Almost Turkey Time!

November through December is my favorite time of year, I love the chill in the air, decorations, Christmas lights and most of all, baking and cooking. It's that time of year where you have the go ahead on anything, baked goods, candies, second helpings, thank goodness for January 1st and New Year's Resolutions!

I got an email in my Etsy store from a very nice lady who opened a new account and was trying to find the person who created her pregnancy album under her old account and was wondering if it was me as she had had her baby and was wanting a baby album. I told her it wasn't me but, I could create one for her. It was something I had never done before but always wanted to do, not having any children of my own I've often thought of how much fun it would be to create one. She gave me the go ahead and this is what I created for her adorable little boy. (She had sent a photo, he is absolutely beautiful with big blue eyes!) I made the lambs and bunny using chipboard and Sizzix. Papers are "Me and my Big Ideas", along with some Melissa Frances, Tattered Angels and Maya Road envelopes.








I really enjoyed making it and I'm inspired to make a few more, next one will be a recipe album using Melissa Frances new Kitchen line, can't wait to get started but it will have to wait. I got a very large order for 200 Gingerbread Men ornaments and it's keeping me very busy, and I have a deadline to get them done.
I did make some new tags with cardinals, my favorite bird. I was bringing out some of my Christmas things and came across this ribbon that I had purchased a few years ago and thought it would look great on a tag.


And I had one more little snowman box left so I made another one.


I made this house while I was waiting for internet service. I bought the paper mache houses last year and stored them away with ideas rolling through my head but didn't have the room to work so they were put in my overcrowded closet. I was so happy when we moved and actually had space to work on them! I have one more that I made and will get photos for next post. I filled this one up with some of my Gingerbread Men ornaments.




And lastly, a project for Custom Crops. You can find the supplies and directions here.


I'll be working on ornaments throughout the rest of the week with a little break on Saturday for some Christmas shopping with my sister, ahhhh, the crowds, yikes!

Have a great rest of the week, thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Hangin' Out

My cats love to come up in my craft room with me while I'm working and sleep. They are pretty good about not getting into anything, well all of them except Rocco. He tries to open drawers, he must know they are filled with ribbon which he likes to chew on! He's usually sleeps on his back and everytime I get up to get the camera he wakes up but I just happen to have my camera on my desk this time and got a quick photo. The hump that they are leaning on is one of the house support beams, which they built around and made a step at the top of the stairs, then they built a platform for the rest of it which I have dressers and book shelves on, will get photos soon, I promise! My craft room still needs a little tweaking but as soon as I get it finished, I'll share photos!


My very sweet guy went shopping with me on Sunday. We took a trip to Michaels, which is an hour away now, for a Martha Stewart Deep Edge punch, which I can't wait to play with, then a trip to AC Moore to get some blades for my trimmer where I saw the new K & Company Christmas collection was 40% off. I have been eyeing this since they first came out but it wasn't in my craft budget to get any so my generous sweetie bought me some! I had some stuff in my hands and was dreaming of all the things I could make and he grabbed them and said he'd get them for me, no complaints here, he even paid for my trimmer blades! He was in such a generous mood I should of dragged him to the jewelry store - LOL! I love the vintage style of the new line and it mixes perfect with all the Evergreen collection that I got from last year. I made this first card with my all time old favorite window stamp. I love to cut the panes out and place images behind it, this is one of the die cut Christmas trees that I just got, along with some of last years K & Company Evergreen collection papers. The ribbon was actually a tie from a stationary set I got a few years ago and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away so I hung onto it and sure enough, it came in handy as it matched the papers perfect. I tied the bow, trimmed the edges and added a little glue and coated them with gold glitter so they wouldn't fray.
The scroll is Maya Road which I covered with gold pen and coated with German Glass Glitter and added some adhesive pearls.


The Poinsettia is also from the collection which I attached with foam tape, the paper is also K & Co. I sprayed the seam binding with English Ivy Glimmer Mist and the eyelet trim was tea-dyed.

I'm in full blown Christmas crafty mode and creating lots of things, which I'll share as soon as I can get some good photos. I need to get my photos in the mornings instead of the afternoon as the lighting isn't as good now with the time change.

I even just finished decorating my Christmas tree, which I'll share photos soon!
Have a great week!
Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Chill in the Air

There is a chill in the air and Fall is finally upon us, my favorite time of year! Time to start baking, shopping and decorating, I just love it!
There are leaves all over the place, which I'll have the pleasure of raking eventually, I usually get several wheelbarrels full and it is quite the task. But while I am sweating away I think of all the calories I am burning and what baked goodies I'll be able to scarf down when I am done, so no, I don't mind raking leaves at all!

I've been spending lots of time in my craft room, I'm even getting used to all the stairs just to get up here!
The first two cards were made with Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps and the last card was made with an image I printed.



I made this card with Tattered Angels Glimmer chips which I inked and glittered. The paper is My Mind's Eye.

And, a project for Custom Crops. You can find the supplies and directions here.


