Addictions

Yes, I confess. I do have some. I have already confessed to my thing for chairs. I find a charming, inexpensive little wooden chair very difficult to pass up when flea marketing. Another weakness is dishes. If I had the room (a large butler's pantry with floor to ceiling shelves) I'd have a set of dishes for every holiday and occasion. By necessity I've had to curtail my impulses and narrow my choices down to a selective few. However, when it comes to blue and white plates I have little control. I had the day to myself on Saturday (the guys went to the Sportsman's Show). I did a little shopping at a Goodwill store and an antique/flea market. Some days you find a lot, some days not. Well, this was a good day: four beautiful blue and white salad plates for $10, six white dessert plates with blue and purple flowers for $3, two white ironstone oval serving platters for $4, two clear blue Corelle dessert plates for $1, two colorful and fun parrot themed melamine luncheon plates for $1.18 and a Pampered Chef star shaped baking tube for $2. For a grand total of...drum roll please...$21.18 plus tax!! Money I probably shouldn't have spent, but had so much fun doing so.

Blizzard of 2010

This may look familiar. It's the photo from December's snow.

This is my birdbath photo from this weekend.





Our picnic table.

This was taken while it was still snowing. The final measurement was 23 inches on the picnic table.


I think my desire for a snowy winter has been fulfilled for the next few years. After shoveling the sidewalk in four installments with rests in between, I'm rethinking this whole love of snow thing. This is when I know I'm getting old. Sigh.


Gary walked into the house yesterday and told me to get my camera. Do you see the face?

New Year's Resolutions

Yes, I know I'm a little late. I haven't made formal resolutions in years because I never seem to carry them out. But I'm thinking...perhaps if I see these in writing it might somehow make me accountable. We'll see.
My main focus for resolutions? Our house. I'm tired of it. I realize I'm being very materialistic right now. I guess my resolutions should be about self-improvement. But that's an unspoken, on-going process. Right now I need something I can see. Something new and refreshing. I need a before and after. My house no longer reflects my tastes. They've changed so much. Plus, everything is getting just plain old out of date and worn out. We bought this place in 1987. We remodeled quickly and on an extreme budget. Well, we're still on an extreme budget. My husband has been laid off for almost a year (in April). So the remodeling won't be major. But most of what I want to do is sweat equity. Therein lies the problem. My energy level of late has been nil. I have all these ideas in my head and haven't been able to get the old body to follow through. So again...if I write this all down. If I have a game plan, a list (I love to make lists)...maybe I'll be inspired, invigorated. So here goes (in no particular order).
1. finish bedroom. I finally found and purchased fabric to finish reupholstering my $1 chair. I've had the fabric to make a headboard, just haven't done it yet.
2. redo bathroom. The wallpaper has faded and has large torn places in it. (Thanks to little fingers peeling loose paper while using the facilities. We won't mention any names). It also needs new tile on the floor. Fortunately, it's a very small room. So I'm hoping to find these things at outlet prices.
3. redo kitchen. This is the biggie. However, I'm not planning any major renovations, just mostly work. It would involve stripping wallpaper and painting. A lot of painting...walls, cabinets, island, wainscoting. I'm tired already, just thinking about it.
So, dear diary...I mean, dear blog...that's the list. And dear God, I'm going to need your help. In finding bargains and most of all in having the energy to get moving.

Patchwork Thanks

This card was inspired by a beautiful one created by Kalyn Kepner on page 67 of the Jan/Feb issue of Paper Crafts magazine. I used different colors and papers, distressed the edges and instead of sewing, did faux stitching, using a paper piercing tool and a white gel pen. The sentiment in the center is embossed.

Recipe: stamps- Simple Sketches by SU (sentiment); paper- off white, designer papers by Basic Grey, DCWV (Old World Stack), and Kelly Panaco; ink- versamark; accessories- white pearl brads, flower punch, white ep, white gel pen, paper piercing tool.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Anyone who knows me well, knows I love winter. Actually, what I truly love about the area of the country I live in is that it has four distinct seasons, with spring and fall being my absolute favorites. That being said, I have complained in the past about the wimpy winters we've had lately. Last year we had one light dusting of snow and that was it. Well.....this year is certainly making up for that! We had 22 inches just in December alone. We had about 3 inches overnight Tuesday. It was a wet snow that was so beautiful in the morning. And they're calling for a biggie tomorrow!

Finally, Some Stamping!

I've done such little stamping in the last few months. My Christmas cards are only two thirds finished. That means the good news is that I have a good head start on next year's cards. Lol!
I did get a few projects finished that I started at my monthly stamping day with my good friends. I borrowed this darling little girl stamp from one of those friends and paper pieced her. It reminds me of something I loved doing when I was little....playing with paper dolls. The gray embossed coat was simple. I stamped the girl onto the gray cardstock, cut out just the coat, ran it through the Cuttlebug for texture, and glued it on.

Recipe: paper- chocolate chip (SU), brown and gray Bazzil, white, natural, designer papers (Old World Stack from DCWV, Classic K pad from K and Company, Della Fantasia cards from The Paper Studio); stamps- girl (source unknown), friend sentiment (Stampabilities), simple things sentiment (Hero Arts); ink- black archival, chocolate chip (SU), red and cameo coral markers (SU); accessories- Cuttlebug embossing folder, buttons.

Angelic Beauty

 

My extended family continues to grow (I have two nieces expecting babies...how exciting!). When we get together it's quite a large group: my 2 parents, 4 children (of which I am one) plus spouses, 14 grandchildren plus spouses, and 7 greatgrandchildren...that's 36 with 2 more on the way! Plus there are usually additional friends, girlfriends and boyfriends in the mix too. This makes for a large and fun gathering. I love it!! And I said all this to explain that for a good many years we have exchanged names for obvious reasons. This year my lovely and very artistic niece had my name and made this gorgeous creation for me. Sigh....
Make sure you click on the photos for a closeup to appreciate all the beautiful details, especially the hand painted face.
This is Chriss, the artist!