Almost Here

I can't believe Christmas is just a couple days away. I've baked, shopped, baked, and shopped some more, and in between it all, ate way too many sweets! I'm ready for 2010 and all the wonderful things I know the New Year will bring!

Can you tell I am into pink lately, I can't get enough of it! On this first card I used Paper Studio papers, Maya Road chipboard - which a painted, distressed and coated with german glass glitter, I cut out the felt heart and stitched around it, added some little pearl beads and Prima roses.

I made this next card using a Sizzix heart die and cut with cardboard and painted. I sewed the fabric heart on my machine and added some pearl beads. The butterfly punch is Martha Stewart and I added a handmade crochet flower that my friend Jennifer in WA state made for me.

And some shabby tags made with the cardboard hearts and Martha Stewart silver tinsel glitter around the edges, a Sizzix chipboard key I painted, distressed and glittered, Melissa Frances adhesive pearls, lace and Martha Stewart ribbon.



I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Happy Holidays!
Annette

Happy Holidays!

I can't believe Christmas is next week and 2010 is right around the corner, this year has flown by so fast!

Not much new to share on the house, we are still painting trim molding for the million windows we have, I never thought of all the molding when we decided to put so many windows in! We did manage to get the sunroom painted this past weekend and I got enough molding painted for the window trim so that will be going up this week.

Just a few projects, first is a set of shabby boxes I covered using Melissa Frances papers, trim, roses and of course, glitter!



And, my Custom Crops project for this week. I recently got a Cricut Expression and couldn't wait to cut chipboard with it! You can find the supplies and instructions here.


I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

It's Official!

The Christmas season is upon us, this is my favorite time of year! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

I was planning on painting the sunroom today but we are expecting heavy rain and wind so it looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow. (It's a 25 mile drive one way to the new house and I am not fond of driving in bad weather!) Looks like I get a crafty day today!! I just have the sunroom and master bedroom to paint and I'll be done painting the second floor, talk about sore arms and hands!
I've been squeezing in some crafty time in the mornings and evenings and wanted to share a few things. Seems like I can't make anything these days without using Martha Stewart's Crystal Fine glitter!





Also, here is latest project I did for Custom Crops. I used Cosmo Cricket's Earth Love collection for the card and of course, crystal fine glitter!


We might get a little wet snow on Saturday, I know it won't stick but I'll be happy just to see a few snowflakes!
Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Happy Thanksgiving

Thought I would post a little early seeing I won't be around much the rest of the week. The painting is moving along slowly. I did get my craft room completely painted, ceiling and walls, we got the 2nd stairwell primed and the second floor primed, including the ceilings. I've started painting the mouldings and window jams, which are laid across boards that are resting on buckets. They are really time consuming as they need two coats of a special primer, then two coats of the white paint and you have to let it dry for hours in between each coat. I'll be there tomorrow and half a day on Wed. and hopefully most of the weekend, painting away so they can do the stairs and window jams. I didn't want to paint everything after they installed it so we are painting everything first, that way I won't be taping most of the house with painter's tape! It is really a big process doing everything from scratch and taking extra time but it will be worth it in the long run. We still have hopes of moving in by Christmas, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

This card was made with Brenda Walton papers and a vintage image from B. Shackman Company. I painted the stars, then distressed with ink, coated with german glass glitter and then coated the sides with Martha Stewart Florentine gold glitter.

I got a gorgeous glitter paper pack at Michaels by My Mind's Eye and I just love it! I used some of the papers on this snowman card, along with a Brenda Walton sticker and die cut and the image is from an ATC Christmas booklet. I cut the chipboard frame with a sizzix die, then painted and crackled it and coated it with glimmer mist for a shimmery effect.

Here's a set of mitten tags I made with Maya Road chipboard mittens. I cut the snowman out of felt and handstitched around him. I glittered the chipboard snowflake, which is Maya Road too, then added some beads and a rhinestone center.

And lastly, a little glittery snowman card. The snowman is sizzix, which I cut from chipboard, painted and glittered with Martha Stewart Tinsel glitter, and then added a litte fabric scarf with some stickles on the ends. Die cut is My Mind's Eye and rub-on is Kaiser.

