Goodbye 2010

Goodbye 2010

2010 was a rough year for our family. Hubby and I couldn't wait to see it end.  But isn't that just like "us, humans" to focus on the negative?

Hubby gave me one of those digital frames for Christmas - lots of internal memory so this week I started putting photos into it.  What an amazing gift he gave me!  As I looked back through our 2010 photos I realized it wasn't such a bad year.  Sure, we had some severe rough patches with the oldies health and losing two of them to death but there were many many many good things that happened this year and some great fun memories - a college graduation, a couple of great vacations, and many fun family moments.

As we turn the page to 2011, my wish for you is that no matter what the new year brings, I hope that you do things to create great fun memories.  And I hope you create a few cute paper projects too!

Happy Punchin' and Happy New Year!!!

In the beginning...

In the beginning...

No, not THAT beginning.  In the beginning days of this blog, I shared the tutorial for a punched crow that had been very popular - which you can find HERE.

Today I have another crow inspired by some clip-art I saw - it was just too fun not to try in punches.

Beak - large oval, opening trimmed with scissors and colored in a bit with black marker
Body - large oval - snipped in with scissors to make choppyish (is that a word?) feathers
Eyes - circle from itty bitty punch pack and black marker
Glasses - 1/2 inch circle around itty bitty punch pack circle hole - 3 times - 2 for circles, 1 for nose piece - 2 bits of word window for ear pieces
Legs - thin strip from trimmer
Feet - narrow heart to heart next to the same hole - then I folded it over on itself to make the toes closer together (making the V shape narrower - just try it and it should make sense)

I will be using this for a thank you card I need to make - maybe something like "just had to crow about it"
Any better suggestions for a sentiment?

Snoozin' Santa

I borrowed HEAVILY from last year's Checkin' His List Santa to create this year's Snoozzzzzzin' Santa.

This is what he is doing today, since tomorrow he has a full schedule of deliveries.

I'm guessing he will look like this again on Christmas Day.

Hope you are wide awake on Christmas and having a marvelous time unless of course you are like me and think takin' a midday nap IS a having a marvelous time in which case I wish you merry zzzzzzzzzz's!

I'll be with family the next few days so no posting for a bit. See you some time next week.

Merry Christmas!  and/or Happy Whatever You Celebrate!

Biker Santa

At our house we are NOT "bike" people -------BUT

I realize that many many MANY people get great joy from their bikes and for them I share today's BIKER SANTA

Greg M. - this one's for you!

Switch the color of the pants and the beard and you have any old big belly biker you'd like to make. (Yes, Greg - that would be for you too, hee hee hee)

Here is some how to for Biker Santa:

Head and bandanna - 1.25 circle

Bandanna tails - wing from two step bird near a circle hole

Eyes - standard hole punch white and black - adhered offset - add gel pen highlight

Nose - small circle trimmed on each side

Beard - scallop oval repunched with "end" of wide oval (could use a circle)

Mustache - small heart cut in half

Eyebrows - small circle near an oval hole

Belly - 2.5 circle - trimmed at back and bottom so you are using approx 3/4 of the punch - cut notch with scissors

Belt - strip from trimmer - (word window wasn't long enough)

Pants - large ovals - thin strip of grey from word window on edge of paper

Boots - full heart - trimmed at "base" of boot and "heel side" - rounded at leg opening

Gloves - modern label - repunched with 1/2 inch circle

Helmet  - 1 3/8 circle (use that again to make striped part)

Goggles - scrap into the small holes of the owl punch - toss the circle put the "hole" scrap into the word window (use the sticky of a post it note so you can hold on to it) - repunch again with word window to get the round ends - strap is just a strip

Buckles - tiny tiny scraps (good luck)

In the meantime...

I have two Santas in work - and they will be posted this week.  Too late for you card-makers (sorry) but ahead of schedule for you scrapbookers (Way to go, Ellen!)

In the meantime, while I'm fine tuning their awesomeness, please RUN (or quickly click on THIS link) and check out the owls that Barbara Diane has created for the 12 Days of Christmas.  My fave so far is the 6th day HERE but they are all darling so check the previous days and the ones that follow for some great idea to dress the Stampin' Up! Owl.

Gift Bearing Bear

with or without hat, he is still a gift bearing bear...

