Crafty Blogger Blurbs Are Back!

About Family Crafts Why not give your Valentine a special, home-made card this year. You can get spectacular results using these easy techniques.

Cathie Filian Cathie Filian is sewing and re-crafting and old T-shirt and skirt into a new fashion with a few simple steps.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world This week at Craftside there is Fabulous Funky Fill-In Lettering with Lisa Engelbrecht, Floral Clump Mini Mirror and Bird's Nest out of polymer clay and mixed media with Christi Friesen, needle felted flowers from recycled wool sweaters with Stefanie Girard and an Ultra-mini pocket booklet from Lisa Sonora Beam.

Cross Stitch at About.com Stitch a chart fit for Royalty - Or at least a Pharaoh. Connie shares her new Egyptian Cat Welcome pattern this week.

Layers Upon Layers Every day, new information on classes and educational opportunities are being added to Layers Upon Layers!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See some wacky photos of fabulously fun knit hats with ears, horns and alien eyes from PolarKnit with links to the free downloadable patterns!

The Impatient Crafter Copycats got you down? Read Miss Madge's recent post on Internet Etiquette.

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Announcing Blog Giveaway Names!!

Okay here we go using the random number generator at random.org.

Congratulations to the following winners:

• Dorian at http://www.refrigeratorartonline.com/

• Lotus who I happen to know makes amazing dolls!

• Chris P from http://evidenceofanartisticlife.blogspot.com/

• Ms Iowa Sunshine from http://iowasunshine-myplaceinthesun.blogspot.com/

and one more cuz I'm feeling generous

• Rush from http://rush8888.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately there were a couple that were picked that I had no email to contact you so I had to move on to the next person :-(

Now then to claim your price please do the following two things:

1. email me otm@outsidethemargins.com with your snail mail address

2. Post a blurb about this and a link to my

blog http://aileensmusings.blogspot.com

or

website http://www.outsidethemargins.com/

PS if you recognize a name please email them to let them know they won! :-)

Update

Seems like ages since I've been on here I thought I'd give you a little update....they thought I had bronchitis but turns out I have pneumonia ack! what a scary word that was to me especially with the possibility of going into the hospital! But I am happy to say that I am getting better little by little between antibiotics, injections and breathing treatments I'm sure to be good as new soon! Many thanks to all of you who have sent me get well wishes, they're much appreciated!! :-)

Unfortunately I haven't done anything let alone any art but I can feel a journal page coming on so I must be feeling better ;-)

Stay tuned I'll be picking names for the magazine giveaway!

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It only feel like I'm dying....

Mentally I know I'm not dying, but the rest of my body is not convinced of that! This is about how I look and feel right now having come down with bronchitis! Dealing with the on again off again fever is starting to make me feel like I'm menopausal on steroids--hot-cold-hot-cold! As if that wasn't enough the idea of investing in Depends due to all the er... coughing is actually starting to sound like a good idea!!

I'll be back soon with you regularly scheduled program!

Meanwhile since your here you might as well pop over to my freebies page HERE to check out all my tutorials and peruse the gallery while your at it:

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Crafty Blogger Blurb Saturday!

The Crochet Dude Drew kicks off the New Year with a free pattern. Check out his "Cafe Couture"!

Crafty Princess Diaries The Crafty Princess asks: Are you a tweaker or a tried and true crafty type?

Layers Upon Layers Fabulous artwork by a very motivated distance learner :-)

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Check out super cute pair of camo baby booties I knit from a pattern in the book Faith, Hope, Love, Knitting.

The Impatient Crafter If you're attending the Tucson Gem Show or CHA, Madge would love to meet you! Check out her schedule and come take a class or get a signed copy of one of her new books!

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Kicking off the new year Craftside will theme each week with a letter from the alphabet and give away a book a week to a lucky commentor. This week there is ATC art, a free antler graphic from Design Parts Sourcebook: Romantic, photos from an appearance by Patti Medaris Culea with doll and altered book pocket design, and a sneak peek at some of the cool pages from Essential Fashion Illustration-Men.

Cross Stitch at About.com Be the first to stitch and submit a photo of Connie's free BGB Gizmo Pattern and have your photo featured as the stitched model. Get your 15 minutes of Cross Stitch fame!

About Family Crafts Over the years I have learned some trick when it some to storing craft supplies and staying organized, and I am happy to share these with you.

Cathie Filian Cathie Filian has a fun tutorial on recycling jeans into fashion cuffs with personalized patches.

