The 'After' Christmas

I absolutely hate to see the Christmas Holidays end. I love having all of my kids here and having the husband home. 

Our kids from left to right: Anna 9, Becky 25, Audrey 28 (she's our handicapped daughter), Cristi 31, TJ 32, and Tate 9 (making his funny face with his fart blaster! Oh my gosh, what was I thinking?!!!!)

I love the relaxing days after Christmas. It's such a busy time for all of us before the actual holidays and, as I get older, I'm just not able to accomplish what I used to. But putting up my feet afterwards....it's the best!

I'm looking forward to the new year. I'm making  a few changes in my shop. Adding some new items and getting rid of old inventory that hasn't moved. My family is always willing to take my 'left overs'!

I worked on a few last minute pieces and wanted to share these guys with you.

 They are from ORP (Old Road Primitives). Kim's patterns are SEW easy to read and make and these guys were fun to share with my family members.

My husband loves to shop clearance and bought me a few things from our local Sam's Club that I can use in my crafts. I now have in my possession some lovely reels of ribbons and these trims that I can use with various designs I make.

 Aren't these great? Ideas are whirling inside my head!

I'm keeping my Winter Village scene up through January. I have to climb a ladder to get this all up. Wish I could take a decent pic of it for you so you could see it lighted. Blues in the background and the houses and stores are lighted with whites and colors. This is my family's fav décor of Christmas!

The weather here is wonderful as you can see in my pic.

We're in the low 70's. Hoping it continues so I can start my wood cutting. Kids won't be back in school for another week so I'll enjoy it all while I can.

Hoping your Christmas was pleasant and memorable and the 'after' provides you with some time to put your feet up.

Stay Tuned!

}}Hugs{{
Vicky

 

Prepping & Finishing

I've been busy preparing for the Holidays. I'm nearly finished with the purchasing of gifts. I've actually shopped more on the internet this year than in the past years. I get so excited to see my packages arriving via USPS and UPS. Keeping things hidden from curious eyes is the hard part. Empty suitcases come in handy!

 I finished the last of my 'Made To Orders' and that felt good. My shop is still open until next week. I'm offering a 30 % coupon for purchase of $15.00 or more. Still have some great items to look over (169 items in my inventory right now, excluding custom orders). Stop by HERE to take a look!

Finished up some of these pieces for our gift baskets. Last year we were so sick with a viral flu that we were unable to do much. I didn't even send out Christmas cards....which I still haven't done that yet either.

You can't see the glitter on these too well but they sure are shiny!

These 2 guys are spin offs from my other elf Make-Dos.

This is a replica of a cheese box that I made. I'm going to start selling wood plaques, etc. this next year for the decorative painter. We'll see if that's a wise decision. It sure is an easy one for me.

I have a few more personal gifts that I need to finish and I can't show them on here cause you never know who might be watching! It's those 'curious' eyes I'm wary of!

Thought I'd leave you with our Florida version of the song 'Winter Wonderland'. It's chilly here and has been for the last several days but at least it's not white!

HAHA!!'

}}Hugs{{
Vicky



Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Stay Safe in your travels and enjoy your families and friends.

}}Hugs{{
Vicky



Clearing the Table!

Oh, I didn't mean to let so much time pass before posting again. I've been clearing off my sewing table and FINALLY finished the last piece. I'm busy with eyes, and accessories but DO see the light at the end of a very long tunnel!

 2x4 Snowmen are the EASIEST to make. I cut some of these out and painted them with a small group of gals.

This is Jimmy Jingle and he is newly listed in my Etsy shop!

Snow Belle and her Polar Bear is new, too!

This is one of my gourds that I just finished. Pretty easy pattern that I designed. I think I might like painting on gourds as I like the smooth surface.

Ornaments! These are listed in my shop!

These are some new ornaments but I don't think I'm going to list them. They're great for last minute gifts and are easily mailed.

These turned out really cute! Even my husband liked them! Their hats are actually ornaments themselves. I spotted them at Walmart and my imagination took off! Again, I'm not going to list them....just save in case I need a quick gift.You can find my Etsy mini on my right sidebar if you'd like to see more of the things I've listed.

I have a couple of things left on my painting table but they're for gifts. I'm done sewing until next year......I think I am anyway!!

We've been a bit cool here the last few days. The kids and husband are recovering from nasty colds. I think we'll be back to normal for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to family and friends and the big 'FEAST'.

Wishing you warm feet in our cooler temps!

}}Hugs{{
Vicky

 



My Pin Keep Swap!

It finally feels like FALL here....well, the Florida version anyway! Nice and cool in the mornings and warming up (sometimes TOO warm!) in the afternoon.

I participated in Wendy's Pin Keep Swap over at RAVENWOOD WHIMZIES . Heather and I were signed up as Swap partners and I got my package in on Wednesday.

It was an early Christmas as she had each item wrapped in bright Christmas paper!

I always let me kids help unwrap so waited for them to come home from school. It helps them to appreciate hand made good from others, too.  You should've heard them when they unwrapped this guy!

SOOOOOO cute and smelled wonderful!

Heather also included a lovely Prim stocking......

An Oatmeal Raisin Cookie candle....YUM!!!!

....and a wonderful jar of old buttons!!

I just LOVE old buttons!!

