Wednesday, December 26, 2012

363 Days til Christmas ^_^

WOW....I can't believe it's over already. Christmas seems to come and go way to fast for us. The Chazman had a wonderful Christmas so that means we had a wonderful Christmas too. Now...it's 363 days til next Christmas and I think that I'm going to start making gifts and doing some shopping starting in January..LOL!!


I still have one set of a Santa piece to make....Santa with cookies with no glass of milk...HA!!! I'm going to work on him today. I also need to get busy designing some new things for 2013 as well. I want to do some of my muffin faeries  and my teacup fearies. Some new dust bunnies and some cotton batting olde rabbit ornaments too. I also want to do more needle felted characters this new coming year which means trips to our "Little Zoo that could" so I can capture the whimsical characters that live there for the designs. My muse is singing up a storm with all that she wants us to do.  Is there anything that YOU would like to see come from the old Southern ooaks tree?

Well...I had better get busy working on this piece cause I do feel a nap coming on real soon. With our crazy weather change (74 this time yesterday and 46 right now) I woke up with a very soar throat and earache. Now the throat could be from all the snoring I apparently do (according to the hubbikins) but I really don't think a person can snore out of their ear. Can they? ^_^

Until next time.............Hugs,
Regi

Monday, December 24, 2012

Twas the Night.......




Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house....the hubby was snoring....asleep on the couch.

The Chazman had FINALLY fallen slowly to sleep and Mommie hoped now not to hear even a peep.

For it's time to wrap presents from Santa you see and I realize that we forgot the batteries.

I finished the wrapping, placed them under the tree and now it's time for a hot cup of tea.

As I sit in my chair without any cares, I thank the good Lord with a small tiny prayer.

Oh heavenly Father, protect and keep...all of my babies as they slumber and sleep

I rose from my chair...turned out the light, walked over to hubby and kissed him goodnight.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...the hubby was snoring, asleep on the couch.




Merry Christmas to all. HUGS,
Regi























Happy Christmas Eve Day!!!

The Chazman is getting very excited....it's Christmas Eve Day which means tonight is Christmas Eve which means tomorrow is CHRISTMAS Day!! YEA!! Love getting to feel all the magic through my son's eyes.

I hope that you and yours have a very Merry Christmas or which ever Holiday that you celebrate this time of year. ^_^   I hope that you are with family and just enjoying all your blessings. I know that we are...each and every one of them. Our LORD has blessed us and we do put him above all especially this time of year. I love my Lord and I am also one that is in tune with Mother Earth. When ever I get a bit down I can always go and walk by her ocean side (and talk to GOD) and start to feel so much better. Yesterday she gave me a gift.....a tiny little shell...perfect...not one broken piece to be found on it anywhere. Between God and earth, I think they were sending me a message that even the tiniest of blessings is a gift.


I finished the Santa and the antique toys last night. Talk about in the nick of time. We are going to enjoy him this year and next year he will be placed in my shop. I think he turned out quite handsomely. ^_^


Now...I am babbling I know...I'm just excited for tonight to come. I LOVE when Santa comes to visit. Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Until next time...........Hugs,
Regi

Friday, December 21, 2012

WIP of Santa and the antique toys!! (psst..you could WIN a gift)

I am still working on my Santa piece...such a handsome fella....the jolly olde elf himself!! I'm making his boots this morning and then hopefully his coat and hood this afternoon. Here are some WIP photos....


Beautiful silk puffed sleeved shirt with ruffled front. Of course, most of shirt will be hidden by his coat BUT I will know it's there. (and so will YOU)

Material for his coat and hood

Base...covered in antique white paint and German glass

Elf in a box Santa will be holding in his hand.

Antique pull toys 

Okey dokey..time to put my shoemaker hat on and get busy. Until next time.................Hugs,

Regi


PSSST....the eighth person to comment on this post will receive a gift. Just leave your snail mail for me and I hope you enjoy your gift. ^_^

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Christmas Vintage Paper Dolls

I am working on my Santa and his vintage toys today and thought that instead of posting my usual babbling that I would simply give you a gift......Vintage paper doll images that I have collected and thought that you would enjoy. I mean, who doesn't love playing with paper dolls. Click on the ones you like, save, print, cut out and ENJOY!!









