Happy New Year

I thought I'd get one last post in for 2010. I can't believe tomorrow will be 2011, this year has flown by so fast.

We had some snow that arrived Christmas Day evening. It starting snowing lightly about 9pm and by 2 am the next day, there was a little coating on the cars and grassy areas but not much and my heart sank because I was thinking we weren't going to get any accumulation and went back to bed. By 6am the next morning, we had 5 inches! An hour later I was dressed and out the door with my camera to get photos.



A little later Terry and I went for a walk in the back by the lake.

I took this while we were walking in the back on the railroad tracks. If you click on this photo and enlarge it, you can see our house in the background nestled in the trees.

I was ready for a snowball fight!

The dogs loved the snow and were rolling around in it. Kaila would lay down and duck her head under the snow like she does with water, it was so funny! I got a photo of her sticking her tongue out and it looks like she's trying to catch snowflakes. I couldn't get any of the dogs to sit still and pose for photos so I was lucky to get one of her standing still!


I really enjoyed making Christmas items, it's my favorite holiday to create for. I know it's time to move on so I made a few cards for Valentine's Day.


Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
Annette

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. The holiday will soon be upon us and a new year is right around the corner.

I've been doing alot of soul searching lately, reflecting on my life, my dreams and my goals, what's important and what's not important. There was happiness and saddness this past year. Happiness with finally reaching our dream of moving into our new home after 3 years, it has been a blessing and we are so happy here.
This year has also brought sadness and loss, an uncle with diabetes, an aunt with pancreatic cancer a few months ago and recently a beautiful favorite cousin with complications from diabetes, I miss her so much but I know she is in heaven with her dad, (my Uncle) and our Aunt and it brings me peace. I have dear friends who have lost loved ones and a very dear friend whose husband of many, many years has a life threatening disease and his time is short, my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family every single day, I just wish I lived closer so I can be there for her in person. She is an angel, a wonderful friend I love dearly and has blessed my life, my heart breaks for her.

In 2011 I will cherish each day to the fullest and not take anything for granted, I will tell my loved ones I love them as often as possible and not sweat the small things in life. Family and Friends are precious, life is precious and is a gift, I will cherish each day to the fullest that I have here on this earth.

I wish all of you a happy Holiday and may God bless each and every one of you. Thank you so much for visiting my blog this past year and for your sweet comments, it has meant so much to me and I feel so blessed to have met so many wonderful people through the world of blogging.

This will be my last post until after the holidays but I do have a few crafty things to share. First are some tag/ornaments that I made with clay using a santa mold. I hand painted the faces and added some snow tex, wool beard and a little felt hat I made and topped it off with a rusty bell.



And a project for Custom Crops, you can find the instructions and supplies here.


Happy Holidays and a blessed New Year to all!
Annette

Holiday Season

Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? We had a really nice dinner, just the two of us for our first Thanksgiving in the new house. There is one piece of Pecan Pie left that has Terry's name on it. Next year we will have the whole family over as our kitchen and dining room will probably (hopefully) be done by then. There is so much to do still (flooring, cabinets) and lots of painting downstairs. When you build a house from the ground up, everything has to be painted, it is alot of work but it is very rewarding. Terry got the buckets of paint out of the dining room for me, thought I'd take a painting break until after the New Year. I am kind of getting used to the sheetrocked walls though but will like them better with color!

It's almost time to start baking sugar cookies, one of my favorite holiday traditions every year. I love cookie cutters and always have a hard time chosing which shapes to use. The baking part is fun but I think decorating the cookies is the best part, aside from eating them!

Just a few crafty things to share. I got some snowman picks from the craft store, gave them a makeover and attached them to some little paper mache' boxes. Added some Melissa Frances papers and rub-ons, along with little trees, tinsel, buttons, ribbon, beads and glitter.



I made this card and tag set using some cute felt snowmen that I got years ago. I painted the hat and gloves and added some beads. Trees are sizzix dies cut with felt and I added snow-tex and Martha Stewart Course glitter to them. Paper is old stash Melissa Frances - love it! I highlighed all the felt with ink first before I covered with glitter.



You'd think after making 200 ornaments recently I would of had enough of gingerbread men but I can't get enough of them, I just love them! I used Making Memories paper on this card.

And a few pictures of my Cardinal themed Christmas tree. I still need to dig my tree skirt out of storage. I know when I put it down that the cats are going to think it's just a pretty blanket for them to sleep on! The cats have been good about not eating the tree this year, although occasionally I'll find a pinecone or berry spray on the carpet and of course no cats are around when I find them but I do think all of them have had their paws in it! I've got lots of white lights on the tree but took the photos during early daylight so the lights aren't showing up that great, it looks much better at night all lit up.


I've got some homemade ornaments on the tree, felt cardinals and wood snowflakes I covered with paper and glittered.

Have you started your decorating yet?
I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season!
Annette ♥

Almost Turkey Time!

