Ornaments to share..

I had forgotten that I had made additional ornaments. With the sudden move and sale of the house, I hadn't realized that I had not posted them for all to see. I know I had several requests for ornaments that I had made asking to buy and my sincere apologies for not getting back to you. After being here for two weeks and we had been trying to settle into our new home, we lost our two sweet animals to cancer. Happy was 11 years and Olivia was 10 years. It really took a toll on us. Its funny how you become so attached to them and they become your children when you nest is empty. I still get emotional thinking about it as I write this and my sweet husband has really taken it the hardest and has cried almost everyday and of course it just breaks my heart to see him break down as they definitey were his babies.

Okay here are the ornaments I had made. I know Christmas has past, but still wanted to share them with you all. I still have three more to share, but need to locate them on my drive.

May The Joy and Peace...

I seem to be on roll in making these ornaments and probably due to the fact that I have exactly four weeks left until the "Relay For Life " Bazaar put on by the American Cancer Society and not to mention orders that have come in from various gals on SCS and blogs. I just love this one as well and I am so glad that I don't have to make a decision on which one to purchase. I love how this all came together and the coloring took a bit of thinking as I was trying to think how this village/town would of looked like back in the day when Christ was getting ready to be born. I felt that there were not many colors the adobe/brick walls could be so I went with more of the earth tones depicting it. Again if interested in purchasing an ornament see the post below on how to contact me. Thanks for looking. Supplies: Stamps: JustRite; Ink: Stazon; Ribbon: Offray Satin; Westrim Rhinestones.

Heavenly Angel

Hope you are having a great Sunday afternoon. My sis Beth is going to be over later and we will be BBQ'ing and finally catch up on all the latest. Had the four grand kids again yesterday but have to admit I am tired and am not as young as I used to be. LOL!!!!I have another ornament to show you. This one sat on my table for quite sometime as I had stamped the angel, colored her in and then just couldn't decide on how to finish her until late Thursday evening. Kinda a "light-bulb" moment if you get my drift. LOL! Found this fantastic folded ribbon at Michael's and thought it was just perfect to give the ornament the softness associated with an angel. Again, each ornament I make I seem to like it better than the last one. I will say trying to take pictures of these are a pain at times as there always seems to be a shadow casted on the part of the ornament as you can see on this one on the lower left side. I think it was part of my DH head when he tooks it, but there is no discoloration on it even though it shows there is. I have had several inquiries wanting to know if the ornaments are for sale. They are and if interested in purchasing one please contact me at heartdb@yahoo.com. Hope you have a wonderful restful Sunday afternoon. Thanks for looking! Supplies: Stamps: JustRite, Stampin Up; Ink: Stazon; Ribbon: Michaels; Sparkle: Stickles and Westrim mini rhinestones.

Let Heaven and Nature Sing

I thought I would begin showing the ornaments I have been working on. This one was a little more trickier, but I feel it really turned out rather well. I think this one will be a favorite of some especially ones who have bird feeders and the love of nature near and around their homes. I wish we could see a red cardinal here in California, but I believe they are birds of the East coast. I wasn't really sure how I was going to color or even embellish it, but knew it needed to be minor as to not take away from the image itself. After I colored it, I kept thinking it needed the snowy-icy effect hanging off the eaves of the bird house and remembered that the PTI set Border & Beams Accessories had that icicle edge. I stamped it in white and then added the stickles to give it the effect of ice hanging off the eaves. I used the small red rhinestones to accentuate the berries on the holly and just lightly glazed the leaves with stickles as well. The side of the ornament has red satin ribbon encircling it to give it a finished look. Supplies: Stamps-JustRite & PTI; Ink: Stazon, Chalk, Sharpies; Embellishments: Offray satin ribbon, Westrim rhinestones and Stickles. Thanks for taking the time to look.

Questions Regarding Ornaments

I have had so many compliments on the ceramic ornaments and also many questions. LOL! I will see if I can answer them according to who asked. And if you have a question that has not been addressed, don't hesitate to contact me.

So here it goes:

Shelly asked....How many do you make each season? Depends. I always make for all of my immediate family which is 13. Then there are those who have seen theirs and want one so I guess I could roughly say maybe a total of 40-50. But if it is for the ACS Relay For Life Bazaar I will make close to 200!

Paige asked...Any chance of getting a group shot of all the ornaments? Sure, as soon as I finish up on the others I am working on I'll be sure to take group picture.

Jenn asked...Where do you buy the plain ornaments? I ususally get them at Michael's and was very fortunate to be able to purchase what they had left for 10 cents a piece and I have a total of 120 in boxes right now and as soon as they are put out I will begin to buy more a little at a time.

Traci asked...Who is the snowman by? The snowman is by Inkadinkadoo. It came in a set with snowflakes, sentiments. I got it at Michaels last year, but I think if you went on their website they may have them there.

Jennifer asked...Tip on keeping the stamp from sliding. When stamping make sure you don't oversaturate the stamp. I have found through many trials of error when I first began making them that it is better to lightly stamp the image and if you decide you want it more prominent then wipe off and apply the ink a little heavier..it is just a matter of patience and error.

Sankari asked...Any chance of a Tutorial? Yes, but need to locate a video camera first LOL!!!! I don't own one personally but daughter does and maybe after she gets moved in her home she will loan it to me.

Melissa asked...Ink Type used? I have found that Stazon seems to work best, but you can try others but would have to seal it with a matte finish so it won't rub off.

Heidi asked...What do you use to color the images? It all depends on the image itself. I have used Sharpie Finepoints and regular Sharpies, Bic Markers, Colorbox Cat Eye Chalk Pads, and sometimes the Copics. I have found with Copics that they seem to streak so I rarely use them.

