"The Nutcracker"

Do you love the ballet? Are you looking for a wonderful holiday show experience? You need to see "The Nutcracker!" If the "Dance Alive" professional dance company comes to a venue near you, it's a must see show. This innovative company comes to town before the show and auditions local young dance talent to fill in spots within "The Nutcracker." Those chosen practice their dances within their dance studios coming together the day before the performance to be directed by the pros from "Dance Alive" in rehearsal. The day of the show is another rehearsal and then comes the evening performance. Each local talent takes their place and helps to put on a wonderful creative experience for all to watch and enjoy. My granddaughter loved the experience and my husband and I enjoyed watching her and the whole show! What a super early Christmas gift!

Last Night at the Club!

Ok, so I went to my usual karoake hang out to be with my friends last night. I brought some of my latest crafting work with me....I do love to show off! Well, I showed some really nice friends of mine my new altered vintage cigar box and matching cookbook and introduced it as a recipe treasury to be handed down in the family. The next thing I knew was, it was sold! A friend bought it for her mom, who was sitting next to her! Now, isn't that the coolest thing?

Pirate Holiday Bazaar, December 3rd

Come to the Pirate Holiday Bazaar at Matanzas High School In Palm Coast, Fl., Dec. 3rd from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I will be displaying my handcrafted decor and lovely greeting cards. My handmade Xmas cards are really nice this year. You can check out my art work at:
www.carlasgreetingcards.com
Carla's Greeting Cards in Flagler County, Fl.

Altered Lace Trimmed Cigar Box

I left Michaels recently in order to be more available to take care of my grandchildren. The year I spent working for Michaels, opened my eyes to new techniques, which I put to use each day that I spend in my art studio.
First I fell in love with doing altered canvases using scrap papers and trimmings. I was looking for more uses for my collection of scrapbook paper and discovered altered cigar boxes. These decorative boxes of wood or cardboard can be seen on a variety of online sites. So, I went out to the garage and there on the shelf was an old wooden cigar box, that I had brought from New York, 13 year ago when moving to Florida.

I cleaned the box up and took the hinges off. I painted the box first with light pink acrylic paint, followed by Tim Holtz Distress Crackle paint and followed that with white acrylic paint. Each layer had to dry before the next was applied. I put the hinges back when the box was dry. Then the fun began with paper, flowers, bling, glitz, lace and beads. My husband assisted me with adding the Tim Holtz knob to the box top for the pull.

Just a note here, the music note printed paper is from Recollections. Be sure to place patterns or words on the paper in the correct way "up" when looking at the project. Since it is a one sided paper, I glued two sheets together using "Yes" Paste by Gane Brothers, so that when I curled the paper the opposite side would be deorative. I also ink every edge of paper for a more professional finish.

I love how the old cream lace trim blends with the crackle paint and the old knob! The Tim Holtz feet were glued on with E6000 and make this box really special!

Vintage Photos on Altered Canvases

I am always on the look out for new projects and products. Some of the neatest projects I have discovered online recently use products and papers produced by Graphic 45. Well, unfortunately Michaels doesn't carry that brand and so I went on a hunt for these unusual paper stacks. I found a few at Hobby Lobby and since I couldn't decide which to buy, I bought two. After all I had two 40% coupons and my hubby was with me! I bought "Communique" and "Playtimes Past" home to play with. these have wonderful vintage color printed pages.

I began using "Communique" and paired it up with old family photos. I used some sheets as background and others I cut shapes from and combined with flowers, stickers and die cuts to glue in place on 12" x 12" canvases. The canvases were on clearance at Michaels!

Some supplies I used were Americana acrylic paint on the canvas, "Yes Paste" spread with a plastic knife on the back on the paper background, Tombow glue runner and Zig 2 Way glue.

I'm looking forward to collecting more paper stacks from Graphic 45 and turning them into Altered canvases and more!

Wreath Christmas Card

Earlier this year I bought my Cricut Gypsy and while setting it up downloading from Provo Craft, I received some free files. One of these was Christmas. I love designing this year's holiday cards using the many images on this wonderful free file. Today I'll show you how I designed a simple wreath card.

First cut a green wreath and a red bow. I took a green brush marker and added scalloped lines to represent holly leaves. 

 A hole punch is great for Christmas ornaments and red berries were added with a red fine point marker.

 

A while gelly roll medium tip marker works well to add snow to the wreath.

Place the finished wreath on foam dots for depth on a brick printed paper.

I added white card stock paper embossed with the divine swirl Cuttlebug folder as snow (rip the edge for snow detail) against the brick wall. 

 

Adhere to the front of a white card and you have a great looking holiday card! Have a creative day!

Family Altered Canvas

A few weeks ago I discovered wooden words, covered in colorful prints, in a dollar bin at Michaels. These are a good size and quality to be a focal point on a canvas. My daughter-in-law's mom loves the color green, so that was my choice, a plaid with some green. I got some 12"x12" canvases on sale and painted one navy blue. Two 5"x7" canvas boards were painted green.

I made a flower from Recollections "Floral Embellishments" and adhered each of my items to the navy canvaswith Glossy Accents a product by Inkssentials. My daughter-in-law's mom can adhere any pictures of the family on those two green panels and show off, what a wonderful family we have. I really enjoy finding new ways to use the many diffwerent size canvas that are available. Have fun!