November through December is my favorite time of year, I love the chill in the air, decorations, Christmas lights and most of all, baking and cooking. It's that time of year where you have the go ahead on anything, baked goods, candies, second helpings, thank goodness for January 1st and New Year's Resolutions!

I got an email in my Etsy store from a very nice lady who opened a new account and was trying to find the person who created her pregnancy album under her old account and was wondering if it was me as she had had her baby and was wanting a baby album. I told her it wasn't me but, I could create one for her. It was something I had never done before but always wanted to do, not having any children of my own I've often thought of how much fun it would be to create one. She gave me the go ahead and this is what I created for her adorable little boy. (She had sent a photo, he is absolutely beautiful with big blue eyes!) I made the lambs and bunny using chipboard and Sizzix. Papers are "Me and my Big Ideas", along with some Melissa Frances, Tattered Angels and Maya Road envelopes.








I really enjoyed making it and I'm inspired to make a few more, next one will be a recipe album using Melissa Frances new Kitchen line, can't wait to get started but it will have to wait. I got a very large order for 200 Gingerbread Men ornaments and it's keeping me very busy, and I have a deadline to get them done.
I did make some new tags with cardinals, my favorite bird. I was bringing out some of my Christmas things and came across this ribbon that I had purchased a few years ago and thought it would look great on a tag.


And I had one more little snowman box left so I made another one.


I made this house while I was waiting for internet service. I bought the paper mache houses last year and stored them away with ideas rolling through my head but didn't have the room to work so they were put in my overcrowded closet. I was so happy when we moved and actually had space to work on them! I have one more that I made and will get photos for next post. I filled this one up with some of my Gingerbread Men ornaments.




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


I'll be working on ornaments throughout the rest of the week with a little break on Saturday for some Christmas shopping with my sister, ahhhh, the crowds, yikes!

Have a great rest of the week, thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Hangin' Out

My cats love to come up in my craft room with me while I'm working and sleep. They are pretty good about not getting into anything, well all of them except Rocco. He tries to open drawers, he must know they are filled with ribbon which he likes to chew on! He's usually sleeps on his back and everytime I get up to get the camera he wakes up but I just happen to have my camera on my desk this time and got a quick photo. The hump that they are leaning on is one of the house support beams, which they built around and made a step at the top of the stairs, then they built a platform for the rest of it which I have dressers and book shelves on, will get photos soon, I promise! My craft room still needs a little tweaking but as soon as I get it finished, I'll share photos!


My very sweet guy went shopping with me on Sunday. We took a trip to Michaels, which is an hour away now, for a Martha Stewart Deep Edge punch, which I can't wait to play with, then a trip to AC Moore to get some blades for my trimmer where I saw the new K & Company Christmas collection was 40% off. I have been eyeing this since they first came out but it wasn't in my craft budget to get any so my generous sweetie bought me some! I had some stuff in my hands and was dreaming of all the things I could make and he grabbed them and said he'd get them for me, no complaints here, he even paid for my trimmer blades! He was in such a generous mood I should of dragged him to the jewelry store - LOL! I love the vintage style of the new line and it mixes perfect with all the Evergreen collection that I got from last year. I made this first card with my all time old favorite window stamp. I love to cut the panes out and place images behind it, this is one of the die cut Christmas trees that I just got, along with some of last years K & Company Evergreen collection papers. The ribbon was actually a tie from a stationary set I got a few years ago and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away so I hung onto it and sure enough, it came in handy as it matched the papers perfect. I tied the bow, trimmed the edges and added a little glue and coated them with gold glitter so they wouldn't fray.
The scroll is Maya Road which I covered with gold pen and coated with German Glass Glitter and added some adhesive pearls.


The Poinsettia is also from the collection which I attached with foam tape, the paper is also K & Co. I sprayed the seam binding with English Ivy Glimmer Mist and the eyelet trim was tea-dyed.

I'm in full blown Christmas crafty mode and creating lots of things, which I'll share as soon as I can get some good photos. I need to get my photos in the mornings instead of the afternoon as the lighting isn't as good now with the time change.

I even just finished decorating my Christmas tree, which I'll share photos soon!
Have a great week!
Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Chill in the Air

There is a chill in the air and Fall is finally upon us, my favorite time of year! Time to start baking, shopping and decorating, I just love it!
There are leaves all over the place, which I'll have the pleasure of raking eventually, I usually get several wheelbarrels full and it is quite the task. But while I am sweating away I think of all the calories I am burning and what baked goodies I'll be able to scarf down when I am done, so no, I don't mind raking leaves at all!

I've been spending lots of time in my craft room, I'm even getting used to all the stairs just to get up here!
The first two cards were made with Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps and the last card was made with an image I printed.



I made this card with Tattered Angels Glimmer chips which I inked and glittered. The paper is My Mind's Eye.

And, a project for Custom Crops. You can find the supplies and directions here.


It's dark and gloomy outside and rain is on the way, it's a great day to craft!
Hope you have a great week!
Annette