A Great way to end the Year!

I am so pleased to announce that I am one of the FROSTED DESIGNS DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS!!

Here is a link to the announcement !

Barb offers wonderful kits and a store full of goodies so please be sure to stop over there!

Here are some of the new items that are available

There are also many challenges and don't forget Sundays with Sandee!

FROSTED DESIGNS

Sunday With Sandee

Have you checked out Sundays With Sandee over at Frosted Designs? Well, why not???

Sandee provides the most amazing techniques and inspiration! This week was all about Collage. I had fun trying to find words to cut out. We do not have magazines so I had to make do with the Sunday paper! This week's was also about using water to make a tearing line. I never remember to do that! I got out my Gelatos which are also available in the store!

What are you waiting for?? Join in the fun! We'd love to see you in our Frosted Designs Facebook group!

Frosted Designs Friday Challenge

The current Friday challenge at Frosted Designs is from Katie. Her challenge is to use 3 of her favorite things from the song My Favorite Things.  I just got some new Stencil Girl stencils and knew the direction I wanted to go in! I used brown paper, strings and creme color.

Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas has come and gone! Time just seems to go faster and faster!

Jennifer was home from Arizona for a quick week! Difficult to fit wedding planning and dress shopping in but we did! Her fiance arrived Saturday. Rob and his girlfriend came over Saturday for the annual tree hunt. We fooled then by driving around the block then coming home and chopping a tree in our yard. The joke was on us though when the 1/4 inch of ice on the tree started melting in the living room. Each got a new home ornament this year as both have purchased homes. Rob and Beth came over again Christmas eve for an evening of cards, games, food and laughter. I gave the four of them matching pajamas and they willingly:) put them on and let me take photos! We ended up opening presents at almost midnight. We saved the stocking for the morning. This worked out so well since Jen and Shawn had to fly out at 3 pm which meant heading to the airport by 12:30 pm. Now the house is quiet. There are beds to be made and sheets and towels to be washed. The tree seems lonely in the living room.

I absolutely treasure these times with my kids and their significant others!

  Now it is Christmas night. The house is quiet, there are messes and laundry and no one here but us and the dog. So I wrote this for my kids......

Twas the evening of Christmas

And all through the house

Messes are here, there and everywhere

But it is as quiet as a mouse.

To their homes they have gone

Cars and suitcases filled with presents.

Time went by oh so quickly

But I must be content

For both of my children were here

And traditions one after another

Precious photos and  memories to remind us

Of a family love like no other.

Winner

Guess who was the winner of the May Arts Christmas Craft Ribbon Challenge!!

Yes - My Santa!!

Bethney wrote
I just love the sentiment behind this project and the fun use of the ribbon

Would you vote for me?!?

I was chosen to participate in the May Arts Christmas Craft Challenge. The idea I submitted was to recreate a Santa Face decoration which my aunt made over 25 years ago! The base of her Santa was a clorox bottle and she used tons of white yarn for the beard and hair.

I finally decided to use an oatmeal canister for the base. I painted it and gave him rosy cheeks. I used the lid to make a hat with all the wonderful red and white ribbons. 

I wished I had had many more yards of the white ribbon! His beard could have been so much fuller!

I filled him up with delicious goodies! Don't you love the ribbon eyebrows?

I would love it if you stop on over to the May Arts blog and vote for me!

Thank you May Arts for this fun challenge!!

Hand Made Wood tag Ornaments

Every year I make ornaments for my co workers. This year I chose to use wood tags. I painted them and then stamped and embossed a Mother/Child image on the front. I embossed the back with a stamped verse "Little baby, sweet and small, born to be , the king of all.

I am linking this up to Anything But a Card's current challenge.

Hostess Gift

A good friend is throwing an ugly sweater party tomorrow. Instead of bringing a bottle of wine or another candle, I thought I's make her a canvas for a hostess gift. I made her a Santa one last year so went with a tree this year. These really are quick and easy to make!

Entering this in Anything But a Card's current challenge.
And submitting this for Paradeyourcrafts Christmas projects challenge.

