Welcome 2012!

Year 2011 was a year of learning new things for The Cabby Crafter.

It was a great to have attended jewelry and polymer clay workshops in Manila and in the USA.

I am looking forward to another year filled with more things and techniques to learn, more people to meet and be inspired with.

Have a safe, healthy, peaceful and blessed Year 2012.

Keep on crafting!

Hero Arts Christmas 2011

Hello friends!

HeroArts' December 2011 Contest Theme is:

I stamped the ornament and embossed it with gold.  I added color in jewel, rich tones.

The snowflakes were stamped and embossed with white.

The sentiment was stamped in 3 colors and embossed with clear embossing powder.

These were layered on a blue dry embossed background with polka dots (poor photo quality).

A blue wire was added to finish the card.

Hope you had a Happy Christmas.

Here's wishing you a Blessed and Crafty Year 2012!

Materials:

HA 5276 Flourish Ornament Rubber Stamp

HA CL464 Sending Holiday Cheer

Ranger Gold Embossing Powder
Ranger distress Inks:  Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
Tobow ABT Markers

Judikins Clear Detail Embossing Powder

Darice Blue Jewelry Wire

Bottlecapped Words [2011 Christmas Gifts]

What handmade gifts did you make this year?

I made these keychain, made with braided leather and bottlecapped words from polymer clay.

I incorporated several techniques in making these.  It was my first time to do it and I had a lot of fun.

I tried a different kind of glaze and was glad with how it turned out (the photo doesn't give justice though).

I like the enamel look of the piece.

The back part had a printed note that was sealed.

The red rosebuds where inspired by the work of a talented artist, RockyBeads.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, FRIENDS!

Blessings to you and your family!

Kid's birthday card

This card is for a cute girl who will be celebrating her 1st Birthday and Child Dedication tomorrow.

It is Filipino custom to have godparents who are given the privilege to stand as second parents - my husband and I were one of those chosen for this little girl.  It's a huge challenge over and beyond giving gifts during their godchild's birthday, Christmas or on special occasions and we are praying that we could stand up to the task set before us.

I used several cardmaking techniques in this card.  A designer paper was layered on a red mat.  Hero Arts stamps were used for the flowers and sentiments on the cover and inside of the card.  The cute green beetle is from K&company.  Finally, I added a quilled flower. 

It's fun, vibrant and I love it!
We are looking forward to celebrate with her.

Happy weekend!

Bake some and Get more!

Have you ever been to a cookie swap?

A friend of mine invited me to their 8th Annual Cookie Swap. 

Their swap began when her group of friends thought of baking cookies and exchanging them with others. 

She said some cookies were simple and some were really fancy.  They had so much fun that they did it the following year and the next making this year their 8th!

Since then, the group has increased in size as more and more friends and friends of friends attend.

I was so happy to be part of it - baking and all.  It was totally fun! 

The rules were simple:  Bake 4 dozens of cookies of any variety from scratch but no chocolate chip cookies.  I'm a big fan of chocolate chip cookies but yeah... it was nice to taste and be a fan of something else.

There were over 20 varieties of cookies and each of us got 2 pieces of a kind to put in our pink box.

There were a couple of interesting cookies - mainly because it was my first time to encounter such.

Pfeffernuse which is a German Christmas cookie made with molasses and honey.

Rugelach which literally means "little twists" are rolled cookies that are of Jewish (Polish) origin.

Strawberry preserve Kolaczki, a Polish jelly-filled cookie

Italian Pizelle which are Italian traditional wafer cookies.

Here is an incomplete list of what we had (hihihi.. Icouldn't decipher the blurred labels in my photos):

Potato chip cookies - Date nut adventures - Chocolate toffee shortbread

Oatmeal yogurt cranberry cookies - Coffee bonbons - Noche buena chocolate sandwich cookies

Coconut lemon stars - Coconut lime bark - Double chocolate drop stars

White chocolate cranberry macadamia nut

It was nice to meet new friends - some have been avid bakers for a long time and some were just beginners. 

The food was super delicous too that we didn't have room to eat cookies.

We were given a pink box where we placed 2 cookies of each kind. 

It was cookie frenzy!



Cookie frenzy!  Here's my Sweet and Tangy lemon cookies and my box of cookie stash.
Lots of cookies to try out!

I made Sweet and Tangy Lemon Cookies - the recipe that my mom got from our friend in Australia.  I love this cookie especially when it's warm and soft inside.  The lemon adds a lot of flavor and it really goes well with coffe or tea.

Now that we have all these variety of cookies, it's time to make some warm tea and coffee and share it with hubby.

Tomorrow, we start our diet and exercise.  Or maybe a week from today.

Looking forward to the 9th Annual Cookie swap.

Have fun!

CF Art Swap

One of the polymer clay artists that I truly admire is the talented and quirky Ms. Christi Friesen (CF).

She recently held an Art Swap on her website and I joined!  Yay! 

 It was my first time to do participate in such a fun activity.

Her challenge was to "Create anything using polymer clay and at least one found object (you can use more found objects of course, and you can add any other accents/embellishments to your piece!) Make your piece no less than 1” and no more than 4”."

This was my entry:  "Floral Swirl Pendant."

The pendant was made using several colors of Premo sculpey that was conditioned, textured and sculpted to make a flower.  Mica powder was added to finish the design.

My "found objects" were gold wire and a washer.  I love adding swirls to my designs as you can see here.

The pendant hangs from a 16" brown double leather cord with a 2" extender chain.

A pinback was likewise added so that it can be used as a brooch.

This has been an exciting experience for  me.

I can't wait to receive CF's Swap original dragon dude (as she calls it) and my Art Swap partners work.

There were many wonderful works that were submitted.  Check out CF's website:

Happy claying!

Art Bead Scene Ornament Blog Hop

It's almost Christmas!

Have you put up your tree?  We have.  This year's motif is silver and blue.  Oh... how I love looking at Christmas trees and appreciating at how creative people can be.

Art Bead Scene has an Ornament blog hop beginning today.

Look at these ornaments made by author Heather Powers.  Aren't they gorgeous?  

These would actually go well with our tree.

Photo by Heather Powers at http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/

 I love the variety of colors and shapes of the ornaments below.

Photo by Heather Powers at http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/



Visit Art Bead Scene's blog and read the tutorial on how Ms. Heather made these.

I am inspired to get blue beads and make ornaments to add to our tree..

Happy crafting!