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Gouache Paints and Cabinet Cards

Gouache Paints

I thought I'd post a replay of my gouache paint tutorial I have since I've been playing with my Gouache paints (pronounced gwash) recently. Gouache paints are fun user friendly opaque watercolor paints. Typically used by illustrators. I've found them to be a great addition to adding color to sepia and black and white photos. The cool thing about gouache paints is that you can wipe them off if you don't like what you've done and start over, they also cover well! You can paint light over dark and they make it very easy to add highlights and shadows by mixing white or black to the basic color your using....perfect for the novice painter.

Click HERE to view my tutorial and link to my 2 new freebie cabinet cards!

(click HERE to purchase an 18 piece paint set with 2 brushes)

ENJOY!

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Shout Out!

I wanted to give a big welcome and shout out to my friend Judy Streger for joining the ranks of the blogger world (she's no longer *gasp* A Blog Virgin!). Please take a moment to check out the Mixed up Media Art of Judy Streger and peruse her fun and original art dolls and welcome her by leaving a comment. Judy has a wicked and wonderful sense of humor!

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Paint Brushes

Sometimes it's the simplest things that make us happy! Here's a picture I took of a set of new chunky brushes I bought. It inspired me to do an art journal page using it. I just love my new chunky brushes, and had been wanting some larger ones then I have (these measure just about 2 inches across). What fun I plan to have using them!

I came across this thought provoking poem appropriately titled Paint Brush. I think the combination of the picture and poem would be a great motivator for an art journal entry....If it inspires you, please let me know, I would love to see what you created just post a link back to your piece :-)

Paint Brush

Bettie B Young ©

I keep my paint brush with me wherever I may go, in case I need to cover up, So the real me doesn't show. I'm so afraid to show you me, afraid of what you'll do, that you may laugh or say mean things,I'm afraid I might lose you.

I'd like to remove all my paint coats to show you the real, true me, But I want you to try and understand, I need you to accept what you see. So if you'll be patient and close your eyes, I'll strip off all my coats real slow. Please understand how much it hurts to let the real me show.
Now my coats are all stripped off, I feel naked, bare and cold. And if you still love me with all that you see, you are my friend, pure as gold.

I need to save my paint brush, though, and hold it in my hand. I want to keep it handy in case somebody doesn't understand. So please protect me, my dear friend and thanks for loving me true. But please let me keep my paint brush with me Until I love me, too.

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January is the Month of Blog Giveaways!

Apparently this is the month of giveaways, who knew! Check out some more blog giveaways I've posted below and take a moment to enter:

Kathryn over at KV Creative Designs has a Blog Anniversary and she's giving away some Blog Candy! Stop by and check it out.

Queen Kathrine from the Queen Speaks is giving away some Woot Loot! Scoot over to her realm to check it out!

Expensive Mistakes and Cheap Thrills is giving away: A Wear-Your-Heart-Around-Your-Neck Chunky Pendant Chain (ends January 12).

Kathy from Soul Reader is giving away: a Celtic Mermaid Print. Must sign up for the newsletter to enter. (ends January 25--look in the right hand side bar for sign up and print).

Happy Creating!

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My Art Challenge Answer...

I am so thrilled, amazed and inspired by all the comments people have posted in answer to my art challenge question & blog giveaway! Honestly, each and every post has been very insightful and inspiring for me, thank you, thank you to ALL who have posted!! I wish I could send each one of you a prize for taking the time to post! Please know though that your comments, I am positive, are inspiring for others as well! If you have a moment take the time to read through the comments HERE.

So in answer to my own question the ART challenge I want to accomplish in 2009 is to stick to keeping an art journal. Ideally I'd love to do a page a day, but realistically if I at least do a page every other day or two then I will be satisfied. Being realistic in your expectations of yourself is an important factor to sticking with your challenge, so keep that in mind. If your challenges seem too huge and unrealistic try breaking them down into smaller goals and tackle them little by little....at least for me this works, otherwise I get overwhelmed by the larger picture and give up completely.

I have several sketch books where I draw ideas and designs, but keeping an art journal will be different then that for me. In my art journal I will be journaling feelings and thoughts as well as ideas. I've never been comfortable in keeping a diary/journal its always felt too evasive....this blog is as close as I've come to that, so this will be a good challenge for me pushing me outside of my comfort zone just enough.

So with that said I have posted my second art journal page. It's a preliminary sample of what I plan to paint on my front door this spring after hubby gets the door fixed and prepped for me. Its taken me a couple years since we first painted our brightly colored funky farmhouse for me to decide on how I wanted to paint the door. Once I'm done painting I will roll on a layer of PYM II to seal it from the sunlight just like I did with my mailbox which has not faded after almost 2 years. I cannot say enough about how awesome PYM II is! I have solely used this product on my art for almost 2 years now and swear by it! I also cannot say enough about how wonderfully nice, and helpful the creators Doug and Donna Shepherd are to work with!

