white mice and Christmas...

 go together like black cats and Halloween... in my humble opinion. 

So I have been creating lots of Christmas art featuring mice. What could be cuter than a hidden drawer book box with a mouse perching among the holly?

 or a sweet, tiny, mouse warming his paws at the fireplace, inside the hidden drawer book box.

If you're not into cute and sweet, perhaps, a mouse driving a steampunk sleigh is more your style...

 Don't you just love that gorgeous plaid paper?

And just look at his little face!

Ooops! He's missing his whiskers because one of my cats thought they were fun to chew on. Bad, kitty :(

Speaking of the plaid paper... it's from a new company called Photo Play Paper Co. and we have some of their Dear Santa line at alphastamps.com. I fell in love with the kitschy mid century vibe and used some paper from the 6" x 6" pad to create this sweet shabby chic mini sleigh...

Dang! I forgot to put a mouse in that one! Oh, well, I guess I can add one to it later ;)
Thanks for dropping by and reading my post, if you'd like to view a list of supplies I used on each of these projects just click on the name below:
Christmas Mouse Book Box
Steampunk Mouse Sleigh

Sweet Shabby Chic Sleigh (below)

Dear Santa 6x6 Paper Pad
Chipboard Sleigh - Ornament*
Tim Holtz Mini Paper Rosettes Die
Miniature Clay Dough Peppermints
Miniature Rusted Bells
Sweet Christmas Collage Sheet
Bakers Twine - Red
Holly Berry Garland
Diamond Stickles*
Distress Paints - Picket Fence
Tim Holtz Trophy Antlers 

Little Deer's Christmas Countdown...

Feels a bit strange writing this post on Halloween as it is about counting off the days before Christmas, lol. Anyway, I have created a cute snowy Advent Calendar using the new Advent Calendar Shadowbox from, bet you can guess, Alpha Stamps.

I love this advent calendar shadowbox because once you put it together is feels like you have an item of heirloom quality that can be passed down for generations. It is laser cut from a nice heavy Masonite and it glues together like a dream. But, if you're a bit sketchy on how it pieces together, you can always pop on over to Glitter Tart's (Caroline Ouzts-Hay) blog where she has a video tutorial waiting just for you!

How sweet are the drawers I made using the provided template from the advent calendar shadowbox and the gorgeous new A Victorian Christmas Scrapbook Paper Set from Prima Marketing. This paper is rich with deep reddish burgundy and beautiful golden cream and really lends a warm homey touch to your Christmas project.

I used Hitch Fasteners for the drawer pulls and a set of Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25 to finish off my drawers.

 If you're wondering where I got that dear deer, I'm sorry to say it's been in my stash for a while and I'm not sure... But, Leslie, has provided an adorable alternative that's just about the same size :) And... since you can have a deer in your shadowbox, why not a tree and some snow covered hills. Here's how I made mine...

 After gluing the "floating" 25th cubby where I wanted it, I hot glued a couple of Icy Branches on top of it in the manner of a tree. I then cut a couple of pieces out of a round piece of floral (green) Styrofoam and hot glued them in place to form the base of the hills.

 To further smooth and shape, the hills, I used Apoxie Sculpt Epoxy Clay - White right over the Styrofoam.

 Once the Apoxie Sculpt cured, overnight, I hot glued sections of a White Picket Fence in place on the hills.

The fun part was adding lots of Dimensional Snow - 2 Ounce Jar to my scene. I used a medium stiff bristle paint brush to apply and arrange the "snow" just where I wanted it.

I let the "snow" dry overnight and then hot glued the deer and other goodies in place. 

If you'd like to buy your own goodies, you can find my full supply list here.

This was really a fun project to work on and it has made me want to make lots more projects for Christmas! I hope you will stop by again soon to see what I've been creating :)

the White Rabbit's hutch...

