I have two things to share with you, first up is this little spot I just finished for a magazine game page.

I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I used cold press paper (I think it was Fabrino, 150lb.) Half way through the watercoloring, I stopped to ink in the lines with a #8 Pigma Micron. Then I finished the rest of the painting. (It’s amazing how much you lighter your watercolors will look once you’ve got a big fat black line next to them…)

I liked this so much that I made this year’s Christmas Card with the same technique. But you can’t see that yet, you have to wait! It’s not even Thanksgiving yet!

For my Mom’s Group, the craft this month was SILHOUETTE BROOCHES MADE FROM SHRINKEY DINKS!!!

I found this idea online, but when I went back and searched for it, I couldn’t find the link again! So thank you, random internet crafter. Great idea! I had the ladies email me pictures of their kids in profile and laid them out like this:

The ladies traced the print outs with fine tipped sharpie markers, we threw them in the oven & then hot-glued pins on the backs of them:

If you do this craft, let me warn you, Shrinkey Dinks can shrink down crazy-jacked-up sometimes! If they curl up on themselves & get stuck DON’T PANIC! Carefully un-stick them, put them back in the oven, and when you pull them out the second time, flatten them with a spatula or wooden spoon. Practically half of our ‘dinks would have been ruined, but when I re-baked them, they ALL turned out fine. (Also, “fine” doesn’t mean “perfect”. They’re melted plastic. They look awesome and are SO fun to do, but they’ll usually be slightly warped. But look how cute! I know!)

So what are you up to? Crazy crafting for the holidays?