Let It Snow!

Whew!!!! What a last 5 days! Computer at work crashed, thought I had lost everything which would not of been good, but finally got a new computer today and now I am back logged in getting things caught up before the 31st! Anyway enough about my work LOL! I have another ornament to show you and this one I think is going to be another favorite of mine. It seems the more I am making them, I like it better than the last. Hopefully these will be the favorites at the annual ACS Bazaar this year. I have had this stamp since last year and used it to make ornaments for family. As I have stated before I discovered a way to make the stamp not slide on these porcelain ornaments and seems to be working. I used Liquid pearls to make it look like small snowflakes/ice was falling around the snowman and his friend. And then I thought about the outside rim and thought maybe I could sparkle it up a bit. I wasn't really sure the Scor-pal tape was going to adhere to the slick porcealin side, but with a little patience and the heat tool, it adhered really well to it. Next I took the Iridescent Flakes that you use in making handmade paper (hopefully I will be able to find more of this soon) and took the ornament and rolled it inside a container to get it to coat the sides well. I had to hand press some of the flakes so they wouldn't fall off as they are not real small. I took the heat gun again and heated around the ornament (about 14 inches away so not to melt them) to make sure it was sealed well so during transporting or hanging on a tree, it wouldn't come off. I used stickles for added gltiz and then bic markers for the coloring and red liquid pearls for the berries on his hat. I must say he turned out rather cute. Thanks for taking the time to look.

Star From The East

I wasn't sure how to decorate this particular ornament and then the PTI set was sitting in front of me and I thought why couldn't I use the cross as the focal point?
Although there is no sentiment added, I think it represents what was followed the night our Savior was born...The Star! It is so hard to photograph an item when there is glitter and bling added to it. Out of the 10 taken this was best by far and believe me it was taken in many aspects of lighting. I think this will be one I give to our Pastor and his wife at Christmas. Thanks for looking. Like the Snow Sprite, this was among the ones I got at a great price last year. The stamp is by PTI and the ink is Stazon. Stickles and rhinestones by Westrim. I think maybe one should be made in a midnight blue to capture the stillness and excitement of that very special night. Thank you for taking he time to look.

A "Snow Sprite" Ornament

It is getting that time of the year where I need to start making ornaments for the family, friends and the ACS Bazaar. I totally refuse buying a Hallmark at $$$ when I can make one that will be more memorable. Of course there are those times when you want to buy one from them because it is such a special occasion or the person is not into handmade items, but rarely do I need to do that. I am a big fan of Santa's, Snow, Snowmen and whimsical Wintery Sprites. I think this has to be in my top ten favorites of stamps that I own when it comes to winter or Christmas decorations. She just looks so light as if she is just gliding along with the snowflakes as they begin to fall. I have tried this stamp in many colors and no matter what color (other than yellow/orange or black) it always turns out wintery and Christmasey. I have found this year a sure way of making the rubber stamp not slide when stamping these ceramic plain ornaments and it has certainly made a difference. Last year I bought all they had when everything was 75-90% off, so my top shelf in my craftroom is covered in boxes of these ornaments but will begin to dwindle once I really get going on making them and of course you know I will be watching when they begin to put Christmas out as well as when they have sales. LOL!!!! Stay tuned for more to be posted as I am on a roll. LOL!

Christmas Ornament

I have another ornament to share with you today that I made for family. Everyone loves snowmen. I think he turned out pretty cute. My daughter's in-laws really liked it since they live in a snowy area. I am eventually going to get caught up on this blog I promise. LOL!!!

Stamps: Inkdinkadoo Holiday
Ink Used: Stazone Azure Blue
Pens: Sharpies (Finepoint)
Stickles in Waterfall, Crystal and Red

Merry Christmas!

I hope this finds you all having a wonderful Christmas and great fellowship with family and friends. Our Christmas was quiet this year. Normally we have all the kids, but this year with our son-in-law being at the academy for the CHP and our other son being a dad for the first time it just made sense for us to visit them. The grandchildren were elated with the gifts we gave them and of course tons of pictures were taken. I unfortunately have been sick, so it probably was a good thing that I wasn't around the little ones a lot. Spent the rest of the day just resting and trying to get healthy again.

This year with the way the economy is and I know everyone has been feeling it in the pocketbook, I decided to make the Christmas Ornaments instead of spending $$ for Hallmark's. I had been at our Michaels and came across the ceramic plain white ornaments in the shapes of a Star, Round, Snowflake, and Ornament Shapes and thought why couldn't I do something with these. They had rub-ons next to them, but had seen some ideas over at SCS and thought I would give it a try and stamp them instead. I learned very quickly that they had to be done with Stazon Ink. It dries rather quickly and allows you to be able to finish coloring in the design which can be done with Sharpies Finepoint pens, or Bics Permanent Markers. I found a set of Bic's 36 Markers in different colors at Target for $14.99. I also used the Colorbox Chalk Ink Pads with the white writing on the top; it takes some time for them to dry, but the wait is worth it. Look for yourself and see what you think.

This was done on a round ceramic ornament and the image is by Inkadinkado. I used the red and green Sharpie finepoint pens to color him in and then accented the beard and hairline with Stickles frosted lace. I then used Diamond Stickles for the fur on his hat and red Stickles for the Christmas berries. I colored in the face using the Colorbox White Lable Chalk Pad in Rose Peach. I added a velvet ribbon at the top to be used as a hanger. The word believe is from another set and cannot remeber the company as I have it in a CD case. I used a narrow clear acrylic pad and then curved the stamp itself so it would fit on the ornament.