Signs of Autumn

Our trees are just starting to get a tint of yellow, pretty soon we will have the beautiful colors of fall. However, I don't look forward to all the leaves I have to rake!

I just wanted to pop in and say hello and share a few things I've made. I've enjoyed making Gingerbread House cards.



And a few cards using Sizzix dies.



And recently a set of Santa Tags.

And some fun little wood shaped stars that I hand painted and made into gift tags.



Wishing everyone cooler days ahead, I know I'm certainly looking forward to them!
Annette

End of Summer

I can imagine the leaves changing and cooler days ahead, I'm ready to say goodbye to Summer and hello to Fall! And most of all, goodbye to the Snakes!

There hasn't been too much progress going on with our landscaping as it's just been too hot but hopefully we will have the grass planted soon. Next year we should have a wonderful lush green lawn, but I can wait!

Here are some cards that I've made in the past month, I've even started on Halloween and Christmas.
Remember way back before Cricut and Sizzix when there was only pre-cut die cuts in the bins? I've been hanging on to this Haunted House for years and decided to finally use it. I fussy cut the little witch out from a Cavallini & Co. postcard.

Little witch on this card is Crafty Secrets.

I used chipboard, glitter, burlap and some little black wings I recently purchased.

I made a banner using twine and fabric scraps, card also has chipboard and glitter, my two favorite things!

And a few Christmas cards...
I embellished a chipboard house on this first card.

I used chipboard, glitter and a K & Co. die cut on this next card.

And a Fall card set I recently made. I used cardboard and acrylic paint for the background.

Even though I've been in the Fall mood lately, I did squeeze in a few girlie cards.
I used one of my vintage bingo cards, a grapevine heart and a Melissa Frances rub-on on this card.

Die cuts on these next two cards are 3 Birds Found Treasures.


And my favorite new die from Tim Holtz, I cut the dress form die with chipboard, then fabric.

That's about it for now. Hope all of you have a wonderful week!

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting!
Annette :)

Hot and Humid

We're having our typical North Carolina summer, hot and humid weather, afternoon thunder and lightening storms, mosquitoes, river gnats and lots of bug bites! Unfortunately it's too late for me, I've got about 20 bites, guess I missed some spots when I sprayed! The worst part is the itching at night when your trying to sleep and your so tired and all you want to do is scratch your bites! I stocked up on bug spray, I just have to remember to use it when I go outside!

I almost stepped on a King Snake today, it's living in a hole under our dog Marley's water bucket. King snakes are the good snakes to have as they will kill other snakes, especially poisonous ones so as long as we have them around, I feel a little better that I won't see anymore rattlesnakes this year. (keeping fingers crossed!)

I really love summer but I think I'm going to start counting down the months until Fall when the snakes and bugs will be gone!

I've been in a shabby mood lately, I'm working on a mirror right now that I'll share photos of when I'm done. Got a few cards to share...



And a few more....




And a couple more.....




There's a mixture of Melissa Frances, Sizzix, Maya Road, vintage doilies and trim, ribbon, paint, buttons, German Glass glitter, and more. I've been in the creative mood lately so I'm taking advantage of it because I could lose my mojo at any time! The front landscaping has been put on hold (our friend is helping us and he's been busy with other work related things but he's almost caught up and should be back soon- yay!) so I've been spending a lot of time in my craft room. I'm also working on a shabby photo album but only have 1 1/2 pages done, I think that project is going to take a few weeks!

That's about it for now, thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Annette :)

Summer Break

I took a bit of a bloggy/vacation break. Went to Myrtle Beach with my sister, nephew and his wife and we had a fantastic time! Had a great view from the hotel, we were on the 6th floor which was the top and on the end so it was nice and quiet.

I've been working on cards on and off for the past few weeks.
I used a sizzix die on this first card, along with glitter, fabric, vintage bingo card and flowers from a vintage hat I found recently at my favorite antique store. It was like a shower cap covered in beautiful vintage flowers, I had a great time taking it apart and ended up with a basket of beautiful flowers.

On this card I used a Tim Holtz die and covered with canvas, black velvet paper and machine stitched around the edges. I added ink, lace and little of this and that.

I used a die cut, Sizzix frame, acrylic paint, rusty bells and crinkled seam binding on this card.

Another sizzix heart frame, machine stitching vintage bingo card and paper rose.

I covered a Sizzix butterfly with paper, used a vintage bingo card, machine scallop stitching and hand tied french knots and paper rose from Prima.

And a Beach Seashell themed card I made a few weeks ago. Chipboard is K & Co. and I used real shell buttons.

