Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Ornament Swap
Last year I participated in an ornament swap (my first swap, actually) hosted by this wonderfully talented woman. Deb Damboise has a great on-line store that carries unfinished wood pieces to decorate, paint, and embellish any way you'd like and a variety of kits as well. This is a spool wreath kit (I lifted the picture from Deb's blog. This wreath was made by Laurie....of course I ordered one...how could you not?)
Deb also had twins in the past year but still manages to come up with new ideas for pieces and kits to make life easier for us! How does she do it? Amazing!
Here are some of the ornaments I received in the swap last year.
Hey Laurie-this is the star that you made. It started me thinking about the whole non-traditional Christmas color thing that I now love!
This is the ornament that I made for the swap last year. The theme of the swap was "Sweet Ornament Swap" so I kind of ran with that. It says "Wishing you sweet "JOY" at Christmas. I love the word Joy....I try to keep joy in my heart all the time. (Sometimes that's easier said than done) Do you love the peppermint candy? It was made with a Quickutz die and glittered (of course!)
This year's swap title was Winter Wonderland so I decided to do a snow themed ornament. I must have changed my mind 3 times about what to use but finally decided on this...
I bought plain white wooden snowflakes from Joann's last year after Christmas and I used that for my base. I cut a scalloped circle of scrapbook paper using a Nestabilities die. I can't remember where the little girl image was found. Isn't she sweet?
I cut her out (I always leave just a tiny white edge...don't know why, I just like the look of that) and used Stickles at her feet for snow and on the snowballs. While the stickles were wet, I sprinkled additional glitter. It's hard to see that in a picture, I know. Then, I just made a little "merry Christmas" label with a stamp and glittered that. Here are my ornaments, with a little chocolate treat, ready to be packed and mailed.
Now for the best part!!!!!!!! Here are the ornaments I received this year.....
The first ornament that came was from Raechelle. Elegant and sparkly!
So, who could believe at the busiest week of the year, I would be posting on a regular basis? Do you know how much I have left to do? Am I crazy? OK-no answer needed on that one. Four posts in the past week...a new record for me!
Deb also had twins in the past year but still manages to come up with new ideas for pieces and kits to make life easier for us! How does she do it? Amazing!
Here are some of the ornaments I received in the swap last year.
Hey Laurie-this is the star that you made. It started me thinking about the whole non-traditional Christmas color thing that I now love!
This is the ornament that I made for the swap last year. The theme of the swap was "Sweet Ornament Swap" so I kind of ran with that. It says "Wishing you sweet "JOY" at Christmas. I love the word Joy....I try to keep joy in my heart all the time. (Sometimes that's easier said than done) Do you love the peppermint candy? It was made with a Quickutz die and glittered (of course!)This year's swap title was Winter Wonderland so I decided to do a snow themed ornament. I must have changed my mind 3 times about what to use but finally decided on this...I bought plain white wooden snowflakes from Joann's last year after Christmas and I used that for my base. I cut a scalloped circle of scrapbook paper using a Nestabilities die. I can't remember where the little girl image was found. Isn't she sweet?
I cut her out (I always leave just a tiny white edge...don't know why, I just like the look of that) and used Stickles at her feet for snow and on the snowballs. While the stickles were wet, I sprinkled additional glitter. It's hard to see that in a picture, I know. Then, I just made a little "merry Christmas" label with a stamp and glittered that. Here are my ornaments, with a little chocolate treat, ready to be packed and mailed.
Now for the best part!!!!!!!! Here are the ornaments I received this year.....The first ornament that came was from Raechelle. Elegant and sparkly!Laurie sent two ornaments, both of them beautiful! I tried to be artsy, taking pictures at night of the tree, you ought to refer to the larger group shot for a better look.
Deb's wooden mitten ornament (wood-what a surprise!) is adorable with the sweet little snowman and the bejeweled wire hanger. 
The last ornament came from Michelle, a super talented artist from Washington. You can see that the snowman has a bingo marker button and mine is my age....35. (I wish!) Even the package was cool
Aren't all of these women talented and gifted? Go and visit their blogs..you will see some beautiful things. Thanks Group 1! I love them all!
