Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Blessings

I look back at the past year as it has flashed by me. I pause to say thank you to all who have touched my life and family. I am thankful for
  • Jesus Christ who died on the cross for all mankind
  • my husband who is my perfect soul mate
  • the daughter that makes me laugh and keeps it real for all of us
  • the son in Afghanistan, doing his job to protect our country and making us all proud
  • his beautiful wife and new daughter that are the greatest bonus gift to our family
  • my brothers and their wonderful wives and families
  • my parents that have given their love unselfishly

I hope to keep all these things in focus as this next year will surely rush by in another blur.

See ya next year with a fresh blog and pics. Happy New Year to all!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Vintage Greetings

In this season of reflection, I was browsing vintage Christmas cards from years past. My husband's aunt also saved many of her cards also.....a kindred soul. Her collection is from the 1940's and so precious. They all make you just smile.

I am sending all of my friends a Christmas hug and best wishes and hope you can appreciate all the many blessings we enjoy every day.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Crystal glimmer

This another way to clear the 'armoire' craft stash- Make A Lamp Shade of Crystals. The beautiful dainty lamp was a treasure from a recent garage sale, but alas, no shade. AHA! I know where one is...in my stash of junque.
I wrapped the frame with some vintage seam binding from my Grandmother's stash.
There was an assortment of chandi shine in a box. I am sure I have more, but that may be in another armoire assortment. Just hang them around the frame and than add some crystals BTY I scored at wallyworld recently.
And Voila! Now, the precious pink lamp has an appropriate shade to compliment it's inner glamour.
Does anyone remember shoe-clips? They were so practical to dress up a basic pump and have a whole new shoe. Now, you can add them to your lamp shade too..Who Knew?
Then I had to add a pair of earrings in the softest pink to match the base.
And these also came from Mom's (grandmother)stash. This is her picture at her 80th? birthday. Wasn't she just beautiful? Miss her daily, but she'd love all these projects and would be right there with me and have a ton of her own creative ideas.
The beauty of this shade is getting to add items as they are discovered.
Go discover something to create today and free yourself from the stress of holiday shopping.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Double Duty Tags

Brrrrrr....it's COLD outside around here. I hope you are keeping warm and sipping your hot chocolate with your elves. I made a few simple tags this week. I'll have glitter around here for months to prove it too. These are so simple and fun with so much impact. Beware that Merry Christmas is a long group of letters.
But the bonus to Merry Christmas is that on the REVERSE side, it can say HAPPY FALL YALL!
I am all about making a decoration multi use and this one works for me. Hope it works for my fav S-I-L.
Happy Crafting Gals!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Christmas Kitties

We interrupt our holiday projects and shopping to share a Kitty Saga.

The news is out around the countryside. We are officially a haven for handicap cats! ANOTHER cat found it's way to our house by way of a neglectful owner in a passing vehicle!! She is a beautiful cat and was 'with child'. Actually 3 'childs'.
We realized a couple of weeks ago that Momma Cat is partially blind. She only sees large shapes. We have to speak to her to ease her tension as we approach her. She is so lovable and was a house pet at one time. It didn't take her long to become friendly with us. Chester is another story. Her mother instincts are in full force and he is not allowed in their zone. The kittens are now 5 weeks old and she recently moved them to our garage. Smart momma that she is....near the food and protection. Just in the nick of time, because it is freezing (actually colder than freezing this week). We have them a heat lamp and lots of bedding to keep warm. They are all adorable and we have finally been able to get them used to human contact. It's time for them to find homes with worthy families. Lot's of entertainment is bundled in each of these treasures.

Keep good thoughts for these precious bundles that someone wants to adopt these cuties.

I'll get back to another recent project tomorrow.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Snowman parade

Snowmen have invaded my paint table! These adorable cuties have been in my stash for over 5 years. Oh My! I am way overdue in clearing out my craft stash. Don't you just love the bisque quality? So simple and unadorned, classic.....Hmmm, do I paint....not paint.....well, the paint won, so bring out the brushes.
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Now, doesn't everyone use their serger to dry ornaments?.....................
Here is a party of snowmen in all their festive outfits waiting for the glitter storm.
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Come in from the glitter storm and grab a cup of cocoa. Hope you enjoyed the snowman parade. Come back for another post soon on another project just off the workbench.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Paint the bathroom, company's comin

Hi, welcome to a quick tour of a project in the guest bath. The guests will be arriving and I've been cleaning house and freshening the Christmas reds in the rest of the house. This room hasn't been touched yet by the decorating elves, but thought I'd share a few pics of the blank palette.
When we purchased this home a few years ago, the bathrooms were dated and the countertops were in sorry shape and had the original vintage color....NOT the desirable vintage color either. There were many other priorities, but I couldn't live with the cracked counters. Paint to the rescue! Drag out the bondo-putty-goo stuff (normally used to repair car bodies) to repair the edges. That worked very well. I didn't even lift the sink basin, just painted up to the edge of the rim. Conventional craft acrylics and faux marble techniques and a couple of coats of polyurethane to finish. Voila! Five years later it is holding up great for just a 1 year bandage project.
After removing the wallpaper that was in this room, I did the usual prep and then started layering. The base color matched the yellow tile to help it all blend in and disappear. The preferred look was a worn paint finish that would allow the wallpaper to peak through. Actually that was my cheat. I photocopied the fabric from the curtains and glued some pieces onto the wall to create my own personal vintage paper. Spackle is my friend and was used to create a plaster look and then distressed with sandpaper and general scraping.
Dry brush a soft creamy white over the entire wall to tone the golden yellow paint down a notch.
Here is a shot of the shower treatment. I love layers and this one has it with the 2 sets of shower curtains plus the liner and then the valance to finish it all off.
Well, that's it for making a small space more tolerable. I hope you enjoyed the tour and y'all come back soon, ya hear?!