More Mystery Muse-ings

Remember I posted ages ago about being a Mystery Muse? I said then that I'd share with you some of the things I created for the project, but then Time slipped away and I didn't. Big sorries! So here I am with a very belated post about more Mystery Muse-ings.

You'll recall that the theme that my particular 'muse-ee' had chosen for this year's Mystery Muse project was 'wonder.' (If you're already confused, check out my earlier post at THIS LINK to read the particulars and to see the first secret gift I sent to her, 'k?).

For my second secret gift to my muse-ee, I started with a blank wooden picture frame that I found at Michael's Crafts. The frame already had a hole cut into it, and in the hole was a clear plastic disk held in place by two metal tabs. The whole thing was just the right size for a Christmas tree decoration. (You can get an idea of the scale in the photo above. What you're seeing is the backside of the piece with the plastic disk removed.)

The first thing I did was paint the front of the frame with a couple of coats of craft paint. I completely painted the little wooden beads adorning the frame's decorative wire handle, too. In this case I chose white because I had some little colorful additions in mind that I wanted to stand out.

While the paint was drying, I thought about my design. I have a hard time decorating heart shapes for some reason. I knew I wanted to do a black-and-white doodle, and the only thing that came to me was a paisley shape, so I lightly penciled in something that looked kind of like a fern (I almost wrote 'unfurling fiddlehead fern frond,' but stopped myself!). Then with a fine Sharpie marker, I inked in my design. I even added a checkerboard edge and some embellishments to the wooden beads on the handle.

I thought of a sentiment to insert in the frame, typed it on the computer, chose a font, centered it, and sized it to fit in the frame. To be safe, I printed it in a few different sizes, then centered the hole of the ornament over each to get the best fit. I traced the outline of the hole, cut out the verse, and framed it.

Finally, I cut a length of fabric ribbon, fashioned it into a little bow, sewed a little button to it, then daubed glue to the center of the bow and affixed it to the ornament, holding it in place with a clothespin while it dried.


And here it is. I hope she likes it. :)

(P.S. ~ She still doesn't know it's from ME. *giggle*)

...

Mystery Muse-ing

It's COLORFUL in Artella Land

A few short weeks ago I signed up to be a Mystery Muse for the month of February, courtesy of Marney Makridakis and her wonderful Artella Land website. (Go ahead, click on the links above and check it all out.)

Being a Mystery Muse is like being a 'secret santa' only better.

Remember how I mentioned recently how much I love getting personal mail? And about how dang magical I think the whole process is? Well, being a Mystery Muse combines it all. (And -- big heartfelt apologies! -- I should've given you a heads-up about this earlier, because now the month of February is over and if you want to be a part of this project you'll have to wait until next year. However, by becoming a member of Artella Land now and signing up to receive future artellagrams you'll be one of the first folks to know when it all happens again -- yay!)

This year, the rules of Mystery Musedom were described thusly:  

• Sign up to be a Mystery Muse and you will then receive the name and home address of someone else who has signed up.
• Your job then will be to send at least two handmade creations to that person during the month of February. The things you send can be absolutely anything, as long as they are items that you have created personally with your own little hands. 
• Be sure to remain mysterious and keep your identity a big old secret until you send your final offering, at which time it's OK to reveal your creative Secret Superhero-ness.
• There's absolutely no cost other than your postage to mail your surprises to your assigned 'Muse-ee,' so it's completely free to participate.
• And, as Marney says, this "is simply a fun way to start the new year with positive, supportive energy...by sharing a bit of your own creativity...while receiving a boost of inspiration from someone else's creativity, as well!"

The Christmas Conundrum

This reminds me: Holiday baking! Gah....

In an email to friends recently I wrote that the older I get the harder it is for me to like this time of year....

It's not the snow; I like a change of seasons, thank you. It's the holiday commercialism. It's ads on television telling me to buy a car for everyone on my list. It's me second-guessing myself.

It's Time getting away from me and all of a sudden Christmas is here and I've got all of five minutes to get everything done. It's my kids having a million places they've got to be for the holiday and so I take Tumbledown off their list so that they're not run so ragged.

It's knowing my grandbugs will be spending almost an entire week opening gifts day after day from people who just want to see them smile. It's me wondering what that does to a kid after all....