Thanks Deb-the swap was great fun! Til next year....or you decide to do a Spring swap :)
If you have followed my blog from the beginning (OK, that would be my family and probably 3 other people) you have already seen these pictures but I thought I would post them again. These are 3 other shapes offered at Say It With Letters that I've made in the past year.
So, who could believe at the busiest week of the year, I would be posting on a regular basis? Do you know how much I have left to do? Am I crazy? OK-no answer needed on that one. Four posts in the past week...a new record for me!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A Fanciful Shop & some completed projects
While in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, Barb, Bunnie & I went on a field trip to Parcel in Montclair. 
Talk about sensory overload! It was a rainy, dreary day, but you would never have guessed that inside this shop. Everywhere you looked there were beautiful papers, embellishments, vintage do-dads, ribbons, stamps, cards, stationary, gift items, and candy! Something for everyone! I first read about this store here, on Jenny's blog (visiting Jenny's blog is worth the trip just for the music!) and again here, on Andrea Singarella's blog. Their pictures are better than mine, by the way. The owner, Nancy, was very gracious and helpful as we oohed and aahed our way through the aisles and around the displays.
I'd love to show you what I got but...shhhhhh...some of what I bought are Christmas gifts.
My favorite display was arranged atop a case behind the check-out area. The two figures bolding the "Magic" banner were beautiful. Thanks Nancy, I had a great time wandering about and chatting. I was right when I told you it would take a long time to blog about our visit.
When we left Parcel, we dodged the raindrops and had lunch at Raymond's, which was Nancy's suggestion. Delicious homemade soups were a most welcome treat. Here are Barb & Bunnie in their rain gear.
Since I'm on a roll here, I will show you some things recently completed on my work table.
Talk about sensory overload! It was a rainy, dreary day, but you would never have guessed that inside this shop. Everywhere you looked there were beautiful papers, embellishments, vintage do-dads, ribbons, stamps, cards, stationary, gift items, and candy! Something for everyone! I first read about this store here, on Jenny's blog (visiting Jenny's blog is worth the trip just for the music!) and again here, on Andrea Singarella's blog. Their pictures are better than mine, by the way. The owner, Nancy, was very gracious and helpful as we oohed and aahed our way through the aisles and around the displays. I'd love to show you what I got but...shhhhhh...some of what I bought are Christmas gifts.My favorite display was arranged atop a case behind the check-out area. The two figures bolding the "Magic" banner were beautiful. Thanks Nancy, I had a great time wandering about and chatting. I was right when I told you it would take a long time to blog about our visit.
When we left Parcel, we dodged the raindrops and had lunch at Raymond's, which was Nancy's suggestion. Delicious homemade soups were a most welcome treat. Here are Barb & Bunnie in their rain gear.Since I'm on a roll here, I will show you some things recently completed on my work table.
I am part of a Book Group, made up mostly of woman from our church. We meet once a month in each others' homes to discuss our current book selection and have lunch. Our December gathering is always at Anne Harmon's home. Anne is an extraordinary hostess. Her house is beautifully decorated for Christmas and the meal is always extra special. This year, in addition to a luncheon of chicken stuffed with ham & cheese, salad with cranberries, blue cheese and nuts and a perfectly cooked rice dish, she treated us to steamed Christmas pudding with hard sauce, which was loaded with calories but impossible to resist! (We are smiling in anticipation!)
Also to this gathering, we each bring an ornament for exchanging. This year, I found a beautiful tassel that I loved, made of ribbons, beads and cording in non-traditional Christmas colors of teal blue, brown and gold. I decided to cover and decorate a paper mache box to present the tassel in, and also stamped some gift tags. I used scrapbook papers from My Mind's Eye (the Bohemia line) and K & CO for the lid and sides....
and also used vintage sheet music, scallop cut, around the top of the lid. A copy of a vintage angel image decorated the lid, her wings trimmed in golden glitter. A piece of vintage lace trim was added and a button and embossed gold, stamped stars, too. Inside the box was the tassel and gift tags in a bed of shredded paper. My dear friend Bea chose my decorated box.
Collaged art boards are one of my favorite things to create. Paint, papers and vintage images are the most fun to work with. A friend from church asked me to design a board for a friend of hers, using an picture she had found in a program from the opera. (It was an ad for a local dermatologist) The image was of a woman and a young girl, which Maggie said reminded her of her friend and her friend's daughter. I scanned the image and printed it out, and, using the colors of the image as my guide, found papers that would compliment the image. I also used a page from a vintage French book.