Art Journal Page

Front Door Sample

I started by sketching the design with a black micron pen and then used a travel set of watercolors and watercolor pencils to fill in. Once that was dry I went back over it with Shiva paintstiks (the squares are representation's of the windows that are in my front door just in case your wondering...what the heck those are! lol).

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Crafty Blogger Blurb Sunday!

Ahh you probably thought I forgot, nope! I'm just having to share the computer with the kid since he did have some homework to finish up...the nerve! LOL

About Family Crafts If you are looking for a reason to celebrate, find out what holidays and birthdays are celebrated in the month of January 2009 using this special days calendar.

Cathie Filian Spring brides are getting busy planning all the details of their big day and Cathie Filian has an easy tutorial on making wedding favors.

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world The last week of 2008 at Craftside brings you a mixed media polymer clay design, a sneak peek into the upcoming book Paper Puppet Palooza with a fun egg and bird moving card and a melting Tyvek technique. Happy New Year Crafting!

Crafty Princess Diaries It's time to get organized for 2009! The Crafty Princess talks about her own battle with the clutter bug.

Cross Stitch at About.com Make some stitching resolutions for the coming year using these ideas from Connie G. Barwick to get you started.

Layers Upon Layers Come and drool over the multi-layered collages of Melinda Asztalos.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Jackalopes are real and they love being the motif du jour on a needle felted pillow made from recycled wool felted sweaters.

The Impatient Crafter Need some solid advice about how to do what you love and make money? Madge shares some old advice for a new year

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Happy New Year & Blog Giveaway!

Happy Belated New Years

Blog Readers!

I know I've been slacking a bit on the posts...I have a dunderhead confession to make! I got tangled hog-tied and lassoed by my laptop cord and it slipped off the ottoman and kerplunked to the floor (HORRORS!). I quickly tried to resuscitate it (stat get me the jumper cables), but it was obvious it needed a transplant when it started making dreadful noises and wouldn't let me back in windows (what the heck!). Sadly its in ICU getting a new hard drive and I am begrudgingly lovingly using the office computer where it is cold, ugly and slogs along at a turtle's pace, so if my posts and emails are less frequent this is why.

But on to a happier note...

I have a blog giveaway...for up to 4 lucky participants! I will randomly select 4 numbers from the number generator of 4 lucky people who leave a post answering the following question:

"What art/creative challenge (doesn't necessarily

have to be art related) are you hoping

to tackle in 2009?"

Now I'm not talking about loosing weight or a resolution but something you've wished or hoped you could try your hand at....

I'm going to give this a couple of weeks before I pick names so don't forget to leave me your email in your comment or I can't contact you, and I'll move on to another number.

What do the winners get.....an issue of an Altered Arts Magazine...it may or may not be this particular issue, but I'll email the winners with their selections. I have some extras I'd like to get rid of.

If your interested in ordering a magazine you can click HERE to do just that :-)

Happy Creating!

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Gifts from the Heart

I thought I'd share some gifts hubby made for Christmas...

Here's a copper necklace that hubby totally surprised me with! I am so thrilled to have something he's made! I saw him making part of it, but though it was part of the train he was making for one of our sons and had no clue it was a part of a necklace for me!

Here you can see that the copper cover swings open to reveal a polished piece of stainless steel. He had originally planned to stamp with tiny metal stamps Beautiful at the base of the mirror but even with the tiny stamps he had it was too big to fit the word.

Here's a money train he made for one of our sons who collects trains....each of the nickles have been threaded and will roll along the train track.

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Cherished Moments

One of my most cherished pictures

of my boys is the picture above taken in 1993.

Here they are in 2008 opening matching
plaid PJs I got them as a joke of sorts
though secretly I really did want
another picture of them wearing them!

Here they are doing the
Captain Morgan stance
while modeling them LOL

They sure were good
sports about it for me :-)

(click the images to enlarge them)

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Crafter Blogger Blubs!

Happy Boxing day, Happy Kwanzaa and the day after Christmas! Hope those of you who celebrated Christmas had a nice memorable time with your loved ones. Mine was very nice and drama free with lots of great memories!

Hope you enjoy this week's Crafty Blogger Blurb Links!

The Impatient Crafter Join Madge for her final free holiday craft project, an idea you can store away for next year!

