December Projects!

It's that time again! Time for a few photos and new projects from Gossamer Blue but first, I wanted to add in a question that I received here on the blog last week. 

so inspiring ... u can make anything look pretty ... can u pl tell us which camera you use ?? - whitelink 

So, my trusty camera right now is a Nikon D3100. I use a couple of kit lenses and sometimes the Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens. I live in AZ which pretty much guarantees me sunny skies year round which are optimal for good lighting in photos, especially if you're like me and love the way natural light looks. In the rare event that it's cloudy I have some light umbrellas that can assist in adding light but they tend to cast a weird blueish light. So, stick to natural light, pull a small table in front of a window and try to photograph during mid afternoon time. Hope that helps! 

Thanks for all of the other sweet comments I get here as well! I appreciate them all!  

Project time! 

Fall is definitely the time to cook and bake! I pulled out some of my Grandmother's recipe cards with the intentions of testing out her recipes and writing down the ones we like. I made this little recipe index card book to help keep our recipes together this season. 

Part of Gossamer Blues Life Pages themed add-on kit include tags and cardstock embellishments from Pink Paislee. I combined both to create these embellished gift tags. We are going with a silver and gold color theme again this year! 

This one is such a simple idea, but we're trying to move and lists right now are saving my sanity! So many things to try and remember to write down and keep track of that I thought having a few magnetic notepads around would help to keep my thoughts in order. :) 

There are are a few more projects to share from Gossamer Blue this month but I have to run - have a quick workshop on Winslow Homer before it's my turn to teach. Tomorrow I have a super fun tutorial planned for the blog - part of my DIY ideas for December! 

Thanks for popping in today! ~ Tara

a perfect match

I have something exciting to share today! I'm teaming up with Jessica from Scrumdillydilly!!



Together we'll be having a little blog-hop party for an entire week. Come join us for a week of Autumn inspired posts and projects!

and the winner's are....

First, let me just say thank you so much for spending the weekend here! I read through every comment and loved the responses and the art from the challenges! I really wish I could send out little packages to everyone who participated, you girls certainly deserve it! but I only made 7, so here are the winners!

Challenge #1: Birthday Wish
Random Number Generator : 10

Brenda said...
I think I'd have to pick Italy. Maybe a Mediterranean cruise would be nice.

Challenge #2: Tag Art
Random Number Generator: 13

Alicia A said...
Here's my tag:

Challenge #3: Birthday Wish
Random Number Generator: 2

Marolle said...
i know it impossible now, but i would love to see the beatles :o)
more realistic is Tori Amos

Challenge #4: Tiny Art
Random Number Generator: 11

Amy said...
how fun! Your artwork is so gorgeous! I have posted mine below, sorry for the bad lighting, it is very dreary & rainy here today.

Challenge #5: birthday Wish
Random Number Generator: 33

alexandra said...
a big scrap room ;-)

Challenge #6: Button Guess
Random Number Generator: 29

maiahs_momma said...
120 buttons, that is what I am guessing :)!

Inky Hugs,
Catherine

Challenge #6.5: Color Combos
Random Number Generator: 8

Gina said...
teal, red, yellow and white :)


Please send me your addresses so that I can send you some happy mail! My email is rosas07@msn.com
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Wouldn't having a blog-party every weekend be fun! I also wanted to wish Chris and Karri a happy birthday!! I have the longest to do list this week, and a pile of fabric calling my name, so I'm off to work. xo~ Tara
p.s. there were 274 buttons in my canning jar!!

Challenge #6.5: Color Combos.

Just when you thought the party was over..... I slipped in an extra one!! So sneaky!!

This one is all about color combinations!! Sometimes I like pretend that I'm an interior decorator, picking out paint samples and matching some crazy colors together. Here's my favorite color combination for the Autumn season.



Black.Grey.Cream.Lilac.Burnt Pumpkin




At this moment, what is your very favorite combination of colors?

Happy Saturday! Thanks to everyone who played along today and if you didn't have time today, I'm leaving all of the posts open tomorrow too! Make sure to check back on Monday morning for the winners of each post! xo~ Tara

Challenge #6: Button Guess

Good evening! (Or night, or very early morning depending on where you're visiting from:)) Want to play a game?



