2013 Collaborative Calendar Project

Happy New Years! I just received our final month of our 2013 Catherine Moore collaborative calendar project. I participated in this project last year, and was thrilled to do it again. Thank you Catherine for your wonderful stamps to enable us to create beautiful pages, and also to Chris Capista for organizing the outstanding project.

The talented Nancy Gene Armstrong created this lovely cover page for us below.

January: Me

February: Lisa Bruno

March: Teresa Gifford

April: Nancy Gene Armstrong

May: Catherine Moore

June: Laura Haviland

July: Chris Capista

August: Vilma Gasnier

September Lana Kloch

October: Lisa Guerin

November: Jackie Peters

December: Linda Warlyn

It was so much fun receiving the calendar pages in the mail. They came one at a time, often in beautifully decorated envelopes. Needless to say, it made mail delivery much more exciting. Everyone did an outstanding job!

I also thought I'd share with you this small project I did the other day. Michael's has this new line of binders out, a take off from the "Smash" line of scrapbooks/journals. Inside are various printed pages and envelopes, and shown below is the cover.

I love how the binder format makes inserting pages very easy.

I decided to collage the cover.

I cut up bits and pieces of card stock and glued them to the cover.

 Then I added some doodles and embellishments, and covered the entire surface with beeswax.

Here's a peek of some of the inside pages that I altered.

I used these mini postcards for the right-hand page of the journal (see below for more detail)

 This will be used as my 2013 journal/scrapbook for the year.

On another note, I found these adorable mini postcards at Pottery Barn the other day.

 

It comes with 56 mini postcards, just 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and 36 mini envelopes

As for an update on my current projects, I'm still making progress on my quilt and hoping to finish that in another week. I've also been getting estimates for framing my vintage yardsticks. It's been very discouraging; I've been to two locations and both of them came in with estimates far exceeding $600. So, I think I'm going to have to make this a do-it-yourself project. Well, that's it for now...the reveal of my big project still to come. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

Last Post Of The Year 2012

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday, mine was very busy and full of fun family, great food and lots of cleaning! I wanted to share with you a few items before the year is over.

My daughter's Christmas nails below...

Lovely Christmas cards I received...

Love all the hand made cards

Progress on my quilt...

As you can see, the panels don't line up, that was done intentionally - it's suppose to be a free form style. 

Creating thank you note cards...

Published in Somerset Life Jan/Feb/Mar 2013 issue...

My French General envelope album

If you've been following my blog, I just finished the big project that I had mentioned in my previous post. I'll be able to share it with you at the end of January. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and enjoyed the process.

It's hard to believe the year is coming to a close. I had such great memories from this year and want to thank you for all your support and kind words. I look forward to 2013 and the new adventures it may bring. Happy New Year!

p.s. I heard from many of you that commenting on my blog results in an error...I'm so sorry about that, I don't know why it works sometimes and other times not. I appreciate you trying and apologize for the inconvenience.

Busy December

It's been a busy December and I can't believe Christmas is next week! I'm glad my Xmas cards and decorations are done. I've been really busy with a big project, which will take me through to next year. I can't share details yet, but by end of January, I'll be able to show all - thus the reason for fewer posts.

My advent calendar

My daughter asked for an SLR camera (those big ones) for xmas. She takes lots of photos and videos, but she's only been using her point and shoot camera. We decided to open her gift early and test it out.

Wow, what a difference this camera makes - I wish we had bought one sooner. I'll be using her camera from now on ;-). I love how you can take really close up shots.

My set of mini books

Front door decor

Used paint brushes

My daughter's xmas nails

I've also been trying to finish up my quilt. I made some good progress getting the pieces sewn together. I still have a border to put around the edge and then I can put the backing on. The last steps will be to add the batting, do some quilting and sew some fabric flowers around. I can't wait to finish it!

If you've been following my blog, you know that I've been on a hunt for vintage yard sticks. Some of you may be doing the same for your own project. Well, I wanted to share with you a great source of vintage yard sticks. On 4th street in Berkeley, there's a new store called Rejuvenation. It's a lighting store that also sells some very cool vintage items - including yard sticks! I'm happy to say, I've got enough yard sticks to make my project...now I just have to find some free time...another project to add to my to-do list.

I also baked last night for our annual cookie contest at work. I made pecan shortbread bites. Unfortunately, I didn't win - but these taste really good - give them a try.

Crust:
4 1/2 oz of cream cheese (soften)
3/4 cup butter (soften)
1 1/2 cup flour

Mix above ingredients and chill dough for 1 hour. Roll out and place in 9"x12" ungreased pan.

Filling:
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
2 cups chopped pecans

Beat above ingredients together. Spread over dough. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Cool, remove from pan and cut into squares. I hope you try it, it's like a pecan pie in a bite.

I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season!

A Great Find & Holiday Decor

At my last trip to Hobby Lobby we found this one storage box that was so cute! (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/needlework-craft-organizer-769737/ ) I love the collage of prints all over and the sections inside - reminds me of a Cavallini print. The box is meant for storing embroidery threads, but it's also great for storing bits and pieces.

The picture below is the back of the box.

The problem was that they only had 1 left in the store and there were 3 of us that wanted it...I drew the short straw and didn't get to take it home, but I've been thinking about it every since. As it turns out, if you sign up for Hobby Lobby emails, then you get coupons and discount notices in the mail all the time. Just about every week, they send out a 40% off coupon and sometimes they throw in free shipping. The box is just $6.99, so with 40% discount and free shipping, it was a no brainer to order one.

I think I need to order more - you should too! ;-)

On the other hand, I finished my Christmas cards and sent them out this week. Here's a few pictures of the progression.

I used Marth Stewart mini cup cake liners for the skirt.

Used October Afternoon background paper

Added a mini tree, crown and glued to tag.

Found these adorable bags at Target.

Here's a peak at some of our holiday decorations...

I have a few trees in our entrance way, as well as garland around some of our windows. My ornaments are tags from the recent fall tag swap, as well as tags I made from the 7 Gypsies kit a year ago. I love the paper holiday garland I got from Pottery Barn last year, and then I added some burlap ribbon draped around the trees.

The picture above is how I'm using my advent tags. I'm taping them to my kitchen cabinet each day with a piece of washi tape. Can't wait to see it filled up! :-) Hope you're having a happy holiday season!

Nutcracker Performance

This weekend my daughter Rachel had her annual Nutcracker ballet performance. She was in the flowers and snowflakes dances. You know it's Christmas when the Nutcracker rolls around. I love the music and enjoy watching the kids perform. 

My daughter is the one of the right.

I love the costumes.

Rachel is 2nd from the right.

Rachel is on the right and her friend on the left.

This is Rachel's 10th year in ballet - it's amazing how time flies and how much she has grown!