Eat, drink and be merry

the rest of that quote says "for tomorrow we die!" A bit excessive for this time of year but the sentiment is that we should enjoy life while we can!! I certainly try to do that!

For us the seasonal festivities started a couple of days ago with dinner out with very adult....not....friends at a fav place of ours The Dysart Arms in Bunbury in the lovely Cheshire countryside.

 I am done with Christmas craft makes, Christmas cooking takes over now (which I actually enjoy and look on as another creative outlet) so this is going to be my final blog post of 2011 as family stuff starts tomorrow and we are heading to a friends in Suffolk for New Year.

See you in 2012!

 So, this little forest of felt trees is my final offering for the year......I made them for friends and most now seem to have reached their destinations so I can share them!

 I kept this one for myself and made the cream one to go with it!

So, as it pours with rain outside and I head to the kitchen I will wish you and yours a 

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 

from me and mine!

Ho, Ho and Ho

 are my SPIRITS OF CHRISTMAS PAST here to bring you 

SOLSTICE GREETINGS on this MIDWINTER'S DAY!

 they are also here just in case you thought I'd gone too conventional Christmas!

 With a slight wink towards The Day of the Dead my chaps have milagros stitched around their Santa hats!

 

HAPPY SOLSTICE! 

the days just get longer from now on:)

Just had to share

I saw this on TERRI WINDLINGS BLOG this morning and just had to share it!

 It is the story of pieces of book art appearing in Scottish libraries and other literary associated sites......read the story HERE

It is a lovely story and I ADORE the art pieces!

I hate sewing!

 Quite a while ago my friend TRACY suggested that we do something different and make some sewn Santas.

So, off we went and bought fabrics etc which we then put into a cupboard and forgot about .....until last week when we decided it was time to get them made.

 .....mmmmm doesn't look much  like Santa yet!

 Here is Tracy ironing some part or other on day one of Santa making............little did we know what went into toy making.............day one and no where near finished!

 So, today while it was doing this outside we determined to get the thing finished..........

 .....with the help of many of these we set to...............

This is what mine looked like at the start of today...........

 .......during the day I came to hate this Santa.........I wasn't over keen before we started today having had enough on the first day.........at one point he ended up thrown across the floor (sorry about fizzy pic)

 .....and with a needle stuck in his head...........not really his fault, more the crap instructions in the Tilda book we were working from...........so vague as to be of little use! 

I ended up making it up as I went along!

 Anyway after much perseverance he is finally finished and I am so glad it is done......

NEVER AGAIN am I going to make another!

I hated dressmaking at school.....I am old enough that at school (girls only grammar school) I was made to take sewing cos I was a girl even though I HATED it and making this made me remember those days!

 

So here he is my one and only TILDA SANTA!

Meet Frosty.......

and his mate............Frosty!

 I have to say I am loving having the extra time to make more stuff and these were great fun!

 Somehow this Frosty managed to end up with a slightly birdy-looking face!

 The theme on THREE MUSES today is 'TIS THE SEASON...............and apparently it might be the season for snow for a lot of us later this week bbbbbbrrrrrr!!

Credit where it's due.......the torn paper as snow was not my idea.....I saw it on  

WILLY ANDERSONS BLOG

Even..........

scary little skeleton babies like to wait for Santa!

Well, in my world they do!

I've been out junk shopping a few times recently and on one trip found this old first aid tin.....when I opened it I realised it would make a great alternative to a configuration box! I also bought an old green metal funnel, a Santa head Christmas ornament and a heart with bells (which I didn't end up using)

From this "stuff"plus some other "stuff" I already had lying around came this.......

..my "found" version of a configuration box!

 Added the Santa head to the inside of the tin lid.....it fitted like it was made for it!

 Painted a small porcelain doll to look skeleton-y.......added a Santa hat.....aka a metal piping nozzle.... and here she sits waiting for Santa

Three plastic cherubs got a paint job..................

 ........a metal moose wishes everyone.......

.....MERRY CHRISTMAS....

..with bells on his antlers

 The funnel became a Christmas tree with rusty star and a screw head..................

 ......a partridge in a pear tree???....a small bird cookie cutter....

 Still waiting and wishing....................

 I saw that the challenge on SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW is to show something with depth.....I hope this might count!

As my husband said when I sent him a pic of this .....a weirdo Merry Christmas to you too!

Merry Christmas

from the ALTERED ALICE team! 

Not surprisingly this close to Christmas the theme on Altered Alice this month is CHRISTMAS!

As inspiration we are offering the Lewis Carroll Memorial window in the

Daniell Chapel in Daresbury, Cheshire....these are some of the pics I took when visiting a while ago.

 For my Christmas piece I have made an

ALICE IN CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND 

snow globe!

 I found the snow globe in Hobbycraft........it's quite a clever thing, there is a slot in the centre that can be used for photos or in this case a couple of small Alice themed scenes!

Madame Chatelaine goes steampunk

This is a piece I've been working on for a couple of weeks......it started out as an old doll with a fabric body and ceramic head, hands and feet.....I added the clay twist thing on her head...not really sure why, just liked it!

 Peering out through a giant lens.....poor thing lived before single eye glasses were invented

 A spare hangs in front from an old brass curtain ring.....just in case

 she stands on an old meccano wheel............................

 unfortunately she did NOT want to stand up straight so she had a metal pole inserted in a very undignified place.....that'll teach her!

 like every good housekeeper she has a big heart and her CHATELAINE with her scissors and key to the pantry, her watch and her teaspoon

 extra stitching added around the arm and leg seams.......just for fun!

So was born

STEAMPUNK MADAME CHATELAINE!