phew!  The little guy was so different from my normal holiday ornaments that I'll admit to being a little scared that Carrie would look at it think I'd gone crazy. 

Before I end this post, Carrie also shared several pictures of her ornament in progress:

Carrie Johnson - bezeling the center rivolis

Carrie Johnson - building the structure

Carrie Johnson - adding the rivolis

Oh, and Carrie also let me know that she was indeed the one who sent me the honu cookie cutter!  Mystery solved.  She wrote that she "went to over 10 local stores and specialty stores, and NOBODY had any Hawaiian themed ornament cutters.  It was crazy, I finally had to order one from the mainland and have it sent to you."

Thank you Carrie!  This was one of my best Christmases in a very long time, and partnering with you for the Ornament Swap had a lot to do with it.  Making and receiving handmade gifts, it truly is powerful.

Holiday Ornament Swap and Blog Hop

Just over a month ago, I sent out an invitation to participate in my first annual Ornament Exchange and Blog Hop.  Time has truly flown by and today is the day for the Blog Hop Reveal!

We had a small, but mighty group:

Karen Williams and Carrie Johnson

JJ Jacobs and Tanya Goodwin

Francie Broadie and Lori Finney

Liz Hart and Becky Clay

After I paired each participant with a swap partner, it was then up to them to exchange emails and handmade ornaments.  My only 'rule' for participation was that the ornaments had to be handmade by each participant and had to include at least one bead in the design.

 Thank you all for joining in for this bit of holiday cheer!  Liz and Becky don't currently have blogs of their own, so they sent me photos to share in a separate post here.  From my perspective, I love how these swaps allow me to get to know other beaders and artists from around the country a little better. 

I'm afraid the package that Carrie sent to me seems to have been temporarily lost in the mail.  It was coming from Hawaii, so maybe it decided to spend an extra day, or maybe a week or two hanging out at the beach before making it's way to oh-so-rainy Seattle.  Can't really say that I'd blame it!   Even still, it's been fun getting to know Carrie better as we exchanged emails regarding our holiday traditions and favorites.

While Carrie enjoys many of the more 'traditional' holiday themes, she admitted that since she's lived in Hawaii, she's "grown to be a fan of the local Christmas themes such as volcanoes, seahorses, hono (sea turtles), pineapples, monstera leaves, petroglyphs, palm trees, coral, jellyfish, starfish and reef fish".  Reading that, my original plan to send her a more traditional holiday ornament began to morph.

She also mentioned that her favorite color is the new Toho 2600F "Lemongrass", followed by "lime greens, teals, orange, orange-reds, periwinkles".  She continued "pretty much I love all the greens - especially olives and limes, oranges. Bronze/Browns/Coppers/Silver - all good."

So not necessarily the normal Christmas colors.  Can you guess where this is going?  Yep, I decided to make her an ornament in my Happy Fish series.  Because it was going to be a Christmas ornament, I decided to work with an ogee pattern for the scales.  What could be more ornament-shaped, right?

Here's what I finally came up with:

My newest Happy Fish, all decked out in her holiday splendor

I wrapped the little fish up in a hand-painted box, then added a couple of other things to the shipping box, including some of my biscotti and a little paper ornament I made.

A peek inside the package before I closed the lid

I haven't heard yet what Carrie thought about my unorthodox creation.  I'm truly hoping she liked it.  In the meantime, I know that I had an absolute blast stitching my newest Fish friend.

Now, be sure to check out everyone else's ornaments, and I promise to post Carrie's as soon as it arrives.

Ornament Swap Partners Becky Clay and Liz Hart

Liz took this photo of the package she sent to Becky

Becky Clay and Liz Hart were definitely on the same wavelength with their ornament exchange, despite some initial difficulties in connecting via email which left very little time to stitch.  Both choose to use Sandra Halfpenny's Snowflake patterns.

Liz started making snowflakes from Sandra's designs, then started playing.  The white one is  Sandra's Snowflakes Falling. She mentioned that the pattern is available on Sandra's blog as a Christmas gift to her readers.  The other two designs Liz sent were hers; same design with different beads.

Becky's icicle was a free icicle pattern she picked up from  TheBeadsKnees that isn't currently available, unfortunately.

Becky's photo of the Snowflakes she sent to Liz

Becky's icicle, along with a closeup to try to show the beading. 

Not all of Liz's snowflake experiments went according to plan, as she shares in this process photo.  Oops!

List sent along the photo above with the note "You'll get a kick out of this process pic - it seems my fingers and brain weren't connecting very well!"

And here's one last photo from Liz of the snowflakes she stitched for Becky.  Lovely!

Sandra Halfpenny's Snowflake Falling and Liz's continued experiments

To see what everyone else made and received, check out the list below:

Karen Williams and Carrie Johnson

JJ Jacobs and Tanya Goodwin

Francie Broadie and Lori Finney

Liz Hart and Becky Clay

Join me for a Handmade Ornament Swap and Hop

Can you believe we're already into the second half of November?  I woke up this morning and couldn't quite believe it!  Made me realize a couple of things, one of which was that if I wanted to participate in an Ornament Swap this year, then it was high time I did something about it before the opportunity slipped by me entirely.

For the past couple of years, one of my favorite 'signs of the season' has been the Ornament Swap and Blog Hop hosted by Sally Russick.   Sally has moved her blog a couple of times over the past year or so, but as far as I can tell, she's not hosting an ornament exchange this year, at least I didn't see anything on her blog.  It may be that I just didn't make it onto her list this time around.   I hate to miss it, so I decided to jump in and host one myself, hoping there might be others like me who waited a little too long to get in on other opportunities.   Here goes:



To Sign Up:  
Email me, including your name, email address and blog URL.   Or leave a comment with your email address on this post, telling me you'd like to join in. If you don't have a blog but would like to participate, let me know - as long as you can email me photos and text, I'll make sure you're included in the hop.  Sign ups are open through this Saturday, November 21st.

Once I know who's participating, I'll send out emails on Monday the 23rd letting you know who your trading partner is.  You'll then be responsible for trading emails and exchanging postal addresses.  Then it's time to make your ornament!

The Ornaments:
All ornaments must be handmade by you.  And since I'm a beady sort of person, they must include at least one bead.   They do not need to include any seed beads (but they certainly can!)  You simply need to make something you'd love to receive, and then mail it to your trading partner.
All packages must be mailed by Saturday, December 5th.  

Remember to take pictures of your ornament before you send it!  And take pictures of the ornament you receive from your trading partner.  But hold off on posting it online - we'll have a Blog Hop and Reveal on Sunday, December 20th.

Blog Hop and Reveal, Sunday December 20th
On the reveal day, post a photo (or photos) of what you made and the ornament you received.  Include a paragraph or two about both pieces. 

Inspiration
Here's a link to my 2014 post with links to all the participants.  If you look through the participants' posts, you'll see the wide range of designs and materials.  Last year, I was paired with the talented Therese Frank, who stitched the ornaments below.

Star Ornament and needle case stitched by Therese Frank

Besides the lovely star ornament, Therese also sent me a beaded needle case that has traveled with me all year.

And here's a link to my blog post from 2013, featuring the lovely ornament I received from Shirley Moore. 

Shirley Moore's beautiful ornament and card from 2013

Here's hoping you'll join me for a little holiday cheer!