Finding some balance

What have I been up to ? Trying to find balance in my days with a new puppy, but after almost two weeks we are really getting somewhere. Cooper hangs out with me while I work in my studio and that's where I have been a lot lately. I am involved in 4 Christmas swaps at the moment, yep 4 and so I have been busy making gifts.

I can show you the things I have for my Secret Santa Scanvenger Swap at Etsy Cottage Style, because, well, it's a secret, we don't know who our partners are. It's been such fun posting pictures of what we are sending yet we don't know who will recieve it until it arrives on our doorstep.

For the Scavenger Swap we were to do this:
Make or buy,
Something with red and green on it (my little gift tags)
Something with the word snow on it (a collage wall hanging)
Something with an Angel on it (my angel ornament)
Something oh so Shabby Cottage Style (pink chenille heart with vintage pin)
Something in your favorite media (Altered notebook)
I just love this idea, thanks to Debbie for hosting this swap :)

The Angel is a vintage clip art which I glued to a popsicle stick, then sewed and glued some skirts of tuile and vintage doily. I found the little wings in a craft shop and thought they were adorable. Her arms are attached with brads, and she can be hung on a tree or used as a tree topper for a small tree.

I love to cover and alter note books or journals, and this one was no exception. This vintage Angel is beautiful and she could even be used for Valentines too. I thought this notebook could really be used all year round. You can find the free Angel image at my friend Carolyn's blog Magpie Pixie

Next I want to share with you this beautiful tussie mussie I have made for another of the swaps. I won't say which one incase the recipient is around LOL. I have wanted to make another tussie mussie for ages now. The first one i ever made was covered in fabric, but this one is paper. I made it on one of the hard paper mache cones and filled it with bits of vintage Christmas decorations I got last year at the thrift shop. I just love how it turned out.

I have no idea why my photos always looks so dark on my blog, I even brightened them. Below is the full length. The pearls on the tussie mussie are all vintage earrings, I try to pick some up whenever I am thrift shopping, they come in so useful.

I still have some more gifts to make, and then I would love to make a tussie mussie for my own home, and also rev up my sewing machine to make more stockings and hopefully a Santa :) I just LOVE Santa.

And on that note, here is a Vintage Santa image for you to use in your Christmas projects. Just click on the picture and save as from the page that opens.