For the Tooth Fairy

My daughter's recent trip to the Dentist led to the discovery of her first wiggly tooth! On our way home we stopped at a craft store and I let her pick out the felt and ribbon. That evening I made a simple tooth door hanger so we'll be well prepared when the Tooth Fairy arrives.

There is a small pocket on one side for the tooth and a large pocket on this side for money. What's the going rate for the Tooth Fairy? I believe I received twenty-five cents, but there has been a tiny bit of inflation since the 80s. Is a dollar enough and perhaps a little extra for each tooth thereafter?

~ jeannine

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Two for Tea

Remember the Tea Box storage bins I made? Well I made two more. They are part of a pretty set of three sitting on a shelf in my studio.

One is filled with stamps

One with postage

One with tape

and they all still hold the scent of lemon verbena

~ jeannine

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Mail Art: Hand Painted and a Poem

This is a long overdue post about the packages I sent to my very patient friends since this past summer. I see that I am in need of another session in the studio putting together envelopes with art, images and letters.

Barbara received my first of several hand painted envelopes. Inside was a collection of pictures and handmade treats.

Kimi received another hand painted envelope and a hand painted card along with pictures, a postcard and stickers.

Sumi received a sketch on handmade paper which shares a similar colour tone with the photos. Gold letter, hand painted and space stickers rounded off the package.

Marcus opened a package to find our next trade. A BC sunset and two pressed sweet pea blossoms along with a painted cardboard postcard. At the time our prolonged summer was coming to an end and we were about to hit 80 days without a drop of rain. A few days later it began to rain with a vengeance.  I found a beautiful quote online and created an illustration to match.

The rain began again.
It fell heavily,
easily,
with no meaning or intention
but the fulfilment
of its own nature,
which was to fall
and fall.

- Helen Garner

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Handmade Gifts Part 2

I have several kinds of lavender plants in my garden and so I planned to put together some scented bath salts using my flower buds and some essential oil. I was hoping to find a local shop that carried the oil and in my research I discovered that I live a mere 20 minute drive from an organic lavender farm! Huzzah!

A quick stop turned into a family trip and a small purchase turned into a gift of pumpkins for each of my girls from the generous gardener, Lynda. We roasted the pumpkins and made several batches of pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin cookies. She asked us to return in the spring and she'll give each girl their own tomato plant. I foresee several more varieties of lavender in my garden in the coming years.

The recipe for the bath salts was simple. Epsom salts and a dozen drops of oil. A few buds and a hearty shake to mix them up. Top of the jar, seal it up and package as desired. I stamped the kraft paper with a snowflake stamp and white ink and finished it off with a small drawing on each jar.

Making these gifts has inspired me to continue making handmade presents each year. Do you make any of your gifts? Please share your story! I'd love to hear what you made.

jeannine

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Handmade Gifts Part 1

At the end of each holiday season I resolve to start making my gift list as soon as possible and finish shopping in the summer. By Halloween I realize I forgot to make said list and panic while cursing my unorganized habits. This year was much the same (why break with tradition, right?) with one small change -- I made a few of our gifts.

The first handmade gift was seed sharing. I successfully saved a large envelope full of shelling peas and I still have a jar full of seeds from my gorgeous False Indigo plant from Ottawa. I dusted off my InDesign software and combined a sketch of the plant with some well set type. I printed it onto heavy kraft paper and used a seed packet template I found online.

Did you make any of your Christmas gifts this year? Please share in the comments, I'd love to see them.


The next Handmade Gifts post will be about the bath product I made using a locally sourced treasure.

jeannine

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Hello

I hope you had a really great Christmas with just the right balance of supreme laziness and goal accomplishment. Those were the two items on my list during our holidays. Check and check. We all slept in, drank too much coffee, played with our new toys and finished a deep house cleaning and organizing. There was art, reading and eating and were were merry most of the time.

I've been busy with artwork, crafts and cooking lately and I'm looking forward to sharing these with you. I'm hoping that this creative momentum will continue and that I'll be able to carve out enough time for regular posting until the next wave of busy sweeps me away.

Happy New Year!

jeannine
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