ALL OVER THE MAP, JUST LIKE SANTA...

My Christmas crafting has been all over the map just like Santa on Christmas Eve!  I now know why he has elves (plural) and not just one elf.  I am on the crafting countdown of trying to get everything finished and wrapped.  I had a lot of special requests by family members this year and I have tried my very best to oblige.  Some things I have thoroughly enjoyed making and somethings, not so much. 

I have a person on my gift list that LOVES pink.  She has also been after me to make her a statement style necklace and I felt I had put her off long enough.  I am not so much of a pink kind of girl and I really had to channel my inner pink three year old princess on this one, in other words, I had to dig deep!  I started with a pink crochet sweater that I recycled into three gifts for the passionate about pink person...

I know, some of you pink gals are yelling "NOOOooooo!" as you see the scissors coming at that sweater, too late...

I used the outside of the sweater to make the exterior of a hobo bag, using the inner sweater lining for forming some of the flower embellishments...

More sweater bits formed flowers or embellished the necklace...

And a tiny bit of the pink crochet embellish the front of this little notebook cover...

My daughter laughed when she saw these and said the only thing that would have made those perfect for the recipient was to bedazzle and add a feather boa!  She is right, this person is over the top and she will love these over the top accessories.

I also made my girls hobo bags using modern print fabrics and the ever popular bird theme.  I bought a super easy sewing pattern but had to alter it just a bit to get exactly what I wanted, the bag had a seam down the front and back and I did not like the seam down the front.  I did the embroidery and applique before sewing these fully lined bags, they even have a cute cell phone pocket inside...

I still had a little bit of fabric left from the purses so I made them some accessories with the scraps.  Monogrammed, fully lined zipper makeup bags, mini notebook covers, and (my favorite) soft sculptured bird key chains...

I loved working on all these!

I also had some requests for wall art.  This is a love/hate project that is yet to be complete.  Loved working on this lacquer and bees wax collage for my sweet grand girls room...

Her new bedding has birdies on it and I think this will be adorable in her room...

I still have to frame it.

My girls wanted some contemporary art pieces for their homes and I tried, I really, really, really, really tried, pinkie swear I did.  (I hated working on these!)  First I tried a small canvas with paint, oil sticks, and bees wax, these love birds did not turn out like I planned...

Something for the Ooops pile!

 OK, second try, paint, stamps, ink, hand painted silk, bees wax...

Liked the background but the wax made the silk transparent and I did not like the under design showing through, something else for the Ooops pile!

Third time has got to be a charm right?  WRONG!  Fabric collage, hand stamped fabric, sewing, wallpaper, bees wax and we have yet another Ooops pile item...

I forgot to back the bird and it became transparent after the wax application and the oil stick shading on the wallpaper bits slid off in the waxing process, I put a photo in it anyway but it will probably never see the light of day, at least the kids are cute!

Bigger is supposed to be better right?  Not sure on this one yet...

This is one of a pair of larger canvas' that I did a larger scale of the background that I did like and I just need to figure out the rest.  I know I will leave them bold and graphic I just need to figure out how I want to add the requested accent color.  I am going to play on paper before I touch the canvas.

Another larger canvas that I have textured and base coated, once dry I will be brave and touch my paint brush to it...

Who knows, I may end up with the biggest Ooops pile ever before this is over.

I could not leave out my sweet little grandson who is gaga over computers, IPhones or anything that has to do with electronics.  He is also fascinated by how things are made and the inner workings of circuit boards or mechanical parts so I did a technology themed piece of art for his room...

I used an old mother board from a computer and various other computer parts to make this high tech kid his own customized piece of art with a small canvas attached to it with a pop art version of his photo.   Handy Hubby is working a little light sensitive mini solar panel that will make the little plastic fan turn when he turns on the light.

There was a silver computer part that was shaped exactly like an IPhone and I thought it would be neat to make it into one.  I snagged a photo of an IPhone off the net and printed to scale on high gloss photo paper, I had to trim it a little to make it fit inside the part.  I then covered the photo with a piece of acetate and it looks like a real IPhone screen.  The part is mounted to the edge of the canvas and stands out from it.  

He will love it and I loved working on this one!

I gathered photos for customized mouse pads for the big guys in the family.  Made a scrapbook for each grand.  Used the photo CD from the scrapbooks to make a DVD set to music for the grands parents.  Made my dad a mini gift photo/quote book on Blurb, it arrived today and I am impressed with their printing and binding.  And just to keep my sanity I worked on a little something for myself...

I figured out why this was all so hard and not because I was just one elf but because I was doing something out of my element and skill set.  I did give it a try.  I will complete each canvas but I won't wrap or officially give them as gifts, I'll let the girls look at them as see if they want them or not.  I am not a modern girl and creating with a modern style is just not me.  Give me vintage, tattered, and layered any day!

Did you do any Christmas crafting?  What did you make?  Did it turn out like you planned?

Well, it's time for this elf to get herself back into the workshop!  I'll let you know how it goes, success or failure.

Have a merry day!