Hello!

Just wanted to check in and say Hi! My gosh I miss my blog and internet! We have been waiting for a line to be brought down from the highway so we can have a phone and internet. They had to have engineers come and see if they would be able to bring a line down as the cable is on the other side of the highway so it needs to go through different departments before it can be done. They said it could be a week, two weeks, four weeks, they didn't know but have marked it priority and said they would get to it as soon as possible. It has been so frustrating being disconnected from the world via internet and I have missed all my blog buddies so much, I can't wait to get connected and get back into the swing of things.

The move went really well, I unpacked and organized for the first few weeks, and now I am working on my craft room, should have it done this week but still need a small table for my sewing machine. I've had alot of fun refinishing dressers and furniture to store crafty supplies, everything is white and I love how it is turning out.

Aside from not being able to get internet and it being a little creepy at night because it is so dark, I love living out in the boonies. It has been an adjustment being away from everything but I am finally starting to feel comfortable and at home. One of my favorite things to do is look up at the stars at night, I couldn't see them when we lived in the city and now that we are away from the city lights, the night sky is absolutely beautiful! I saw my first falling star the other night and made a wish, I haven't done that in years!

I'm borrowing a friends computer at her work so I better keep this short. Sorry to have dissapeared for so long but I am hoping I'll get internet soon and start blogging again. I'll post as soon as I am back up and running. I hope all of you have had a wonderful summer!

Annette

Time to move!

Sorry to have been gone so long, I've been busy at the new house, still painting but almost caught up! After 3 long years of building our house, I am finally able to start packing and moving boxes! It's been a long process full of frustration, tears, happiness and a mixture of other emotions and I am so happy and full of joy now that the building journey has come to an end. Today we moved about half of my craft room to the new house and stored it in the sunroom as the carpet is going in tomorrow. After the carpet get's installed, I'll start moving everything upstairs, talk about getting my exercise! I'll bring more boxes throughout the week and the rest of the carpet will get installed middle to end of the week, with us moving most of our things this weekend. If everything goes as planned, I'll be sleeping at the new house this weekend, yay!!

My sewing machine, favorite papers and my Cricut are all still with me as I couldn't bare to part with them just yet, I'll wait until the last day to move them! Terry was laughing at me but hey, guys don't understand how attached we are to our crafty stuff! As I sit here in my bare craftroom, I feel a little lost without my "stuff" but know it's just a matter of time before I'll be able to organize my new space, I'm so excited I can't stand it!
I have just a few photos of some recent cards I've made in the early morning hours.
I'm completely focused on Fall, Halloween and Christmas and can't wait to get my craft room set up so I can start creating again. I made this card with a Scenic Route chipboard heart I painted and glittered.

This card has a Crafty Secrets cut-out, a sizzix frame I cut with cardboard then painted and glittered, and some seam binding I sprayed with glimmer mist.

My last card has Maya Road chipboard butterflies I painted and glittered and I made the lace frame using my sewing machine, it was alot of fun!

Oh, and we had another vistor over July 4th weekend, a rattlesnake! This one was slightly larger than the rattlesnake we had last year. Thank goodness I saw it about 10 feet ahead of where I was walking and immediately called our snake handler friend who just happenend to be available to come rescue me from the snake! While I waited and guarded the snake, it started moving back into the woods and I threw some pinecones in front of it and it turned around and went behind some concrete blocks and stayed there until Doug showed up and caught it. This is the second year in a row I have seen a rattle snake, I sure hope this isn't going to be a yearly occasion!



I'll be taking another break from my blog, probably 3-4 weeks while we get moved and organized. I'm dreading moving in the hot and humid heat but it could be a blizzard outside and I'd still move, nothing is stopping this girl!

Hoping everyone is doing great and enjoying your summer!

Annette ♥

Hot, Hot, Hot!

It is so hot, I don't mind the heat it's the humidity I don't care for. And it's just the beginning of summer, oh well, thank goodness for air conditioning!

