Is It Here Again? Already?

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It seems impossible to believe but next week is Thanksgiving. NEXT WEEK!! It feels as if I was just setting out seedlings and applying sunscreen last week. Time is truly moving faster and faster every year. Ugh, that means I'm getting older and older just as fast. Hmmph! On to happier thoughts.

At the senior center, we've been working on all sorts of Autumn themed projects for several weeks now. In my last post there was a picture of the beautiful floral pumpkin centerpieces my crafters created. We followed that up with a coordinating Thanksgiving sign that can be posted on a wall, a door or on an easel for display. At our last session, we took a short respite from the larger, more complicated projects to create a very simple card to celebrate the fall season but, to keep my class from being bored, I challenged them to decorate it in glitter and they did a wonderful job.

Our upcoming class will be the last session before the Thanksgiving holiday and I have created a cute little turkey decoration. It's rather small, measuring only 2.5 inches tall by approximately 4.25 inches wide, but what this little fellow lacks in stature, he makes up for in attitude. His body is a small pinecone. His head features an open beak with a nice wattle and wide eyes, but it's his tail that steals the show, made up of 28 individual paper feathers highlighted with contrasting ink. Even the back of his tail is fancy, adorned with a lacy half medallion. A full medallion is used as a stand for this fancy fellow.

Yes, Thanksgiving is here and you know what that means...Christmas is around the corner. Bring on the holiday crafting.



Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Revisiting Spring - Update

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Original panels 2011

New panel 2016

Filigree butterflies adorn each corner.

One of several whimsical ladybugs.

About five years ago I created some simple floral panels as part of the spring decor for the Dorchester Senior Citizens Center. After years of use they were in need of some refurbishing so I decided to spruce them up. As usual, what started out as one thing turned into another and I didn't refurbish them at all. I decided to remake them. I kept all the same elements of the original panels -- a winding vine with flowers attached and butterflies flitting about -- but decided to make them really pop with color and texture. The updated version has larger flowers in clusters and leaves in vibrant colors. The butterflies are really fancy and are suspended off the face of the panel so they appear to be floating over it. I reused some of the flowers from the original panels and I even added little ladybugs for a touch of whimsy. I folded and manipulated the paper so the various elements had three dimensional depth and didn't lay flat against the background paper.
At 28 inches, the new panels are about two inches longer than the originals. This first prototype panel took me a long time to decide what I wanted to do. Now that it's completed, the other three should come together a lot more quickly.

As the days grow longer and the weather is turning slightly warmer, it won't be long before spring erupts in its annual display of color and sound. This year the Dorchester Senior Citizen Center will be ready to welcome her in style.


UPDATE (2.26.16)

Four Completed Panels

The new spring panels are complete! As you can see, they are much livelier than the original panels they were based on. It won't be long before they're mounted on the wall at the senior center. Spring soon come. Bring it!

Ballo ergo sum 
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

A Surprise and The Reveal.

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Commemorative banner

My sister and brother-in-law celebrated their 30th anniversary on April 4th and we weren't going to let this benchmark occasion go by without all due recognition and celebration. When my nephew approached saying that he wanted to do something for his folks but had no idea where to start, my mother and I jumped on it. Surprise and subterfuge are my calling cards.

Keeping a surprise from my sister is no easy task and it required constant monitoring of my nephews actions to make sure neither of them did or said anything to give it away. This covert operation was stewing for over two weeks and I'm happy to say it was a complete success. Neither my sister nor her husband was the wiser and we caught them totally off guard in their own home!

Supersized envelope front

Photo star decorations

Needless to say I was busy creating gifts and decorations for the event that kept me up until the wee hours for more nights than I care to admit but it was all worth it.

Here you see some of the goodies I conjured out of paper for my favorite couple. A three foot banner featuring a photo of the couple on their wedding day spanned the doorway between the living and dining rooms. A cascade of gold and silver stars frames the banner on either side.