Layers Upon Layers Cyndi shares the steps to creating a simple quilt using a vacation photo!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Check out a GIANT Christmas tree made from the GIANT Spider web, one made from shopping carts and a fun inside peek and interview with Rosemary Hill, author of Elements of Style: Knit + Crochet Jewelry with Wire, Fiber, Felt + Beads.

About Family Crafts Here are 50, simple winter related activities for you to try - everything from simple arts and crafts projects to tasty snacks.

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world This week at Craftside there is a fun list about Quilt Enthusiasts, a sneak peek into the soon to be released Altered Art Circus by Lisa Kettell and multiple tutorials on how to attach lace.

Crafty Princess Diaries The Crafty Princess is excited about the fact that crochet is becoming more and more popular these days, catching up to knitting finally!

Cross Stitch at About.com Stitch Connie's Cross Stitch Tile Patterns individually, repeat motifs to create a border or bookmark, or collect several charts and create your own sampler.

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Merry Christmas & Happy New Years!

Here's a PERFECT recipe for Christmas and New Years! My measurements are not exact I'll tell ya this right off. I have always gone from memory and I hadn't made these in a few years so the memory is even worse with my worsening CRS (Can't Remember Sh**) affliction! If you love the mix of salty and sweet this is a to die for recipe for you!

Pretzel Perfects

• 1 12 oz Bag of Melt 'n Mold White Chocolate (there are lots of brands so just look for the one that is for mold making)
• 2-4 Cups of Chopped Pretzels
• 2 C. of Rice Krispy Cereal

I first melt the chocolate according to the brand directions in the microwave in a glass bowl. While the chocolate is still melted I begin stirring in the pretzels and the rice Krispy cereal...you want to add just enough so that it sticks together. Spoon out piles onto foil or wax paper and allow to harden. Doesn't take long and they pop right off the foil and you can put them on a plate. Boy are they good and simple!

Merry Christmas

&

Happy New Years

Blog Buddies!

Below is a coupon for Outside The Margins as my gift to you. Free shipping on orders of $20.00 or more until Jan 2nd! (Click the coupon below to enlarge image to see the code) click HERE to visit OTM!

*Not valid on International Orders*

Email me if you encounter any problems.

A Christmas Story

One of our Christmas traditions is to watch various Christmas movies we love. A favorite of ours is A Christmas Story . Last year I discovered that there are still people out there that haven't watched it for whatever reason, so here I am to help spread the weirdness word! Check your TV listings TBS starts running it today on TV.


The Plot: Ralphie, a young boy growing up in the '40's, dreams of owning a Red Rider BB gun. He sets out to convince the world this is the perfect gift. But along the way, he runs into opposition from his parents, his teacher, and even good 'ol Santa Claus himself.

Here's one of my favorite scenes:

Check out Ralphie's house it's been restored, if you live near Ohio you can go visit it out yourself HERE