I've enjoyed going to the new house almost every day and I've been picking and eating cherry tomatoes, raspberries and wild blackberries. I also just picked my first zuchinnis and have my first big tomato ripening, it's a German Johnson and it should be ready by this weekend! There is nothing like a fresh picked tomato from the garden, it's going to be made into a tomato sandwich, yum!

I've been making a few cards here and there, mostly in the mornings before I leave.
I embellished this card with Prima paper and rose, a Tattered Angels chipboard frame sprayed with glimmer mist, ribbon, trim, chipboard, glitter, felt leaves, Melissa Frances rub-on and a sweet little handmade doily from Belgium I picked up at my favorite antique store.


I used papers by My Minds Eye on this card, along with a sheer rose I glittered, lace, adhesive pearls and chipboard.



A fun card made with Melissa Frances chipboard which I painted, chalked and coated with coarse glitter.



And a card I made for Custom Crops. You can find the supplies and instructions
here.



Oh, and a few Christmas cards! I know, it's a little early but I've been accumulating so many wonderful vintage things I was anxious to make a few cards!

The Santa and vintage buttons on this card are from my local antique store.


And one more card I made using a Sizzix flower die that I used with felt and made into a poinsettia. I handstitched the petals before I assembled the flower, then added some yellow beads to the center. Chipboard is Brenda Walton's Evergreen collection and a Maya Road scroll, which I covered using an 18 ct. gold pen, then used Martha Stewart gold glitter over it.



Things are finally starting to come together with the house and I anticipate us ordering carpet and flooring very soon! After we get them installed then I'll start packing, yay! I won't have alot of posts over the next month or two but will try and get a few in. Once I get settled in and organized, I'll be back to a regular schedule, alot better than I have been!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and especially your sweet comments, it really means alot to me!

I hope all of you have a wonderful summer!
♥ Annette

Fat Cats

My cats are fat, even though they are on light cat food and they run around the house and play alot, they all have a belly. It is so funny when they run as their bellies swish from side to side. I'm hoping they will tone up a bit when we move as they will have more room to roam and stairs to go up. I had to get a photo of Rocco the other day sleeping on his back, at least until he saw me with the camera, he got up as soon as I took it.

The base of these cupcakes is chipboard and I made a pattern for the felt frosting, handstiched around the edges and added some beads. The roses are a new sizzix 3D die which I just love.

I made this card with beautiful Prima paper, velvet leaves, Prima rose, lace, bling, and buttons. The fence and butterfly are from craft stores.

I used some Maya road chipboard on this card, along with some soft trim, doily, glimmer mist, button, yarn, rhinestones, acrylic paint, glitter, seam binding and rub-on. The pink crochet lace is from the stash of lace that Terry bought for me.

More Prima paper, chipboard, glitter, Melissa Frances die cut, seam binding and I cut the butterfly from Jenni Bowlin Embossed paper.

And a set of cards using some old Anna Griffin papers and the little flower print is fabric. Frames are Tattered Angels which I glittered and painted and also glittered over the sentiment for extra sparkle.

Lastly, a project I made for Custom Crops. You can find the instructions and supplies here.


Hope your having a great week, thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Pink, Butterflies and Bees

I love pink, can't get enough of it and I can't seem to make anything these days without finding room for a butterfly on it!
I made these tags using the new Melissa Frances papers. The fence is wood that I painted, chalked and added some leaf trim and mini roses.
My sweet friend Amber had a tutorial for the ribbon roses on her blog and I have been wanting to make them ever since she posted it a few months ago and finally got around to making some. You can find the tutorial on her Feb. 24th post. I just love how it turned out and will definitely be making more! Thanks Amber!


I made this next card using papers and die cuts from Brenda Walton's Madeline collection, an Antique doily, lace and teal seam binding that I sprayed with 3 different colors of glimmer mist but you can't really tell.

