Crafting and the new year

Its been a while! I think I burned out on trying to blog 6 days a week, and then my kids hit some major transitions that needed more of my attention... and before I knew it, the gap had widened so far that it was hard to return.

I wasn't idle during those quiet months and the holidays had me crafting just for the joy of it!



As my son is a ballet dancer, we have a collection of over 25 nutcrackers since everyone seems to believe that its the perfect gift. I decided to give it my own spin this year and made a Fighting Pickle nutcracker! UNCSA has no sports teams, so the mascot has always been tongue in cheek.



We love to make our own ornaments for the tree. I still have the paper stars the kids colored with crayon back when they were toddlers. These felt stars were a blast to create and I anticipate doing a whole lot more in coming years. My daughter has especially taken to embroidery and is now crafting plushie mustaches!

The holidays are over and with the new year, I have new goals. I'm glad to be back, and I intend to keep my posting to 3 times a week. Hopefully this will spell success for my longevity. Thanks for hanging in there with me. :)

Failed project

I had been feverishly working on my entry to the Forbes Fabergé-Style Egg Contest. I was really liking the direction it was going, which looks soooo amazing in person. (I really need to learn how to take better photos!)

I had planned to line the inside with fabric, and the bottom half was going to hold a butterfly perched on a flower - both dipped in resin.




I found out about the contest late, however, so I was working right up until the deadline. Unfortunately, my epoxy resin coating the egg itself never totally cured, leaving it sticky and impossible to work with thereafter. My egg entry was ruined, and would need to be tossed. With no time to make another, I was devastated!

I've had my fair share of mishaps in my art career, but for some reason this loss hit me particularly hard. :( I had been so excited about getting this egg into the contest! I really thought I had something unique to offer.



I'll probably make another go at it again at a later date. I was too happy with it to dump it completely. I have other projects with approaching deadlines, however, so I'm going to focus my energies there for a while.