I'm a little behind in my posting, but I've still been working behind the scenes. I made my New Year's Resolution to complete my WIPS, but I'm afraid so far I've only really been creating more. It's only March, though, so I'm still hopeful. I just need to be stronger..... But today my mom gave me tons of hand-me-downs - fabric and yarn. Oh, the possibilities. I guess I should look at this as more incentive to work those WIPS.
Some WIPS in the making:
Recycling candles. Don't you just hate it when you have a good-smelling candle that you can't light anymore? I recycle.... bought some wicks from my local craft store and brought out the smaller empty candle jars. Just dig out the leftover wax in the candle that won't light anymore, remelt it, add some scented oil, then pour in the waiting empty jar with the fresh wick. I made 6 new candles while working on my Invitation WIP (below).
I have a cousin who's getting married in May. I requested an advance invitation so I could create an invitation keepsake for her. I asked her mom about colors and flowers, and created from there. I don't usually do much of this, so it's time-consuming for me from creating to execution. I think it turned out well, although I worked on it off and on for several weeks. I was determined to finish it this weekend so I can give it to her at the Bridal Shower next weekend.
Another WIP I need to get working on is a crochet afghan that will be a wedding gift for my nephew. I think there might be a Bridal Shower in April or May, but I'm not sure. The wedding's in June - right before my daughter graduates from high school. Yep - need to focus on getting this one done. I probably have about 1/4 done on the body.
Oh, yeah. One of the numerous joys the mom of two teens has is the last-minute requests for something for school, a friend, an activity..... My son had a dance to go to, and he needed a corsage. Well, at the last minute - who can find an open florist??? Luckily the near-by grocery store has a nice selection of price-reduced flowers. A trip to the back yard from some green leaves. I found some Baby's Breath in a silk arrangement - you can't even tell they're not live. The only florist tape I had was white, so that had to do. I found some white ribbon to cover up the sticky tape, added some more ribbon.... I think it turned out nice. At the dance, she felt special. Not many of the other dates bothered with flowers for their girls. 
So, here's the finished Invitation Keepsake for my cousin. The picture is terrible - I should have taken the picture before I put it in the frame. But it was a struggle to get it in the frame, so I wasn't about to take it out again just for a picture. The invitation is ivory with brown lettering. My cousin told me the flowers are going to be blue hydrangeas and cream roses. I usually add quilling to these, but I had no idea how to quill hydrangeas. So, I really had to think about this awhile. I ended up with a combination of scrapbooking and quilling. I used a punch for the hydrangeas and larger leaves, and the roses, buds, and vines are quilled. I had to cut the invitation to mount the front and back - I needed to frame both to complete the picture. I used a double mount - the hydrangea blue directly under the invitation, then sitting on a larger brown rectangle with the quilled design. The background sheet is a beautiful 12 x 12 scrapbook sheet with a linen-look cream that's shiney. I chose black for the wooden frame. My cousin told me the kitchen is black, red, and white, so I thought that might be a sign of their taste for the rest of their home. I hope so!
Now I'm going to do a little bit of showing off of my daughter's artistic talent. She gets hers from her dad, thankfully. I can do lots of crafting with my hands, but I just can't make a go of drawing and painting. Here are a couple of paintings my daughter created for her high school first year art class.