Remember the children's guessing game, usually a jar full of candy or gumballs, and you had to guess how many were in the jar? I rummaged through my vintage button collection and filled a jar, and now you get to guess how many buttons there are!



leave your guess for a chance to win!

Challenge #5: Birthday Present Wish

If you could a wish for a fun birthday present just for yourself, what would you wish for?

I think I would wish for the perfect set of dinner plates. Dishes are so very important to me and I've been searching for white-ish/cream dishes with a little floral pattern around the edge, for the longest time! Something tells me I need to wander on over to Anthro. some time soon! :)

leave a comment for a chance to win!

Challenge #4: Tiny Art Challenge

Ready for another crafty challenge! Last month for Bad Girls, I had to create a small (4x4) piece of art work. The small size was so easy to manage and still had lots of possibilities! So for this challenge, let's see what you can create on a small scale!!

Need some quick ideas? This little page is probably my favorite! I used a piece of painting canvas and sketched a few flowers and then I used Gesso to paint over them. I added a few little pieces of paper to the top and bottom and sewed the title onto a piece of fabric, to add some dimension. (I think I may add a few more penciled flowers too!)



This page is super simple too! Just strips of paper, sewn together, with a small photo, and some little embellishments clustered together.


A little tag with lots of mismatch scraps was worthy enough of it's page. I love using postage stamps!



Ready to create a little work of art? Don't forget to post a link when you're done, and you have all day and tomorrow to create something fun!!

Challenge #3: Birthday Concert Wish

If the tiny birthday fairy came to visit and could grant you tickets to any music concert, who would you want to see?

I really want to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. (kinda of dorky, but oh-well!) I love their Christmas music, traditional old Christmas songs blended with 80's-ish electric guitars. What's not to love! My sister said it was one of the best live concerts she had seen. So I definitely need to go!

and because I never posted a photo, these are the gift bags I put together.(there are a few more things, but I wanted my photos to be pretty, it'll be a surprise!) and there's one for each post today, so you can enter with each challenge that goes up!




Leave a comment for a chance to win!

Challenge #2: Make & Take tags

ETA.: you have all day today and tomorrow to complete any of these challenges/questions, so stay calm and just have fun!

This challenge is all about cute tags! All you have to do is create a gift tag and then post it in an online gallery, flickr, your blog and make sure to include a link in your post, so that I can find it! Easy enough right? But here are a few ideas for making fun little tags out of things you probably already have in your stash!

Chipboard Flower tag
For this tag, I sewed together left-over chipboard shapes. You could overlap and glue the shapes together too. Create a little collage using a piece of fabric, a stamp, flowers and a journaling tags, and a piece of yarn for tying!




Ballerina Gift tag
This is my favorite tag! Gather a small collection of buttons, preferably with the same color tones, and sew/glue them onto a tag. Glue a piece of ribbon over the buttons, add a leaf or flower and a small children's toy and glue together using a strong glue. (E6000 or Aleene's Original Tacky glue.)



Small Scraps
I love to use little pieces of different items; flowers, tickets, photo negatives, ribbons to make a 'scrappy-chic' tag! Try adding some spray paint to a journaling card and then layering different textures together, chipboard, crackle paint, fabric, paper scraps.



Have fun and remember to post a link!!

Challenge #1: Birthday Vacation Wish

Is it finally time to this party started?!!



If the tiny birthday fairy came to visit and could grant you a Vacation wish, where would you wish to spend your vacation?

I actually have to split my answer into 2. If it were just Peter and I (and Grandma had the kiddo's) I'd wish to go back to Hawaii. Good food, unbelievable scenery and perfect weather. If it were a family vacation, Disneyland! It was the best family vacation we've done!!

Leave a comment for a chance to win!

Blog Party!!!

Are you ready for a blog party!! Here's the details: Throughout Saturday I will be posting a challenge/game or question about every 2 hours during the day. and what would a party be without party favors? I've made up 6 gift bags full of handmade goodness, one gift bag to go with each post. Stop by and leave a comment, or play along with each post! Hope you can make it!