Pretty little packages.. and our canvas winner!

 
It's 5 days until Christmas.. are you ready? I am a little behind this year, just now mailing off gifts to those who live far away.. but hopefully the post master will work his magic and deliver them in time for Christmas! I love making handmade gifts, but don't always have the time, so I wanted to share with you a couple of little secrets of making something semi-handmade but still have that "made with love touch."

This year, for some of my closest friends, I made both necklace's and leather bracelets. I purchased the necklaces from an online store.. (they came with a few charms on them already), and then I personalized them by stamping metal tags and adding the tags to the pre-made necklaces. I also added a few extra beads and charms to them, specific to the person I was making it for.. so its not entirely handmade, but still has that personal touch.

 
 

 

For the leather bracelets, I purchased the blank bracelts (meaning they already had the clasps, etc).. and then I stained each on to the color I wantedand added vintage jewelry pieces to each one using E600 glue and thread. I LOVE buying old vintage earrings and broaches and recycling them into new pieces of art! I found most of mine at second hand thrift stores back east, but I am sure you can find them at just about any thriftstore or even online! I also used my Melody Ross ChipArt tools (stamping tools), to hand-stamp words and designs into each one.. which created another element of personal touch.

 

 

 

 

 These handmade gifts didn't take me weeks to make, but they do have a lot of meaning behind each one and the women receiving them will know how much they mean to me.. (let's hope they just aren't reading this blog post before they get them! lol).

Another great way to add a personal/handmade touch to a gift is through the packaging. I love to find unique ways to package gifts.  I love a mixture of both old and new! I purchased a bunch of burlap and cotton bags a few months ago to include in our monthly kits, so I used the left over ones to wrap my gifts up in. I hand-stamped the outside of the bags and then tied them up with bakers twine. I added a sparkly snowflake that I got in packs of three at Target (for a $1.00)and added a hand-stamped tag.. another fun personal touch and a way to say.. hey.. I LOVE YOU!

 

 

 


 
Just wanted to share some fun ideas for handmade gifts that are "semi" handmade.. that won't break the pocket book or your time.. if you aren't shipping a gift.. you still have time to make something!

on another note.. have you ever created a personal style sheet? Do you know what one is?? Oh they are so fun, especially when you are looking to create any type of art, or redoing a room, or re-designing a blog, or creating kits.. I love to create them for inspiration in creating art and they are super fun to do.. tomorrow I am going to show you what they are.. and how easy they are to put together!

okay.. so now onto our winner of the Angel Christmas Original Art piece, that I created for the free tutorial I posted last thursday on my blog! If you haven't see the tutorial on how to make the Mixed Media Christmas Canvas.. make sure to check it out!

our winner of the "for unto us a child is born" canvas is....

 Aida Pampo | December 17, 2010 at 12:34 AM

Aida! email me at [email protected]  and send me your address!

One last thing!!!! make sure to check "THIS" blog post, to see if you were the winner of the soul restoration class... we still haven't had any claim their prize yet! 

Have a wonderful Monday! Come back tomorrow to learn about style sheets! Plus I have another great giveaway this week you are going to love!..
 

Comments

[Serena Berry]

Hey Christy! LOVE your creations. Just got linked up with your blog and I look forward to reading it often and seeing more of your beautiful creations.
Much love and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

Serena

[Holly S]

your leather bracelets are so wonderful! Wishing I were a neighbor too!

[jennifer h]

Those are gorgeous! Can't wait til you have them in stock!!

[Stephanie O.]

Beautiful designs! I love those wrist bands, and can't wait for you to start carrying them in your store. And ohhh how I would have loved to be one of those winners for the soul restoration class. I have been wanting to take it, but financially just can't swing it this time. Hoping they will offer it again at some point......so if the winners don't come forward I am here!!!!

[chrissy]

i just LOVE LOVE LOVE you. why can.t you be my next door neighbor?
why?

c

[Janet!]

Your creations are pretty amazing, young lady!!!! :)

[Christy tomlinson]

Hey girls! I actually buy them wholesale. But we will be carrying them in our bead store coming in January. They also have them on etsy! They are around $10 I think for blank ones.. I'll post the link !

[Elisha Wiggins]

Those leather bands are awesome! I want to know too where you got them? Also, I would be happy to take one of those Soul Restoration classes off of your hands....I was really hoping that I won!

[Kris Pare]

Christy, those bands are gorgeous! Can you share where you got the leather one's? They are awesome width. Thank you for sharing!

[Melissa]

Love the leather and vintage touch! where did you get the leather blanks? Gorgeous!!!!!

[Leora]

oh my GOSH sis...those arm bands are soooo so cute! I wanna make one when I come to visit tomorrow!! :)