And last but not least, no more cards but another snake photo! It seems the snakes just won't leave us alone this year. This one was a little scary for me because my biggest fear is that my dogs will get bitten by a rattlesnake. We have had a rattlesnake on the property every year for the past few years and this one makes it three years in a row. The only problem with this one is that it was in my girl dog's kennel behind their dog house! I heard Kaila barking and I finally came outside and I heard a high pitched vibrating noise coming from behind their kennel so I went behind it and didn't see anything and realized the noise was coming from behind their dog house. I went into Bob's kennel which is right next to Kailas and looked behind the dog house and all I saw was the rattler part of the snake shaking back and forth. The dog house is wedge in from a tree we cut down so because of this, the dogs couldn't get behind the dog house which I am grateful for. I immediately panicked and went and got the girls out of the kennel and got all the dogs to safety. I then called Terry and freaked out as usual when I see a rattlesnake but at least my dogs were safe so I thought it was okay to freak out just a little bit! He started calling people and got a hold of Buck, the guy who built our house and he came over and got the snake, I was so glad when he told me he was going to take it home! Right after he got the snake in his tank, the snake flattened out like a pancake.


I hope I don't see anymore snakes, I've had about enough of them this year! That same day I came across a snake skin, about 2 feet long from a black snake. I wanted to show Terry to make sure it was from a black snake so I hung it from my Rosemary plant on the front porch so he would see it when he got home. Of course I forgot that I put it there and I've scared myself a few times - LOL!

It might be a bit before I post again, we are in the process of clearing the front so we can plant grass. Our friend that is leveling the land has been taking a bit of a break but hopefully he will be back soon so we can get back on track. My only wish is that we would of landscaped in the spring or fall instead of the hot summer heat! It's going to be so nice to have a beautiful green grassy front lawn though!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! :)
Annette

Fairy Wishes

I have been hoarding my Crafty Secrets Fairy Cotton Scraps for quite some time and took it out the other day and cut everything apart and vowed to use every image on the sheet. I still have a few left to play with but had so much fun creating glittery and magical cards!
On this card I painted the chipboard frame, distressed it a bit and ran it through my sewing machine with no thread then hand stitched an inner border. Stick Pins from Viola Mahr's Etsy shop, I just love them!

I used one of my German Glass Glitter stars I made last year on this card, I love the tarnished look of the glitter after it ages a bit. The butterfly is Prima that I cut in half, then put the sheer flower in the middle. The flower was white and I sprayed it with glimmer mist for color.

On this card I cut a dragonfly from chipboard, added some shabby fabric for the wings, painted some stripes on the body and added some adhesive pearls for the eyes. I used an iridescent pipe cleaner for a frame around the image.

I used some flowers from the craft store on this card. I also just happened to have some paper that had glittered circles on it and it matched perfect with the image. Sometimes I'll buy something that I don't need thinking I might use it down the road and I had bought this paper years ago and I finally used it!

I used a Sizzix Angel Wing die, sewed it a bit and glittered, large flower is Prima.

Another hoarding supply, Melissa Frances Baby die cut stickers. I cut the lamb from chipboard using a Sizzix die, then cut out again using some fuzzy fur and felt for the feet and nose and used little black beads for the eyes, I also highlighted around it with a little glitter. I think everything should have glitter on it - LOL!

I was just messing around with some burlap on this card, made the flowers with a die using satin and flannel fabric, glimmer misted pipe cleaners for the stems and ribbon for the leaves. I put a strip of Melissa Frances paper across the top, thought it would make a cute sky. For the grass I turned the pom pom trim upside down and added some berry's from a flower spray.


Remember our resident snake we named Elvira? We had our downstairs hardwood floors installed a few weeks ago (it looks so pretty!!) and had to put the dogs up so the guys could have their saw and tools out. Seeing the dogs weren't out, I think Elvira didn't feel threatened and decided to go out from the safety of the wood pile and for some reason, decided to come right to our back door! We had to put some stuff on the porch while they were doing the floor and she was all over everything. (I was so glad to get rid of those carpet scraps finally!) At one point it started going towards an open window and seeing we don't have screens yet it probably would of went inside the house - I rushed and shut the windows!
How would you like to open your back door and find this waiting for you?

Or better yet, open your back door and have a snake greet you? (Please excuse the back door, I haven't painted the trim or the door yet!)

How about if you opened your back door and had a snake right in your face?

I have no idea what prompted the snake to climb up the door, the only thing I can think of is that it was trying to get the bird nest outside my craft window as it tried everything to get up onto the porch roof, thank goodness we have slick siding and the snake couldn't get a grip so it climbed back down, slithered down the rail and went into the woods, then it tried to climb a tree but gave up.

I don't think I will ever get used to the snakes out here but trying to cope with them as I don't really have choice living out in the middle of the woods.

I've been spending a lot of time outside this past month, planting my garden, I even have flowers on my tomatoes! Terry bought me a WORXS GT weed eater, I have my very own weed eater now that is small and easy to use, I love it so much! By the time the battery runs out, my arms are pooped so the timing is perfect!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!
Annette :)