Happy New Year!

Well, all the decorations are down, the house has been cleaned as well as my studio and I feel like I'm starting the new year well organized, which is a good feeling. I'm approaching 2011 with a minimalist attitude. I redesigned the blog to make it easier to leave a comment, took away the music and cleaned up the sidebar content.

For the month of January, I'm going to do a little experiment..... I call it "frittering", it's extreme Twittering. I can only use 4 words to talk about a picture I post. I call it "frittering" because I'm going to try not to fritter away a lot of time this year!

Thank you to all the followers and visitors who have stopped by the Honey Girl Studio to check out what has been going on this year. I appreciate your comments and enjoy reading them! I see I'm at 200 followers (I'm a dork and inadvertently became a follower of my own blog as I was screwing around with the dashboard settings and now I don't know how to remove myself!) so the 201st person to become a follower is going to get a little art surprise sent to them!

So let me start my Frittering now by leaving you with these words......

Happy New Year!

:-) M

2 Birthdays...One Day!

Today is not only my birthday but also my dad's birthday! He turned 80 today and I turned 44. Here we are pretending to take a big bite out of the cake (chocolate with whipped cream frosting....yummy!)We always celebrate our birthdays together, it makes the day double-special for both of us!

Thinking Pink!

Hey friends! I finally got my studio cleaned up and now I'm feeling much more creative. I was talking with my crafting BFF, Tracey yesterday and we've decided to use up what we have and look at our materials in different ways. Sometimes we get stuck into one mindset so I'm going to try different techniques, colors and assemblages this year.I bought a bag of wooden turnings and blocks the other day and pulled a wooden knob out of the mix. I turned it this way and that way and the word "mushroom" poof! popped into my head. That's how this little ornament was created. I usually don't work in pinks but I thought it might be fun to try to create a line of pink ornies.
In the bag were these wooden turnings, they measure about 1.5 inches tall. I painted them white, painted a simple face and then commenced to glittering them up! I also made tiny pink felt hats and glittered them up too.
The little wooden bowl was in the bag too so I painted it and then filled it up with my men, folded antique sheet music, bells, glittery balls and pink & white candy canes. I glued a little snowflake onto the bottom of the bowl.
BRRRRR, it's still very cold here. Stay warm wherever you are!

Merry Christmas

I'm wishing all my friends out in blogland a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you to all of the people who check in every now and then and leave such lovely comments.

Smiles-

Melissa

Holiday Dudes!

You know when somebody asks me how long it takes to make something I give the patented answer "oh, about 20 minutes". I always give that answer because in my mind I think or really believe that it will only take 20 minutes, however that is not always the case.

These are the Holiday Dudes that I've been working on for.........no, not 20 minutes, but rather 3 days. Yes my friends, I said 3 DAYS!!!! Unbelievable, they look simple but there are so many steps to make one. I made 13.

If you follow my blog you will notice that they look just like the big Holiday Dude I made about a month ago. I think they are stinkin cute but gosh if I was going to sell them I'd have to charge at least $229.99 each!

I've named them.....here we have Spice, Sugar and Mocha.

I call them "Holiday Dudes" because they really aren't snowmen and they really aren't gingerbread men either. Any suggestions? What would you call them?

The Holiday Dudes got all wild and crazy, lit up on egg nog and took a tear around the living room chasing each other and ended up on the wreath. They all started badgering me to take a picture of them!

After I took their picture, I gave them another cup of egg nog spiked with Nyquil and tucked them into a bowl for the night. Nighty-night Holiday Dudes!

This little guy is going out tomorrow to Gina over at Home Girl Shop! I also have a trio going to my crafting BFF, Tracey.

Have a Cool Yule!

Snowshoeing,fudge eating and popcorn making......

As most of you know, I really can't stand winter, but living in Western Pennsylvania where we are on the edge of the snowbelt, I've learned to embrace it and in doing so I enjoy snowshoeing. Saturday was a perfect day for Buddy the Wonder Dog and I to go on our first of the winter season snowshoeing trek! I went to my mom and dad's farm where I take their dog Buddy with me.We set off across the field heading toward the woods but it was the last day of deer season and I thought we'd better stick to the fields.

