Our stockings are hung

by the chimney with care, 

in hopes

that St Nicholas

soon will be here!

MeRRy ChRiStmaS from our home to yours...  

and from Scout who recently wandered into our lives.

May your Holidays be everything you're dreaming of!

Christmas joy...

I was just over on eBay looking for an old silver tinsel Christmas Tree for next year, after seeing this one. The last line in this ad for silver tinsel, made me laugh out loud. I thought it might make you smile too...

10-oz clump of vintage used silver lead metal Christmas Tree Tinsel Icicles ~ clump is approximately 10" diameter and 2 to 3" deep

Vintage People (and you know who you are) will remember how nicely this tinsel icicles drapes on the Christmas Tree and how disappointing it was when they quit making lead icicles!  Now it's plastic.

If you use this you should know that lead is toxic and should not be used around small kids & pets & intoxicated adults who might put it in their mouth. 

Merry Christmas!

I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately... but my heart has been elsewhere. I love this time of year and have been busy busy, as I'm sure the rest of you are. The thing is... I love this kind of busy! I love the merry making, the gift creating, the art group parties, cookie parties and everything else December brings! I don't mind any of it. And I especially love it with the rain we've had lately, which we desperately need.

 

So here's my last month in photos...  though I don't have pics of everything. That's one of the reasons I don't blog as much as I use to; I found that instead of fully enjoying what I was doing, in the past I spent a lot of time trying to capture pics to share on my blog. While I have committed to keeping my blog, (and improving it in the New Year) those days are gone. I am more focused on enjoying life, and sharing what I can with all of you. So here goes...

A few weeks ago, Nancy and I hosted a workshop with the very talented Cindy Gonzales at Gilding the Lily. Everyone loves Cindy's classes, and we all made the cutest Christmas ornaments!
Ethyn and I also made ornaments for the family, that he took on his travels over Thanksgiving. I found them online here; they are darling, and easy to make! 

I belong to an art group that meets once a month, and last week was our Christmas lunch. I've heard others rave about it, and I have to agree; everything was just spectacular! We had a fabulous lunch at the Cedar Creek Inn, and everyone created and shared the most amazing exchanges for each other. Just look at our table, loaded with about 240 gifts! We opened our gifts, had to really, just so we could clear the table to have lunch. I was one of the first to leave and that was after 3 hours! I have to say this was The BeSt Christmas Party, such a festive fun group! Thanks to everyone for a wonderful time.

So there you have it, just a little of what I've been up to. I'll be sure and share more soon, and more regularly. Now I'm off to create a couple of sock monkeys... happy Sunday!

what I've been up to...

I've been working on a book that I'll share with a very special group of women who so kindly continue asking me to teach...

They make doing this such fun... to be able to laugh and play in the medium I like best. I will learn as much from my time with them, as I hope to inspire them with these little books I continue to make. 

I hope you're all enjoying this wonderful Holiday Season as much as I am... I just can't believe it's snuck up on us so quickly this year!

CraZy gOOdNeSS!!

If you've ever read my blog you know I am wild for journaling and for Teesha Moore's journaling style in particular! In my opinion she IS the journaling queen! As the organizer and creator of ArtFest, ArtFiberFest, and most recently JournalFest, she is wildly talented and a huge supporter of the Arts. She rarely teaches, but to much to my delight she has spent the weekend creating and uploading videos of her making her signature journals and her process for filling them with art. If you love journaling as much as I do, or just want to learn more about art journals, go grab something to drink, find a comfy spot, and check out all of her videos on YouTube. There are at least 6 of them and I think she is still uploading as I type. Yippee, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning I'm so happy! Enjoy!!

The Big Apple

A few weeks ago I went to the east coast to meet with a couple of girlfriends Leslie and Keli. We had planned our trip last spring in hopes of spending time together creating, with a little side trip into New York for shopping. We've heard great things about wonderful little places, where friends have found hidden treasures, and we had high hopes of finding such goodness for ourselves!

We took the train from Philadelphia to NYC, and Leslie found the perfect hotel just across the street from Penn Station. We hit the ground running for the next two days, in search of unique art supplies. We didn't do one tourist attraction, but indeed found the most amazing stores!!

Here's the view from our room, right on Madison Ave. We got lucky and were able to check into our room at 11 when we got off the train which was so nice!
Leslie mapped out Manhattan and the 6 or 7 places we wanted to see. Along the way we walked through Broadway, Time Square, Madison Avenue and the Fashion District. 
I didn't take any photos of the places we visited, as we were completely absorbed by all the great stuff we found, and in some cases had to dig for. After a full day of shopping we needed a little fuel {{wink}}! Here are a few photos of what I brought home....

