The Tree Is Up

We had a lovely Thanksgiving! I hope you did too. My little guy and I went to see Harry Potter. LOVED it! I did NOT do any shopping. It was such a relief to enjoy family instead of fight the Black Friday crowds. I'm going to be making a lot of homemade gifts this year. I have most of my Christmas decor up. I have added Holiday items to my shop with a few more to come. Look for sneak peeks of my Joli Paquet kit soon! Have a great cyber Monday!

The Glitter is Out

Photo and Tree by CINDY

There is an absolutely adorable tutorial over at Joli Paquet. Cindy made this cute tree. Be sure to go over to the Joli Pauet blog and say hi!

I have also been working on new tags. You can find them in my shop. I will be adding more and more Holiday things. My holiday gift wrappings this year are inspired by a few of my favorite things: craft paper, soft vintage lace, and pine cones! I think my new tags coordinate perfectly. I have more tags and labels to come!

New Camera

My old camera was giving me serious grief. It took tons of adjusting, extra lighting, and then I had to photoshop the heck out of any pics I was taking.If something was moving, forget about it! After receiving many e-mails and feedback saying how much the item they purchased from my shop was so much better than the picture, I broke down and bought a new one. I got a Kodak Z981 and a tripod. I am so happy! This is going to save me soooo much time. These pictures were straight out of the camera. Its seriously ridiculous how much easier this makes work for me. Why didn't I do it sooner! Many new pictures to follow!

Mercury Glass Ornament

Supplies:
Clear glass ornament
Black spray paint
Hot glue gun
Assorted ribbons and embellishments
Self adhesive gems
Adirondack Alcohol Ink Mixatives

Adirondack Alcohol Ink Applicator

Adirondack Alcohol Blending solution

Adirondack Alcohol Inks (dark colors are best)

It’s only seven weeks until Christmas! Can you believe it? I really love aged and worn mercury glass. I like to scatter it throughout my home for the holidays. Unfortunately the real stuff in expensive and hard to find. So I found a way to make my own. You could use this technique for any glass surface: candle holders, frames, vases, and plates. I think it would make a great gift too.
1. Take off top of ornament. Using black spray paint gently make several short sprays into ornament.(best to do outside) Twist, turn, and shake ornament to move paint around in swirl patterns before it dries. You do not have to cover the whole inside. Irregular splotches are good. Let dry. This does not take long.

2. Stick a pencil, paint brush, or other object into ornament to have something to hold onto. Drop small dots of the Alcohol ink onto felt pad on ink applicator. Just use a random pattern using two darker colors of alcohol ink. Add a small amount of Alcohol ink blender.

3.Dab applicator onto ornament until you get the coverage you want. Let dry.

4. Use a new piece of felt and repeat step 2 with silver or gold alcohol ink mixative. Do not add as much alcohol blender. Dab onto ornament leaving spots blank for the black to show through. Make sure you dab NOT twist. Also be sure not to touch it with bare hands or it will leave a fingerprint. Let dry. Add more if necessary.

5. Add ribbon to the topper using hot glue. Apply self adhesive gem stones on each side. Tie some ribbon through the hanger. Embellish with tiny ornaments or buttons.



Don’t forget to send an email to cerri @ thelittlepinkstudio.com by Sunday the 14th if you want to be in the stocking swap! And if you try out our tutorials we would love to see what you made. You can post a picture in our Flickr Group.

Holidays With Joli Paquet

Its time for the Holiday Joli Paquet again! I'm so excited. We have all been working hard to bring you great tutorials and sweet kits for this year. We are also doing a Vintage Stocking Swap. Want to know how to join? Send an email to cerri @ thelittlepinkstudio.com by Sunday the 14th answering some questions. More info here. Tomorrow I will be doing a tutorial on how to make faux Mercury glass ornaments so be sure to come back! You won't believe how easy it is.

Joli Paquet Tutorial

Photo courtesy Cindy
Time to think of Thanksgiving! Here is a lovely place stetting idea using scrapbook supplies by Cindy!

More Wicked Tutorials

Photo courtesy of Cerri

Photo courtesy of Kelly

We have more wickedly cute tutorials over at Joli Paquet! Go check them out!

Kits

Halloween Kits go on sale in my Etsy shop first thing tomorrow. They are ready to ship. Don't forget to go check out the other Joli Paquet kits!

Joli Paquet Kits

COTTAGE BOO SIGN

SPOOKY MINI WREATH

Here is the preview for my Joli Pauqet kits. I hope you like them. They will be in my SHOP this Thursday. I have a limited quantity on the wreath. Once its gone its gone. Be sure to go see the other gals kits over at Joli Paquet! They are all spooktacular!

It's Getting Spooky Around Here

First here is my promised sneak peeks of my Joli Paquet kits. Come back Tuesday for the reveal! They go on sale October 14th.



I have revamped my Haunted Cupcake Cottage Kit from last year. You can pre-order it and it will ship October 16th. If you purchase my new Joli Halloween kits on the 14th I will ship them all together. I don't have many of them so snatch them up while you can!

Jeanne has made a tutorial for this very cool critter over at Joli Paquet. Be sure to go check it out!
Photo courtesy of Jeanne Szewczyk

I was honored to do an interview with Factory Direct Crafts. It was lots of fun! Someone also told me about the blog Martha Moments. They called me the Halloween Priestess Extraordinaire. So funny! Both are great websites you should go see.

I Love Pumpkins

I LOVE LOVE LOVE pumpkins! And apparently so do chickens! Come back Friday for a sneak peek at my Joli Pauqet Halloween kits.

A Little Halloween Curiosity

Joli Paquet is now back! I am up first for my tutorial. Its a spooky Plexiglas sign! Please grab a Joli Paquet button for your blog and pass on the news to everyone! We really want to spread the word about our crafty fun site. We have lots more frightening tutorials and kits to come! So check back often.

Family

Hi Y'all! I know its been forever. The truth is two weeks ago my 27 year old cousin died. Its been quite a shock and has shook up my family pretty badly. All I have wanted to do is spend time with my family and do the things we love. We have been baking, decorating for Fall, going to my brothers football games, watching my sister cheer, and spending lots of time on the phone with each other. Those are the things that matter the most. I am blessed to have two little brothers and two little sisters.This hard time has made me what to be closer to them.The above pic is of my siblings and me. Its a few years old. My youngest brother is way taller than me now! The next pic is my big boy Keegan when we went to pick out pumpkins.Pumpkins are one of my very favorite parts of fall! Speaking of Fall. Autumn Joli Paquet is just around the corner. Are you excited? I am! Hug the ones you love today!!!

Sorry!

I've been an awful blogger! I also owe a bunch of blog visits and e-mails. I'm sorry! I have been sick, my kiddo has been sick, now my hubby. We have had the worst cold. I just thought I would pop in and apologize and show you the Autumn banner I will be listing (when I get a little energy back) in my shop. Thank you all for the sweet e-mails and comments about being in BHG!