Make-over

We received two of these tins this past week at an event Avi and I attended. Unfortunately, and contrary to appearances, there were in fact no cookies inside. Instead, there were coffee cups that matched the tins and plain yellow saucers. Except, of course, the cups said "Coffee" on them.

Even though the cups were empty.

Anyway, while I am sure DHL is a wonderful company, I really didn't want a cookie tin emblazoned with their logo adorning my kitchen. Alcohol inks to the rescue! Sadly, covering up the portion of the tin I wanted to remain in its original state did not prevent the inks from bleeding into what should have been forbidden territory. My family (have I mentioned how much I love them?) thinks it looks "cool" this way.

I'm still considering the option of trying to remove the inks that bled down below the tape and seeing if I can get a clean, sharp line between the inked area and the yellow. Of course, there are so many other things to do, most likely I won't bother.

I wonder what I'll do with the second tin.

Forgot to Show You

I completely forgot to show you the card I made for Liat that was given to her during her trip in Poland. Her English teacher had called and asked parents to write a letter that could be given to the student at some point during the trip. Well, of course I don't just write plain old letters!

You won't be surprised to know that my favorite thing about this card is that it all started with a used "color catcher" - those sheets you put in the laundry so your dark colors don't bleed into the lights. I used one of those foam craft stamps (you can find them just about anywhere) and some pigment ink to stamp the shell. I used my sewing machine to stitch some of the lines above and below the shell, then embroidered and added beads according to my whim. It was fun to just forge ahead with no set plan and see how the project developed. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't show you all the sparkly threads and pretty beads I used, but at least you get an idea.

I have started the hat for my other nephew in Jerusalem, and bought the yarn to make his sister's scarf. Now I just need to settle on a pattern to use. She wants black and turquoise, so at first I thought about double knitting, but with the scarf for another of my niece's being a double knitting project, I decided maybe that wouldn't be a good plan. Now I'm thinking about using a multidirectional pattern and alternating between the two colors. We'll see!

Mark at Stamp A Mania told me that he will soon be sending out the kits for the design team members. I'm more than a little excited! I made two more cards today and have started a third. What I really ought to do is make two of each, so that I have one I can send to a friend or family member. I think I'll do that with the next card I start.

What a card

Here's a card I made the other day, using the Southwest set from Posh Impressions. The thing that was different for me was that I layered the stamped images on paper (in this case, a blue sky with clouds background paper and a strip of tan cardstock) instead of stamping directly on a glossy card. And you know how much I love it when I can sneak in some recycling: I stamped the images on the back of a glossy insert that came with one of my orders of Posh stamps! As one of the pirates in my favorite movie would say, "Now that's what you call ironic."

I have at least two more card ideas I am itching to get on paper, but first I need to finish polishing up the first installment of the Holocaust memoir I am translating. I need to send it to the client tomorrow, then get started on the next installment. Also on Thursday, I need to take Liat shopping for some things she needs for her trip to Poland (I can't believe she's leaving in less than a week!) and bake honey cakes for the Sukkot holiday. It's not exactly traditional, but for many years now I have baked two honey cakes for Rosh Hashanah, and two for Sukkot. One stays here, the other goes to my in-laws in Jerusalem.

I finished up the black London Beanie (did I already tell you that?) and have started an earflap hat. So far, so good on that one. I am curious to see how it turns out. Nothing too exciting about a black knitted hat, so unless I can get a photo of Kfir wearing it, don't expect to see it here. Just not worth the computer memory.

Scraplings Challenge

Over on Club Posh, the weekly challenge is to make scraplings with an ethnic/cultural theme. I had never heard of them before, but now I know that they are scraps of paper generally about 1.5" x 4". I think some people trim them off of a folded card so that the scrapling has a fold at the top, but I didn't do that.

I dabbed two colors of pigment ink onto a plastic plate (don't yet have one of those handy-dandy craft sheets), then spritzed it with glittery stuff (Perfect Pearls mixed with water). I put my scraplings into the resultant puddle until the cardstock soaked in some color. After it was dry, I stamped the African mask from the Posh African set (in black) and some grasses also by Posh (in pale green). I layered it on dark brown cardstock also spritzed with glittery stuff, then layered it onto some super-textured cardstock. I punched holes down the side and threaded in some cord that I had saved from the tag on a pair of jeans.

Feels good to get inky again! And this card is just in time for possible use as a birthday card. We've got a lot of those coming up in the next couple of months.

Feeling Crafty

About a week ago, Liat asked if I could make her something that would help her organize her earrings (the kind with the sheperd's crook, not the post kind). A recently purchased jewelry box had successfully corraled most of her earrings, just not the kind with the hook.

I immediately thought of this pink mesh that I saved (Avi was given a bunch of flowers that had the mesh wrapped around the outside of the florist's paper wrapper). But how to mount it so that she could hang her earrings? Liat mentioned that a friend had something that looked like a frame made of craft sticks, so I spent a desultory few minutes today trying to figure out how I could make that work. I quickly decided to see what I could find on the Internet.

I found this! Not only was it the perfect solution, but I loved the fact that she also used a recycled item. Not only did I already have a plain wooden frame (from IKEA) which I painted with acrylic paint, but I found the perfect thing to add as decoration. The colorful tag you see inside the frame is a piece of cloth that came with a pair of jeans Liat bought months ago. Maybe more. I saved it (of course I did), and one afternoon while watching me do art-type stuff in my crafts room, Liat pulled out the scrap of fabric from a drawer and asked if she could paint it with my Radiant Pearls (yes, I still have some, but they have started going bad, so I am gradually throwing them all away).

Over a few such afternoons, she had fun painting the tag, then gave it back to me when she had finished. I knew I would use it for something eventually, and luckily I found it today. She was delighted when she realized I had included it in her earring holder.

It felt great to do something crafty again.