Custom Crops is having a huge sale tomorrow, Nov. 24th, called Pink Tuesday. It is a yearly sale they have on the same day where they offer several products at unbeatable prices! They already have great prices so I can only imagine how great their sale prices will be! They just got in some Melissa Frances products, if your a fan I suggest you head on over there, they have the cheapest prices I have found on her products!

Wishing each and everyone of you a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

I can't wait for pumpkin pie! (And turkey, cranberry sauce, rolls, sweet potatoes and everything else!)

Annette

Sheetrock Dust

When Terry told me that there would be a mess after the sheetrock was sanded, I thought I'd need to do a little dusting on the windows. I was completely shocked when I walked into the house and saw the it looked like it had snowed, there was sheetrock dust everywhere, from top to bottom! I knew I had to clean it up before I could paint so I spent an entire day sweeping. Terry said the shop vac would clog if I vacuumed it so I couldn't use that. I tried a regular broom and it didn't do much of anything, just made a dust cloud. I had bought a hand broom and dustpan set a few months ago so I tried that and it worked perfectly. Problem is I had to sweep the entire house on my hands and knees, not fun! I started in my attic craft room and worked my way down, it took all day but I finally got alot of it up. You can see where I swept and how much dust was on the floor where I hadn't swept. The pipe sticking up in the left corner will be a sink, and across from that is where my work area will be.


I made this card with papers from Websters Pages, they are so elegant, I just love them!

And, my project for the Custom Crops Mystery Challenge, it was alot of fun and very challenging! You can see the supplies used and directions here. I will say one of the supplies was a set of plastic silverware, can you tell where I used them?


I'll be painting the rest of the week, what a big project we have ahead of us. I already got a blister just from painting two walls! My stepdad is coming tomorrow to help and my sister on Sunday so hopefully we should have alot done by the end of the week.

Have a wonderful week!
Annette

Weather Permitting

It's raining outside and rain is in the forecast for the next 2-3 days. Normally I don't mind the rain but it brings extra humidity with it. We have already been waiting for a few days for the sheetrock mud to dry so they can sand it down and finish up so we can paint. (They decided to use the slow drying mud as they said we would have less cracks in the long run.) Looks like it might not be until the weekend now before I can paint, oh well, I have been waiting so long already what's a few more days! It really is hard picking out paint, knowing that you will live with the color for years to come. I ended up changing from a pale minty sage green to a really pale soft aqua mint color for my craft room, the color is called "Breeze" and it reminds me of a tropical island lagoon, I just love it!

I made this card using Cosmo Cricket's Earth Love collection.

Here is one of my Custom Crops projects this week. You find the instructions and supplies here.

Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

The Last View

Even though we are in the city, we have a little wooded area next to us and behind us, it kind of makes you feel like you are out in the country. As I was looking out my craft room window the other day, I realized this would be my last fall season here so I got my camera and took a photo of my view. You can see the edge of the window in the bottom corner of the photo, the trees are right next to us and I must say, my cats have thoroughly enjoyed watching all the birds. I am glad I got this picture last week as alot of the leaves have fallen off.

Here is a couple cards I made with the new Cosmo Cricket Jolly By Golly collection, it is so cute and whimsy, I just love it!


I made this tag using styrofoam balls that I cut in half and coated with texured paint and made the hat with pipecleaners.

This is my Custom Crops project for this week. You can find the supplies and instructions here.

Custom Crops has a fun challenge called a "Mystery Challenge." They send 5 products from their store and 2 non craft items to the members of the design team that sign up and we have to create a craft project using all of the 7 items. In the last challenge, designers received a Cricut cartridge, a Tim Holtz stapler and other goodies and the two non craft items were a belt and a can of mountain dew! The best part is that we get to keep all the goodies they send! This will be my first challenge and I can't wait to get my box in the mail, it should come today!
You can check out the projects from the last challenge here.
The sheetrock has been installed and the mud guy will be there today, then the next step is sanding, and then, I get to paint! We went to Lowes and I picked out several paint chips and now I have to narrow it down, it isn't easy as I like so many of them but I have to make a decision by the weekend. At least for now I only have to pick colors for the second floor and my craft room but I have an idea they will all be different shades of sage green, my favorite color!
Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Fall Peak

The leaves are finally at peak here and it is so beautiful, I am just in awe at the beauty! Terry and I walked back to the lake at the property and I put my camera on zoom to get this photo. I took a regular photo but you couldn't see the color as good so I zoomed in.

