Whispers of Winter Freebies

For those new visitors to the blog who would/might have missed out on this one...

You can find the Whispers of Winter Collection at Rina' Kroes' Scrapbook-Elements store. (no longer available)

The overlay is available HERE

And a Quick Page Freebie is available HERE

Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends!

Skating Penguin Magnet

My little snowflake bearing penguins was looking pretty lonely all by itself on the fridge door. It was time to introduce a friend. You can read about him on the 'Cards' page, just scroll down a bit

I started with a file from 'Fun On The Ice' over at Designs On Cloud 9

After sorting the pieces out for cutting, I also cut a solid backing piece for the shape. I felt the skate blades and the ear muffs needed some support. Below is a screen shot of the tracing and the offset (shadow) in the Make The Cut software I gave it the tiniest white border all around as well. That was not strictly necessary but I thought it might look nice.

Next I laid out the pieces of card stock and paper on the cutting mat. I use a Silhouette Cameo.

All the pieces are cut, including the white backing piece and 2 pieces of Silhouette chipboard. This chipboard is card stock weight, hence the double layer to get a sturdy backing.

All chalked and ready to assemble. I painted the metal bits (ie skate blades) with metallic silver craft paint. The scarf and ear muffs are cut from patterned paper.

Putting it all together. Starting with layering the backer pieces.

And adding the coloured bits, following the image in the png file that came with the cut file download. You can see the little offset border all around the final image.

I popped the scarf up a bit to add dimension.

Added a couple of magnets...

....and my penguin magnet is done!

And the first little guy is no longer all alone...

These little guys make me smile. And I like things that makes me smile. What makes you smile?

Snowflake Re-Run

Yes, much better. Now I like the snowflake!

Here they are side by side. The difference is quite big I think. Event the colour, which doesn't show up that much on the pictures. But the one on the right is a brighter white than the other.
The difference? The fuzzy flake on the left is a 100% polyester thread and the cleaner on on the right is 100% cotton. It's that simple...

Remember you can find the free pattern here at Petals to Picots

Snowflakes ~ Ones That Last!

Every year I make snowflakes....several of them. Some times even lots of them. Yet my collection hardly grows. They make such great gifts you see. So easy to slip into a Christmas card, just as a little something extra.

Besides, that way I get to make some every year, without getting snowballed by a pile of snowflakes.

Win-win.

Yesterday I made this one that I found on Petals To Picots

It is such a pretty design...but ugh! Look at that yarn! All fluffy and yucky! It was the first ball my hand fell on, and while it is fine to work with I do NOT like the snowflake result!

I did what I usually do with the snowflakes :

Pin them out on cardboard (covered with wax paper) or some packing foam. Or as in this case a used foam plate. I then paint it with a mix of PVA glue and water. Almost half half, with the bigger half  (LOL) being glue. ~ That brush looks icky, but it is just a clean -retired- oil painting brush.

The yarn looked just fine then...but below you can see more of the fuzzies when I pulled it off. What I do like about the water & glue mixture is that although it stiffens the item so that it holds the shaped you pinned it into, it remains flexible and fairly soft to the touch.

Here is a comparison to one (of only two) of the flakes that remained from last year. See what I mean about the difference in yarn?

I do not like it. Not even a little bit. I shall have to remake this one. I LIKE the pattern! -and you can find it here-

 Hopefully tonight!

Re-arranging Things A Bit...

Excuse the dust while I re-arrange things a bit around here....

I decided to use the home page of the blog for all my postings from now on. I will add links to the relevant pages ie - cards/art journal/ paper crafts depending on where the post fits best. That will make it easy for you to look at a specific category that you may be interested in.

I'm changing this as I feel that the other pages are being neglected and it also looks like I have not posted at all since October 31st, when in reality I have in Cards and Knitting & Crochet.

I'm hoping the changes will make the blog more 'alive' and active, while adding links to the pages tabbed at the top, will mean things are still nicely organized and easy to navigate.

Do remember to use the 'search' option if you know what you are looking for!

I'm still trying to figure out how to get the blog to post to Facebook, but in the meantime you can find the page here : - MeisiesDoodles on Facebook.

Hope to see you there!

I'll be back soon with more goodies to show!