It's dark and gloomy outside and rain is on the way, it's a great day to craft!
Hope you have a great week!
Annette

Still Waiting

We have been getting teased with fall weather, one day it's cool and the next day it's warm. I do like the warm weather but after 3-4 months I've had enough and ready for chilly weather. The best thing when it's cold is that there isn't any snakes so I get a break until spring!

I've been enjoying spending time in my craft room and I'm definitely in the mood to create holiday things. I made this card and tag set with the new Bo Bunny Christmas line, I love the vintage look of it. The wings are Maya Road and the chipboard frames are Tattered Angels. The base of the tags is a tag book by K & Co.



And, a fun project I did for Custom Crops. These are going on my Christmas tree in my craft room this year! You can find the supplies and directions here.


Thanks for stopping by!
Annette

Finally Connected!

It took over 2 months but we finally have Internet and a phone! I never imagined it would take so long to get service or I would of started the process a few months before we moved. They have the line laying on the ground along side the road, then to our house just to get us service and have promised to bury it as soon as possible. I'm thankful the dogs have not decided to chew on it yet!

It's been a hot and humid summer and I am so glad that we are starting to feel the fall weather. I have a couple funny reptile stories to share, at least one of them is funny! On a beautiful day about a month ago I had all the dogs out and they were running around playing. I went to go take a break on my swing that Terry hooked up to a tree for me. It's a bench swing with a back and sides, big enough for two people. As soon as I sat down I felt something on my chest and looked down and a lizard was staring at me, he must of been climbing up the chain and when I sat down it jiggled the chain and he fell off right onto my chest. We had a few seconds where we stared at each other and then I realized there was a reptile crawling on me and I jumped off the swing and started shaking around and the lizard fell off and it ran under the fence into the woods. I'm not afraid of lizards, I just don't want them crawling on me!

A few weeks ago on another warm day I went out to check on my garden as I had some poblano peppers that were almost ready to pick. The plant was on the end of a raised bed which is two railroad ties high. I have have concrete pavers between each bed to walk on and as soon as I stepped on the paver I looked down and there was a black snake coiled up and I must have stepped on him or just brushed him because he lunged up and tried to bite my knee - luckily I had pants on! Literally scared the crap out of me and he took off and was gone in the blink of an eye. I was grateful it wasn't a rattlesnake, already came across one of those in July and hope I don't see one again for a very long time, if ever. After the snake incident I went for a walk down the property and came across another black snake, it was 6-7 ft long and it was the biggest one I have seen yet. I was already freaked out over the other snake, which was half his size but didn't want this snake on our property so I picked up a big branch that had fallen and thought if I touched his end tail it would scare him and he would take off into the woods. Well, I touched him and the snake turned around and stood up like a cobra and screamed and ran off the other way! I came back a bit later and he wasn't interested in moving so I picked up the branch again and gently pushed him and he started moving slowly. My branch and I escorted him to the fence and he did not want to go under and kept turning to go back on the property. I finally gave up and just stayed behind him to see where he would go as I didn't want to come across him unexpectedly. He went up onto a dirt hill that was overgrown with brush and by this time our two older dogs were by me and one of them saw the snake and started barking and the snake coiled up and was lunging at the dog several times. I was yelling at the dog and I finally got a hold of him and took him off and put him in a kennel until the snake left. I went back to the snake and he went into a hole that was in the hill and I think that is his home. Everytime I walk by I go slow and look to make sure he isn't around. I'm hoping all the snakes hibernate soon so I can take a snake break, It's exhausting having to watch where you walk all the time!

We still don't have our kitchen floor down yet and are lacking some furniture but it feels so good to finally be here in our new home. In our kitchen/dining room, we're walking on scrap carpet pieces and opened up cardboard boxes laid flat. The cardboard boxes are great, if you spill something you pick up the box, throw it away and put down another box! I'm not going to miss them though when we get our floor installed.

I'm so excited about spending our first Christmas here that I have already got alot of our decorations and my tree out from storage - I know, it's way to early! They are crowding up the dining room and I'll take my time over the next month or so going through them and decorate a little at a time.

I got my craft room mostly organized and will post photos soon, it's a little messy right now and I need to clean it up before I get photos. I love my new craft space and all the extra room I have and my favorite part of all is having a sink, I'm so glad that Terry suggested putting one in here. (His first idea was to put a toilet up here, he said then I wouldn't have to go downstairs all the time!) Luckily the sink won over the toilet idea!

I've been working on some crafty things, mostly Christmas and also started working on projects for Custom Crops again.
The Santa image on this card is a to/from Christmas tag, along with some lace, doily, glitter, ribbon and adhesive pearl from Melissa Frances.

I made these tags with some wood shapes from Michaels that I painted, inked and glittered. I added some rusty stars, hearts and bells with fabric to finish them off.

And, a project for Custom Crops. You can find the supplies and directions here.


I'm so glad to have internet again and look forward to getting back into a routine!
Hope everyone has a great week!
Annette

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