Now I will patiently wait for these trees to be covered in snow! People keep telling me we are going to have a bad winter this year, I'd just be happy with a few inches of snow!

I love this gingerbread man die from Sizzix, I think it is retired now so I really cherish it! I cut the little guys out using a lightweight chipboard, then painted them and put some snow tex around the edges for their icing. When dry, I coated them with a chunky clear glitter to give them a sugared look. I also painted the little hearts that popped out of the centers with red paint and coated them with glitter too. Papers are a mix from My Mind's Eye and Hobby Lobby.


And lastly, my project for Custom Crops this week. You can find the directions and supplies by clicking on the Custom Crops Blinkie on my blog. (I'm up early this morning so it hasn't been posted yet when I did post so I can't give you the direct link).

The sheetrock is getting installed tomorrow, looks like I will finally get to paint this weekend!
Have a wonderful week!
Annette

Fun at the Dentist

I started my day bright and early with a visit to the dentist today. I have to say that I really don't mind going as everyone is so nice and my dentist has the greatest personality and always makes me laugh. I had to get a very old filling redone so the left side of my mouth is all numb, makes me wish I would of eaten breakfast before I went because I am so hungry! I tried to drink something and didn't have alot of luck so it looks like I'll have to wait a bit before I can eat.

I have a couple things to share. I brought out my Martha Stewart bird stamps and stamped on some watercolor paper and colored it in with watercolor pencils and blended with a blending pen. I painted the inside of the flower with acrylic paint as I didn't have an ivory water color pencil. I cut out the image, added some stickles and then coated the entire thing with some Crystal Lacquer.

Many years ago I had a cactus and every Christmas I strung a small string of colored mini lights on it. The cactus didn't make the journey across the United States and ended up dying from the cold, I was so disappointed as I had had this cactus for years. I saw these little wooden cactus's at the craft store and it made me think of my cactus so I thought I would make some tags. I bought the chili peppers over 10years ago, one of those things you buy and store away because you think you might need it one day!

And lastly, my Custom Crops project for this week. You can find the directions and supplies here.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Annette

Rainy and Dreary Days

It has been rainy and dreary these past few days and cold, Brrrrr! I actually turned the heater on this morning to get the chill out of the house. Because of this weather, we weren't able to get the sheetrock installed. If sheetrock gets wet it just falls apart so it will have to wait until next week. After waiting two and half years, another week isn't going to make a difference! heehee It's getting really exciting though as more things get done with the house!

Seeing the weather has been so gloomy, I've been in my craft room making crafty things. My first card is embellished with Basic Grey chipboard which I painted and used two different glitters, papers are from My Minds Eye.

This card has a Crafty Secrets Cotton Scrap with Making Memories Mistletoe Collection paper and I'm not sure about the holly paper, it's just a scrap that I had. The little glitter leaf is Making Memories also and the berries are from a Christmas spray from Michaels.

The Angel Snow image is a Crafty Secrets Cotton Scrap and I used Melissa Frances and Basic Grey Periphery papers. The lace is from the fabric store and chipboard is Tattered Angels that I glittered.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Annette

Window Cleaning

That is what I did all day yesterday and I am so sore today! Do you wonder how by cleaning windows that someone could be so sore? Well, the attic space, which is my future craft room has double hung windows, this means we can take both of the panes out to clean so each pane was one trip down two flights of stairs and outside to clean and then when dry, two flights back up carrying one pane at a time. Luckily, I only had to do one window (2 panes) because Terry has a window unit in the other window and I couldn't get to it so that will have to wait for another day. Then I started on the windows on the second floor, 14 single pane windows, (only the bottom pane comes out) with four of them being double windows. That's 14 trips down the stairs carrying a pane, 14 more windows to wash and 14 more trips back up stairs with the panes. Terry did help with a few trips and I really appreciated it! He was working on the HVAC so we both busy. Then to top it off, I had to clean the vinyl frames where I took the window panes out using a toothbrush, scrubbrush, cleaner and water which I had to refill a gallon jug several times by filling up with the hose, outside. It took several hours but I finally got all the windows cleaned on the second floor. Now you know why I am sore! The bad part is that I still need to do the windows on the bottom floor, there are only 8 and I won't have any stairs to go up and down - yay! The windows had dead ladybugs, hornets, wasps, bees, bug poop, dirt, cobwebs, you name it, it was on the windows! You wouldn't think that windows would get so dirty just from building a house but these windows sure got dirty, I guess from the house not being sealed up all the bugs got in. I'll finish the rest of the windows this week and then I'll be finally be done! After the sheetrock gets finished, (which will be done by next week!!) then it will just be vacuuming to remove all the dust and then a light cleaning with windex.