The snow sparkled like millions of diamonds in the sun.

The trick to snowshoeing in a cut cornfield is to stay between the rows. When I cut across the rows I have all the grace of a water buffalo in a ballet! Just look at the remarkable blue sky!

So I got back inside, warmed up and had just a little bit of fudge. I love fudge and my mom makes the best! It's smooth, creamy and oh so chocolaty.

My niece Andrea came over to my mom and dads' on Saturday too. She thinks I'm crazy because I make up Christmas songs and make her sing them along with me. That's ok, everybody needs a "crazy aunt" in their lives.

My great-niece, Riley was there too. She's pretty funny, we kind of have the same sense of humor. She was looking at her grandpa while he was talking to her like, "you are so full of crap grandpa Jeff" but didn't say a word to him, she just had that sly smile on her face. I think that Riley thinks I'm goofy too, but that's ok, everybody needs a "crazy great aunt" in their lives!

Nanny (my mom) and I whipped up a batch of "Freda Popcorn". What you ask is "Freda Popcorn?" Well, about 18 years ago I worked at a hospital as a speech pathologist and I had a sweet little lady who had a stroke and I saw once a week for outpatient therapy and her name was Freda. She was an awesome cook and would always bring me new recipes. She gave me this carmel popcorn recipe which my mom and I make almost every Christmas.

Freda Carmel Popcorn Recipe

pop 12 cups of popcorn and set aside in a big roaster

In a heavy sauce pan melt 2 sticks of butter, stir in 2 cups of light brown sugar and 1/2 cup of light Karo corn syrup and bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Take off the heat and stir in 1 tsp of baking soda and one tablespoon of vanilla.

Pour over the popcorn in the roaster and mix until it's coated.

Bake at 250 for 30 minutes, stirring ever 10 minutes.

Store in an air tight container. The girls had a good Saturday!

Popcorn update: I came home from work today and stuffed almost half a gallon bag of it down my throat! It's addictive!!!!! YUM!

Decorated mantel with a little help...........

Today was a gift from the snow-god, Blizzardacus, in which he dropped enough snow last night for school to be cancelled. Tonight we are expecting anywhere from 5 to 16 inches of snow, depending upon the how the lake effect snow machine fires up. Isn't it funny how the weather man gives such a wide span to cover his butt? I could be a weather person in that case...."today folks we are going to have anywhere from 3 inches to 29 feet of snow, so get the shovels out". Well I used the time wisely late this afternoon and finished decorating......I had a little assistance, if you can call it that. This guy was very helpful with his super long arms, he could easily hold onto the bead garland. This dude was no help what so ever, he kept giving everyone this shy sideways glance and kept wishing then "Happy Holidays!". These snowmen are a hard bunch to work with, they are VERY unfocused.Ok so I, by myself got the greens on the matel and started to place the dark green glass balls and large metal jingle bells when this guy started to poke me in the nose with his aluminum tree.

Well, I finally just finished but not without somebody getting stuck in the gumbal machine.....

Sunshine climbed into the gumball machine and got stuck. He then yelled out for me to bring him his snow, bottle brush tree and red and silver balls. I think he's planning on hanging out there until after the holidays.

Todays giveaway is a set of 3 original Christmas postcards I created. These are actually the ones I will be sending out myself this year. Leave a comment and I'll draw a winner on Thursday. Sorry the pictures of them are a little blurry but then again I'm a little blurry after deal with those snowmen for a few hours!

Winner Announced and Snowman Popcorn Wrapper

Winners announced: the winner of the Tussie Mussie is Roc and the winner of the bird pendant is Saskia! Congrats girls, thanks for following my blog and a special thanks to Tracey for providing the Tussie Mussie.

Ok, so my crafty BFF, Tracey, said that I was crazy for trying to do 30 days of give aways in a row and I have to admit she's RIGHT! I'm finding that I'm not having enough time to get everything I need to get done for Christmas such as decorating, washing underwear & socks (yes that can fall into this category), baking Christmas cookies and pizzelles, etc., as well as work on a new project every night sooooooooo, I'm renaming my little Holiday endeavor 18.524 Days of Holiday Giveaways! It has a certain ring to it, doesn't it? So that means there will be a give away a day for this week & Saturday and Sunday will be the last day. Next year will be different.....I've got a plan.....I'll make everything in the summer for a proper 30 Days of Holiday Giveaways!