And a set of cards I made using Melissa Frances papers, Martha Stewart stamps, glitter, eyelet lace, rick rack, buttons and cherry blossoms.



We have a beehive at the property and recently they swarmed. To get the bees from flying away, as soon as they start swarming around the hive, you have to beat two pieces of metal together to make a high pitched dinging noise. This will mess up the signal from the queen bee and the bees will park themselves on the nearest tree. Terry did this a few weeks ago and the bees ended up landing in the very tip of a tall pine tree and it was impossible for him to get the bees and they were gone by the next morning. Last week, there was another swarm and Terry was away working. I knew Terry was dissapointed after losing the previous swarm so I quickly grabbed the metal and started dinging away. The bees finally landed on a branch right above the greenhouse, just within reach with a ladder. I called Terry after the bees had settled in and he said he wouldn't be there for 3 hours so. If I quit dinging the bees would fly away so I got a chair and sat myself down and dinged away for 2 1/2 hours. I dinged and I dinged and kept my eye on a black snake that was about 15 feet away and was happy when when he slithered away. 2 1/2 hours later Terry showed up, yay! He got another beehive ready, a ladder, a bucket, cut the branches and the bees fell into the bucket and he quickly put a lid on it. He shook the bees into the beehive and it's been about a week and the bees are thriving. That's two hives we have now, we are planning to have a few more and eventually get our own honey, yum!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Summer

Terry came home the other day with a big round weathered metal thing in the back of his truck, It was about 2 1/2 feet tall and 3-4 feet across. He got it from a friend who had two of them in the woods at his house. I couldn't figure out what this thing was or what his intentions were, I just looked at it as something that will clutter the property. I happily found out that he is going to bury it half way in the ground and build a rock wall around it for a fire pit! Can't wait to sit around it on a summer night and roast marshmellows, at least the smoke will keep the mosquitos away!
I have a few cards to share. I embellished this first card with a Maya Road frame that I painted and glittered, a Melissa Frances sticker, lace trim, buttons and one of my vintage bingo cards I got from the antique store.

This next card has some of the lace trim that Terry got me, buttons, a Maya Road frame which I painted and glittered, and the stamp is from Papertrey Ink. This is my first set of stamps from PT and I absolutely love them, they stamp so clear!

I used some of the new Melissa Frances papers, die cut and rub-on on this next card, along with more antique lace trim, seam binding which I sprayed with glimmer mist and threw in the dryer and was too lazy to iron, rhinestones and some pretty paper roses I purchased on Etsy.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye Laundry line on these tags, along with die cuts, lace, glimmer mist and flowers.

And lastly, a card I made for Custom Crops. You can find the supplies and instructions here.


Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Kaila's Pool

It has been so warm here that I brought out the little pool for the dogs. Last year Kaila was the only one interested in it, now her two brothers, Bob and Marley discovered that they like the water too. Sometimes there is a little competition on who get's to lay down in the water but they seem to work it out and after a little growling, then everyone is happy. The water stays clean for about 5 minutes, then it gets muddy as the grass isn't thick yet. Once the grass fills in, instead of the water being muddy, it will be grassy. The dogs do running jumps into the water, it is so funny! We will definitely be getting a bigger pool this year for them as they just love it!

And, along with the warm water it brought out the snakes. We have a black snake who I call Mr. Black, he's about 5 1/2-6 ft long, and a couple of king snakes, who we call Mr. and Mrs. King, that hang around the wood pile and under the guinea pen. I got this photo last week when Mr. Black was out for the first time since last year. They don't bother me too much as long as I know where they are so when I am over in that area, I walk a little slower and look around before I go near it. This is the same place that the rattlesnake was last year, hopefully I won't see one of those! The good thing about having the king snakes around is that they will keep copperheads away, even kill and eat them.