Until next time...........HUGS,
Regi

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Let's make a little paper box..shall we ^_^

I know that a good while back (probably well over a year...I think) I did a "How to" on making a paper box.   It was made from card stock which made it sturdy enough to cover in fabric...which I did!! ^_^   I needed some little boxes to put the Chazman's little WhoDoo characters in and that's why I remembered my paper boxes from earlier. I really didn't want to make the heavy duty ones as I know good and darn well that these aren't going to make it through the opening up part..hehe. I thought that some of you might want or need a small box to put a gift in and well I thought you might just like to make it yourself.

Step One......using a piece of letter size paper, take and fold one edge up into a 90 degree angle. Like this...
Cut along the line with scissors or whatever sharp instrument (exacto knife, paper cutter) you feel comfortable with. Me...I do good with scissors. ^_^

Step Two......After cutting off the edge (you can throw this away or keep and use to make a little gift card with it later) Unfold paper...turn and fold opposite corner up to meet top corner. Once open you should have a nice X (or cross...depends on how you look at it) in the paper.

Step Three.....Take each corner and place point in the center of the paper. It should look like this when this step is complete.

Step Four......Take the bottom of one side and fold it to the middle. (Should look like photo below) Take the edge directly across from that one and do the same. Open them up and turn paper and repeat for those two sides.

Step Five......Open up paper and cut one side up to the center square. (Where my lines are drawn) Repeat on the opposite side of paper once completed. Only do the two sides!!

Once cut the paper should look like this.....


Step Six......Turn paper around and fold the first flap over. Then take and fold upwards. Take sides and fold inside. It should look like the second photo below after this step.



Step Seven....Repeat on the other side. Then take the smaller flaps and fold them over the sides making sure that your points on sides are tucked inside one another. (makes folding easier)


Now...wasn't that easy peasy? You just made the top part of your box. To make the bottom part follow the same steps. Just make sure after you fold the first edge 90 degrees, to cut about 1/4 in further than you did the first time. This will make the top fit over the bottom.

Now if you don't want a plain white box, you can use scrapbook papers, Christmas wrapping paper (just make sure your design is on the outside when folding...HEY...I forgot the first time) brown paper bags, really just about anything that can be folded easily. You could even color on the white paper or splash some paints on it and let dry or even do some stamping on it. Your imagination has no boundaries...remember that!!!

I left the Chazman's boxes white because I knew that the pretty pom pom bow I was going to make would pretty much cover what ever was on the paper. WHAT? You say you want to know how to do a pom pom bow? No problem..hehe  You will  need string or yarn...scissors (yes..just scissors this time) and a plastic credit card or gift card.


Step One.....Take string and measure out at least 84 inches. YIKES..that's a lot of string or yarn you say but it really isn't. YOU might even want more if you want a fuller pom pom. Just sayin!!

Step Two....Cut a separate piece of string about 6 inches...this is your piece that will tie all the other string together once you finish wrapping it around the card. Just lay it one way on the card (either way is fine..the longer side just make a bigger pom pom) and then start wrapping your string the opposite.


Step Three....Once you have wrapped all of the string on the card, take your tie off piece and tie it off. HEHE.  Then gently slide the string off of the card.


Step Four.....Hold both ends and flip it over. Tie this side and make sure you make two knots or ties here.
Take scissors and place in between loops on one end and cut. Repeat on the other end.


That's how you make a pom pom bow. You can fluff now if you want but I find it much easier to wait and fluff after you have tied it onto your package. I use a different string to tie around the package and then I tie the bow on.



Now you know how to make a little paper box with a cute pom pom bow. I hope my directions were simple and I hope that you can use this "How to" to help you out with some of your gift giving wrappings.



Until next time...........Hugs,
Regi

Come visit the WhoDoo Swamp.....

Deep in the WhoDoo swamp where the mist can be as thick as the spanish moss hanging from the trees, the locals tell of tales, of the tortured souls, just waiting for someone to step into their realm. If ya travel into their swamp please take caution for there are plenty of creatures, WhoDoo residents, owls and snakes.




The infamous pirate, WhoDoo Lafitteetee, still rules the WhoDoo Bayou's from the beautiful shores of the Gulf of Mexico to the magical and festive city of New Orleans....for sure pod nah...as well as all the mystical places in between. Ya might just hear him calling out "Avast ther ye bugger..it not be yer treasure I be a wanting...it be yer comb. I need me a comb". Yikes....just look at that blue mess Lafitteetee calls hair)


As you travel further into the swamp, remember it's home to some mighty big cocodrie (alligator). NOTHING is as big though as the WhoDoo dragon that calls this place home. DANGER...BEWARE,
for he loves to snort fire and will invite you to be a snack.....oops...sorry about that!! I meant to say he will invite you to enjoy A snack. S'mores anyone??


