ON TOP OF THE WORLD

It's hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone.  Thank goodness for a little time away to celebrate the Lord's birth with family and friends.  We left on Christmas Eve to drive to Eastern Washington  where we spent time with my family.  It was great to see everyone.  My Father is suffering from dementia and it is very difficult to see how far downhill he has gone but my Mom is doing a great job as his sole caregiver.  The weather was cold and sunny...beautiful...I love it when the sky is so blue.  My guys had a really fun time on the day after Christmas.  They were able to go with my brother-in-law and nephew to ski at Schweitzer Basin.  The pictures are...well, amazing...They look as if they are...on top of the world. 

My sister and I stayed behind to hang out with our Mom and have a little girl time.  It was so strange at dinner time because it was just my Mom, Dad, Sister and Me... We haven't done that it in...lets see...23 years!  It was good to be with family.  Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season and looking forward to 2010.  I have lots of great paintings planned for spring and look forward to sharing ideas with you. 

Blessings,

Meagan

A PAPER SNOWFLAKE TUTORIAL

Hello again!

I thought I would share a tutorial on making these great paper snowflakes.  They take a little time but they are so beautiful when they are done.  Hope you have fun making them!  So here we go...

Supplies:

Six sheets of 12" X 12" decorative paper.  3 each of 2 designs that coordinate.

Metal ruler

Xacto knife

Something to cut on.

1 sheet of a heavier weight paper to make a template

Stapler

Directions:

Start out by drawing this template onto a heavier piece of paper, I used a tag board.  You can see how the lines don't completely connect at the corners...this is important.  Unfortunately I can't remember the exact dimentions of each row.  It's a little bit wider than 1" maybe 1 1/4".  Once you get the lines drawn on you can cut them open with an xacto knife.  Be sure to have a good cutting surface below the paper.

Once you have transfered the lines onto your decorative paper and cut them you will need your stapler to attach the ends like is shown in the picture above.  Each section will go in the opposite direction like you see in the picture below.

Once you get the sections completed you will attach 3 together to make each half.  Make sure to rotate your colors so every other section is a different paper as shown below.

Attach sections with your stapler in the middle and center points.

Once you get the halves made you can attach the 2 halves to make a whole snowflake.

These are quite large and very pretty.  We hung ours with fishing line.

Have fun!

Meagan

VINTAGE CHRISTMAS

Hello,

December is coming and going way faster than I had planned!  This has been a VERRRYY BUSY month...which I'm sure is true for all of you also.  We ended November with hosting Thanksgiving and it was such a fun day.  Then the next weekend was the Bainbridge Island Studio Tour.  I have to tell you how amazing it was!  I had such a great time and was able to talk to so many interesting people.  This was my second Stuio Tour and there were lots of repeat customers from the summer tour, and such positive feedback on my work.  Thanks to all of you that have supported me in my art.  I came away from that event feeling totally encouraged and inspired.  Here is a little peek at my booth at the Studio Tour.

The picture at the top was from a photo that I took at the Seabold Vintage Market last summer.  I was able to get several photos there that were my inspirations for my Christmas paintings this year. 

"Vintage Christmas"

"Santa's Visit"

Now I have to put some real effort into getting ready for Christmas myself!   We are really scaling back this year so that should help it to not be too overwhelming.  Our church is doing something called "The Advent Conspiracy" and I am all on board with it.  If you get a chance, check out the link...it will change the way you think about Christmas.

Here's to your Christmas season being filled with wonder and excitement.  I hope that you find yourself spending quality time with the ones you love and finding an opportunity to help others with the abundance we have.

Blessings,

Meagan