I have been going to the house almost every day for the past 2-3 weeks, painting and doing some gardening. I got 28 tomatoes planted and waiting for Terry to make me another raised bed so I can plant some squash and peppers. Can't wait to pick my first tomato this year, slice it up and make a tomato sandwich, yum!!
I don't have alot of crafty things to share as I haven't had much time to craft but I have started working on some projects in the mornings before I leave. Today I am staying home and playing in my craft room, a much needed break!
These are wood embellishments I got from the craft store that I covered with Melissa Frances papers. Everything is wood except for the frame, which is Tattered Angels that I painted and sprayed with Glimmer Mist.

The tags and card were both embellished with Brenda Walton papers and die cuts, I'm still in love with the Madeline collection. I also used some lace, adhesive pearls and seam binding.


I came home yesterday to find a package on my doorstep, new Melissa Frances products! I ordered them the very morning Emma's Paperie listed them, I have been waiting for months for this new collection and I can't wait to use them!

Oh, and I have some news, we finally got the Certificate of Occupancy on the house! Now we are just waiting to get our taxes back so we can get carpet, flooring and other needed items to make it livable. Terry turned on the water to the toilets and the kitchen sink, it was so nice to have running water finally! We still have alot to do before we get the carpet but hopefully everything will come together and we can finally move in the next few months (before it gets too hot!)
As for the shooting range, it got put on hold for a few months so they can do an environmental study, at least we don't have to worry about that for awhile.

Hope you have a wonderful week, thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Good news and Bad news

Good news first! People drop animals off too frequently down where we are building the house, that is why we have 6 dogs now! I was raking leaves in the back of the property on Monday and from the side I saw something dart across the railroad tracks, it looked like a tan dog. I went outside the gate and didn't see a thing. I went back to raking and looked up and there he was again so I went out the gate and as soon as he saw me he darted off. I had a can of wet dog food so I opened it and emptied it out on the side of the track and I could see the dog was watching me further down. When I backed off, he came closer, when I stopped, he stopped, it was too funny! I went back in the gate and he came and ate the food so I went back out and put some dry food on the side of the track and he did the same thing. I was talking softly to him, trying to let him know I wouldn't hurt him. The third time I brought the big stuff, a leftover taco bell burrito (with sour cream!) if that didn't work, nothing would! I broke it up into pieces and backed off but he didn't keep as much distance this time so I went into the fenced area and waited. After he ate the burrito, he came over to the tracks and sat down, looking at me as I talked softly to him. Then, all of a sudden he looked at me like I was his long lost friend and started wagging his tail and came down to greet me through the fence. He was licking my hand and jumping up and down for joy, crying with happiness, it was a sweet scene but brought tears to my eyes as I knew we couldn't take in another dog and I wasn't sure what to do with it and, I knew Terry was going to kill me for feeding it! He hung around all day, barking and crying and wanting in the gate so bad. Terry finally showed up and I told him I had to feed him as he was starving, his ribs were sticking out and I knew he hadn't eaten in days. I left late afternoon with plans of feeding him every day, hoping he would hang around until I could find a home for it. There is a local dog rescue facility a few miles down the road and Terry called them and they said they were full but he knew we had allot going on right now and said we didn't need to deal with a stray dog so he came and got him. He put a leash on the dog and he jumped right in the truck like he had done is several times before. The guy said that by the time he got back to the shelter, the dog's head was in his lap and he was sleeping. He put him in a kennel with fresh shavings and lots of food and water. I was so happy that this sweet dog was going to be taken care of and the guy said that he would probably go fast as he is so friendly and lovable. A little fattening up and a trip to the vet for a check up and he should be good as new! Here is a photo I took of him through the fence, doesn't he have the sweetest face. I am so relieved this had a happy ending!