Alrighty then, let's get to it. I wish I could say that I came up with this clever little gift but I got the idea from Mary Jane over at The Bee Hive Cottage blog. She got the idea from Laurie Furnell. You know, these blogging artists have become so touchy with giving credit and following the provenance of the creation that I'm almost afraid to make anything that looks remotely like something somebody else made. I don't think anybody has the copyright on the circle shape and the triangle shape so I made my own face with Photoshop. LOL! It's a popcorn wrapper snowman...........


It's really very easy. Here's what you need. A sheet of white cardstock with the face printed on it in the center, a package of microwave popcorn, a pair of the magic gloves (you know the little ones that stretch out when you put your hands in them), tape and a piece of 7 ribbon about 7 inches long.

This is the face I made with Photoshop, you can use it, lick it, sell it for a gizillion dollars, eat chicken off of it, give it away, put in on a shirt or the back of a pair of boxers, shoot, I really don't care how you use it because I'M GIVING IT TO YOU. Insert it into a Word document, set the margins to zero for the top and the bottom. Center the face, you will be able to get 2 onto an 8.5 by 11 inches piece of paper. Cut the paper in between the two faces. Wrap one of the papers with the face around the popcorn packet overlapping the edges and tape it in the back. Stuff one of the gloves up into the other glove, slide it onto the top of the snowman's head and tie a piece of ribbon right below the fingers. Attach a tag to it and ta-da.....Christmas munches for the chow-hound! I was thinking that you could also tape together a few packets of hot chocolate and put the snowman face wrapper around them.

Leave a comment if you'd like, you know I like hearing from you all! I also like visiting your blogs and getting ideas and inspiration and sometimes a chuckle.

In the Meadow We Can Build A.......

Snowman! Hey guys, it's Day #9 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways. It has been so cold here in Northwestern Pennsylvania this past week......"unseasonably" cold as the weather man calls it. I'm sitting here watching the PBS David Foster/Andrea Bocelli Christmas Special (I really miss those TV Christmas specials or the 1970s and 80s) and the stage is decorated with these gorgeous flocked trees. So, I'm naming todays' give away ornie, Mr. Flocker. He dances through the winter wonderland turning each evergreen into fluffy, sparkling works of natures' art. This is a 6 inch tall ornament made of wood with a chipboard hat and hand lettered around the edge with the lyrics from "Winter Wonderland" and sprinkled liberally with glitter. Leave a comment to be in the drawing. I'll draw the winner on Wednesday.

Congrats to the following Jingle Bell Snowman Zipper Pull winners:
Dianne, Lynn, Leila, Terri, and Christa.
The winner of the Christmas CD is Bev.
Tomorrow I'll be randomly pulling the winner of the Tussie Mussie by Tracey so hop back a few postings to enter!
Smiles-
Melissa

Christmas Bird Pendant Give Away

Day #8 in 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways! This Christmas Bird Pendant measures 1 inch wide by 2 inches long. It's a mini collage, sealed with glossy resin and hanging from a black sueded necklace.
Leave a comment with a name for this little guy. I'll pick the one I like the best and the winner will be announced Sunday! Tweet! Tweet! Hope you had a happy Friday. I'm so glad the weekend is here!

I (heart) Christmas!

Day # 7 in 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways and I'm feeling much better than yesterday....thought I was getting a sore throat, but woke up this morning and was fine. The give away for today is a chipboard embellished heart ornie. It measures about 4 inches across and sprinkled with glitter here and there. The back is covered in vintage sheet music. The Santa image is from a vintage Christmas card. Leave a comment and you're in the drawing for it!

Make sure you check out previous blog postings for the previous give aways.

Tomorrow's give away is going to be jewelry.....

