My ornaments have been published in Fons and Porter, Love of Quilting, November/December 2023 issue!

Hi!

I have some fun news to share! My silk holiday ornaments with decorative stitching have been published in the Love of Quilting, Nov/Dec 2023 issue! 

Silk Splendor Ornaments displayed on tree

Silk Splendor Bird ornament

I love having them in the holiday issue. There are other beautiful projects in the issue to inspire you for the holidays! 

Also, instructions on making Scandinavian Star ornaments - I may have to try that, they look like fun.

Love of Quilting Nov/Dec 2023 issue

You can check it out at: https://www.quiltingdaily.com/product/love-of-quilting-november-december-2023-digital-edition/

#fonsandporter #quiltingdaily @fonsandporter @_quilting_daily

Blessings to you,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Season's Greetings! - Day 25 - 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

Season's Greetings!

I hope you are having a good day, and if you are celebrating the season a good celebration!

Our celebration is a quiet one, enjoying each other's company and some good food.

Here are some photos of holiday ornaments/decorations I have made in the past, hope you enjoy seeing them! 

Embroidery on paper with sequins

Tatting with my hand painted threads and buttons on mulberry paper

Close up of tatting on mulberry paper

God's Eye Gift Tag Ornaments

Machine and Hand Needle-felted Ornaments

Holiday Gift Tag Ornaments

My Yo-Yos's Cubed Ornament

Star Needle-felted ornament and a little elf by 

my mom (a good remembrance of her.)

Have a fun day!

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

#31DayBlogWritingChallenge

Decorating and Holiday Ornaments - Day 3 - 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

Greetings of the Season!

I have been busy decorating a bit more for the holidays. Decided it would be nice to have a white tree this year. Thought I would share the results with you. The tree is not a fancy one ($10 on sale at #DollarGeneral), but I think the ornaments dress it up quite a bit. I decided to go over the top this year and fill out the tree with decorations. 

I have been collecting glass ornaments for a long time. Now I no longer collect them, I just enjoy them each December. I also added ornaments to the tree which my mom had made. It is a great way to remember her each year. Also included are some of my handmade ornaments.

A Pink Shiny Brite "A White Christmas" Ornament, one of two that I have, pink tatted flower I made, and a machine and hand needle-felted circle ornament I made in the background.

Second Shiny Brite "Shooting Star" Ornament in my collection, with another of my machine and hand needle-felted ornaments to the right.

A treasure my mom made, a felt and sequined red bird ornament, with couched gold cord on it. I have always liked this bird! I believe I saw reprinted instructions on how to make this ornament in one of the Piecework Magazines from Interweave. There is also another one of my needle-felted ornaments to the left, with crystals applied.

Some of my glass ornaments with one God's Eye Ornament I made to include in holiday cards one year, I kept two for myself. They are made from toothpicks, ready-made glittered gift tags, perle cotton embroidery thread and pens for decoration.

Holiday Gift Tag Ornament I designed and made one year to include in my cards. See the end of my post to see where you can download my free pattern instructions to make your own!

One of my machine and hand needle-felted star ornaments next to a little elf my mom made. My mom would make ornaments for holiday bazaars each year with her woman's church group. (In the 1960 - 70s) She would often show me how to make ornaments and we would make them together. We made God's Eye Ornaments one year out of yarn and wooden dowels.

Another view of Mom's bird, with one of my needle-felted ornaments on the left, and a God's Eye Ornament I made at the top. I like how the white of the tree shows off the ornaments.

You can find instructions to make the God's Eye Gift Tag Ornaments here on my blog at: https://dbl-art-design.blogspot.com/2015/12/update-completed-gods-eye-gift-tag.html

Free instructions for my Holiday Gift Tag Ornaments can be found on the Craftsy site at: https://www.craftsy.com/paper-crafts/patterns/holiday-gift-tag-ornaments/258622

Another Ornament I designed, my Yo-Yos Cubed Ornaments and Pincushion Instructions can also be found for sale on the Craftsy site at: https://www.craftsy.com/sewing/patterns/yoyos-cubed-ornaments-and-pincushion/217496  Check it out too, if you like!

I was fortunate to have an article published in the Holiday 2013-2014 Quilting Arts Gifts Magazine on how to make the Machine and Hand Needle-felted Ornaments shown in the photos above. A digital copy of the magazine can be found here: https://www.quiltingcompany.com/store/quilting-arts-gifts-2013-2014.

