Number Tags

The tag challenge blog up and ended before the numbers were complete.  I went ahead and completed the number series on my own.

First up is #6.  Just a chosen date that reflected the beginning of school and picture day. Vintage style with coffee stain and all.

The back of #6

And the final number, #7.  Our house number in Wisconsin.

The back of #7

Looking back I notice #0 never made it's way into the series.  Oh well.  It will NOT bother me.  At least not enough to go back to this number series...at the moment.

I gathered all the tags together.  While I wasn't happen with some of them, I was very happy with others.  It makes no never mind.  The playing is what's important.

Count your blessings.

xxx

Annie

Small Creations

This month's challenge at A Monthly Challenge is to think small.  Our little creations are not to be larger than 4"x4".  That's a fun size to play with.  I made coin envelopes.  They measure 4"X3".

The one on the left is made with a scrapbook paper then decorated with torn tracing paper and a bit /of Washi tape.  The one on the right is made with a craft paper and decorated with Washi tapes.

Reverse sides

They are such fun little envelopes to make.

Recently I found a new blog to check in on called The Lost Art of Letter Writing...Revived.  In November Pemela had challenged her readers to make an Autumn Matchbox.  After reading a few of Pam's posts, I felt strongly compelled to write a letter to her.  That must mean her blog is working.  It can't just be that I like mail art.  I didn't want to make a matchbox and I certainly didn't want to deal with mail it to arrive not crushed.  So I made little envelopes for her in the theme of postal/letter writing.  

I put the two tiny envelopes inside the coin envelope.  The smallest envelope measures 1-7/8" X 1-1/4".  Pretty tiny and so adorable.  I also made her card using a Jane Austen library card and a clip art of a writer with a fun ink well hat with her quills handy and note paper streamers.  

Then I wrote the letter.  While working on the envelopes and card, I kept wondering what to write to someone I don't know.  Well, surprisingly, I didn't have any problem finding some words to write.  With email so handy and instant these days, I don't have any "real" stationery on hand.  So I took sheets from note pads and just kept Washi taping them together.  This was a really fun project.

NOTE:

The library card is from a boxed set I found at Barnes & Noble.  They are copies of real library cards from the Library of Congress.

xxx

Annie

Journaling Craze

My December 2015 Calendar Journal was a fun month to document and attempt some more creative looking day blocks.

A creative lettering style that always catches my attention is now being practiced by me ..... a lot.  Along with other styles.  Drawing letters/words is a painstakingly slow process ..... for me.  I bravely even practice it on mail art envelopes too.  I'm not so good at it.  I'm not even going to say 'yet'.  But if you view it from, say, ten feet away, not too shabby looking.  LoL

On Pinterest I see loads of something new to me.  Bullet Journals.  From what I can figure about them is that they are just lists.  Daily lists.  And people go to a lot of work making these daily lists.

My mind is not what it used to be and it never is spending much time thinking about what I 'should' be doing.  It's always thinking about PLAYING.  This means it's necessary that I make myself lists.  On-going lists.  But I just keep a spiral journal on my desk always with the on-going list of things I need to remember to do, and dates of events that I need to remember are approaching.

The pages get flipped back and forth until 'stuff' gets crossed off.  It also contains ideas and drawing illustrations of ideas for PLAYING.  I even tape things into it that I don't want to loose.  And bits of trimmed off Washi Tapes.  All kinds of stuff really.  It's just what comes to mind at the moment that I don't want to forget.  Or a lot of things that I keep forgetting until I get it written down.  It keeps me on track and on time.

My conclusion to Bullet Journals is that I already have one in a more relaxed format.

Make your day creative!

xxx

Annie

Making Cards

Happy New Year

cards

Now that traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas are past, I am free to make Annie-style cards to send to my daughter and my friends.  The people who don't look at these cards as if I were out of my mind.   

So I had a play with postage people.  It's been a while.  Adolph S. Ochs has been patiently waiting in my stash for a body.  The man's body is a Tim Holtz Found Relative card.  Adolph went on a trip to Connecticut.

Butterfly lady is still traveling.  She came about from a long awaited play time to create in my own style.

Quiet Winter also is still traveling.  This card emerged from trying a technique I found on Pinterest.

And then lastly, I needed a Thank You note.

And now for a new year to start fresh again.  May 2016 be your best new year ever!

xxx

Annie

Christmas Postcard Exchange

Last November I joined in a Christmas Postcard Exchange with other like-minded bloggers, hosted by Sheila at Sheila's Quilt World. I mailed my postcard to Lin in Paris. 

This card seems to have taken the scenic route, as it took a bit long in arriving. But finally arrived, it did.  just as I was about to start on a replacement postcard. Sometimes all we need to do is threaten our original mail art with replacement mail art. 

I did not have the long wait that Lin had. Her beautiful postcard arrived well before Christmas for my holiday enjoyment.

I love all these perfectly made hexies stitched together with such perfect and incredibly tiny, barely visible stitches. And something I've not seen before, teeny tiny beads stitched at each inside point. All finished off with a metallic thread satin stitched edge. Thank you so much Lin for this beautiful postcard. 

