Let It Snow!

We woke up Saturday morning to a blanket of beautiful snow. The kids were amazed and immediately asked if they could go outside. Well that was 8 o'clock in the morning so I wasn't too thrilled about that. I managed to get them to eat breakfast and then by 9:30 we were out in the stillness of the first winter snowfall. It was so magical. 

Our creek is so beautiful (I know I'm using that word alot). I love how the snow collects on the tops of the river rocks. I've taken this picture every winter that we've lived here, and it always amazes me that this is where I live.

 

We have a steep, but short hill on the course that the kids love to sled down. The only problem, beside the fact that it's steep and after one trip up you're pooped, is that it is riddled with trees. The first time down a few years ago, no one but me was willing to navigate it. Now, my son who's 5, just told me he did it all by himself. "It was no problem, Mom." I guess I'm not surprised. He's a tough one. 

So after only 2 or 3 trips up that steep hill, Lia decided she wanted to go for a walk in the woods. It was so serene. No wind, no sound. Gorgeous. The kids found a little clearing where the branches hung down low and they thought it would be cool to just hang out for a second. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it did feel like a place where woodland creatures might take a rest.

I didn't know how long the snow would last or if it would be back for Christmas so I convinced the kids to help with a snowman. I had visions of funny scenes from Calvin and Hobbes but once I got to work it wore me out. I was lucky to get one "Frosty" out of this. The funny thing was it actually looked "hairy" because as I rolled him the snow took the last cuttings of the grass with it. Dominic didn't think that was very funny. "Who ever heard of a hairy snowman?" he said. {laugh}

I'm not sure if you can see, but that's Dominic in the background packing a snowball. He was so funny, not even trying to hide, but coming right for me very slowly with a devious grin on his face the whole time. 

This snow-filled weekend finally got it me in the spirit to finish our holiday cards. I made a stamp (of course) of a snowflake and used silver and sky blue ink to stamp a custom card for our friends and family. It was more work than I expected but it was worth it. I love my cards. Very simple...but I think that's our new year strategy. Keeping it simple and enjoying the little things. 

I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe holiday and I wish everyone a prosperous and healthy new year.

Tamra, Dan, Dominic and Lia

Hand Carved Stamps

Okay, so I guess this blogging thing is harder to keep up with than I thought. It's been almost two weeks since my last post and believe me, I've thought about it every day. Finally I have a moment to myself and thought I'd share my first real creative experiment. These really are all experiments for me, because I haven't had an art class since college. Now these might not classify as art but more in the craft arena but there seems to sometimes be a blur where craft becomes art. Check out this blog where the writer posts about this very subject. It's very interesting and may just inspire you.

These were the first two stamps I made and they turned out pretty well. The great thing about stamps is that they are supposed to be somewhat rough. If you wanted them precise and clean then you might as well create something on Adobe Illustrator. I like these because they look, well, handmade.  I initially found out how to do these from one of my favorite blogs, Geninne's Art Blog. She has a hand carved stamp tutorial that is fantastic. She even has a video where she shows you how to carve and all the tools you need.

The greatest form of flattery is imitation, right? Well I thought the greatest way to learn is through imitation as well.  I took Geninne's video tutorial and tried my own feather. Mine is slightly different, but same concept. I was very excited with the results. The white on the black paper looks really good, don't you think? At this point, I'm thinking "Wow! I can do birthday cards, notes, etc.!" Not so fast. When do I have time for that? It's so much easier to buy it from Target, right? Well I'm going to try to change my ways and now that I know how to do this I'm definitely going to "experiment" more. 

Here I found a way to do stamps with a lot of different types of products other than stamps. I found this, of all places, in a Family Circle magazine. I ripped it out (covertly, of course) of one of the magazines at my doctor's office. But you can find it here online, no ripped pages. They all sorts of items, such as bubble wrap, candle sticks, lids or caps from bottles, and the weirdest...a ravioli cutter. Yeah, I got one of those, not. But I might go buy one just to make the cool stamp. 

I made this one for my neighbor when he brought me some acorn squash, eggplant and yellow squash. The acorn squash, which is usually green, is doubling for a pumpkin now. 

Okay, I got a little cutesy here but Lia liked it, and really, when you start to inspire your kids to make their own stamps then cutesy is okay. 

These are the things I used to make my stamps. You can also use plain white erasers like this one, or any of the Staedtler Mastercarve Artist Carving Blocks. They cut like butter with this Speedball linoleum cutter (Haha - I rhymed). And of course, the ink is Color Box stamp pads. 

I have purchased my products from either Dick Blick online or at my local Dick Blick store. If you don't have a store near you try Jo-Anne Fabrics. Don't go to Michael's. They are so much more expensive. 

Have fun and happy carving!