Day 15 - Not at all Christmassy Leonard Cohen ATC's

These aren't exactly holiday themed but let's face it, not everyone is into happy ho ho ho seasonal sort of things AND it's awfully nice to give something that can be enjoyed beyond the holidays. 

I wanted to include a little handmade something in a package to an old friend. Nothing big, just a little something sort of sentimental.

 

That's the funny thing about little things - their ability to hold an awful lot of sentimentality.

I made these on the backs of playing cards that just happened to be the size of ATC's.

The quotes are all from Leonard Cohen songs or poems.

I suppose that while they may not LOOK Christmassy, they are filled with the spirit of the season. Sprinkled with care and given with love.

Day 7 - SPARKLE BATH!

As far as I am concerned, there are two types of people in this world: those who loathe glitter and those who want to bathe in it.

I've made some sparkly, glittery, shiny, smelly, rose-budded bubble bath for the latter.

If you see someone with red sparkle, you'll know they were on my Christmas list.

P.S. These remind me of the year I had $36 to spend on all of my Christmas gifts. If memory serves, most of that was spent on toiletries that were rationed and prettily re-packaged. It stinks not having money, but it is painful not having money during the holidays. If your holiday funds are tight, I'm sorry. I know exactly what that's like. You'll get through. Everything will be ok. I promise.

Miniature Book Tutorial Now Available

We hoard books like crazy in the Pixie household. They are tucked into every cranny. It's not surprising that miniature versions should frequently make their way into my work.

 I've been making little books for a very long while. Years even!

I love the challenge of going smaller and smaller... 

...while still being able to open them up and turn the pages.

There's something extra magical about being able to interact with those little things. When children pick up my little books the skepticism in their eyes turns into a flash of delight when discover they can open the cover and flip through the pages.

Anyway, after years of keeping it all to myself, I've decided to offer my book making technique with a PDF tutorial available in my etsy shop. I'm not gonna lie, it's a bit of a long process... but you end up with books that are pretty dang sturdy. I've left books in my pocket, put them through the wash, and they've come out the other end fully intact.

Instead of a template, the download shows you HOW to make the books so that you can add your own splash of magic and create them in whatever size or shape you like. Quick as can be you'll have an entire fairy library in no time at all.

You can find the listing HERE... and, don't tell anyone, but there's a little bonus project included too ;)

Simple Mixed Media Canvas

I hosted a kids workshop at the studio this weekend. My goal was to create four gift quality projects that were also kid friendly. Participants could choose a project and it was wrapped/boxed before they left to ensure that there was no peeking by their grown ups. 

This little mixed media canvas was one of the projects offered.

If you have little people to craft with, there's a video tute available on my youtube channel HERE or see below. (Note: I suggest keeping the kidlets away from the heatgun.)

Here is a list of all of the supplies I used:

4" canvas
Snowflake Shape Set
Cardstock Doily Set Intricates
Ornate Metal Keys from Graphic 45
Fancy Red Holly Berries Mix*
Silks Acrylic Glaze: Stargazer
twine
vintage image
clear glitter
white acrylic craft paint
white school glue
Aleene's tacky glue

And here are some of the other projects completed by my amazing workshop kiddies!

So proud of those little people :)

Fairy Garden Baubles

I got my hands on the sweetest handblown glass baubles this past summer and filled them with tiny fairy gardens. I've been holding off posting them because I thought they would make darling holiday gifts.

They are filled with moss, handmade toadstools and pretty paper flowers and butterflies. They are really, really sweet.

I have about a dozen and will be posting them in the etsy shop over the next week or so.

You can find this specific bauble listed HERE.

Also listed for the holidays, thimble trees!

Hope your holiday shopping is going well. So far, mine seems to be a series of unfortunate events ;)

Have a great day, lovelies!