You're KILLIN' me smalls! December mojo blues.

Here we go again.
I don't know what it is about December that just SUCKS the energy out of the right side of my brain- is that the creative side?
Whatever, I don't have the time to research it on the interwebs.
Just imagine a big empty cavern where all creative brain cells used to reside.

For the last week I've been shuffling paper around- the scrap corner is full of messy piles as I try to find materials that will somehow form themselves into an idea.
And that's the problem.
I'm sick of everything I'm making right now!
I SEE where I'm going wrong with my work- the bland color combos, the unbalanced design, the lack of crisp technical skills.
ARGH!
In one momentary respite, I made this:

A family tradition- get the craziest patterned paper you can find and wrap the front door. I found this AWESOME triangle and snowflakes print at TJ Maxx for 3 bucks. The wreath came together in about 2 hours- I got all OCD about the ribbons and wrapped it 6 times before I was ok with the result. Everything is attached to the foam wreath form with pins- I want to use all these materials again on a future project.
Materials: Foam wreath form, cheesecloth, yarn ribbon ball from Anthropologie (I got it for free with my purchase of a couple of ornaments- it's awesome), glitter pine cones and ball picks from Michael's, silver glitter reindeer from dollar store, 2 large feathers from ??? found them while "shopping my stash", large red/white twine from target dollar bin, gold leaf and ball ribbon from Etsy.

I'm insanely proud of it.
Perhaps I need to go 3d for a while and stay off scrapping till I get percolating again.
You know what makes it SOOO much worst?
I see the kick-ass work others are making and it makes me feel even MORE dull and obvious.
Comparison truly is the enemy of happiness!

My Mom has a saying in spanish that is making sense feeling right now:
Al que no quiere caldo se le dan tres tazas.
Those who don't want broth get three servings.
Which is my life right now- everything I didn't want is happening 3 times over.
Cavity? Sorry chick you need a ROOT CANAL. Another one.
Husband working during the holidays? New job has him 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.
Working furiously to keep up with deadlines? NO NEW IDEAS FOR YOU!

I think I'm going to spring for a class at this point.
It's obvious that I've reached a creative plateau and need community and the exchange of ideas to help me spark up the thought machine.

If you have suggestions for a good class or method to get your creative juices flowing please post a comment- I am willing to try almost anything at this point.

This little guy- in my brain! Stat!

Michelle

Wreath Alchemy! Christmas goes Gauche

I have been remiss.
Did you know I write for the Gauche Alchemy design team blog?
Probably not, I never mention it.
Can I offer up a crap excuse?
I have an incredibly hard time writing about other people's projects!
Not because the projects aren't fabulous but because they always are!
It takes me a while to come up with different ways to say- "This is beyond awesome! Look what my fellow team member did- OMG she's the CHEESE!"
(That last part because I really, really love cheese)
But I will change my ways as of now.
Yesterday I posted my 2011 wreath.
This one.

Which came from this Martha Stewart kit:

I tried SO HARD to make mine look like Martha's!!!
EK Success holiday craft kits do not come with detailed step by step instructions (their instructions are just like Ikea ones- all drawings and NO SENSE) so I used up a lot of the large grain glitter on a few leaves and the result was quite fug.
After much raving over my ineptness, I broke out the corrugated board, my fave mists and the music paper from the Gauche Alchemy Bare Nekkid paper kit (FAVE KIT EVER!) and went to town.
The Martha floral tape also killed my joy for a few days. The leaves kept falling off the freaking form! I was ready to drop kick the entire thing out the window.  So I declared a truce, used red punchinella, some hot glue and thusly preserved what was left of my sanity.

Glitter floral items all came from the Michael's clearance table (20 cents each- woohoo!). I used an ancient Marvy Uchida corrugator to alter some very shiny Anna Griffin paper from the Carmen collection and Mister Huey mists in School House and Plumb Thumb.

It is December 15th. I haven't started a single "hand made" Christmas gift, cooked a single holiday recipe or made the cards I was going to send. I am not Martha Stewart. I will never be Martha Stewart- please give me a moment to grieve for my broken delusions of grandeur.
pausing
pausing

Chrissy's Victorian rosette wreath.

Fellow Gauche gals Cheryl and Christina have made some GORGEOUS wreaths. I would post them here but then what incentive would you have to go there? Ok 1 sneak!!!

• Cheryl made a beautiful wreath using chocolates (I KNOW!!), an old book, some twine and some Gauche alchemy woodgrain punchinella. She also has a fantastic step y step video.

• Christina's gorgeous wreath using an old romance novel, some floral items from Hobby Lobby and hundreds of hand cut and rolled florettes will blow you away. Check it out here on the 23rd- don't worry- I will post a reminder- it really is that good!

Lola helped us wrap the front door in kraft paper- she got a kick out of the wreath and it was all I could do to keep her from destroying it entirely.

Gnarly ribbon!

Adding the last flower to the wreath- she was so happy to help!

MuChoS SmOoChEs!
Michelle

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! From the Martinez-Hernandez Family!

Here is my second to last Christmas project. My cards are still sitting on my desk but you bet they WILL be sent! AND they will say Merry Christmas 2010- by golly!!!!

Natural light on white wall

I've been feeling mighty guilty about all the garbage leaving this house from day to day. Here's one upcycle idea- I used up 8 EIGHT shopping bags for this wreath! Great way to get rid of those paper bags collected during your Christmas shopping spree...

With flash on orange wall
Huge difference no?

I got this wreath idea  from a craft blog late one night. I thought I had saved the address- nope! That wreath was done with canvas, brown bags and jute. I don't own a fancy cutting machine so bags and a 2 inch EK Success slim punch were used.



It took 3 days of punching and hot gluing the rolled up circles to the wreath base- WAY too much work but I love how it's different from traditional Christmas wreaths.  The peace dove comes from a random card. Probably needs more bling on the other side right? Maybe next year...

 I got the Poinsettias at Michael's for 17 cents each- wish I had gotten more! I used up all the ones I bought- how did I resist getting bagsfuls????  Miss Lola had me distracted- she kept grabbing them and trying to stab her eye out with the stick end.

Today I will spend the day wrapping gifts and trying to get my new star and cloud punches from 123stitch.com outta hock (the post office) wish me luck- the post men are ANGRY this time of year.

Miss Lola in leopard spots- rowr! 

Merry Christmas everybody!
Happy New Year!
M.