And for those of you familiar with the movie here is a You Tube with some great quotes from the movie our family tends to use them year round.

~~~~~~

And for my Jewish friends here's a fun video by Brandon Walker that I was introduced to last year.

In honor of Hanukkah (Hebrew: חנוכה‎, IPA: ['χanuka], alt. Chanukah) which began on December 21st. If your like me and like to learn more about other cultures and religions click HERE.

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Bathroom Renovation Revival

Here's a little slide show of our bathroom remodel...remember that whole ordeal way back in October or was it Sept (I lost count!). Remodeling a 100 year old house is never simple and never-ending, but boy do you appreciate it in the end. I wished I had thought to take more pictures before hand of our surprise bathroom remodel, but sadly I didn't until it was well into the project. There are still a few things here and there yet to be finished due to waiting on things to be delivered, but you can see the gist of it.

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A few more Christmas Cards

Here's a couple more Christmas cards for your viewing pleasure, one quickie and one that wasn't so quick. I had to muse over this one a bit before I put the final touches on it.

Click HERE to view all Christmas Cards and Tags.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays Blog Buddies!

Here's a new digi piece I created. I used one of my past freebie images.

We're off to pick up the middle son from College not that its all that far, but he's been calling since last night eager to get home....my response was "Patience grasshopper!" LOL

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

Cross Stitch at About.com Use the free back stitch motifs for quick ornaments or stitch several together for a larger project.

Layers Upon Layers There are lots of projects that can be done in time for the holidays, even at this late date!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery The fastest festive reindeer necklace ever! Perfect for holiday party crafting.

The Impatient Crafter Madge shares another simply stunning ornament idea you can whip up in a flash!

About Family Crafts Using these free printables, you can make your own cards, party invitations, favors bags, place cards, napkin rings, gift tags, and much more to help celebrate Christmas!

Craftside- A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world The 15 days of Holiday Goodness Giveaways continues at Craftside. Just answer questions and you are entered to win free books! And while you're there check out a tiny embroidered necklace, a decoupage reindeer necklace, a fun centerpiece, a floral barrette tutorial, a winter memory photo ornament project and a couple of invitation ideas!

Crafty Princess Diaries Holiday Guerrilla Marketing Tip for Crafty Princesses - Don't forget that so important and handy business card this holiday season.

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Cookies and Freebie Images what more can you ask for!

I manage to get a double batch of my Christmas cut-out cookies made and frosted (click HERE to see recipe). That's about as artsy as I've had time for. I use a simple frosting taught to me by my mom. It's just powdered sugar, vanilla (or flavored extract) and a tablespoon or two of warm water. There are no measurements its just adding warm water and mixing with the powdered sugar until you get the consistency you want. I like mine to be thin enough that it self levels yet not too runny! I mix up a large bowl of white and then spoon some of it into smaller bowls and add food coloring to the smaller bowls. To me its the least messy of cookie frostings (except when frosting LOL) it doesn't stay gooey and hardens enough that you can stack them.

Here's the first couple of batches, mmmm!

Yes, I admit it I'm a messy baker!

Mmmmm! Good enough to eat!

Now that you've had a few cookies, how about some freebie images for you to go make some art with!

CLICK HERE to download and save.

These are a few of my favorite things...

These are a few of my favorite things at Christmas...

Wood Carved Santa my son carved and painted for me when he was 10 or 11 (he's now 16). He also made me a couple of smaller wood Santas as well and they are some of my favorite decorations at Christmas time.

My sun ornament is one of my most treasured ornaments. I received it the same Christmas my mother passed away and it always reminds me of the last time I spent with her.

The Tools of Christmas!

Another favorite is my drawer full of cookie cutters! I love making cut out sugar cookies for the holidays. Its a tradition I've had with my kids since they were toddlers. I have the best recipe for sugar cookies, one you can mix and make right away no waiting to refrigerate them.

No Refrigerate Sugar Cookies

• 1 Cup of Butter (Room Temp)
• 1 Cup of Granulated Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 1 Tsp of Orange Extract
• 1 Tsp of Baking Powder
• 3 Cups of Flour

Cream to together the first 5 ingredients. Mix the Baking powder with the Flour thoughly. Slowly add the flour to the creamed butter and sugar mixture (I use an electric hand mixer). Squeeze together a ball of dough, sprinkle out some flour on a smooth surface and roll out the dough and cut out with cookie cutters. Bake at 325 to 350 for about 8 min's.

My family loves these cookies and I usually end up making a double batch.

I was going to make a batch today but as luck would have it I was out of eggs so I'm hoping to make some tomorrow.

ENJOY!

PS: You can click HERE to view my baked and frosted cookie post.

Unique Spin on The 12 Days of Christmas!

Looking for a wow factor in Christmas cards check out this video showcasing the 12 days of Christmas created using the art of Kirigami. Kirigami is a variation of origami where the artist is allowed to make small cuts in the paper (from Japanese "kiru" = to cut, "kami" = paper). In origami, papercutting is frowned upon by the majority of modern folders, as techniques have advanced enough to make cutting unnecessary for a skilled folder.

Here's a few links to free Kirigami patterns:

http://www.origami-resource-center.com/kirigami.html

Look for the Free Pattern Button at the link below:

http://www.moddidaypeople.com/easy_cut_pop_up/perennial_moments.html

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Quicky Christmas Cards

Here's a few more quicky Christmas cards I made. The one above was made from part of a Christmas card and the bird originally was fuchsia colored foil that I changed by coloring it with a gold leafing pen then sprinkling it with extra fine glitter while the paint was still wet (the cool thing I love about this particular glitter is that its so extra fine it's designed to stick to any wet surface without having to use adhesives). I also pumped some gold leafing paint into a puddle on some acetate and pounced with a make-up sponge over star shaped punchinella to create some star accents.

The other two cards above were made from a bits and pieces that came in box of Christmas goodies I purchased last year after Christmas. All three cards I used card stock from a stack of K and Company Christmas themed card stock. Of course no card would be Christmas without some glitter! I used my very favorite extra fine crystal glitter after painting some 3D crystal lacquer along the torn paper edges and dotting (with the end of the paint brush) 3D crystal lacquer on the centers of the snowflakes and other areas.