Christmas crafting!

so, I didn't think quick enough to take any photos of my Christmas cards (it's always a scramble to get them done and in the mail!), but there was some additional Christmas crafting going on... wanna see?? This sequined and beaded beauty (pic above) was a great score at the thrift store... it was the entire kit, never opened, from LeeWards, and it was actually pretty fun to make! Okay, so my thumb hurt by the time I was done from pushing the pins into the foam ball, but it turned out great in the end. This was actually one of my presents to Tom-- we try to add to our ornament collection every year, and he has some similar ornaments from his Grandma in his collection, so I was really happy to find this kit. (I know there are companies that still make these kits, so I may make some of these for next Christmas, too.)

These two photos (above and below) are from another of Tom's presents, which is still not quite done, but almost. It started with a clear glass plate (again, from the thrift store) and some of his collected cigar bands... I saw an article about these kinds of things in a Mary Engelbreit magazine, and thought it would be really fun to make a keepsake out of the cigar bands-- he's collected them ever since we've known each other (because I asked him to, for crafting purposes!), and has quite a few saved up. This plate also was a lot of fun to see the design come together-- the artwork on (better quality) cigar bands is incredibly detailed, in terms of color and design. It only needs a backing of paper on the backside to cover up the wrong side of the bands, and then it will be ready to hang up in his office.

a detail photo, just to show the color and design of the bands... click on the photo to see it larger.

And, finally, a couple ATCs... I rearranged the furniture in my crafting space (!! It was a lot of work, but I just had the itch... I think I did this growing up, too-- I remember rearranging the furniture in my bedroom quite a few times.) It still needs to be cleaned (as usual, of course!) but in picking up the desk, I collected some interesting scraps and put them together to make a couple trading cards. I added them to some premade backgrounds I had stored in my stash. The one above is collaged from a die-cut piece of scrapbooking paper, more scrapbooking paper, glitter, and some random words I cut from a vintage gardening book.

This one started out with another premade background of watercolor paint, a napkin, and some handmade paper... I added a tiny vintage photo print, a German scrap frame, and more vintage words. Now if I just do some more organizing, I might find some more neat stuff, and get some more crafting done!