As night falls all visitors must be watchful and listen to all the night cries. If you suddenly hear Brains....Brains  I'z need me some brains" stand very very still cause littlebig zombie must be near. He loves to pick other peoples brains....and......oh wait....I bet ya thought I meant to eat. No silly, he just loves to find out what you know that he may not know.


If littlebig zombie gets to out of hand with all his zillions of questions....all you have to do is starting singing this song  "Ooo eee, Ooo ah ah, Ting tang, Walla walla bing bang" and then get ready for (have you guessed who? HA) the witch doctor to appear. Oh yes...the witch doctor...everyone's friend, he will tell you what to do to get zombie to stop bothering you.


Now as you leave the WhoDoo swamp, make sure you turn and wave. For a shy little ooglie googlie eyed guy will be bidding you adue and whispering "Ya'll come back real soon".



Soooo....did you enjoy your visit to the swamp? I so hope you did and I'm even hoping more that our little Chazman will too. You see...this is his gift from me (and Daddy, of course) If you have been reading my post then you know that he has been asking me to make him one of the string characters for months now. I think he is going to be very surprised when he finds that he has a whole swamp full...hehe!!  The tree at the beginning of the story is the hang out (literally...it's where he can hang them).


I made little paper boxes for each one...well....except for the dragon and the tree...I used a cardboard box for dragon and just...well....wrapped the tree. HEHE


They are sitting under the Christmas tree just waiting for Christmas eve when the Chazman can open them. I wander if he will even notice I have put them there? I wander if the gang will start calling out to the witch doctor to get them out of the boxes? Oh dear!!!!!

Until next time...........Hugs,
Regi


Sunday, December 16, 2012

Saturday in the Sand!!

WOW...we had a great time yesterday. The weather was perfect....not humid...not to warm...not to cool. Like I said....perfect!!! It began with us having to go to my sister's house and let her doggies out for a bit and give all of their zoo some food, water and loving. (ok ok perhaps it's not as big as a zoo but they do have two doggies, one cat and two hamsters plus two tree frogs on the back porch..hehe) Boy..oh boy were they ever happy to see us. We gave some quick loving as we headed to the back door as they were happily doing the "WE NEED TO GO OUT" dance and the we are "SO GLAD TO SEE YA'LL" and will continue the loving when we come back in. Now Mr Rumtum (the cat) was suppose to be outside but he surprised me by stretching up on my pants leg and giving me a hug (claws and all) He got his loving, food and water and he was a purrrrfectly happy cat. The doggies came bouncing back in and got some quick loves, food and water and then decided they would eat later...they went bouncing and got in the Chazman's lap and became a loving puppy pile. You should have heard the giggles!!  Once they got finished showing their affection the Chazman got up and went to check on the hamsters. They were both fine and had plenty of water and food. One was in the kitchen sitting on the bar...well...ok SHE wasn't sitting on the bar..she was in her cage that was sitting on the bar..hehe. She kept wiggling her nose through the cage at us. The Chazman was petting her nose and then all of a sudden she decided to try him out. OH YES...she nipped him!! I don't think she meant to hurt him because she went running into her pile of fluff that makes her bed and peeked back out at us. She slowly walked back over and poked her nose out looking at the Chazman and chirping. We think she was saying how sorry she was but he just looked tastie and she just had to see if he was. LOL

After we finished giving loves we decided since we were right there at the beach that we would go and listen to Mother ocean for awhile. Nothing clears the mind like the gentle sounds of the waves hitting the beach or the smell of clean fresh salt air. Some of the local photographers have been taking awesome photos of a place called Little Lagoon pass so we decided to go find it and see just what it was all about. OMGOSH, we could have sat there for hours watching the pelicans sitting on a pipe going across the little pass and jumping in the water. It was so funny because they were actually jumping off in order. Kinda reminded me of the song "FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED" Bahahaha!!! After the last one had jumped off we walked under the bridge and went out on the beach. WOW...talk about finding hidden treasure...well...ok..it wasn't actually hidden because it was laying out on the beach..just waiting on US.


So many beautiful shells washed ashore. I love nothing more than walking the beach and seeing just what Mother Ocean has given to anyone that wants to have them.


