REINVENTION

2019 will be a year for reinventing.

That includes my self, my art, my business and even new relationships.

Stale is a word I dislike and I feel stale.  2018 has been a challenging year for so many people and we all can use a fresh start, a positive attitude, and a creative spark.  That spark can be your cooking, your home, your art, YOUR relationships.

I found some unusual (to me) ways of celebrating the new year...

In Denmark, they save all of their unused dishes and plates until the 31st of December when they affectionately shatter them against the doors of all their friends and family.  (careful!!)

In Spain, the New Year’s tradition for good luck revolves around grapes. If you can manage to stuff 12 grapes in your mouth at midnight you’ve achieved good luck for the next year.  (not all at once I hope!) 

In some South American countries wearing colored underwear will determine your fate for the new year. Red underwear means you’ll find love. Gold means wealth, and white signifies peace.  (How about Hello Kitty?)

In the USA often involves Black Eyed Peas, meant to represent coins or wealth.  (My mother-in-law always opened a can and took one spoonful)

In Scotland, the first person to cross the threshold of a home in the new year should carry a gift for good luck. (I would like a new Kitchen Aide Mixer please)

This one is from a 'Pittsburgher' (my hometown).

How many people still put silver change (nickels, dimes, quarters) outside on their windowsills for New Year's Eve?  I was taught that it is a tradition to bring money into the house for the New Year..!!  AND Remember no chicken today or you’ll be scratching for money the rest of the year

See our group of New Years Collages to make gift tags and placeholders!

ENJOY YOUR 2019, WITH OR WITHOUT CHANGES.  MAKE IT WHAT YOU WANT.

Happy New Year to all party animals!

My mom used to use a saying "Putting on the dog."  It's not something we hear anymore, but Wikipedia defines it as an expression that means 'to make a display of wealth or importance, especially by dressing stylishly and flashily'.  And isn't that what we do when we get out our fanciest party clothes for New Year's Eve?  I took it just a tiny step farther with today's card.

This fancy pooch is ready to party!  You can find her on the Hounds collage sheet.  That tiara she's wearing makes me giggle whenever I see her.

The background paper and embellishments I used on this card are all shiny and add to the festive feel.  The clear florals were stuck on more of the same red paper and then cut out and layered.  The tiniest of them are attached with foam squares to give it more dimension.

Because it's New Year's Eve, I thought a clock would tie the theme together.  The Celebrate sticker sheet has a few beautiful clock designs.  You can even choose which clock hands to use.  All of these were layered with black card stock and scraps of patterned paper and collages cut into geometric shapes.  I added a couple of Dew Drop centers to the White Gold flowers.

And the words "Time to Celebrate!" make the inside of the card bright and shiny, too!  Just sign it with a gold gel pen and it's ready to give away.  Happy New Year to one and all!

Supplies used:
Celebrate and White Gold sticker sheets  and other fun gold glam designs
Red Satin Shimmer paper
Hounds digital collage sheet
Dew Drops and glue dots
Foam  squares and double sided adhesive tape
Card stock

Out with the Old and In with the New!

As the year draws to a close many of us find ourselves thinking about what New we want to bring into our lives for the following year.  It also means we could be looking at what we need to let go of to make way for the New.  For me, part of this thinking led me to a pile of papers I had been hoarding in my craft room for the past probably six or so months since I moved into a different space.

I like to repurpose and reuse where I can so sometimes I find it hard to part with things.  I found some offcuts from a project I shared here earlier in the year - gel press print papers I had used as backgrounds for some ATC Coins.  Anyhow, I decided to use the offcuts up and make an initial start for a 2019 journal.

Taking some A3 size watercolor paper that I often use to create signatures I folded this in half and began to punch squares out of my off cut papers and paste them down onto my page.

I ran out of enough paper to punch squares so the bottom of my page was torn strips and pieces of what was left.

Next I covered this entire gel press print layer with tissue to tone down the color.

Once dry I smeared some Distress Oxide ink over the top in three colors.

Having finished the background I then proceeded to do some stamping of Dream Catchers and made marks with some other stamps, I also punched out some tiny hearts from a dark pink scrap of paper.  My chosen sentiments are to encourage me to Dream and Live them Out in the Year to come.

So yes it was out with the old scraps and into the New Journal.

Anyhow it is back to the tidying up and clearing out.

Wishing you all a wonderful start to 2019.

Danie xx