we have a new family member...

welcome to 

THE ADORABLE...

wait 'til you see...

Will Wamhoff...

Will's parents are Jackie & Steve Wamhoff...

if you're familiar with Inky Antics stamps, 

Jackie is the creative director...

stampers anonymous, inky antics, darcie's & art gone wild are all sister stamp companies...

(owned by Ted & Michelle)

so that makes Will our family!

Rick & I have been cheering for Will since we saw the first ultrasound...

after about 10 weeks of bedrest, 

yikes...

(I can't even  imagine, Jackie is AMAZING)

Jackie delivered Will last 

week on October 19th...

he was 3 pounds & 11 ounces, and he's already gaining weight & making huge progress...

if you'd like to follow Will's progress or send a note of encouragement or 

CONGRATS 

to Jackie & Steve, 

you can visit 

Will's page at the CaringBridge...

sometimes Jackie does the updates & sometimes...

if he's not busy playing video games, 

Will does the updates...

look how cute he is...

what a sweet face!

I love his hair!

I thought it would be fun to send them a 

"first Christmas" ornament frame...

with a place to put Will's photo...

below is another Hobby Lobby find...

it's about 3 ½  inches across...

to color the frame I inked it with red geranium archival ink & sprinkled it with red geranium embossing powder while the ink was wet...

& heated it to melt the embossing powder...

I wanted a smooth/enamel finish this time, so I added 2 more layers of embossing powder...

next, after shaking the tarnished brass distress paint, I dispensed some onto the craft sheet & used my finger to randomly add it to the frame edge...

normally at this point I would have added potting soil to age the frame...

but...

Jackie's style is not vintage & since this is for a baby, I skipped the potting soil ink...

that kept the frame bright red...

I used snow cap white pigment ink with my spatter background stamp & stamped over the frame, then dried it...

it looks like snow...

to customize the frame, I decided to add the year with remnant rubs...

they are on the front of the glass...

I used the white remnant rub to add the sentiment to the removable back portion...

this will eventually be covered by the photo,

 but it makes a better presentation to have something on the back...

next comes my FAV glue n seal...

I painted a thin layer over a sheet of (clear) clearly for art,

added the vintage dictionary page, brayered it, then gave it a quick dry...

glue n seal is THE BEST paper adhesive EVER...

there is no bubbling of the paper...

it's THE BEST 

for adhering paper to any surface...

trust me...

I used jet black archival to stamp the holly on the paper side...

it's from the holiday icons SiSi...

(stamp & stencil in the same package)...

the coordinating stencil fits over the stamped image...

this allows inking of just the holly leaves with the mini blending tool...

I used fern green on the leaves...

you can see that the stencil masks off & protects the berry portion...

so far, it looks like this...

next, I repositioned the stencil so that the leaves are protected & the berries are ready for some ink...

I used red geranium...

I cut out the holly, then heated the CFA to soften it & then shaped the leaves...

now I have a strong embellishment that won't bend or break...

archival ink is permanent & won't fade...

 I wanted to add something over the screw eye that came on the ornament...

I found this in my stash...

it looks like some sort of hook closure button?

I used red embroidery floss to tie in onto the screw eye...

and a tiny bit of hot glue on the back to make it extra secure...

Ranger's new BLACK foam tape is ideal for adding CFA to multiple surfaces...

it adds just the perfect height & the foam has a great adhesive...

and...

it comes in BLACK, 

making it much less noticeable from the side...

I used it to add the holly to the frame...

here's Will's super simple finished frame...

this is a super quick project & it can be created many ways...

 I want to make a few more...

maybe without the glass?

and maybe with some dimension

 inside the frame?

I think this will make 

a cute package decoration...

for a box or a gift bag...

and it would be fun to send these instead of Christmas cards...

that's it for today!

lots to do...

enjoy your day & take time to...

make art!

wendy