Home For the Holidays......

I love being at home. It's nice to travel to different places and see different things but it's oh so nice to come home.  These ornaments are inspired by the "homebody" in me!

 Chipboard covered with decorative papers and embossed with silver embossing powder with stamps.

 Burlap house with a tinsel roof.  I made the birds and keyhole from shrink plastic.

Are there any other homebodies out there like me?

Burlap Trees.....

I've been kind of obsessed with burlap this season and got a little carried away with making trees out of it!   I cut out chipboard and covered the front and back with burlap.  I used Mod Podge to glue on the burlap first by using a paintbrush and layering on a good amount of Mod Podge then laying on the burlap then painting on another thick layer of glue.  After it was dry then I cut it out.  

 The fun part was digging into my junk stash and putting the embellishing touches on them!

 The trunks are made from an old folding ruler that was cut into pieces.

A Red, Grey and White Christmas......

Just playing around with Tumble Fish Studio's Frippery Kit.  I created these collages with elements from her kit and then backed them with heavy chipboard and trimmed them out with thin tinsel to make them into ornaments.

Birds....birds.....birds.....

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! Four calling birds!  No I'm not working my way through the 12 Days of Christmas!  These ornaments were made with the Sizzix bird die.  

Chipboard layered between 2 pieces of decorative paper then cut with the die.  I used glitter paper on the wings.

This one is my favorite one.......

Three French Hens....two Turtle Doves......and a  you know what in a you know where!

Ornaments Anyone?

I've been in somewhat of a creative funk for the past few weeks. I'm sure you all have had periods of time where you just couldn't get into the artsty swing of things. Well, this morning I work up bright eyed a bushy tailed at 6:15, went into my studio and started to create! The funk has been broken! Perhaps it had something to do with the time change? I had chipboard stars and decided to turn them into ornaments......It's hard to tell in the photos but the bears and snowflakes are covered in a beautiful ultra fine glitter. I had a piece of sheet music from 1919 and the title of the song was "Romance" so I tore it off to use on this ornament as it just seemed to be perfect. The bears are raised off of the star by about 1/4 of an inch.

This little guy is holding a shiny silver bell, ringing in the holiday season. He is also raised off of the star by 1/4 of an inch. A Scrabble tile and piece of vintage lace round out the ornament.

Hark the Winter Angel Sings! I tied in the basket of lillies she's carrying into the theme. Sewn to the vintage lace are 2 bisque calla lillies and a teal colored pearl all lightly dusted with ultra sepia glitter. The star has also been covered with the glitter.

Now you know I couldn't create ornaments without sticking a bird in somewhere! This one was created on an old CD for the base.

Rememeber the mini CDs that never quite took off? Well I found one and turned it into a little ornie. These three bears remind me of "Three's Company".....come and knock on our door.......we've been waiting for you. I'm going to name them Jack, Krissy and Janet.

My best crafting friend, Tracey says that I have a "kitchy" side to my art and she's right! I like to get whimsical from time to time so here are 2 in that category.....

You know, they always have "sister" and "friend" ornaments but what about a "cousins" ornaments? We all have a favorite cousin, right?

Meet Abner!

Meet Abner........in a mitten. He's sweet little 3 inch tall mouse made of felted wool tucked into a hand knit mitten with Christmas cheer spilling out all over! The mitten measures 6 inches from the cuff to the bottom. It measures 12 inches long from the top of the hanger to the bottom of the mitten. If you'd like to give Abner a home, you can visit him at the Jingle All The Way Home Shop.

Christmas Misc....

Spent the first day of my Christmas vacation in my jammies working in my studio until almost noon which is quite an anomaly because I never stay in my jammies unless I'm ill! I finished up this little guy....he's known as "The Christmas Duck". Every year I make an ornament for my niece, A.J., sometimes they're mainstream but most of the time they're bizarre, like this duck. Of course who hasn't heard of the pink Christmas Duck?!?? He's handmade from the pipe cleaner armature to the handmade pom-pom head. I also created this collage today for a "Dream" swap hosted by Marsha over at Amusing Muses. The only stipulation for the collage was that it had to by 6.5 by 4.5 inches and you had to interpret the word "dream".

Here's the story on this collage: Simone carried the ticket to her dreams with her everywhere, just in case she encountered the green dream door, which when opened would lead to the realization to all of her dreams. I think we're all searching for that door at one time or another.

This collage was created with 41 different pieces of hand cut papers. I used Twinkling H2Os to paint a page of German book text red. I love how you can get a deep rich red color without covering up the text. The door behind Simone is a Stampers Anonymous stamp. I created the legs and the boots are Doc Martins.