Hope you have enjoyed my Show and Tell! Some years I don't get much decorating done, but I do like looking in the magazines and online to see how others are decorating. O.K. to keep it simple some years and go all out on other years!

Visit the other bloggers taking part in the #31dayblogchallenge2018 at 
http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2018-31-day-blog-writing-challenge

Happy Decorating and a Happy Holiday Season to you!

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

#31dayblogchallenge2018 

Embroidered Holiday Gift Tag Ornaments

Embroidered Holiday Gift Tag Ornaments

Hi! I've entered my Holiday Gift Tag ornament instructions in a contest on Favecrafts.com. The projects with the most views win a prize! Please take a look and share! The instructions are provided on the Favecrafts site. (You can view my project and the instructions by clicking on the link above.) They are fun to make! Happy crafting and Happy Holidays! Thanks, Denise Losczyk #faveornament

Update - Completed God's Eye Gift Tag Ornaments

Happy December everyone!

I recently finished making my God's Eye Gift Tag Ornaments, which I had started in October. You can read about how to make the God's Eyes out of perle cotton and toothpicks in my previous October post.

God's Eye Gift Tag Ornaments, sewn onto tags and  before adding corner embellishment.

After I finished making the God's Eye weavings, I sewed them onto pre-made Gift tags, which I had purchased from Craftsy.com earlier this year, during one of their supply sales. The gift tags have a nice gold glitter embellishment on the bottom of each tag. To sew them onto the tags, I used perle cotton thread, and sewed two opposite sides of each God's Eye onto the tag. I poked a hole in the cardstock tag on each side of the toothpicks, before beginning to sew them in place, I sewed through the holes about 2 times, and took a couple of stitches in place on the back, stitching into the threads to secure the ornaments onto the card.

Completed God's Eye Gift Tag Ornaments, sewn onto tags and with added corner embellishment.

I then embellished the corners of each gift tag with silver spiral designs, drawn with a silver gel marker. I experimented with a heart design on one of the cards, but opted for the spiral design for the other cards.

I added a Holiday greeting on the back of each gift tag, with my signature.

All the cards (except for two which I kept) are on their way to family and friends, along with my Holiday greetings.

#ad - Craftsy has a Holiday sale going on now, if you click on the link to the right in my blog you can check it out! Their supplies and classes are on sale, and they have free classes and patterns which you can download, too. Their free and paid classes are all great, and you can connect with other crafters through their online community. It's a great way to get creative, and try out new things. I love Craftsy!
I wish you a wonderful Holiday season, and if you are not celebrating the Holidays, I wish you a Blessed Winter Season.

Sincerely,

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Holiday God's Eye Gift Tag Ornaments

Thought I would share some photos of the Holiday Gift Tag Ornaments that I am working on this year. I plan to include them in some of my Holiday cards. My design this year includes God's Eye weavings made from toothpicks and perle cotton thread, no glue required!

I started making the God's eyes by holding 2 toothpicks together  in my hands in a cross shape. I used a long length of cut perle cotton thread to weave around the cross shape. To start weaving hold the tail of the thread in the back of the design, against the bottom of the center toothpick. Wrap the thread around the bottom toothpick once, and then to the right or left (choose the direction you are most comfortable with wrapping in), and over and around the adjacent toothpick. Continue wrapping around the cross shape, being careful to line the threads up next to each other. If the wrapping doesn't look neat or right to you, just unwrap a bit, and start over.

God's Eye Holiday Gift Tag Ornaments in process.

Tips: I used flat toothpicks for this project, they may be a little easier to hold together, versus round toothpicks. Also, variegated thread is great to use, as it creates its own striped design, when wrapping, without having to change threads. I like starting with a light piece of thread at the center, it helps draw attention to the center of the design.

I plan to sew the God's eye weavings to gift tags which I purchased earlier this year from Craftsy during one of their sales. They are nice with gold glitter already applied to the bottom edge of the tags. I will add a little extra decoration to the corners, something simple. I' ll post an updated photo once they are complete.

Check out my previous post for information on a current Craftsy supply sale going on. You can use my sponsored ad link to check it out, if you like.

You can find out more about God's Eyes in this Wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_eye

They are very meditative to create, and a great introduction to the weaving craft. According to the Wikipedia article they have been created by the Ancient Pueblo people and are made as a blessing and a part of celebrations. Check out the article to find out more! Also, if you search on Etsy.com, you will find many examples of God's Eyes for sale, and some are very intricate and creative.

Happy Creating and weaving!

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk