Tis the season for a handmade Christmas!

 

Christmas presents for my best friends.  Can you guess who is who?

7x10, collage and drawing.

Virginia

Watercolor and collage, December 2012.

For Meme

A Christmas gift to my Meme... This was her favorite childhood home.  

Watercolor and pen, 8"x10".

Oma & Opa

Looking back on 2011, having a family so close to get each other through dark times is the biggest blessing I could ever ask for.

Cut paper, 11"x14".

Papa

It's true. Props to this site.

Papercut created from a photo of my father upon his arrival to St. Bonaventure for college, 8"x10".

A Post About Resolutions

Hello all!  Although I have been trying to throw some posts together in the last few days, I would like to declare this the first official post of the new year! 2011 already seems like it was so long ago, and was filled with friends and family and some drama, but overall was a pretty good year.  My artmaking has really taken off in the last 365 days, and I hope that a clean studio and fresh mind will help to continue the trend.

Resolutions are always something I start to think of in the fall, and forget about until the champagne is popping and someone asks me what mine are.  So I made an effort this year, and came up with many, many goals for 2012:

To read, and understand, poetry.

To finish every book on my living room bookshelf.

To go to the BFA warehouse two to three times a week.

To keep my room clean (a problem that a young adult should not have to face).

To lose some of that extra weight. 

To blog more.

To call my best friends often.

To rollerblade!

And finally, to survive the Apocalypse. 

A Sweet Care Package

 If it has not been made obvious yet, I will admit that I am a bit of a procrastinator.  And during the holiday season, procrastination is not a good thing at all.  I left all of my wrapping and shopping to the last minute. And—gasp—my mother ran out of wrapping paper!

I have never really understood the point of wrapping paper.  I mean, sure, there are some really pretty patterns out there, but I have always opted for the less formal (and free) newspaper wrapping.  This winter, I decided to put a spin on the traditional "Funnies" wrapping job.

Every year I do Secret Santa with my best girlfriends, and this time around I had the lovely Emma.  She is one creative sista, so I thought that I needed to step up my game with my wrapping job.  This little newspaper bow was quite easy to make...

First, I simply tore the newspaper into long strips and folded it to make clean edges.  I wrapped two strips around the box. (Sometimes it doesn't wrap the entire way, which is completely acceptable.  I just taped it to the bottom!)

Next I folded a thicker strip to create the base of the bow.  I folded the ends inward and wrapped a tiny strip around the middle, taping it to secure it.  I then fluffed the bow up to make it softer and less rigid looking.

Finally, I simply taped down the bow to the criss-crossed strips to create the illusion of this being actual ribbon!

 

I can see myself using this technique often in the future as it seemed to be a big hit amongst my family and friends.  A little late for holiday presents, but a great idea for birthdays and such!

In honor of Veteran's Day...

This just gives me goosebumps everytime.