My favorite Wonderland denizen has always been the White Rabbit. Being perpetually late myself, I truly understand his frustrated cries of "Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!". I have always assumed he is a bit tardy because he is an avid reader and has a terrible time tearing himself away from a good book. I imagine his little home filled with books. Books in every room because you never know when you might have a few minutes to lose yourself in an interesting story...

I recently had the opportunity to birth my vision of the White Rabbit's home inside a sweet little Miniature China Cabinet from Alpha Stamps. The china cabinet or hutch, as I like to call it, looks quite shabby chic on the outside.

 There are images and pages from an old copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as well as images from Go Ask Alice Collage Sheet and We Are All Mad Here Collage Sheet all over the outside.

 A bit of texture was added with a Tim Holtz Stencil - Dot Fade and some Golden Molding Paste.

 And, of course, I used lots of Wonderland themed charms and doodads! Like the adorable Tiny Cup of Tea with Lemon and the "drink me" bottle.

But... my favorite part is inside...

where I created the White Rabbits home in 1:48 scale!

If you look closely at the desk in his den, you will see a tiny cup of tea and lots of books. The books were made using a collage sheet I created with all kinds of things to use in a 1:48 scale house. The lamp on the corner is a Gold Chess Queen Charm with a lamp shade from the collage sheet added to it :)

There are more books in his bedroom and a Tiny Bronze Cauldron Charm with a plant growing from it. And just look at that bathroom! Did you notice the books on the floor next to the toilet?

In the tiny kitchen there are books on the table and a Tiny Bronze Teapot Charm on the stove.

Now I know not everyone is gonna want to make their own White Rabbit's Hutch but why not make a tiny little house in a hutch devoted to one of your own favorite literary characters? The scale is small but it makes everything so much faster to complete! And the furniture is so very tiny and cute!

A supply list for everything I used from Alpha Stamps is located here.

Thanks for hopping by and reading my blog. It means the world to me that you are interested in what I have to say and the things I create!

Kitschy Bitch Television Shrine...

New and fabulous at www.alphastamps.com is the Altered Metal Frame - Television! I am in LOVE with this kitschy little shadowbox! It's the perfect shade of mid-century aqua and looks like an old TV with rabbit ears. I adore kitsch, so I begged Leslie to carry this frame from Prima Marketing just so I could create something totally over the top and tacky as all get out. I even created two new collage sheets for the occasion and dug up all the red and aqua treasures I could find in my hoarded stash.

 I think we can all agree the resulting shrine is pretty tacky, gaudy and lots of fun. It was also very easy to create as the back of the shadowbox opens up so you can easily apply paper and other decoration. My favorite thing about this piece is the letterpress letters that spell out kitschy along the top. I used some red acrylic paint on them to make them really pop.

If you'd like to create you own version of this "masterpiece" click here for a list of the supplies I used.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you've enjoyed this little bit of kitsch.

Woodland Storage Tower...

or how to convince yourself you're buying a crafty new goodie for a reason other than hoarding it in your stash.

We recently got these nifty Paper Mache Box Mini Towers in at Alpha Stamps and I instantly fell in love with them. Of course, I fall in love with almost everything new that arrives so this was not unusual. What was unusual was, that very morning, I had vowed to stop buying so many crafty goodies because I really have no where to put any more.

After a bit of pondering on my dilemma, I concluded that the tower was a storage vessel and therefore I could bring one home with me. And I had loads of fun decorating it with mushrooms and other woodland flora and fauna.

Goodbye Halloween... Hello Christmas!

Whew! This year has just flown by. I can't believe I was making Halloween goodies just a few weeks ago and now I feel the need to start making things for Christmas.

Last night I whipped up a couple of Christmas Cat House Ornies to start off this years round of Holiday crafting. These ornaments are super fast to make and pretty darn cute (if I do say so myself). Of course you don't have to make Cat Houses... you could make Santa Houses or Reindeer Houses or whatever your heart desires. But, do use the faboo Die-Cut Chipboard Houses with Windows from Alpha Stamps to make it waaay easier on yourself!