The "award" poster measures about 12" x 17".  It was the first piece I made and established the decorative theme of the party in precious metal tones of silver and gold, a golden yellow color and a star motif. It wasn't until I had completed the poster that I realized I had nothing suitable in which to present it so I had to create an envelope to fit. Fortunately I had sufficient quantities of this beautiful, large format silver paper to create a custom envelope complete with faux postage and a faux cancellation stamp. The back of the envelope sports three heart cut outs and two elastic closures. I also made star decorations featuring photos of the couple over the past 30 years on one side and the details of the celebration on the other. These photo decorations were casually placed all around the room and were given as favors for the guest to take home. There was also a heart shaped favor basket with a heart studded gold and silver bow filled with little pillow boxes containing chocolate truffles. The pillow boxes had custom belly bands that touted the couple and the occasion that was being celebrated.

Pillow box favors

Heart shaped favor basket & bow

For their greeting card I made one that emulated an arched window with a trellis and a window box filled with greenery and a climbing flowering vine. A close look at the window reveals tiered molding set against a brown background embossed to look like brick work. The leaves hanging over the edge of the window box reveals the tiniest of leaf vein details. Paper spike plants, one of my sister's favorites, line the inside of the window box while the tiniest of yellow blossoms with orange pearl centers dot the climbing vine. A few rhinestone flowers and a glittery butterfly (my trademark symbol) complete the vignette.

Window box greeting card

The event was a big success. My sister and her husband were completely surprised, their sons were pleased as punch to have been able to pull it off without anyone suspecting and the rest of us were just happy to be there in each other's company celebrating our family.

In addition, I learned a great deal about the capabilities of my new cutting machine and was able to come up with designs that I had never attempted before. Every project brings me a step closer to my ultimate goal of architectural paper sculpture. If I've learned nothing else, I have learned that if I can dream it, I can do it.

Onward and upward.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Memories Are Made Of This.

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Every summer I vow to slow down and enjoy. Every summer I do anything but. This summer was no exception. I'll not bother to mention my gardening work. There's plenty of that in other posts. I'll just get to the rest of it.

I had heard that one of my cousins in Arizona had sustained a very bad leg break that would keep her in a cast for three to six months. I sent her this black and white get well card. Materials used were Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Circles and Standard Circles, Spellbinders Borderabilities A2 Curved Borders 1, Memory Box Vivienne (cutout) and Darla (solid) butterfly dies, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Sprigs (leaves) and Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. Solid butterfly was cut from vellum and embossed. I punched tiny flowers, sponged the edges with a coordinating ink and embellished them with tiny self adhesive rhinestones. Stamped verse from Inkadinkado Round Frames set.

My parents share the same birthday. My father, who is a year older, turned 80 this year and we marked the occasion with a semi-surprise luncheon at my house. The birthday card I made for them also served as an invitation to dine at my home. I call it a semi-surprise because although they knew my sister's family and mine would be there, they were not aware of the other family members that had been invited. My father, in particular, was surprised at the attendance of his brother and nephews who live nearly three hours away and whom he doesn't get to see very often. Card materials feature a variety of die punch and electronic cut flowers and leaves, Spellbinders Floral Ovals and text from Cloud 9 Design's Simple Thoughts - Happy Birthday clear stamps.

In a large heart shaped basket I placed some paper, envelopes and pens along with this oversized tag (left)  featuring a photo of my folks taken during their youth. It was the same photo I used for their anniversary favors. The guests were encouraged to write a message to the birthday couple or to insert a card of their own into the basket. As decorations I created more oversized tags, this time featuring a photo of my handsome father taken at my parents' 60th anniversary celebration in April on one side and the event on the other. I hung these around my house and in the backyard, then distributed them to the guests as favors afterwards. The tags, the heart, the corner stars and the black text were cut using Craftwell's eCraft electronic cutter. I created the cutting files in Serif DrawPlus 6. The black text is self-stick vinyl.

Here is a picture of my father posing with his photo cake. Yes, people, he really does look like that. No Photoshop. No trick photography. My dad is a handsome man who looks much younger than his 80 years. Eat your hearts out, ladies.

This is a photo of some more handsome men, my son, Alex, holding my cousin's grandson, William, both of them wearing a good coating of cake frosting on their faces. The expressions on those faces are priceless. My nephew Michael in the background is also enjoying the moment. The fact that a sudden deluge washed out the backyard and we all had to run indoors didn't dampen the fun.

Family, food and good times. This is what memories are made of.


