It's present season and my gift wrapping cart is ready to go.  I'm taking it out to craft fairs and stores. Here it is all folded up and ready to shove in the back of my car.

Unfold everything and it fluffs up quite a bit. This is the cart decorated for christmas.  It will get a new look for Valentine's day.  I'm peddling gift tags and craft kits to make locks and keys tags with golden chain.

Here it is at the Etsy craft fair at pier 35 in San Francisco.

Most of the gift tags are available in my Etsy shop.  This little reindeer book is a free download and DIY instructions from my Tiny Paintings Project.  Just click on the Tab in the upper right - it's #45.

If you give a gift to someone who will be walking around in the woods, hang a bear bell (or two) on it.

Bigfoot was the most popular monster at the show, even though he probably doesn't think of himself as popular.

I decorated a small tree with the jewels.  And the tree tags were popular gifts for brothers.

Bakery boxes with wash tape edges and sweet treats.

If you want to make your own version of the locks and keys the free download is week #21

The bells and whistles are also a free download from the Tiny Paintings Project. Look for #46.

I like to hang an evil eye here and there for protection.  This one is in the middle of a prize ribbon.  Stay tuned for an announcement about my upcoming instructional video on how to make fancy ribbons with Castle in the Air.

If you don't have a chimney, leave a key out for santa... and the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny too.

My first Video for Castle In The Air is out.  I show you how to make this crepe paper faux bois gift box.  There is also an accompanying craft kit.  Each kit contains materials for three boxes.  They make great place settings, escort cards, or bouche de Noel for Christmas.

Here's the last of my summer projects for the Creativebug.  These little portable bud vases help you take the last flowers of summer  with you into fall. Get the full instructions one the printable download on the Creativebug blog.

Here's a fun end-of-summer project that I made for the creativebug blog. You can find the instructions and free printable download on the creativebug blog.

Here is another summer art project that I posted on the CreativeBug blog. I couldn't stop thinking of the endless possibilities of things I wanted to collect and display: definitely pressed flowers, all the little beads and shiny things my littlest collected in preschool, dirt or sand from all the places I went on vacation, oh and a button collection. It goes on and on. Jump over to the CreativeBug blog to find the free printable download and instructions.

This summer I'll be posting craft projects with printable downloads on Creativebug.  I'll show up on the blog at Camp Creativebug once a month with a new kid's activity. My first project is these cute little baitfish. They all fit in an Altoids tin for easy travel. Kids can find all kinds of fishing holes in the back seat of the car.  

Here's the full post and printable.

I've been painting plaids lately. I use them for my craft kits, on the cover and inside. On the back of the instruction sheet there is a nice big piece of plaid paper to upcycle in some way. I love that I never know how the pattern is going to end up looking. There is no pressure to get it right, if there is no right way in the first place. So they've become my version of zentangles. I start with a basic idea of a color palette, but I usually don't stick to it.

First I pencil in a grid. These are centimeter squares. Usually I paint every other square solid, and then fill the spaces in between with diagonal stripes.

Then I fill in the remaining white paper with another color. That's the basic plaid. I like to keep going, because it's a rare opportunity to just be decorative.

Add some blue lines. I try not to be super symmetrical, but it is important that the lines all end up at the same place on the edges of the grid. That way I can put it into a repeat pattern in photoshop later.

Add some green lines.

Add some light green lines. I like how the lines are starting to look woven.

Lastly I add some light blue squares at the intersections. Plaids often change colors where lines intersect.

It's important to know when to stop. There has to be a little breathing space left.

I painted a wooden spoon for this show

The opening is February 21st from 6pm-8pm at Paxton Gate Kids, 766 Valencia St. San Francisco.  More info on Courtney Cerruti's website.  #3636project  @ccerruti

And I went to a Show and Tell with Uppercase magazine at 3 Fish Studios. Cool place, cool people. Janine has been blogging about the event. Here's me.

Yea! Yea! Yea!

I'm starting to make products based on last years Tiny Paintings Project.  And my first ones are in my Etsy shop.  You can buy them either as a craft kit packaged in a custom made book box, or as finished tags. The craft kits make great gifts on their own, and the finished tags are great gift toppers. Hang them anywhere you would hang a tassel.