Inspired by wrapping paper

Head - owl with ears and feet cut off
Body - 1.75 inch circle
Arms - medium oval
Legs - small oval
Feet - medium oval flattened on bottom
You can figure out the rest cause I'm bored typing this

Guest Puncher - Joan Hargrove

The Blink Blog is PROUD to present another fabulous punch creation by Joan Hargrove:

She was inspired by the card on the left and so... she recreated it with punches.  I LOVE IT!!!

To see other "Joan" work look here and here and here.

Night on the Little Town...

Santa's Harem?

I think not.

My friend Liz (in red), her sis-in-law (blond in blue), another friend and friend's granddaughter and me - front row right side - the chubby one with the glasses (I have that in common with Santa).

Girls' night out at our local little town theater production of Willy Wonka.

I wish I could show you the scenery because my very talented upline made most of it - but photography was not allowed.  (crummy old rules)

I can, however, show you my favorite ooompa-loompas...

No punch art today but the smaller ooopma loompa was in a play last year that inspired this - gave it to his mom and she was so thrilled I guess I better get busy punching ooompa loompas for this years page

I don't know why...

This is another one of those punch art things where I don't really know why the Inspiration Fairy led me down this path.

Remember the polar bear idea I got from Mary's gift tag?  Well, she had another tag with a cute reindeer face and the antlers reminded me of hearts, so I had to copy that.  THEN "we" decided to add a body and I couldn't decide on the legs and before I knew it... I had a skating reindeer.

And if you should need something a little wilder you can rearrange the legs like this:

And this reminds me of a family story.

Oldest was 7.  Youngest was 2.  Youngest decided to do an "impression" of her sister skating.  Dead serious and with NO malice in her heart, she stood on one leg throwing her arms and legs in a crazy windmill fashion.  Honestly, it was a perfect imitation of her sister skating down our front sidewalk. 

Oldest didn't think this was funny (Hubby and I were rolling on the floor) so she decided to to an impression of her sister.  But what do 2 year-olds do that would embarrass them?  Well, lets just leave it with the info that youngest wasn't potty trained and we ALWAYS knew when she did number two.  And oldest did a perfect imitation of that.  (More rolling on the floor)

Children are entertaining.  I love them.

Head - owl punch with feet and ears cut off
Antlers - small heart put on post it and repunched with a smallish circle
Ears - small heart cut in half
Nose - 3/4 circle put on post it and repunched with same
Body - 1 3/8 inch circle
Legs - word window cut in half lengthwise
Tail - wide heart to heart cut in half
Skates - small heart to heart rounded on one hump with some small circle
Wheels - small circle from owl punch, tiny circle from owl punch for center
Scarf - circle near circle hole and long scraps

Eskimo Kisses

I like the one with just the nose peeking out - but I thought I'd show you both looks for your kissers.

Hood - 1.75 circle repunched with small oval at "top"
Face - small oval
Nose - circle from itty bitty punch pack
Fur trims - large oval near small oval hole
Body - wide oval
Arm - wide heart to heart
Mitten - small heart trimmed with scissors
Leg - small oval - adjust your "height" by how much leg you show
Boot - Full heart - trimmed bottom, back, punched at top with medium oval (or some circle if you like)

Time to Chill

Honestly, my friend Pam does NOT have a thing for polar bears and I KNOW that.  So why is this the second polar bear birthday card in a row?  She is the victim of timing - I'm thinking holiday characters but I don't want to do anything too "christmasy" for her birthday card so it winds up being polar bears...  Last year she got the Coke Bear and this year she gets Chill Bear.

When I gave her the card, she said we could make the polar bears a birthday tradition.

Inspiration came from a tiny gift tag another friend, Mary, had on a package she was about to mail.  Spied it and quickly pulled out my camera and snapped a photo just so I could copy it. 

Head - wide oval
Body - wide oval turned the other way - seam of the two ovals hidden by scarf
Arms - wide heart to heart
Legs - small oval
Feet - medium oval (is that what they are calling it? - the new one)
Soles of feet - 3/4 inch circle put on a post it note so I could repunch and get kinda an oval
Scarf - wide oval punched next to wide oval hole (3 times to get pieces of scarf)
Nose - like soles of feet - add white gel pen highlight
Ears - word window ends

Draw on eyes and ear markings.

Elf

Something to entertain you while I'm gone...

Not too hard Christmas Card

OK, most of my friends and relations should have their card by now, so I'll show you what I made for this year.

