This is how we started

It's a bit of a family tradition that we get a new tree ornament each year. Growing up I always had a new one to put on the tree Christmas morning (in fact my Mom still sends a new ornament every year attached to a gift), it's something we've been doing with the Peanut since she was on the inside and something that we'll be doing for the Bean starting this year.

Last year I bought some glass microscope slides with the intention of sandwiching some hand sewn illustrations on the inside (which didn't work the way I wanted it to and is still on my work table collecting dust while I adjust my plan to accommodate the snag that came from my first try). I did happen to have a stash of glass paint from a stint of wine glass painting we'd done as gifts another year so I pulled them out to do a little playing.

I brushed and smeared the paint onto the glass, added some pigments to the mix and smooshed the slides together while the paint was still wet to see what would happen. I put some paint into an applicator and doodled, I pulled out a stamp I'd cut out of safety cut for thank you cards and stamped into the paint... I played. Which as any other creative type knows is how new projects and techniques are born. Some of my attempts were awful, others pretty and still others simply stunning. All that was left was to get some stained glass supplies and solder the edges for a cleaner look. And that's where I hit a snag... the little procrastination monster reared his head and the new stuff just got put off and off until my birthday rolled around. By then I'd decided the danger of me wielding a hot soldering iron was too much and the collaboration between myself and the Husband was born.

Once we got our fist batch finished we had some pretty fantastic tree ornaments for our holiday tree. I'll be posting a bit more on the project over the next few days with a guest post from the husband in there so he can explain his process and why I roped him into this project.

How about you? have you ever started working in a collaboration with another? What was that like for your process?