Peace.....Peace....Peace

Just taking the time now while I have it to wish everyone a very happy and blessed Christmas!  The Child in the manger is King of all the world.  We have only to look to Him for everything and we will find true peace....in our hearts and in the world.

Holiday Sweetness

This sweet little image is called Warm Wishes and is from My Favorite Things.  I have never tried the little children type images such as Magnolia.  But this line of images called Pure Innocence has captured my heart.  The background is the Dots embossing folder from Sizzix, The Magnificent Squares and the sentiment is done on Scalloped Long Rectangles.  I also used the IO evergreen branch die and some glittery bling!  She was colored with Copics.  Everything is up on dimensionals.  Have a great evening!

Sweet Vintage CHRISTmas

Hi everyone!  Hope this finds you warm......and crafting up a storm!  The big day is only 14 days away.  I recently purchased the Sizzix Country Cottage Die.  It's Bigz die meaning you have to use the extended platform to cut it out.  No problem.  I used a lightweight chipboard and my trusty Big Shot cut it out like butter!  Then I cut a second house section of SU designer paper which has newsprint on it.  I distressed all the edges with Vintage photo very lightly.  Glued it together.  I used Distress dry glitter over Multi Medium to do the house and the roof is silver chunky glitter.  I wanted it to stick in some places and not in others....as though it were worn off.  On the base I used a little Snow Tex, some pearls for snowballs and a mini bottle brush tree topped by a star.  A seam binding bow topped it off.  Inside I put a blinking LED light.

The house is off center on the base because I wanted to use the tree. The base piece has a little slot to glue to the house but I didn't use that.  You can use the house without a light. You could skip gluing the house to the base  You can leave the roof unattached to insert the light (or a tiny gift or treats) or you can do what I did.  I used the tea light base to draw a circle under the house on the back side of the base.  I then cut that out just SLIGHTLY inside the line and was able to put the tea light up inside and have it hold nice and tight.  That way I can just turn it on and off from the underneath side.

What fun this was!  I envision spring houses, patriotic houses, halloween houses.....stop brain, I'm on overdrive.  Have fun today with your crafting and happy holidays!

Wonderful give away!

http://cestmagnifiquekits.blogspot.ca/2013/12/december-bits-pieces-give-away.h

A gorgeous prize package to be given away on the 12th.......hurry hurry!

CHRISTmas At Home

I'm always fascinated to see how folks decorate their houses for the holidays and of course, we all like to see other studios and workrooms.  So I decided on this the feast of St. Nicholas to share with you what we do.  It's not all done yet but is it ever done???  This is a picture heavy post so grab a cuppa and enjoy!  We'll start with the front porch.

All the santas on the front porch I painted ages ago.  The sled was an antique I gave to my husband for Christmas about twenty years ago and the skates on the sled are my old ones. The flag, which I love, is a Toland.  Now come on in....










The silver snowflake wreath is the first thing you see on a closet door when you enter.  I made it last year with all the snowflake and rosette dies I had.  It's so lightweight and I get a lot of compliments on it. The belsnickle collection I started some years ago. They are mostly Ragon House and because I love them so much they take a prominent place on the foyer table.  The green velvet is the newest this year.                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                     

This is a quick shot of the powder room with its small touches of holiday cheer, a santa print by Mary Beth Baxter and an arrangement of greens in an Eldreth pottery crock.

This is a shot of the living room which is to the right our entrance.

In a dry sink that's almost fifty years old we have the most important decoration in our holiday home.  Our manger scene was given to us by my mother on our first Christmas together.  A few of the figures have had some "ahem" repairs over the years but all in all it has withstood the test of time very well.

 On one wall is a pie safe in red and green.  The top holds some nandina berries in a crock and one of my larger sheep.  On the knob hangs a santa which I made maybe 20 years ago.  This year I did a little refreshing of his armload of goodies as that was looking a little shabby.

 In the corner is my old singer cabinet with a Singer Red Eye machine in the top which has been converted to a lamp.  There's a small handmade wooden box with some old sewing ephemera including a handkerchief I carried on my wedding day.  Hanging from it is a small crazy patchwork stocking stuffed with more sewing goodies which I made.  Next to the Singer, is a beautiful Santa my daughter gave me many years ago.  He has a beautiful face and holds a big sheep.  He's standing on a very large antique wooden textile spool I got off of ebay one year.  I've never seen another like it!

