Alice with Hearts

This was a lil' piece I created for the Altered Alice blog challenge.  This month's theme was hearts.  I'd been saving this Somerset Artist paper for just the right occasion and this was just the right thing.  It was one of those pieces that took hours more time than I ever anticipated, but here she is. I folded and glued together some Canson Mix Media paper.  Then, I added the Somerset artist paper and some antique spelling primer pages.  A coat of Tim Holtz paint and some Prisma pencils added some color.  The top trim is white cotton thrift store trim I sprayed with mica ink and the bottom is from a vintage baby collar.  The button is vintage and then there's machine stitching, a couple charms with fibers, a hand formed heart from annealed wire (on a Staz On stamped tag), and several hours under piles of heavy supplies to get the whole thing to lay flat. oh, and there's a little bit of German trim in the corner.

Educational and Visually Stunning

Downton Abbey- it's official, I'm addicted!!  Finally after enough descriptions, recommendations and a chance viewing of the latest episode, I downloaded the first and second seasons on iTunes. Loving history, especially the way people lived their daily lives, and costumes as I do and being obsessed with family history, knowing the time period that my grandparents were born into in is especially interesting.  For example, my maternal grandmother was born in 1916, and my maternal grandfather was born in 1914, so when I watch episodes of Downton Abbey set in 1917, I can say, "Granny was 1 year old then" or "Paw Paw Charlie was 3 years old then" and picture them in their little boots and dresses. Also, visually, it is a feast for the eyes.  All that velvet and beading- just gorgeous! And the filing drawers and old style books have me wanting to dive in and collect for my house. 

If you haven't watched these episodes yet and would like to, do not panic when I talk about the episode I recently watched with the curling iron. No spoilers, just something that set off another obsession- something I just had to find out.  Series 2, Episode 3 has a few scenes where they are using a corded curling iron!  I knew about Laura Ingalls heating her slate pencil to curl her new fangled fringe, and knew electricity had been around for a bit, but seeing a corded curling iron sent me searching.  When did they start using corded curling irons?! Though I ran into a few somewhat informative, but basically useless articles, this blog post had actual pictures of curling irons similar to what were used in the episode.  And now I can rest.  I still don't have the actual date they started using corded curling irons still, but for some reason, seeing these pictures labeled as "Victorian" allows me to get on with my day. 

Since blog posts are always better with pictures, check out this really interesting one I found on Wikipedia when researching the curling iron:

The Decorator

DS has been quite busy decorating the house for months now.  The paper snowflakes are strategically placed so that the forced air blows them around when the furnace kicks on.  He's used his weight in stickers to decorate "his gallery", Daddy's office, and his tricycle, which is also sufficiently supplied with "head lights" due to his flashlight obsession (attached with tape, which is why one of his stocking stuffers was his own fancy tape dispenser).  When he wished for a Valentine's Day tree to decorate, we happened to have a pile of sticks already collected just because we thought they were cool.  So, into the vase they went and he immediately covered them with left over bits from making Valentine's Day cards.  Valentines he received on Tuesday at a home school gathering are taped to the TV and there are several sculptures hanging around. 

It's so exciting to see his creativity in full action. From decorating to sculpting to drawing to painting to arranging faces from jingle bells and pipe cleaners, there's never a dull moment. :)

Catching Up- Handmade Christmas Gifts

"Race car" play mat made using "Sewing for Boys"- a wonderful book that will keep me in sewing projects for a long time!! All patterns are included: no need to enlarge, but you will need to trace them, often taping pieces of tracing paper together so it's big enough. This came together fairly quickly since I used all felt.  The felt is wool or wool blend, so it has a nice feel.  The colored pieces came from A Child's Dream Come True.

The wooden cars are from this Etsy shop.

Thomas back pack made with fabric from JoAnn.com and pattern/instructions from "Oliver + S Little Things to Sew".  This book is Adorable!!!  This project in particular was fairly long and detailed, but well worth it.

A puppet theater made from instructions in "Bend the Rules Sewing".  All the fabric came from JoAnn's.

This cute airplane puppet (and a royal family, doggie included plus pirate) were bought at Handmade Arcade.  The lady has an Etsy store, but after looking through 37 pages of puppets, I couldn't find the store. :(  But, they are adorable, so hopefully I'll find her card.

We are on to making Valentine's day cards and I've yet to show you what we made for DH's b-day.  Angelo's birthday projects are also underway.

Have a great weekend and Valentine's Day!!

Native American Heritage

My Great Grandmother, Clara, was half Shawnee and half Irish.  My Great Grandfather, George, was full Cherokee.  Only recently have I seen a picture of George and a second picture of Clara.  In the images below, I seek and find connection to them, and therefore myself.

These are all Artist Trading Cards, made in the period of time mentioned in the last ATC post.  The images are all from the same collage sheet. Unfortunately, I can't remember from where I bought it.