This day after Christmas is a great time to look back on Christmas Day and all the days leading up to it and reminisce on the beauty of this season with a smile. I hope everyone has happy hearts. 

xxx

Annie

Christmas Greetings and Gift Wrapping

It always seems that at this time of year people are friendlier and more giving.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were all like that all year long?  We all have our limits to being walked on, but other than that, it's not so hard to be kinder than we think we can be.

Wishing all my blogging friends and followers a very

Merry Christmas

I made a handful of special Christmas postcards for a handful of special people in my life.  I have said before I am hopeless with mass production.  (Two of anything is mass production!)  I made seven of these postcards.  I was already whining when I had six more to go.  But I'm glad I made them.

For the rest of my dear family and friends, I altered a commercially produced card.  I chose this Christmas collage card...no surprise there, eh.

And I added three glittery snowflakes.  The largest on a pop dot for a 3-D appearance.  

This too was mass production except that it was in such a simple form that I managed a whole stack without whining.....too much.

I mostly had small gifts and money to wrap.  And I love the "brown paper packages tied up with string" Pinterest photos.  So I took my lead from inspiration in those photos.

I hope the world has a joyous Christmas!

xxx

Annie

Blitzen Snowman

Don't faint... I've been sewing again.

And now I am enjoying this wonderful Winter guy this year.  

I found him at the Madison, WI Quilt Expo this last September.  I NEVER buy quilt kits.  NEVER.  But I loved the fabrics he was made up with.  I immediately asked if they had him in a kit.  YES!  And of course it was the last one.  They didn't need that sales pitch because I was going to buy it no matter what.  LoL

I thought he was wearing a ball cap until I gave the pattern a good look.  This is when I discovered he is a basket.  

I don't much care for the basket idea so I changed him up giving him his top hat.  I adore him!  I love that he's festive enough for Christmas and not-so-much Christmasy that he can remain hanging all through Winter.

The fabric collection is blitzen by basicgrey for Moda

The pattern is Sue's Snowman Basket by Jan Patek Quilts Inc.

He's out of storage now and all made up.  That fits right into my plan to get stuff out of storage and all made up.  

Happy Winter!

xxx

Annie

November 2015 and Where I Play

November 2015 is behind us now.  

Here's how it went for me.  

I cleaned up my play space just before Thanksgiving.  I don't do it often and I seem to always be playing in a mess.  Play time is too minimal to waste it cleaning up.  So here's a peek into my "tidy" happy place.

Look quick, it won't last long.

xxx

Annie

Happy Thanksgiving

It's about to get pretty busy around here.  I'm wishing all my awesome blogging followers, quiet and boisterous alike, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

This is my Thanksgiving card I created and mailed off to family and friends.

Safe holiday everyone!

xxx

Annie

Rediscovering Sealing Wax

I am rediscovering the the fun of sealing wax and wax stampers.  I used it when I was in my early teens and wrote letters quite often.  I thought it was a fun way to spruce up an envelope.  Boy, if I knew then what I know now about sprucing up an envelope, my life might have turned out to be a different story.  LoL

BUT!...I do remember it being a bit challenging.  This may have been because of my young inexperienced age, but I see it as just as challenging today.  So I instructed Amazon to send me some new wax and a stamper and set about to find an easier way to get better results than just "do I feel lucky today".  And here's my technique to get a wax seal that I like every single time.

The whole secret is to make them separately and glue them to my envelopes or projects.

Yeah, it's cheating, but I'm never disappointed sending off my mail.  The secret ingredient is parchment paper.  The wax does not stick to it.

I like the sticks that don't have a wick.  I light a tea light candle to melt the wax in a long handled tea spoon.  Then push it off the spoon onto the parchment paper, use the wax stick to spread the puddle to fit the stamper.  Let it settle for a few seconds, then push the stamper into the wax puddle.

I clean off my spoon with Flushable Wipes while the stamper and wax are doing their thing.  Then I life the stamper and the wax is still stuck to it.

But they separate so easily and perfectly.

The stringys just snap off or you can cut them off.  I love how imperfect my puddle sizes sometimes are.  I've been using these as a signature on the back of cards I've made, so in that case, I don't want globby edges.

Those globby edges trim off so nicely with scissors.

And the extra was will be kept to be remelted for another seal.  It's now ready to be glued to the back of my card.  Or glued as a faux seal on my envelope.  I'm loving this centruries old craft.

There aren't many colors available in the wick-free wax sticks.  So I experimented with a stick with a wick with the spoon melting technique.  (Normally you would light the wick like a candle then wait for enough wax to melt and drip into a puddle).  It works just as well.  I keep the wick trimmed down to the wax vbetween uses.  The wax takes a bit longer to melt enough for a puddle and is thinner and takes a tad bit longer to set.  But I'm glad to know I am not limited by wick or no wick.  And colors will only be limited by the companies making the wax sticks.

So many things from my youth are coming back into style again.  YIKES!

Having fun with the old being new again.

xxx

Annie