This is becoming a Molly blog

I had to share this miracle,
which Dawn and I saw with our own eyes
and still can't believe what we saw:

Video of Molly and Oliver playing!

Molly and Oliver have been playing in the backyard and have now brought it inside. Molly, who's the biggest grouch this side of California, is playing like a puppy. I love that she has rediscovered her youth. She had such a hard life before we found her, so it's wonderful to see her continuing to bloom.

Thank you, Oliver, even though you're a handful and a pain in the patootie to Winnie, you have brought so much joy to our family.

Dogs and Cards

Molly enjoyed her day at the spa.

She looks like two different dogs, doesn't she? Although I love her when her fur is long and swirly, it gets knotted, stinky and makes her uncomfortable. So I like to reset her every now and again, which brings out the puppy in her. She's adorable.

I made four of my lifelong friends a card and wrote a short note in each of them reminding them how much they mean to me and that I love them. I even made one for myself because I love how they turned out and now I can keep it as a reminder of all the kind and wonderful things everyone said about them when they received them.  This is the first card I've sent the group since our group went from six to five, so I kept thinking about her and how our get-togethers will never be the same. This makes me cherish all of my girlfriends that much more.

These were made of watercolor paper, even the ladies. The background was done using Distress Ink, and the ladies were colored with a combination of Copics, Le Plume and Faber-Castel markers. The sparkly umbrella has a coating of red Sparkle brush pens by Faber-Castel. Have you tried them yet? They're pricey, but if you want your images to shimmer, these will do the trick. I was given several sets for Christmas by my daughters and then yesterday I discovered the clear ones are sold as a set of three, so I bought them (using a coupon, of course). I'm especially enamored with the tiny raindrops I created with Glossy Accents. They make me very happy.

Meet Oliver Flynn, Valerie's new pupper! He's about 2-1/2 years old, has personality galore, loves everybody and all of our dogs, and just wants to eat, poop and play all day. We're still working on the potty training, so he wears a belly band during the day. He's catching on, but he sure is taking his sweet time about it. Good thing he's so adorable.

Playing and Catch-up Time

Who would have thought crepe paper could be so pretty?

One of the reasons I like mixed media is because of all the texture. I'm amazed crepe paper and a little paint fills that category quite abundantly. We also created texture in the latest Mixed Media Morsels exercises.

My daughter Valerie made two rain chains out of beach glass and wire! They're located at each end of my craft room. They got quite a workout the first night they were up. I love them so much.

Sneaking in a little Molly here. She's more playful and lovable as ever! She loves her squeaky toys, but the bows, not so much.

I've been admiring all of the Bible art journaling I've been seeing on-line and have been wanting to try it. I felt very intimidated by it, maybe because of the full-sized pages, I don't know. So when I spotted little New Testaments at the Dollar Store, I was excited about using one. I totally love what I did, although it's quite busy. I learned a lot and can't wait to do another page.

I am hoping that combining my love of God and arts and crafts, I can learn to hide the word in my heart easier than trying to just memorize what He has to say. And it's a lot of fun!

Run, Molly, Run!

I love Molly so much!

Dawn took this video and I couldn't resist setting it to music.

Doggers

My crafting buddies. I love it when they hang out with me in my craft studio. It was so funny. Monday they were laying in their own beds, and the next time I looked over they had switched places! Such silly goofers.

They both love Dawn's new Christmassy blanket Valerie surprised her with. It's very, very soft.

One ear up!

I asked Molly if she wanted a sweater because she was snuggled up around my pillows in a little ball.

I brought out the heart sweater, held it up and asked her again. She got up and walked over to me, like, yes, mama, put it on me!

Our Annual Christmas Ornament Exchange

I couldn't resist starting off with this adorable photo of Miss Molly.

I worked really hard on these birdhouse ornaments and enjoyed every single minute. The basic wooden birdhouses have been in my craft stash for a few years, and each year I took them out, wanting to do something with them. Well, this was the year! I love how they turned out. Be sure to click on the images for close-ups.

There were 12 of us this year, so I made 12 plus one (just in case someone came unexpectedly).

I painted each one with a coat of gesso, two coats of white and red acrylic paint, then decoupaged patterned tissue paper on the front.

I splattered white and black paint (hoping it didn't turn out looking like bird poop!), glued a sparkly pre-made wreath in front of the tiny hole, and topped each one with a snow-like mixture and sprinkled it with two different types of glitter

I also put sparkly glitter-glue (Stickles) on top of the little perch to make it look like frost or a light snow.

I made a plain one and didn't even paint white paint on it, just left it the original color then painted the red highlights and added the snow. I'll keep this one.

I glued two magnets on the back of each one and dated them. Guess I should have signed them.

Here are the ornaments everyone made. I'm so tickled with everything and can't wait to hang them on our tree.

Dawn made the silver ornament, Valerie made Joy.

Below is a necklace that's made of fabric and marbles. So clever.

The packaging is always so pretty!

Valerie also made the round wooden ornament. She woodburned snowflakes on them, so adorable.

We have such a talented group!

Next up, our annual cookie exchange! 120 cookies.

Not worried one bit.

Mail Art

I love it when the dogs sun themselves without realizing they're snuggled together. Winnie and Molly sat there for quite some time.

I just completed a mail art swap and I'm so excited about it. These swaps challenge me to be better and more creative, and help me to step outside my comfort zone.

I did some mixed-media on the envelope, something I really enjoyed doing. I stuffed it full and folded it in half for a more secure fit.

Included was a mixture of embossed and inked papers, one of the playing cards from the deck I've been working on, tissue paper, a nifty sticker I made that looks like the top of an old spool of thread, and more. (Argh! I can't get this paragraph to stay to the left.)

The card above was made using a piece of deli paper as the base, then a coat of gesso, and decoupaged tissue paper with two different prints on it. Then I inked it up, adhered it to a piece of sticky-backed card stock, trimmed it and rounded the corners. I like doing things to deli paper, it takes a beating without tearing.

This was a sheet of clear stickers for the months of 2013. I gave it a coat of clear gesso and inked it up. She'll be able to use it in her collage work.

The wrinkly bit on top is a piece of brown paper made to look at feel leather-like. Water and glycerin is the secret to making it so supple. I also cut some deli paper flowers and decorated them. I left a few kind of plain for her to play around with.

Here's what I received:

Some great stuff already from my swap partner. I was hoping for those green teeth! My favorite piece is the one on top. I can see the many layers she applied and the fun she had doing it. She's so talented.

The envelope was very cool.

You can see Roni's Instagram here. FYI, mine is here. If you ever have the opportunity to do a mail swap, do it! If you would like to do one with me, leave a comment below or email me at iamdawt@gmail.com and we'll talk about it.