This Christmas...And Coming Year

Our Peruvian Christmas tree! Can you spot the llamas?

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying the holiday season and its many celebrations. I have been blessed with family, friends, health, warmth, and yes – some truly wonderful gifts, including some new running shoes:) With 2011 quickly coming to an end, I’ve been thinking a lot about the many blessings the Lord has granted in this past year and about the exciting adventures He has this upcoming year. I can only be grateful and humbled.

  

This December concluded my years of college education.  It’s been a very unique, challenging, and exciting past 5 and a half years. I'm thrilled to be done and looking forward to what the Lord has ahead. 

This new year is a great time to reset your internal clocks, re-calibrate your settings, and re-chart your course. There’s something encouraging and natural about using a fresh calendar page to make new goals in your life, which is why new year’s resolutions are so popular. While I’m not one for new year’s resolutions, I am dedicated to redirection and goal settings, and it seems appropriate this year to set some for the new year.

This January I will be serving in Baja California as an English preschool teacher for one of the missionaries in Tijuana. The preschool will be starting this coming year with hopes of providing an outlet for outreach. I'm excited and nervous, but know the Lord is in control of this journey! Your prayers are greatly anticipated! Once again, Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year from What's New Bird!

Wimzy fabric and yarn necklaces

  Hello y'all! I've been going crazy coming up with gifts for Christmas. Love making them...just so many!

I had seen necklaces made of fabric and decided to try for myself. Over the years I've piled quite a collection of scraps of fabric. From those pieces here and there, these gift were made.  These necklaces are half multi loop and half braided for an unlimited amount of different looks. Hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas Eve!

Craft Sale

A few weeks ago a few friends and I had our first craft sale!  It was a great time to see what others designers had been doing and to do some shopping!! Everything handmade of course!
These are a few pictures I took of my little shop display.

 The wooden frame display was also hand made. I'll be sure to post pictures of the process.

 

 My sister ended up buying this lovely necklace! Thanks Nikki!

In the end, it was a great day spending time together and buying some new treats. The outcome was pretty amazing too. A lot more than I had expected! Thank you all for your support!

Pine cone earrings

  While biking to one of my favorite gardens, I noticed the large pine trees giving off teeny tiny pine cones. I gathered some into my basket and went home to create a bit with my new find.

 

 By using an exacto knife I cut sections of the pine cone to create something in mind. I wanted to make a flower using the cut pieces as the petals. 

 After some experimenting, these discoveries were made along the way. Hope you enjoy!

Medallions Galore

How to make quick and easy medallions
Supplies:
score board
bone tool
craft glue
different sized paper
One measurement I used was (12" by 1")




The scoring table makes it very quick and easy. Line the paper to the score board and crease the paper every 2/8th of an inch. You can begin to fold the paper like a fan. Now that the paper is folded you want to glue the two ends together. The center can be embellished how ever you like - buttons, pearls, crystal, etc.
 

 You can find this design on my etsy page:)

Vintage Flowers

These vintage flowers are my new easy make. All you need are paper plates, scissors, coffee, candle, glue gun and sticks, glitter. Did I mention they are gorgeous!

First, you want to give the paper plates an antiqued or vintage look. What I did was soaked each plate in coffee and wrinkled it up to create texture and then flatten them out to dry. They smelt so good! After, you want to wait until they are completely dry.

Second, was to cut each plate into spirals. They dont have to look the same. Each different cut will give the flowers character. Now that the spirals are cut, you can begin to burn the edges of the spiral. You want to be cautious while doing this. I set up an area outside to prevent it getting smokey inside. The paper plates start to burn really fast so it is best to keep water near by.

Now that you have all spirals with burnt edges and it's time to assemble the flowers. I used a glue gun to carefully fold the spiral in place. I started with the center and worked my way to the end. This can get messy with the burnt edges crumbling a bit. Keep a trash can near by.

Lastly you want to add some glitter to the center of your flower. This allows it to sparkle! You can embellish it however you like. I havent quite decided what to make with these. They would be a perfect touch for wrapping a gift, making a Christmas wreath, hair piece and more!

A Bit in Watercolor

For my water color class, my professor asked us to paint three water location studies. One at dawn, midday, and dusk. I decided to pick one of my favorite locations in Coast Mesa, Noguchi Gardens. Its a secret sculpture garden just a couple blocks from South Coast Plaza, located behind TGI Fridays and the Comerica Bank Building. Its a perfect place to relax and enjoy the engaging sculptures.

For the paintings, I used Shinhan Premium Water colors and a variety of sable and synthetic brushes. Watercolor can be a bit tricky but quite enjoyable.

Mid day around 12 noon

Around dusk, 7pm

In the morning about 7am