No punch art.

I made 80 so they had to be easy to mass produce.
Stamped the tree from Season of Friendship
THEN embossed using the Big Shot and an embossing folder I borrowed from Eileen the Glitter Queen.
Then inked the edges, added the ribbon and bird, layered on cherry cobbler paper and the card base.

Wrote some witty banter about next year's migration to various locations by the girls and an empty nest for us.  And I enclosed this photo

Of course I wished them all a Happy Holiday and I wish the same for each of you!

Now I'm heading out of town for a few days to see a girlfriend I've known since I was 17.  Want to guess how many hours we can talk without a break?

Pier I Penguin

I know, I've punched a bunch of penguins, and you've seen them from other punchers too but I saw the CUTEST penguin in a Pier I advertisement peeking around a clock - well, I had to try him in punches.

The unique part of this one is the feet.  Punch the scallop circle - toss the circle keep the hole - insert your 1/2 inch circle punch from the "open circle" and punch so that the POINT is almost at the inner edge of the punch.  Sounds so weird to type but TRY IT and you'll see what I mean.

Other thing to note on this project is the eyes.  Punch the two small (not tiny) circles of the owl punch - using the "remains" as a template, DRAW the glasses with a thin black maker - shift template slightly to draw nose bridge piece.

Other thing to note is I had 3 glasses of wine while decorating a friend's Christmas tree tonight and have had to type each sentence 3 times - so follow my directions at your own risk.

Not a rear view...

NOT a rear view of a snowman (that would be kinda dull) but rather a top down view.

NOT my original idea (wish it was).  I first saw this done by Lynda Fraiser HERE.  But I hear that Sharon Field was the first to do it.  And I seriously copied the face from a card by Doris Denman that I saw on a Stampin' Up Demonstrator site.

So, since so many ladies have done these, you have probably already seen one - but this is one from me.  I used it on a tag for a swap with my upline/sideline/downline.

Base - 1.75 circle
Mid-section - 1 3/8 circle
Head  - 1 inch circle
Arms - snowflake punch - with twigs trimmed
Nose - freehand triangle using "deckle" edge scissors (remember all those fancy scissors from the late 90's scrapbooking?)
Hat - half  of a one inch circle in green - small oval near small oval hole in blue - 1/2 inch circle in blue

Face drawn on - cheeks are my finger print in pink ink.

Santa 2010 Version

By this time last year I had shown y'all about 12 different Santas and this year - not even one! 

Well something had to be done to correct that.

So...since this year has been the year for Rear View Characters....

I give you....

Santa - Buns of Steel

But before he did his workout tapes he was Santa - Buns of Blubber.

Hee hee - we had great fun as a family arguing the superiority of the two versions.  There was a third version that hubby said looked like he was wearing a diaper.  And while that does happen to some men as old as Santa, I won't show it out of my deep respect for the Magical Man of Christmas.

Head - 1 inch circle
Hair - scallop oval repunched
Shirt - 1.75 circle
Suspenders - word window
Buns - 3/4 or 1 inch circles
Thigh and Upper Arms - small oval
Calves - word window
Boots - modern label and 3/4 circle

Here is the pictorial "how to"

Just Yammering Today

I thought I had the Inspiration Fairy lured back to my desk when I created Edna the other day - but she has flown off again.  Did she show up at your house?

I have had to strain my own little brain this week to come up with our 2010 Christmas Card.  I sat down the day after Thanksgiving to relax and...

BAM!

It hit me like a ton of bricks - if Thanksgiving is over that means Christmas is about 45 minutes away and I hadn't even thought about Christmas Cards! 

Yep, that's right, I panicked.

I'm NOT a "last minute - work best under pressure" girl - I am a "show up early for everything - love to check things off my list" gal.

It took a lot of focus and a lot of  "Honey is this OK?" and "does this look better" and "No, I don't like it - I need to start over" and "what about THIS one" but I finally came up with a card, got a photo of the girls, made 80 of those rascals, addressed the envelopes and they are DONE.  And they will be mailed off this first week of December - 'cause that is what I do.  I have friends that place bets about my card being the first one they receive each year.  It's part of their holiday tradition.

And that is why you have had no punch art from me to entertain you.

I do have a couple of ideas in work but I need the Fairy to come help me finish them up.

So if you see her, PLEASE send her back my way.