Aren't spiral shells awesome? We found several broken ones (love them too)and then buried under some fan shells was a beautiful spiral not broken at all.


Fan shells are so amazing and we found six of them and only one had a small chip out of it. I love the little clear shells **l@@king around** they are really mermaid scales. Don't tell anyone though because we don't want to scare the mermaids away from our area. ^_^   I'm hoping to find enough of the scales shells to cover a mermaid tail.

After some time on the beach we did the normal Saturday stuff.....going to buy groceries and then coming home and piddling or resting for a bit. We had to go back and check on the zoo again in the late afternoon and on the way home we found this box with Christmas tree parts in it sitting by the side of the road. HEY...ya never know where ya might find a treasure. ^_^   It was an old Christmas tree that someone thought had done it's time. We saw a treasure to be restored and that still had some wonderful years to make someone smile.


The Chazman loves it and wanted it in his room. He said it was the most beautiful little tree in the world. With the exception of our tree in the family room of course. Good answer there!!! It is small but it fits perfectly in his room and it does make him smile.

Today we are just chillin and relaxing together as a family. The weather took a BIG time change as it's rainy, HUMID and just a blah day.  Ya know....this makes the perfect afternoon to take a nap. Yeah..that sounds good. Tomorrow and the next day and the NEXT day I will be working on those little WHODOO dolls so a nap might really be a good thing to do this afternoon. ^_^

Until next time............HUGS,
Regi

Friday, December 14, 2012

Whodoo not voodoo...hehe

WOW......finally....I finished all my gifts for the Angel program. I hope that my small part helps make a child smile when they open a gift on Christmas morning. I have to admit that it was tough making them this year as the Chazman asked what I was making them for exactly!! I know that he had to have noticed that I broke out in a sweat when he asked me that question. What was I to do? I didn't want to lie to my baby so I just didn't answer with the complete explanation. I just told him that our sweet friend Ms Sue needed my help with making gifts for some children she knew. That wasn't a lie...it was actually the truth just not the whole truth. He stood there for a minute and then smiled and walked off. He later said that he was sad......I froze with fear.....fear that he was about to tell me the one thing I do not want to ever hear....that he didn't believe. Nope...that wasn't what he said at all. What he did say was that he was sad that some kids didn't have the magic inside them anymore and didn't believe in the magical realm...like Santa. I asked  (with a big gulp) if he still had the magic inside and he said "Well DUHHH MOM...of course I do". I'm glad that he does and I'm going to hope that he is like me (I NEVER told my parents that I didn't believe) and we can have the magic every year.

Now that I'm not frantically working on those gifts I can relax and work on the Chazman's gifts. Yes, I am making him some little gifts and I am going to be working my butt off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get them all done because Thursday starts his Christmas break. He doesn't know that I'm making them. He asked me about a month ago if I thought I could make some of the little VooDoo string dolls that are popular. I told him that I probably could and would try as soon as we got through Christmas. He looked kinda sad faced but said alright. BOY...is he ever going to be surprised!!! I made one today and WOW it is time consuming but boy oh boy was it ever fun. I think I have a feline soul in me somewhere because I swanee I was purring like a kitten playing with that string!! ^_^   I already have several designs my muse has thrown at me to make that she knows the Chazman really wants. (yeah...she says that but I know she was just ease dropping when he and I were talking about them..hehe)  There's going to be a witch doctor....a one eyed monster, a googlie eyed monster, a vampire, a mohawk wearing warrior, and hopefully a cousin to Beetlejuice. Of course I won't call my little creatures VooDoo...they will be WhoDoo, as in Who Doo you be? ^_^  Here's the first little string guy.....be warned...he's NEKKID!! Hmmmmm...seems my characters like to run around the studio nekkid a good bit. Oh well.....keeps my muse hidden!!



Not to bad for my first one ever. I even gave him blue eyes like the Chazman. HA!! I'm hoping that I get them all finished before Thursday and get their own little boxes houses made and under the tree. I can't wait to see his little eyes light up when he opens his gifts Christmas eve from us.

I want to let all of you know that I am offering a 25% discount on purchases made in my Etsy shop...good through the 22nd. Just use code 2SANTABAG at check out to get it. Feel free to share the code with family, friends, neighbors, strangers, everyone..HAHA!!

Until next time............Hugs,
Regi


Oh yes...I'm working on two more Santa pieces too. I need to get my rump in gear dears!!!