Thirty Years Ago

Thirty years on Dec. 6th, I gave birth to our daughter. I  started the day at work. The operations office of the bank where I worked was on a mezzanine level and the bathrooms were in the basement. I spent much of my time climbing up and down those stairs. I also had a terrible pain in my back and ended up doing all sorts of things to get comfortable. I finally called my husband who drove me home. After spending more time in the bathroom, he got worried about me. I got in the back seat of our Plymouth horizon and he flew ( literally ) to the doctor's office. It was just like a Dogwood and Blondie cartoon moment when he ran in yelling " my wife is having a baby in the back seat of the car". I think 5 people came to help me into the office. I barely got up onto the table when the doctor called the ambulance and I got a ride to the hospital. Ironically it was 1 mile from my office where I had been working.  Not 10 minutes later, Jennifer was born.

Being an oldest child can be difficult but not for Jen. She has always been mature and independent. She set the bar high excelling in academics and sports. She had a large group of friends.  Jennifer is a planner and organizer, is determined and once she sets her mind to do something, there is no changing it. She has succeeded in life. She is a Research Associate at the Dept. of Ed for the State of Arizona, was recently engaged and just bought a house. We have a wonderful relationship and friendship despite the distance.

For her birthday Jennifer completed her List of 30 on 30. Shawn took pictures of her completing the 30 things which I can't wait to see. One of the items on her list was to send us a list of 30 reasons why she is grateful for us. Here is that list:

1.      They are full of love (for their children, each other, pets, friends, and others)
2.      They are incredibly kind and welcoming – friends, significant others, pets
3.      They are generous (often beyond what I deserve) of time, money, and energy
4.      They are forgiving (of stupid decisions or changes in mind or frankly just wrong-ness)
5.      They are always, always, always there for me in times of need
6.      I can talk to them whenever I want
7.      I can share anything with them – good or bad
8.      I can ask their advice on anything (including advice I need but don’t want to hear)
9.      They are super cool/chill
10.  They are trustworthy
11.  They worked hard (and continue to work hard)
12.  They are dedicated to each other
13.  They are dedicated to our family (especially as it grows)
14.  They sacrifice for each other and us
15.  They are inspirational in their love for one another
16.  They are inspirational in their determination to provide the best for me and Rob
17.  They want to spend time with us (maybe sometime’s too much )
18.  They will do anything for me (and Rob)
19.  They are (for the most part) patient
20.  They are fun!
21.  They support me in everything I do
22.  They taught me to be a strong, independent woman
23.  They encourage me to follow my heart, my dreams, my wishes
24.  They knew (and continue to know) when to be a parent and when to be a friend
25.  They taught me and continue to teach me many things (because they are super smart!) – general knowledge, life lessons, useful skills, etc.
26.  They showed me how to treat others in a relationship and how I should be treated
27.  Their desire to be good parents drove their decisions (rather than the desire to be right)
28.  They place(d) family first
29.  They are two of my best friends
30.  They made me

What she doesn't know because she did not get it yet, was that I put 30 strips of paper in her card which had words describing what I love about her. 

Great minds think alike:)

Happy Birthday Jen!!

Going Dotty

Sandee had a video over at Frosted Designs called going dotty. This has been sitting on my desk for days and I could not decide how to finish it. I grabbed watercolor pencils to outline the trees and added ribbon and a tag.

The background is a layer of gelatos spread over a punchinellas mask. I rubbed them with my finger. I added a second layer using a smaller punchinella and did not rub the dots at all. Outlined the trees with water color pencils. I love the affect!!!

December Dare

This month's December Dare by  Tracy is about values and what is important to you. I grabbed my composition book and got to work with Deco Art Paints, stamps, and dry wall tape!!

Silly Dog

When Rob was over Thanksgiving night, he got down on the floor to pet the dog. He rubbed his ears and stomach and I swear the dog was smiling. It really made us laugh.

Used this sketch from Letsgetsketchy

 And here is my smiling dog:)

Thanks for looking!!

Inspired by Sandee

Every Sunday Sandee shares a video over at Frosted Designs teaching us many of the different ways we can use our paints, gesso, gelatos, etc. to make journal pages. This week was all about Acrylic Pour and Ink Bloks! Here is a link to the video

Paint Pour

So I wanted to give this a try and here is my result. The long blue strips reminded me of fingers so I traced my hands and found this quote. I also doodled around some of the ink blots!

Thanks Sandee for pushing me out of the box!!!