Main Yule Tree

Here is a picture of our main Yule Tree.  It stands about 12 feet tall.  A lot of our decorations are vintage and I make sure that they are wrapped in tissue very year and secured in egg cartons.  We celebrate Yule on the closest Saturday to the 21st of December.  This year December the 21st fell on a Saturday.  My son and I hold an open house each Yule and there are usually anywhere from 20 to 35 people at our home.  It is usually standing room only within an hour.  We provide a buffet meal, ( fruit tray, veggie tray, meatballs, turkey, cold cut tray, salad, devilled eggs  and dessert tray)  and soft drinks,  if the guests want anything else they bring their own.   The piggly was part of my Mothers day gift this year.

My son, Wolf worked at a place called Camp Edgewood as the head supervisor for the summer. When he was leaving, they gave him a mounted fish as a parting thank you gift. I decorated the fish with some pine boughs from the tree, and an extra santa hat.

Yule Trees

This tree is decorated with Ornaments that I have received in swaps.  The majority are from SSDS a group where we made 25 ornaments and sent each ornament to a different person.   We each received a different ornament.  Some of the members made greeting cards,  knitted dishcloths, a small runner.  It was exciting opening each little package.

This is our small hall tree. 

Here a photo's of Wolf cutting down the small tree for our entrance way.

The small tree is a juniper that was growing wild beside our irrigation ditch.  

Fathers Day Tool Card

This is a Fathers Day card that I made.  I used aluminum foil for the background and ran it through my cuttlebug.  The little apron was made from card stock and attached with Brads.  The ties are small pieces of leather.

The little tools are metal that I purchased from a dollar store.  They can be removed from the apron for use.

piggies, coffee, mothers day

My Mothers Day gifts from Wolf and Tori. Love them all. The Barrista coffee maker is from Starbucks. It makes great Coffee. The Coffee Wolf bought is from Cuba and he purchased it at the Mexican store on Vine Street. It is very mild and not bitter at all. The piggly looks round like Babe and has a sleepy look. Another piggly for my collection.

Shaker Card

This is a Shaker Card for a Just Cards Swap.  I received the large bingo sheet as a RAK and the small bingo card is from a collage sheet from Altered Pages.  The clear circle is from a packaging and I used Martha Stewarts glitter.  Wellbond was used to attach the round acetate to the card.

Coloured Image Focal Point

This card used a coloured image as the focal point.  I received this image in an image swap awhile ago.  The cupcakes she is holding in each hand are brads. The yellow flower is a made from glitter foam. I used two sided foam tape to attach each item to give a 3D effect

Food Card

This was for a swap using Food as the theme.  The large strawberries were cut from a newspaper ad as was the word Strawberries.  The word was layered onto a piece of polka dot paper.  The center where the strawberry is was cut using two different dies.  The center strawberry was from a swap a long time ago.  It was included in a card kit.

Sketch card

This was for a swap called Sketch card. The main picture is the Large Cupcake and then the little cupcakes 3 of them along the side at the bottom and 3 along the side at the top.  The large cupcake and the little ones were cut out and attached with foam tape to make them dimensional.

Side Step card

This is a sidestep card with an oriental theme.  The Geisha is from an Altered Pages Collage. The card was for a swap called "A Different Fold".   Instructions for making this card may be found on Splitcoast Stampers

Jean pocket with goodies

Jean pocket filled with goodies for Art For the Creative Mind Swap.  The pocket was cut from an old jean shirt.  No sewing needed.  I cut a 12 inch strip of material and gathered it to make the flower.  I made three of these and then used a brad to attach them.  I used weldbond to attach the flower and the other embellishments

 

Well so much for my Halloween Commitment to create one Halloweeen piece per day.  I got so far behind, I will leave it until next Halloween and then catch up.  I may start making things for Halloween a few months in advance. 

This post is about Trends.  I hope that you enjoy it.

WHAT TO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THIS YEAR:

• Well, this isn't new - last year, travel themed products were everywhere.  If you invested, in maps, compasses, luggage, etc. you were wise because that trend remains HOT.
• Do you get a thrill from shopping at Office Depot or Office Zilla?  Well, our reporters saw lots of office/stationery stuff too - note cards, lines for notepaper, stuff like that.  You might be looking at the stuff in your office in a whole new way.  
• Arrows and feathers were hot last year and remain so.  I don't get the "feather thing" but whatever, if you do, you're HOT.  
• You'll see more companies carrying dies to coordinate with their stamps.  Hero Arts has been doing this for awhile, but you'll see more and more of it.  I love this but it's expensive -- you have to be careful to pick dies that you think will be used often and have a versatile appeal.  
• Project Life is HUGE.   It's all over.  Companies trying their own lines and if they're not, making elements that fit with existing 3x4 and 4x6 pockets from other companies.   I am a big Project Life fan.  Great concept for scrapbooking and many of the small journaling cards are still cute popped up on a card front.   
• Were you a fan of the chevron?  You trendsetter you!  Yep -- it's still around. Ditto for Hexagons.  In my mind, it's quilt patterns.
• Vintage -- cameras, typewriters, luggage, phones.  Here's a Tim Holtz stamp set that I expect to be very popular.  
• Felt, embroidery and twine.  Think texture.  Think sewing.  Think "homespun."
• Mixed reviews from my reporters on chalkboard as a theme.  I think this is a yes -- it's all over Pinterest and in the digital community, but not yet in stamps.  
• WASHI TAPE
• Want to know the hot colors?  The picture above is of the Pantone Colors for 2013.  Personally, I'm a fan of the "color of the year" EMERALD, as I think it's a neutral like Stampin' Up! Old Olive and will go with everything.  Heard lots of groans and signs about it.... but I'm happy.  Love the basics and think this will be a color that will stand the test of time.