Christmas Tussie Mussie Give Away

Day #6 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways and I got some wonderful help from Tracey over at Glitterbug Studios. I'm feeling under the weather today.....I've got a cold coming on and I told Tracey this tonight on the way home from work so she graciously provided the give away for today. Now isn't that a good friend? She's a master of the Tussie Mussie creation! How cute is this baby? You can fill this cone with candies, gift cards, greenery or just about anything you'd like. I'll do a random drawing on Sunday so if you'd like to be in the running just leave a comment. Become a new follower and you'll be entered 2 times! If you are already a follower, leave a comment and mention my 30 Days of Holiday Giveaways on your blog with a link back this blog and you'll be entered 2 times for the Tussie. Whooot! Now let me see........where did I put those kleenex?????............Tylenol?........hot water bottle?????????

The winner of the Christmas CD is Bev over at: www.countryfrogcreations.blogspot.com
Congrats Bev!

12 Days of Christmas Gum!

So Day #5 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways was suppose to be a template for this sleeve to go over the pack of gum, however my scanner was not cooperating the way it should so I'll just give you the easy instructions. You know they just estimated how much the 12 presents from the 12 Days of Christmas song would cost this year and it was a whopping $97,000 dollars. I have a much cheaper version...........the 12 Days of Christmas Gum which will cost you all of $1.19!
Take a pack of Dentyne Ice gum and slide the sleeve off of it. Carefully pry it apart at the seam, flatten it out onto a piece of colored cardstock and trace around it. Cut it out and score the lines where you would fold it. Glue some colorful snowmen on the front. Fold and using a scrapbooking tape runner, tape up the side tabs by overlapping them. Using a thick Sharpie marker write the numbers 1-12 on the back of the gum. Tuck the pack of gum into the sleeve and write "to" and "from" on the back of the sleeve and ta-da, you are done! Now you can whip up a bunch of these babies for your friends, your kid's teachers (they chew a lot of gum, it helps with their jaw clenching), etc.....
You know you could even stick 2 sleeves together and turn it into "Advent Gum"!

Free Santa Tags

Hey, happy Monday! It's Day #4 in the 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways here at Honey Girl Studio. I love the Christmas images from the 1950s and 1960s and I gravitate toward that look in my art. My friend Tracy calls it "kitchy" so I guess I should start saying "Merry Kitchmas"! These Santas have so much personality. Please feel free to use them in your art work or as tags for gifts. They'd even look good in the middle of paper rosettes as an ornament or perhaps as place cards. Have fun and be creative with them!

Snowman Jingle Zipper Pulls Give Away.....

Hey everyone it's day #3 in my 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways! It sure was cold here this weekend and the cold weather inspired me to create a a few snowman zipper pulls. Oh and did you notice, I broke out the Christmas tunes?????

An added bonus of these little guys is that they jingle! I've got 6 of these babies to give out. Here's the skinny on how to snag yourself one. The first 3 NEW followers to post a comment will receive one. If you are a new follower don't forget to leave and email or link where I can reach you. And, the first 3 people that are ALREADY followers to post a comment will also get one. Wheeeeewwwww-whoooooooo!!! (sing to the tune of Jingle Bells) Jingle pulls, jingle pulls, zip up to your chin....

Don't forget to spread the word about my 30 Days of Holiday Give Aways on your blog! The more the merrier!

If you don't win one, they are easy to make. Email me and I'll send you the directions!

Ok, I've gotta go get ready the give away for tomorrow! G-night!

Christmas Give Away!

In the meadow we can build a snowman........... Well, maybe "sculpt" a snowman! Last weekend I went to visit my best crafting friend Tracey (Glitterbug Studios) and we spent the day together crafting, laughing and running around. This guy is a little snowman assembly that I made to take to show her. The base is a wooden candle stick with a mercury glass blue votive candle holder turnd upside down and glued on with E-6000. The head was sculpted with paperclay.

We put all of our creations on a table in her studio. I love her Eiffel tower and Peace Wreath.

Yesterday I got to bead a little bit and created this multistrand bracelet. I must have been channeling the peace sign wreath from last weekend! Lastly, here is the free-bee for today. It's a CD cover which mesures 5 by 5 inches. Every year I burn a new Christmas CD with various favorites and design a cover. This is the one for this year. Leave a groovy comment and your are entered into the CD give away. If you're a follower, you'll double your chances to win. I'll pick a winner on Wednesday. Good luck!