Christmas ‘Fantle’ 2011 | Mixed-Media Decor

December 8, 2011

Welcome to Anna K. Originals! So glad that you took the time to click over and stop by for a visit. I’m linking up with the Christmas Mantle Link Party hosted by the ever-creative Beth at Home Stories A-Z. Thanks for hosting this fun link up, Beth!

Having said that, I'm sure some of you may be wondering why it says "Christmas Fantle" in my title instead of Christmas Mantle. Well, I don't have a fireplace, but I did manage to rescue a solid wood mantle piece from the side of the road some time ago and now we have a fake mantle ('fantle'). We had it hung in our dining area during a recent remodel. Now on to the pictures!

Did anyone else go into Pinterest overload with Christmas decorating ideas? Yeah, me too. It is a total treasure trove of ideas, projects, and inspiration...but, eventually, I had to pull myself away and take a look at what I already had on hand. And I'm digging what I came up with! I still look at it and see 16 different things I'd like to add or try, however, I have a family that likes to eat occasionally and other things that need our money more.

My oldest son said it looks like a cool forest. That made me smile because that's kinda what I was aiming for - a take on the Christmas scenes/villages that everyone loves so much, just with a mixed-media twist. Here is a quick run down of what went into the making of our Christmas Fantle~

Star (purchased a few years ago)
Cone Trees (Styrofoam/Paper covered in felt, old book pages, yarn, or paint)
Little bird houses ($1 at Michael's)
Yarn-wrapped foam balls (left over from our Christmas Tree)
Wooden "NOEL" ornament (purchased a few years ago)
White scarf ($5 from Big Lots)
Old books and other items to lift objects up (hidden under scarf)

The tree on the left (above) is covered with vintage dictionary pages and a sparkly, bright green ribbon. I like the way the shiny ribbon and aged paper contrasts against one another. The yarn-wrapped tree on the right was originally a Styrofoam cone that I cut into three sections, wrapped with green yarn, and stuck through with a bamboo skewer. It's resting on a glass votive that I filled with neutral colored felt to give it the feeling of a pot. I originally had the white scarf on a table in the living room, but the snow-like effect was soo cool that it was moved to the fantle.

Ribbon and felt leaf shapes cover the two cones in the background and are flanked by more yarn ornaments and another simple birdhouse. I thought it was important to bring in simple elements to balance the colors and textures going on in the rest of the fantle. The bluish-green tree that you see is one of my mixed-media creations. I used layers of tissue and paint, with strips of sheet music for garland and a white gel pen for this unique tree. One of those paper mache cone forms from Michael's is the base.

Last, but certainly not least, is the message of NOEL.

Many thanks to all who stopped by and Merry Christmas!

Blessings,

Anna K.

Tagged being creative, Christmas Decorating, Christmas Mantle Link Up 2011 Filed Under Christmas, decorating, Handmade Christmas Decorations, Holidays, Uncategorized 1 Comment

For the love of blogging…

September 18, 2011

What do you do when life is overwhelming?

Cry and wail?

Get angry and rage at the world?

Become so confused and burdened that the simplest things are “too much”?

Well, in the last couple of months, I’ve done all of those.

It just seemed like we were, as a family, going through a season of hard news and even harder decisions. Big decisions.

One of the things I did as a result was to avoid blogging. I retreated and withdrew.

I’ve missed it so much…more than that, I missed the readers who would stop by and comment with kindness. I let a community of support pass me by and I truly regret that!

Grief is not a quick boo-boo that someone can kiss away. Sometimes it stays in the background, complacent to let you go about your day in relative normality. Other times it rushes to the forefront of your mind and heart with a vengeance, delighting in the havoc it is wreaking. For me it usually commences with the havoc wreaking when I’m stressed about other things….fun, right? I’m sure some of you know exactly what I’m talking about!

My mom’s birthday is this week. I still miss her every single day. I still slip and say things like, “Oh, we’ll have to tell Ammah (what my boys called her) she would like that!”. She’s not here to tell things to anymore or to laugh with anymore or to give me a dose of her grace and logic-filled wisdom.

Like I said, I miss her.

I hope that this doesn’t come across as whining. I hate it when I do that….

Having said all of that, I will share with you that I’ve had some much needed wake-up calls. Reminders of what’s important and necessary and what can be let go of. Oh, how I’ve needed those reminders!

So, I’m hopeful that I will continue to blog and not withdraw…for the love of blogging and of being a part of such a wonderful community!

Blessings,

Anna K.

Filed Under Family, God, grief, Healing, Momma 3 Comments

Life Happens

June 13, 2011

Well, it has been quite a while since I’ve been able to do this! Oh, how I’ve missed blogging but sometimes, life happens. I’ve been doing the school thing and working towards a degree in Digital Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, online division. Oy, it’s been a lot of work and a lot of fun all at the same time. It does eat into my family and Hubby time quite a bit, so as soon as I finish my school work the computer is set aside for more important things.

I think I’ve written at least a hundred posts in my head! Even the Hubs has noticed that I haven’t been able to blog and asked if I was missing it. That man knows me, y’all!

My favorite class so far has been the Typography course. Hands down. The pic below is of a poster we had to do using figure-ground confusion (is the white the background color or is it the blue?) and it was one of my favorite projects. Families reading together is also very near and dear to my heart. The quote by Emilie Buchwald is perfect ~”Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” (or aunts, uncles, grandparents…you get the idea!)

I’ve been hopping around the bloggy-verse and checking out what some of y’all have been writing. I’m telling you, there are a lot of talented, wise, funny and awesome bloggers out there! You know who you are….

Blessings,