Thank you SO much Heather for the wonderful swap! I now have a new cyber friend thanks to Wendy!

You can see Heather HERE at thecountryschoolmarm and she'll show you what I gave her!

Stay Tuned!

}}Hugs{{
Vicky

 



New items!

Our Esty Team is having another wonderful Celebration! I made 4 new items to go along with it.

Santa! Pattern adapted from Chestnut Junction

Chris Mouse and his Candy Cane! Pattern adapted from The Olde Country Cupboard.

"A Snowman will melt your Heart". I don't remember where this pattern came from. I've had it a really long time but I'm pretty sure it's not one of my originals. Let me know if you recognize it.

Elvin the Elf. Adapted from a pattern by The Olde Country Cupboard.

If you'd like to see more items from the Team, just go to ETSY and type in the search bar the letters BICOFG!

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I finished my Pumpkins. Saved some for the kid's Teachers. I don't have them listed.

I also finished these last 2 items.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/208510777/fall-seasonal-mini-word-blocks

https://www.etsy.com/listing/208511949/halloween-fall-pumpkin-and-black-cat

I designed the Cat and Pumpkin for my 8-11 year old girls that I teach twice a month on Wednesdays. They are like Girl Scouts but our group is called Activity Day Girls. They are so cute and LOVE to paint with me! They are quite talented, too, so that makes it even more fun to see their pieces turn out so well! I love to teach kids!

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It's been beautiful here on the lake! The water has come up some but we're back in a dry spell again. We need consistent rain and Mother Nature is not so giving in the cooler months. Our local Yacht Club held their annual Sailboat Regatta on Saturday and they came in front of our place.

 

The weather has been gorgeous with a nice breeze coming in. The water is getting cooler now so our swimming will come to an end soon.

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Woke up this a.m. to a dead battery in my Van. Typical Monday.

Hope you're having a better start!

Stay Tuned!

}}Hugs{{
Vicky

 



Something New for me.....Gourds

I've been shopping Estate sales lately. A friend of mine got me involved in an organization that helps families sell off what their dearly departed has left behind. You'd be surprised at how many people have gourds in their homes!

This is my small selection. I've been wanting to 'play' with gourds for awhile now. I love the different characteristics they have and when I look at them, my imagination takes off. I've got plenty of patterns that I can apply to these but I took some time to look up what Etsy had to offer.

Here are just a few shops that sell patterns that I liked.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaintingWithFriends

https://www.etsy.com/shop/appletreecottage

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Paintingonjars

https://www.etsy.com/shop/primchickpatterns

Here are some of the pictures I found in my Bing search that appealed to me.

Oh, there were more, lots more. I'm loving the look of this Snowman and the Santa in the first picture. I thought they'd be cute and fun to make for some family gifts.

So now I'm off to learn how to prep them for painting and remove those, what I assume to be seeds,  shaking around inside. If you have any suggestions or resources, could you let me know, please? My mind is always willing to be educated.

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I have to attend Career Days tomorrow at my Twin's Elementary school (they are 4th graders). They're excited for me to come and show my crafts and share my knowledge. 80 kids altogether: 2 different sessions (40 kids each). I may have to ask for your prayers!!

Stay tuned!!

}}Hugs{{
Vicky

 

Making Pumpkins

I'm actually making more than just Pumpkins. Christmas has found it's way to my table but I DARE not show you in fear that you'll throw something at me!! Those of us in Retail/Wholesale have to stay on top of things but it doesn't keep the public from disliking the 'rush' on the holidays. I, myself, don't particularly care to hear Christmas music before it's even Halloween, however, I do find myself buying it all!

I don't have a pattern to share with you for the pumpkins. You can find a Tutorial HERE from ORP (Old Road Primitives). Kim shares her Tutorials FREE with everyone and her patterns are MARVELOUS to work with!

 

I don't have to paint these as my husband's Aunt gave me some upholstery fabric, some type of chenille/velour. I don't really know but it works great for these little pumpkins.

I DO want to show you my leaves though and how easy it is to make them. You can apply these to all of your FALL crafts and even make them as large as you need.

My daughter brought over a pair of white denim jeans that were stained on the bottom cuffs. I can always use a bit of denim/canvas for Bunny ears, etc. but my intentions this time were for some leaves.

I ripped them apart.....

...and pulled off the pocket and buttons.

Fold over 4-5 inch strip of denim and draw a shape similar to the one I have.

Take them back to your painting table and WET them with water first then paint them with greens, browns, oranges, and yellows.

Make sure you add a bit of color to the other side as these will curl up around the edges making them a bit more natural looking.

I haven't finished my pumpkins, however you can see how easy it is to place them with a dab of hot glue. A stem and a nice FALL tag will finish these pumpkins. I'm going to add a little Mouse, too.

Sales are slow right now and that's given me some extra time that I've been able to enjoy.

}}Hugs{{

Vicky

 



FB Giveaway!!

Come and join me on my Facebook page, Paintspots and Splinters! I'm having a Giveaway!

 Elvira and Winthrop

(pattern by Soft in the Head)

Sign up ONLY on my Facebook. Click on the link HERE or find my badge on the right sidebar and click on it to find the pictures above. Leave me a comment and give me a 'like' if you haven't already.

Ends Oct. 1,Wednesday. Open to US residents only, please.

}}Hugs{{
Vicky