Arts | Entertainment | Crafts | Life
You’ve gotta have hearts for Valentine’s, and boy, did I have a bundle of hearts. Consequently, the 2024 Valentine’s pin production is nearly over
Some were mailed today; more will be shipped. Friends, family and select followers, check your mail boxes over the next few days.
Valentine’s is not till Feb. 14, but since I’ve been in recuperation made following recent surgery, I started before the medical appointment, and finished post-operation.
Enjoy!
Don’t ask me why, but I’m particularly fond of these six Christmas pins…so I’ll likely keep ‘em for perhaps a season.
The little boy charm has, what else, charm.
The six wee glass Christmas trees make me ponder the three wise men (I made about six of these pins, since I had a bunch of the little trees).
Two Christmas bulbs reflect the classic hues of the holidays, red and green.
I adore the little green gingerbread boy; made me recall the “Sesame Street” anthem, ”It’s not easy being green,” sung by Kermit the frog.
The mini nutcracker in wood is “different,” with its tall hat and sit-down pose with two black boots sticking out in its sitting position.
This Santa’s cap features an iridescent red glow, plus a customary cotton-white pompom and band.
Each pin possesses a story of its own, eh?
My Christmas card this year is like any another year — the same concept for decades — but I tweaked the design this year.
Some time ago, I fashioned this three-tier Christmas tree design, utilizing Hawaiian-print paper as the thrust of the card. It was festive, it said “aloha” and it was an easily doable project.
Thus, the creation is somewhat of a classic, and since each card is created separately, every card can be considered an original.
However, the scale is smaller this year (not an inflation issue, just so happened I had vellum white cards which were tinier than years past), but perfect for the project.
Simply, the three levels of the tree design had to be squished a skosh, to retain a star atop the tree, with the bottom base “holding” the tree, also minimalized.
It still works for me. I simply cut and assemble the three sectors and still give the creation a little twinkle with a yarn thread between the sections, which creates a luminous glow when light shines on the card.
And because I hand-cut a variety of Hawaiian-print wrapping paper, the card continues to say “aloha” or “Mele Kalikimaka,” without actually saying it.
So, here I’m sharing six specimens from the 36 cards I assembled over a couple of hours a few mornings ago. Hope it’ll be enough for holiday mailings this year.
To finish it off, I sign my signature since a fellow artist told me four decades ago that it was prudent to “sign” each card or anything you create, for identity purposes. It’s akin to a painter putting his/her John Hancock on a canvas on a grander scale.
For me and a dwindling audience, mailing cards still matter when you want to say, “Merry Christmas.” Emails are swift but don’t do the job.
Yes, Hallmark peddles their lovely gems and I occasionally peruse the racks and make a purchase, since I often find inspiration to hatch an idea to concoct my version.
Life’s a card.
Wishing one and all a Happy Halloween!
Sharing a pic of tee-shirt pins I created this year, with Halloween graphics depicted on the shirts.
Have a boo-tiful, tee-rific, spooktacular Halloween!
In my life, I cannot have enough notecards to suit various needs of expression.
Lately, due to an unexpected illness, I value thank you cards (handmade by moi, whenever there’s time) to send to a colleague or even a stranger, to say thanks.
This latest creation is a variation of something I made several years ago, and for lack of a bright idea now, decided to “recycle” with a limited new version. This always gets a warm giggle from recipients.
Tells me that there’s always a need for a jar of thank-yous.