I wanted to share another project I did for Custom Crops, a Halloween wall hanging. You can find the directions and supplies here


(Click on photo to enlarge)

I hope you have a wonderful week!
Annette

Sweet Christmas

I know Halloween is in the air but I am really looking forward to the holidays this year. It will be our first Christmas in the new house, something I have waited so many years for so it will be extra special for me.

I moved to the east coast 10 years ago this month but when I lived in Washington state, there was the cutest little town on the water called Poulsbo and they had a couple little craft stores which sold scrapbook items and rubber stamps. One of the stores was called Basic Bear and I always made sure I stopped by with each visit to town. A few years ago I was searching for vintage items on-line and came across a store that sold Crafty Secrets products called Basic Bear. It just happened that it was the same store I used to shop in! It brought back fond memories of the cute little waterfront town and all the wonderful little shops. I just knew I had to support this little store, even if I was on the other side of the United States so I became a fequent customer. At one time they had a big sale on all their Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps and other items at half price so I snagged up several items and tucked them away. I know it's been at least a year, if not longer that I have been hoarding them so I finally decided to start using them.
I just love them so much, they are right up there with Melissa Frances!

I made a set of cards using the Cotton Scraps and papers from Creative Imaginations, adhesive pearls and a Maya Road snowflake, which I painted and glittered.



It's Friday today! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Annette

My First Project!

My first project for Custom Crops got posted today! Here is a little sneak peak and you can see the completed project and directions here.



It's a rainy day and I am hibernating in my craft room today, I love this weather!

Have a wonderful week!

Annette

Happy Friday!

I am patiently waiting for our leaves to turn color so I can get a good photo. There are dead leaves all over the driveway but very little color, hopefully in the next few weeks with these cooler nights we have been having, they'll start turning.
I have a couple cards to share that I recently made. I used Melissa Frances papers, lace trim, german glass glitter, eyelet trim and chenille ric rac.


I used a sizzix frame, which I cut from chipboard and painted and coated with german glass glitter. I used the same technique with the little Maya Road butterflies.

Now for my bit of good news I have been waiting to share!
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by one of the owners of wonderful online scrapbook store called Custom Crops. They sell everything Cricut and Cuttlebug (among other things). Kelly, one of the owners, had said someone who shops at their store, pointed them in the direction of my blog and they loved my designs. I couldn't believe their email as I was reading it, I was completely humbled yet so excited! She told me they recently put together a design team of 8 to produce Cricut projects for them (or whatever else they feel like making; they have very few restrictions as possible). I was asked to be on their Design team and I accepted!! I have already made my first project and will be posting a sneak peak of it on Monday. I am so excited for this new opportunity and look forward to being on their team!

And, I'd like to say Thank you so much to whoever it was that told Custom Crops about me, you are so sweet my mystery friend! :):):)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy World Card Making Day tomorrow!!!

:)
Annette

It's Official

Fall is finally here! Now, if the weather would just change to reflect the season, maybe it would feel like it! It was in the mid 80's yesterday and so hot, I even got sunburnt while mowing the lawn. Yesterday Terry finished up on most of the HVAC to where he will be able to call in an inspection today. I even helped up him in the attic crawl space wrapping the duct with that itchy insulation, not the greatest experience but I am so glad it is done!
A couple cards using some Basic Grey and Dasiy D's paper. I glittered the chipboard and added some crochet trim and handmade flowers that my friend Jennifer made for me.


A set of Shabby Christmas tags using Melissa Frances papers, some lace and pom pom trim and some chipboard stars I painted, distressed and glittered.



I made these little Gingerbread Men ornaments...


And from the negative piece of chipboard from the ornments, I made a couple cards. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away so why not recycle!


Keeping my fingers crossed that the inspection passes so we can get the sheetrock up!!
Have a wonderful, beautiful weekend!
Annette