Paper and Art Charm Ornament (for ABS Ornament Hop)

It's handmade ornament hopping time!! At least, it's the first of the two hops I'm hoping to participate in. Today is the reveal for Art Bead Scene's 7th Annual Ornament Hop. Since it's a hop, I'm sure there are plenty of other blogs to get to, so let me keep this as short as possible.

Here's the ornament I made!

When I shared the Inspiring DIY Ornaments, the Paper Christmas Ornaments from Dream a Little Bigger sparked my imagination.  You see, I've got a deep love for paper, dictionary paper especially. So, I knew I could make the process my own with that addition. To add in the art bead element, I remembered putting a fabulous cardinal polymer clay charm into my Inspiration Jar. The pendant is made by Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati.

I had received the charm from my partner, Kari Asbury for the Bead Peeps Swap-n-Hop but couldn't come with a design for it at the time. I think it was destined to become this ornament.

There's just something about the red bird that sings Christmas to me. I'm not sure what it is, but I knew I needed to use that element in particular. While I do love the dictionary paper, I almost wish I had used sheet music instead. I may change that later, but for now, I'm quite happy with how this turned out. 

I simply added red and green wonder beads for a touch of magical shine, and my ornament was complete. Well, there was a bit more than that to it. I actually made a short video of how to create this Paper and Art Charm Ornament if you're interested in the process. 

It really was a quick and easy process to make the ornament, and I had everything I needed on hand. You could easily personalize this even more: different paper, more elaborate beads, adding glitter, including your own art charm, etc. There are so many possibilities!

So, that's my contribution to the Art Bead Scene Ornament Hop. Get on hopping and see what everyone else made!

UPDATE! I went a little nuts and paper punched some old Christmas cards to make a variation on this ornament.

The Christmas cards were sturdy enough that I didn't have to add the cardstock backer. As well, instead of the art charm, I used a red jingle bell (from the Dollar Tree).

They worked out great as an accent on a bunch of little gifts I had to wrap up.

Pretty right?

I'm also linking this post up on Saturday Sharefest at The Sway, Show and Share at Coastal Charm,  DIY Salvaged Junk Projects at Funky Junk Interiors, and Saturday Sparks Link Party at Pieced Pastimes. 

Jumping on the ABS Challenge Bandwagon

As the title clearly states, I'm going to enter an Art Bead Scene Challenge. In fact I'm not only going to enter one, but TWO ABS challenges.

NUMERO UNO

The first is the June Monthly Challenge and I've already given you a peek at what I was creating for that challenge. I made it a point to complete that piece at the beginning of the week (you know, before the month runs out completely!)

Let me remind you what the inspiration piece of art is for the month.

Ophelia by Odilon Redon.

I've admitted that the piece completely caught my attention and captured my imagination. There was something about the pool that made me want to make sure there was a sort of reflection in the piece I made. I guess I hear pool (in an ages gone by sense) and think "reflecting pool". As such, I played and played with some tiny mirrors before finally realizing I could put one inside polymer clay and actually make the art bead myself.

In addition, I knew that I wanted to incorporate the yellow, blue, and grey in the piece. So I made the bulk of the piece to include those colors.

I'll admit that I'm not completely satisfied with this necklace, but this IS my first attempt at the Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge. So, I guess it will do for now.

NUMERO DOS

Yesterday, I mentioned the Muffin Tin Challenge also going on over on the ABS Blog and  my interest in it. I WAS able to get my hands on a 12 cup muffin tin this morning and have spent the majority of the day filling my cups! Now, I'm not totally convinced I can get ALL of the projects in my cups done by Monday, but I'm sure as heck going to try! Here's a peek at my muffin tin.

Rest assured that whether I finish on time or not I WILL share it all with y'all!


Before I head out to work on those twelve projects, I do want to let you know that the fantastic Andrew Thornton is having a yard sale of sorts on both his Big Cartel shop and his Ebay site. There's some awesome stuff in both places, you could browse for hours!

Challenging Myself (BTW)

I'm trying to break out of my little shell of protection and anonymity little by little.

Blog Hops and Bead Table Wednesday have worked for me so far, but I still crave more.

This month, I'm working up to the Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge.

As such, my craft desk this week is covered with the bits and pieces I'm sorting through and making to finally enter the challenge.

When I saw the June's inspiration piece, the colors just screamed at me "NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO TRY." So, I'm trying. I'll share the completed piece with you when I get that far. For now, here's the screaming inspiration.

ABS June Challenge

Go to the Bead Table Wednesday Flickr Group for more eye candy.

Bead Table Wednesday

Since I'm still leading up to a vacation of sorts (unplanned and spontaneous as it is going to be), this will be the last item I list in the shop before vacation. 

Destinations Unknown Necklace

As well, a few items were placed ON SALE in the shop including this necklace (a favorite of mine.)

Secret Garden Necklace - ON SALE

I've got some plans for the rest of the day and need to be on my way.

Have a happy Hump Day!