Sorry for the long breaks between posts, we've been busy with the house trying to get it ready for final, hopefully first of the week! Its been really stressful trying to get everything done, then on top of that we have had another issue come up.
Now the Bad news. The Sheriff's dept. is trying to open a Training Facility/Shooting Range directly across the street from our new house! We have known about it for a few months but it didn't really sink in until a few weeks ago when they posted a zoning sign and it has been stressful ever since. I just think about it and I start crying, I can't imagine listening to guns all day long, it will just be devastating. We got the property because it was out in the country, away from the noise of the city. They had the zoning meeting at the courthouse and several local neighbors attended and voiced their concerns. At the meeting the Planning Board told the residents that they were going to come down to the site (on 3/30) and listen to the sheriff's shoot guns so they could hear how loud it was. The neighbors all got together and protested the shooting range, there was about 30 of us, we had signs and wanted to let them know that this was not acceptable. We were told by their attorney that we were not allowed to talk to them so you could say it was a silent protest. It was kind of a waste of time because a shooting range consists of 12 shooting areas, which will have 12 sheriff's all shooting at once. The demonstration they had was a single sheriff and he shot about 4-5 times and that was it, plus he shot in a area where the noise would be buffered. Everyone was really mad because they should have had 12 sheriffs shooting so they could hear what it really will sound like, that will definitely be a big point that comes up at the next meeting. I took a photo of our group, they were all in front of our property as the designated site is across from us, these are the good guys.

The next meeting is 4/6 and it is going to be huge as there will be several people there and lots of them will be speaking. There are several landowners that surround the range site and no body wants to hear guns. I can't even imagine what it will do to the wildlife as there is an Eagle that flies over our property that has a nest close by, there are white cranes and blue herons that graze the ponds for food, there are deer everywhere and lots of little critters. Too bad snakes can't hear, I wouldn't mind if it scared them away! The impact to the environment, the wildlife and the neighbors will be devastating so we are all going to do whatever we can do prevent this.
These are the bad guys, some of them are sherriffs and some are the County Board Members, our future is in their hands! I guess the Board members aren't bad guys unless they vote yes on the range!

I haven't had allot of crafting time lately but did manage to make a few cards.
I made the first one with Basic Grey Kioshi line. I stamped the flowers, cut them out and then traced around the edges with a sharpie, then coated with glitter and attached them only in the center for a 3D effect. The window is a very old stamp that I had. I stamped it in white, cut it out and put paper behind it and sewed around it.

This next card was embellished with some Paper Studio scraps and Basic Grey Laundry line. Frame is Tattered Angels with glimmer mist and rub-on is Melissa Frances.

I'm off to the property today to start my garden, I got a bunch of tomato plants yesterday and, it's supposed to be in the 80's!! I'm going to be daring and put on a pair of shorts and show off my white legs, I hope I don't scare the birds!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Easter!
Annette

One of Those Days

I had one of those days yesterday, I wouldn't say it was a bad day, just one of those days that I won't forget anytime soon. I spent a good portion of the day at the property painting, taking care of the animals, pulling weeds and just piddling around. It was so beautiful, almost 70 degrees and the sun was shining so I decided to do a little extra cleaning in the girl dogs kennel. I keep pine shavings down on the ground just to keep it clean and it's easier to pick up their messes. Every month or so I go in with a wheelbarrow and a shovel and scoop up all the old shavings and put new ones in. I had taken two full wheelbarrows out already and decided to lift up one side of the tarp to let the sun in to help dry it out because for some reason, it keeps getting wet in one spot and I could never figure out where the water was coming from as the kennel is covered with a large tarp at the top and most of three sides. The sun was shining perfectly in the one area which was particularly damp and I went and did some other stuff. I came back to check on the wet spot and it was drying nicely. I noticed a big dip in the tarp right above it and saw that it was filled with a bunch of water so I thought I would push up on it and the water would run off the other side. I'm standing on my almost dry area and pushed up on the dip (knowing it would go down the other side) and this big gush of water came down right on top of me, my whole bottom half was completely drenched like I just jumped in a swimming pool, shoes, socks, pants and the front half of my shirt got soaked too. I know I was a little stinky but really wanted to take a shower when I got home, not in the dog kennel with my clothes on. At least I knew how the water was getting in the kennel and where that puddle was coming from everytime it rained. Luckily I had brought a beach towel a few months ago and left it the shop so I used that to dry off as much as I could. Dry clothes were 25 miles away at home and I wasn't ready to leave yet so I thought I would air dry, no problem seeing the sun was shining! I brought the wheelbarrow back in the dog kennel hoping to scoop up some of the mud I had made and got most of it up, put the shovel in the wheelbarrow and went to turn it around so I could get it out of the gate and then stepped in a nice big pile of fresh doggie poo, which squished nicely all over my shoe. Yep, it was just one of those days! By this time, I was ready to go home. I did fix the tarp though before I left so that the water will run down the other side and not into the dog kennel anymore so hopefully there won't be anymore damp spots when it rains. Onto crafty things....
It seems like I have had a theme lately with my cards, pink, lace and butterflies. I made this card with Anna Griffin paper, eyelet lace, glitter, chipboard and trim. On the card, I painted a Maya Road chipboard swirl pink, then used a glue gun and covered it with little mini flowers. I used a Tattered Angels frame on the tag using the same process.