Ballo ergo sum

- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Throwback to the Holidays

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Gift for grandson #1

Gift for grandson #2

Dancing at our community association
holiday gathering

It's only the end of January, just one month after the December holiday festivities, but it feels as if they took place eons ago, having been buried under several feet of snow. During this frigid, unforgiving time, I want to look back to some of the benchmarks of my annual holiday traditions like coquito, bread pudding, wrapping presents and decorating the house. Here are a few snapshots of my holiday celebrations.

Bread pudding in the making

Coquito - traditional Puerto Rican
holiday drink

My Coast Guard daughter and her beau.

 All the decorations have been packed away and the good food  has been eaten. Now I can look forward to longer, warmer days and the promise of gardening come spring. Goodbye, holidays. Until next year.

Decorations dragged down from the attic.

Rocking the new scarf my
sister gave me.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Summer Decorating Begins

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I had promised the director at the Dorchester Senior Citizen Center that I would come back every few months to do the seasonal decorating. I was past due on decorating for summer because the month of June was incredibly busy for me but I finally went to the center to start livening up the space for the hot summer months.

Fortunately I had done a pretty good job of decorating for spring because summer's decorations were added to the already festive look of the room. The walls were already decked out with dozens of butterflies and flowers. To that, I added some kites, colorful flip-flop sandals and two large and very colorful pennants (first photo) that the center director had purchased, all familiar symbols of summer. Coincidentally I had created my own Summertime pennant (second photo) to replace the Spring sign that I had created and hung in the center several months ago. Even though I had no prior knowledge of the pennants the center director had bought, the colors and the motif of my pennant were a perfect match for it and the rest of the room. I couldn't have planned it better. The kites were pinned to several large decorative fabric panels that I had scored for the center last year through a Freecycle donation. You can see some of these panels in the last two photos. In the last photo you can also see those colorful flip-flops strung from a heating pipe, looking for all the world like those sneakers you see hanging from utility lines all over the city. The sandals hang about 8 feet above the floor, low enough for everyone to easily see them but high enough to prevent any of the light-fingered members from making off with them. (Oh yes, those seniors will steal anything that isn't nailed down.) What you don't see in these photos is the Summer Goddess that I showcased in my last post. She was safely on view in a locked glass display case.

I'll go back to the center to finish the summer decorating and then I'll disappear again until September when it will be time to take down all the spring/summer decorations and switch over to fall. On the heels of fall decorating comes winter holiday decorating and that is a huge job. Until then I'll be in my garden, watering and weeding, planting and picking.


Ballo ergo sum
 - Gitana, the Creative Diva

The Arrival of Spring

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Due to an unexpectedly warm winter, here in the northeast we are experiencing an unusually early spring. With temperatures at times reaching upwards of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, all manner of flora and fauna that would usually be out of sight until April has made a glorious appearance in mid-March as evidenced by the beautiful daffodils I photographed in my garden. There was actually a period during which daffodil shoots were actively growing with nary a crocus in sight when the reverse is usually the case. Eventually the crocuses got their act together and showed their faces before the arrival of the daffodils but it was a pretty tight race.

Although I announced in a previous post that I would no longer be conducting weekly craft classes at the senior citizens center, I agreed to continue putting up the seasonal decorations. I wanted to really celebrate the arrival of spring's colorful flowers in a way that all the members could enjoy so I created a large (12" x 34") sign to go over the entry door to the main activity/lunchroom, a place where it can't be missed by anyone who enters the center.  All the materials used to create this sign were either free or donated, including the electronic cutter I used to cut out the various elements of the sign. The paper and fabric flowers came from Materials for the Arts and the cutting files came from SVGCuts.com, a site that offers free cut files for electronic cutting machines. The butterflies were created with Memory Box dies I purchased for my personal use but once I cut and colored them, they were so beautiful I just couldn't keep them all to myself. Click on the photo and zoom in to see the details on those blue beauties. There is also an invisible detail that doesn't show up in the photo. The oval in the center of the sign has flowers stamped in watermarking (transparent) ink and dusted with gold pigment powder. The stamped flowers can't be seen until you pass underneath the sign. When the light catches it just the right way all the flowers appear to shine.

This is the first large scale project I've done with my eCraft and I still have much to learn but I'm very pleased with the way this first attempt came out. Ya know, I had so much fun making this sign, perhaps I'll make another one for summer.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva