13 Days of Christmas - Day 13

We are at our last day of the Christmas Ornament exchange :(  I'm going to miss all of this (and the new friends that I have found)
Sorry that they didn't post a month ago, when they were supposed to....

Day 13 is Stephanie Woolsey who is another Artful Dimensions Member!

The kids thought that this one was going to be the best because it was in a box. They weren't with me when I opened it though :( 

OMG -- I love this! (Click on it -- it is amazing close up)
 

I want to make some of these -- little paper roses all over a ball! I don't think that I have the patience though. And Stephanie made 13 of them. Thank you Stephanie!

13 Days of Christmas - Day 12

Day 12 is Mary Ann Lush (aka - Christine Lush-Rodriguez' mom :) I don't think that Mary Ann has a blog either!

The kids said that this one was "soft and sharp" Huh? Soft AND sharp?

Well, it is soft and sharp -- pipecleaners! Mary Ann hand painted the faces on these sweet pipecleaner twins. These twins almost made it home with someone :)

13 Days of Christmas - Day 11

Day 11 is Alice Early -- I don't think that Alice has a blog?

Alice's snowman bag was a big hit :) The class was disappointed that they couldn't see through the "window". They like to cheat.

When opened they were intrigued by what was inside. They all said that it was really cool, but had a hard time figuring out what it was.  It's a Steam Punk Santa! (see the beard? see the eyes and pointy hat?) Of course, they all wanted to make one. I explained what "Steam Punk" is and they thought that we should make some Steam Punk creations. Okay. We will.

(This is a terrible photo of Alice's ornament -- sorry, Alice)

13 Days of Christmas - Day 10

Day 10 is Robin McIntyre. I don't think that Robin has a blog :(

I love this sparkly yarn used as ribbon. And the silvery tissue is sparkly too. So pretty....

The kids guessed that inside there would be something snowy and sparkly.  They were right!! I love this ornament -- and will try to make something similar (on a MUCH simpler scale) with the kids next year. I think that Robin used scrapbook paper? But I will use old greeting cards and cut them out with my die cutter.

The kids noted that the hanger for the ornament was the same as on the wrapping. Something snowy and sparkly :)

13 Days of Christmas - Day 9

Day 9 is Christine Lush-Rodriguez

I so want to buy one of her Barnacle Bowls! I wish that pottery was easier to mail :)

Anyway... this is what she made for Christmas!

This was hard to photograph -- but you can tell that it is a snow globe on a snowflake. The kids loved it -- I'm surprised that it survived the "pass around the room". They loved shaking it.

Someone also tried to take this one home with them.....

13 Days of Christmas - Day 8

Day 8 is Elizabeth Woodford.Our fearless leader. Elizabeth is multi talented. Uber talented. She does shows. She teaches adults. She teaches children. She sells her work. She works too hard!!!

Love this packaging (of course, I will re-use bits of it :)

One of my kids guessed that there was a pie inside. But he couldn't explain why. (They do know that pie is my favourite dessert -- maybe that's why? -- and it is a little tart shell thingy). Her resin is so clear and perfect -- pretty sure that it is Ice Resin (my favourite)

13 Days of Christmas - Day 7

Day 7 is Janet Moss. Janet doesn't have a blog :(

I love this wrapping! The colours are very "me".

Janet used a vintage quilt to create this mitten -- the quilt dates from the American Civil War. Wow! Again -- Janet was very generous to share her stash :) Thank you so much.

13 Days of Christmas - Day 6

Day 6 is Barbara Posey -- she doesn't have a blog -- but you can see her work on the Artful Dimensions Gallery Facebook Page! 

 

Barbara is a talented needle felter -- this photo doesn't do her work justice. 

13 Days of Christmas - Day 5

Day 5 is Leslie Brier!
I wish that I lived closer to Leslie -- I'd buy everything that she makes -- these Knife Rocket Pendants are so fun!

 

Leslie made these awesome button trees -- and it has a cardinal on it (the kids still think that I must have missed the memo).  (Click on this photo to see it larger -- so pretty)

I have a hard time parting with my mother of pearl buttons -- thank you Leslie for being so generous. This will have a place of honour with my tree collection :) I will have a hard time putting it away at the end of the season.

13 Days of Christmas - Day 4

Day 4 is Brook Wilhelmsen of Being Brook.
Brook makes awesome furniture! We all said that we would like a coffee table please :)

The kids guessed that there would be chinese food inside :) I love this little box. I need more :)

Wrong!
There was a delightful silver birdie. The glitter is so smooth. Not sure how Brook managed that! The kids were so happy that the bird theme was continuing. They are still bugging me that mine wasn't a bird (hey! give me a break!)

13 Days of Christmas - Day 3

Day 3 is me!

This is the wrapping. I got to play with my scrappy layering techniques. And, of course, I sewed the package shut :)

Inside, I sewed something again :)

This year I did some free motion sewing and sewed "joy" or "wish" on the ornaments. My ornaments almost always say joy, wish or hope.....

The back is pretty too -- it has a star on it -- I forgot to take a picture. 

13 Days of Christmas - Day 2

Day 2 is Melissa Terlizzi. Melissa doesn't have a blog -- but you can see some of her work at the Artful Dimensions Gallery Facebook page.

Love that holiday washi tape! I want it!  And I saved that #2 button. It looks good enough to eat. 

This little cardinal on a mailbox is adorable -- and there are miniature letters inside too!

Thank you Melissa!

13 Days of Christmas - Day 1!

Argggghhh ... I keep posting this and it won't go live. I've deleted it an am trying again! Have patience, dear friends :)

Let's relive Christmas all over again! Maybe I'll catch up by Valentines Day :)

Day 1 is Linda Morgan !
I've been waiting to open this FOREVER, as Linda had a sneak peak on her blog way back in October :)

Here is the wrapping:

It was a bit heavy and jingled a bit when we shook it. The kids guessed "a bell" and "a bracelet". Good guesses!

It's a beautiful ornament with lots of hanging chains and charms! One of the students tried to spirit it away in her backpack :) She REALLY liked it :)

13 Days of Christmas - okay, a bit late

Blogger is doing strange things with my blog :) I posted about 15 posts in December that never surfaced. It deleted all of my drafts on my teaching blog too :(

So! Christmas in January! Better late than never !!!

Once again, I participated in a 12 Days of Christmas exchange -- we had13 in the group this year :)

Elizabeth Woodford has been organizing this exchange for the past few years. If you live in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area, you can see her work, and many other of the artists in this exchange, at the Artful Dimensions Gallery. The Facebook page is here. Thanks Elizabeth!!

I'm going to open these again at school with the students -- and "today's helper" can put it on a little tree. We had lots of fun last year guessing what was inside the package. The first one gets some wild guesses (a sweater, a book, an ipad), but once the first one is open, they really hone their predictions.

Here they are, ready to go to school :)