I used another Maya Road swirl on this card, painted it warm white and then ran it through my sewing machine with no thread to make holes. I hand sewed little pearl beads in the holes, then used chunky glitter around the edges, which doesn't show up very good in the photo. The paper is Brenda Walton Madeline collection, which I just love. Oh and I got the dainty lace across the bottom from the antique store.

On this card I used a crochet doily from the antique store and cut it in half and put it with crochet lace that had the trim already attached, then I sewed a decorative scallop stitch on my machine to hold it all together. I cut the ruffle part off of the lace so it would lay flat. Paper is Anna Griffin, die cuts are Brenda Walton and roses are from the craft store.

And, staying in my pink theme, I made a set of tags. The background of the tags is fabric, which I love to use instead of paper sometimes. I cut a strip of eyelet lace and did a running stitch and pulled tight to make the circle behind the chipboard. I added some little flowers, a seam binding bow, a butterfly, some trim and a lace tie at the top.

I'm off to the property today and I will be watching where I step this time!
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and beautiful spring weather!
Annette

Got Lace?

I have the sweetest guy ever! A few days ago he came home and said he got me something and handed me a plastic grocery bag. He is really good when it comes to surprises! I opened up the bag and it was full of beautiful crochet lace, yards and yards of all different kinds! He got it at a church sale from a sweet lady that had it for years so I know some of it is really old. More stuff for my stash, I just love it!
I made this card with My Minds Eye Laundry line, Maya Road chipboard, a Crafty Secrets sticker, crochet lace and Prima paper roses.

I found some die cuts that I had bought years ago tucked away in a drawer. I have no idea who the manufacturer is as I had taken them out of the original packaging and put them in a ziploc. I used a background and rose die cut from the set on this card. I stamped the butterfly image on Melissa Frances paper, then cut out and glittered, the lace and crochet lace are from my local antique store. The little strip of crochet lace was handmade, I can image the work that someone put into it. I wish I knew how to crochet but I have tried and it wasn't happening, I would love to learn and make my own doilies and trim, maybe one of these days I'll learn, I just need to find a good teacher!

I made these tags with some butterfly chipboard. I used mostly Brenda Walton Madeline collection on them, some Prima roses, along with Tattered Angels and Maya Road chipboard. I also used glimmer mist, acrylic paint, Martha Stewart crystal fine glitter and paper roses from Etsy. On one of the butterflys I made the antennas from a glittery pipe cleaner, then curled the ends. On the other butterfly I folded a piece of shiny netting and added a button. I also sewed little pearl beads on the crochet lace before I attached it, I wanted to make the lace part of the wings.



And I did an Easter decoration for my Custom Crops project this week. The bunnies were my project, you can find the supplies and instructions here.

This is how I displayed them, I got the speckled eggs and adorable shabby fence basket from my local craft store.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Thanks for stopping by!
Annette