Now next to the living room is our former dining room which is now my studio.  I love being on the first floor, next to the kitchen and the deck and in the middle of things.  The shelf holds my jars with flowers and buttons,  The penny rug is on top of my cutting table waiting for a place to go for the holidays.

 This is a view of the front of the cutting table which has a drawer for cutting plates, pads, etc and the shelves hold all my dies and embossing folders in baskets plus my Cricut cartridges.  On either side are plastic carts, one with paper and one with wood stamps.

These two projects are probably my best work.  I can't take credit for the idea or style.  That belongs to Lynette Anderson.  One is from the Once Upon a Springtime paper by G45 and the other is a sewing themed one I did with my own ideas.

Next to the table is another rolling cart with Copic markers on the top (see my recent post on how to make the carrier) and the drawers hold ribbon, blank chipboard albums, tools, tags and envelopes, all my Tim Holtz trinkets and a couple of those bead boxes with all sorts of tiny treasures I've picked up.  I'd like to find another way to hold all of those tiny things but that hasn't happened yet.  Under the back of the table is a big roll of blank newsprint a friend from the local paper gave me and I use it for messy projects.

Then comes my shelves which hold a mess of stuff.  White plastic boxes from Wal Mart hold small stuff--adhesives,ephemera, game pieces, chipboard, all my SU solid paper, all the Sizzix dies, all my designer paper and all the stamps in CD cases.

This window is what I look at all the time.  Now it's winter and the garden is asleep.

 Also on that table are my printer (please Santa, can I have a new one for Christmas??) that's giving me a fit lately.  My Cricut, baby wipes and my basket of holiday cds. Going around the next corner is a small table I picked up at a yard sale which holds my spinning ink rack (a gift from Hubs one birthday), my stamp blocks and an old sewing machine drawer with essentials like the stamp cleaning mat, dimensionals, scratch paper for notes, address book, and tape runners.

 When I moved to the dining room I originally had brought all my sewing stuff as well.  That didn't work out....just too crowded.  But I left up my thimble collection in this cabinet that I cross stitched.

 Over my desk are two of those memory box shelves that I TRY to have all my mediums, inks, stains, sprays, Stickles, q-tips, sponges etc. And finally the desk with my computer, lamp, and Pampered Chef spin around with the stuff I use constantly.  Around the sides I printed out and pasted on favorite quotes and prayers.

There's even a Christmas desktop background on the old computer!

And I couldn't foget my faithful companion in his bed, Sampson, our Boston Terrier.  He's getting up there and mostly loves to sleep.

Around the corner is our kitchen which we just renovated last year.  It's not all new, we kept the floor and appliances but the red cabinets and granite counters are new. I love my red stove board made by my husband.  It also fits over the sink and was made from my MIL's old bread board.The cabinets are a much darker color red than the pictures show. It's called Cottage Red by Benjamin Moore.

On the island is an old tool box of antique lathe which I've had for a long time but again, this needed some updating so I filled it with various greens, lemons, pomegranites, santas, snowmen, berries and other CHRISTmas items from my stash.  Also here you can see the pineapple bowl full of greens and oranges studded with cloves.  They are artificial and I studded them with real cloves last year.  What a mess.  My fingers took a long time to recover!

 Now let's go into the family room.  Remember I said
not all the decorating was done.  The mantel in here
is one example! Over the black jelly cabinet in the eating area is this box filled with green, berries from the nandina bushes in the yard, candles and ginger men.

 Then in the family room is our newest acquisition....the pewter cabinet.  We bought this from craigslist and had to drive two hours to get it but it was worth it.  I couldn't have afforded it any other way.  More studded oranges and greens and a bottle brush tree add some festivity to the pewter collection.

 We just got our first flat screen tv!  It's wonderful but it didn't fit in our old black cabinet so I brought down this antique dresser from upstairs to hold it until I see something else.  I like this though so it could be here for awhile!  A hanging tombstone cabinet hold some of my salt glaze pottery with a wall size red and green appliqued quilt I made before we moved to this house.

I've been collecting sheep figurines for years.  Here is my small collection and in the upstairs hall I have about fifteen various sheep prints.

Our tour is almost finished as we head out to the deck.  In the corner is an old twiggy tree that just has white lights on it, one of the porch rockers with a wreath and an ironing board Santa which I painted back when I was into that. A final view through the screen of another part of the yard finishes us up.

I hope you enjoyed my CHRISTmas house and I would love to see some of you share your house pictures and decorations.  I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season.  Hopefully I will be back soon with some more holiday projects.  Thanks for sticking with me!