I cut and stacked flower layers using a pearl brad for the center. I love flowers. They can be cut from papers or music, made of silk or velvet, I think flowers always add something extra to an art piece.
The back of the board was covered with sheet music. Holes were punched at the top of the board and grosgrain ribbon was used as a picture hanger. I found a nice quote about daughters (by an anonymous author) that I printed out and attached to the back of the board. I hope she likes it.
Slowly but surely, I'm trying to get caught up on my blog posts. I will show you pictures of ornaments from an online swap I just participated in on my next post.
Also to this gathering, we each bring an ornament for exchanging. This year, I found a beautiful tassel that I loved, made of ribbons, beads and cording in non-traditional Christmas colors of teal blue, brown and gold. I decided to cover and decorate a paper mache box to present the tassel in, and also stamped some gift tags. I used scrapbook papers from My Mind's Eye (the Bohemia line) and K & CO for the lid and sides....and also used vintage sheet music, scallop cut, around the top of the lid. A copy of a vintage angel image decorated the lid, her wings trimmed in golden glitter. A piece of vintage lace trim was added and a button and embossed gold, stamped stars, too. Inside the box was the tassel and gift tags in a bed of shredded paper. My dear friend Bea chose my decorated box.
Collaged art boards are one of my favorite things to create. Paint, papers and vintage images are the most fun to work with. A friend from church asked me to design a board for a friend of hers, using an picture she had found in a program from the opera. (It was an ad for a local dermatologist) The image was of a woman and a young girl, which Maggie said reminded her of her friend and her friend's daughter. I scanned the image and printed it out, and, using the colors of the image as my guide, found papers that would compliment the image. I also used a page from a vintage French book.
I cut and stacked flower layers using a pearl brad for the center. I love flowers. They can be cut from papers or music, made of silk or velvet, I think flowers always add something extra to an art piece.The back of the board was covered with sheet music. Holes were punched at the top of the board and grosgrain ribbon was used as a picture hanger. I found a nice quote about daughters (by an anonymous author) that I printed out and attached to the back of the board. I hope she likes it.Slowly but surely, I'm trying to get caught up on my blog posts. I will show you pictures of ornaments from an online swap I just participated in on my next post.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thanksgiving
We always travel to my sister and brother-in-law's home in Chatham, New Jersey for Thanksgiving. We come from Arizona, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York for a nice long visit and a lot of eating!
This year was the first time Great Grandmother Bunnie and Barbe & Dick and niece Wendi and her family got to meet Charlie. We all had a fun time and Charlie decided to walk (alone) while we were there so that was really special. I don't have a picture of that event....I'm hoping that someone will send me one. We all did lots of other things too...
Some colored.... 
(Fiona and Michelle)
Some read.....
(Eric)
Some celebrated their Birthday again with more presents and singing...
Some hiked in the cold at The Great Swamp.....
(Eric, Charlie & Jane)
We all ate turkey birthday cake and Eric's cherry pie....
And others carried on the tradition of Black Friday shopping....
sneaking off in darkness at around 7:30 AM, armed with shopping totes and clutching coupons and lists. David is the brave soul who takes whichever of the girls wants to go. This year it was just Michelle, Jackie and me.
Our first stop is Starbucks at the Mall where we load up on some caffeine...
(Michelle, David, Jackie)
This year David & I stayed together and let the girls roam free. We are usually ready to go back to Barb's at around 11, but this year Michelle & Jackie wanted to stay longer and finish their shopping. David & I left them at the Mall and someone went back and got them hours later. We are doing our part to help the economy.....
More playing....
(Uncle Mike & Charlie)
Lots of talking....
(Jane, me, Michelle....sorry for the blurriness)
We love our kids and really appreciate Thanksgiving because it's the only time of the year when we can all be together. Our Blessings......
It's a start.....
In November we traveled to Maryland to celebrate Charlie's First Birthday. He loved the tissue paper more than the presents.....
He loved his Birthday party and the cake......
and he especially loved it when we all sang Happy Birthday and clapped!
This part.....not so much
I am always behind the camera but I was there, really! Of course, it's hard to take Charlie away from this man when they're together.....so much love there!
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