Now onward to something I find pretty funny. My friend Tracey (we met over at Flickr and found out we live about an hour from each other) is into making altered art and we had a little Christmas swap. She sent me a note pad and this was written on top of it.

I think we all have similar wish lists! I find the $100,000 gift certificate hilarious. How funny would it be to go into Hobby Lobby, sidel up to the counter with a brief case of money and say "I'd like gift certificate for $100,000 please". Could you imagine the look on the clerk's face!?!?
Ha!

Ok, so who has all their shopping done? Well, I don't......so that's what I'll be doing tomorrow!

It's Open!!!!! Jingle All The Way Home Shop

Well the web-doors to the Jingle All the Way Home shop are open! Yes!, it's the official kick-off to the 2009 Christmas Season! Can you smell the cinnamon, feel the frosty air and kiss of snowflakes on your cheek. Below you'll find a sneak-peek of some of the offerings. Just click on the picture and you'll take a cyber sleigh ride on over to the shop! Now remember to read to the very end of this post to sign up for the giveaways.

These little guys are made of cinnamon and smell great! They're wonderful as tiny ornaments or as a special embellishment on packages. Each ornament has been rolled out, stamped with a cookie cutter, dried and painted.
How about these tags that the cinnamon ornaments are on! I colored them with inks, distressed the edges and then stamped them with a Tim Holtz vitage Christmas advertisement stamp. I love the vintage feel of them.

Sometimes you'll have a great idea and you think "wow I think I could make 20 of these!", that is until you finish both the first and last one you'll ever make. That was the case with this Santa made out of a piece of slate. The slate was very difficult to cut into the shape I wanted, so folks, this is the only one I made!
I'm pleased to introduce you to "Star", he's Jingle's brother from a previous. How many snowmen do you know with a rhinestone belly buttton? hee,hee,hee.....

This is Star's brother, "Flakes". He sells snowflakes of ever shape and size. If you purchase him for your tree he'll promise not to create a blizzard in your living room!

Now that you've decorated your tree, how about decorating yourself with these one of a kind metal Snowman Dog Tags? Measuring 1.2 inches wide by 2 inches wide they are just the right size to stick on a chain and wear with your coolest black turtleneck!

Don't forget to check back as new items will be added on amost a daily basis! Oh how I love Christmas decorating, how about you!?!?!?!?

Now for the giveaways!!!! If you are already a follower of the Honey Girl Studio Blog just leave a comment and say you're already a follower to enter into a random drawing for this pop bottle cap pendant. Hmmmm, which will get you thinking.....have you been naughty or nice so far this year?

To be entered into the drawing for this 5 inch tall snowman ornament just click on the "become a follower" on the right side of the blog, leave a comment saying you're a new follower and ta-da!, you're entered! Don't forget to leave your email where I can reach you if you don't have a blog.

It's Almost Open.....

(Insert Walking In A Winter Wonderland here.....you know, just play it in your noggin'). It's almost time for me to open the Jingle All The Way Home website for Christmas goodies. Tomorrow the web-doors will fly open with all new goodies for the season. So check in tomorrow because there will also be a give-away as well. I've been working hard in the studio like a good little elf. My 2009 series of Fresh Vintage Christmas ornaments are very cute this year.

The studio smells of cinnamon which is radiating from the newly created tiny cinnamon ornaments. Unfortunately, they are not edible due to the a secret ingredient in the recipie called glue! This makes me a little sad because I never met a cookie I didn't like. Cinnamon is one of my favorite smells.....it reminds me of Christmas! When I make a cup of coffee at work I always sprinkle a little cinnamon in it and the kids say "Mrs. Ustik's drinking her Christmas coffee!" I guess the fragrance of cinnamon makes everyone think of Christmas.

For those of you who follow my blog, you are familiar with Toodee the studio mascot. He usually is getting into some sort of hijinx! The week before Halloween, Toodee always gets a little sugared-up and ultra creative. I made the mistake of leaving a full bottle of sweet tea by him last night and found him in this state this morning with a very cool snoman metal dog tag around his neck (notice the tea bottle is empty). That Toodee! By the way, he shared with me how he made the tag and it will be available in the Jingle All The Way Home Shop tomorrow.

December 1st!

It's Cyber Monday!!!!

Tomorrow is December 1st and that means that new goodies will be posted at the Spooky Time Jingles Market Place. Actually there will be 2 posting in December of new items, on the 1st and then again on the 13th. Here are new goodies I'll be offering. Take the handmade pledge and buy made in America "Handmade for the Holidays!" Shipping is always free.

Jonathan Frost Ornament

Isadora Duncan Snowwoman

Pins........Two inch by 2 inch pins.........no two are the same and under $5!For more handmade one of a kind goodies pop on over to Jingle All The Way Home! Cyber Monday special.....all purchases 20% off!!!!