There's nothing like a vaca with your girlfriends, and though I love Mr Warren dearly, it's just a different trip altogether! Thanks to Keli and Leslie for a great girls getaway! I can't wait until we do it again in the spring, next time in the Great Northwest when we head to ArtFest.

I love Tim Walker's work...

I just happened onto Tim Walker's work, and love his use of color and imagination! Check out these Flickr photos....

1. Tim Walker en ciclic, 2. Tim Walker, 3. Tim Walker en ciclic, 4. Dress Lamp Tree by Tim Walker, 5. Cinderella with Balloons, 6. tim walker, 7. amazing image by Tim Walker - summer feel, 8. Shona's Tree by TIm Walker, 9. Tim Walker, 10. Tim Walker en ciclic, 11. Tim Walker en ciclic, 12. Tim Walker en ciclic, 13. Tim Walker en ciclic, 14. Tim Walker en ciclic, 15. Dress Lamp Tree by Tim Walker, 16. Tim Walker en ciclic

Leavin' on a jet plane...

To see these two happy girls, yahoo!

You know how life seems to get crazy right before vacation? Well, the madness has begun! I leave Saturday to catch up with two of my favorite girlfriends in Philadelphia, and I am crazy busy trying to take care of silliness that no one but me cares about. I do this to myself... trying to have the house just so, with a "to do list" a mile long. My son and husband don't care about any of it, and it won't bother them a bit if I simply pack my suitcase and kiss them goodbye come Saturday. I know that really it's my anxiety; I don't like to fly! I'm trying to distract myself so I don't think about calming walking onto the plane and casually sitting there for hours and hours, while we go blasting thru the sky at 900 miles an hour, and at 40,000 feet up! Oy, I make myself nuts over this stuff.... moving on!!

Here's where you come in... the three of us are going into New York for a couple of days and if there is anything SpeCtaCuLaR we should see or do, please let me know. We are going to Tinsel Trading, Metaliforous, M&J Trims, and a couple of other places. We aren't big into frou~frou or glitterama... but prefer instead shabby, old, vintage pieces for altered art embellishments, and perhaps a great, yet casual place for dinner and drinks. I personally would love to find tarnished silver servicing pieces, and white ironstone for my house. Hopefully at the flea market in Pennsylvania. Anyways...

Thanks in advance for your help guys, enjoy your week!

My weekend in photos...

I am wiped out today, but it was all for a great cause! This past weekend Nancy and I hosted Iva Wilcox and Colleen Moody for 4 classes over two days, and a Trunk Show on Friday evening. It was a creating marathon and it was a blast! These two women put together wonderful classes and everyone had a great time, while making fabulous projects. I didn't take as many photos as I thought I had, but here's a peek at our fun filled weekend at Gilding the Lily...

Iva taught the first class Saturday morning, The Witching Hour. Iva had created a witch's shoe from a vintage chocolate mold for each of the students. Then they embellished and decorated the sweetest little Halloween Witch's Shoes. As I watched the class, I kicked myself for not having signed up for this! I think Iva felt my regret and she very kindly (and generously) gifted me the class sample. I AdoRe it!!! Thanks so much sweet Iva!


On Sunday Colleen taught her darling sculpted half dolls that we then attached to vintage photo frames and embellished with millinery flowers. Colleen had an extra kit, and asked me to join them in this project. I have always LOVED dolls and was thrilled to create these little treasures!


This is the little witch I made on Saturday with Colleen... how cute is she?! I am wild for these little dolls and have a feeling I will be creating many more for the holidays.
One of our regular students Carole Emmans was unable to attend her classes at the last minute. She had been looking forward to this for quite some time, and is a huge fan of Colleen's. Colleen was so sweet to take a special photo just for Carole. We all missed you greatly Carole, and hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Thanks to Nancy, Colleen and Iva for a wonderful weekend! Thanks also to all the great students who make my job so much fun, you guys are the best!

SpOOky HaLLoWeeN Fun...

I know it's a little early for Halloween, but when creating for the holidays it's never to early to gather great women and stir up a little creative fun! This weekend I taught my Spooky Halloween altered book class and had the best group of women join me. 

Here's Glenda holding her book. She began dressing the cover with old victorian pieces pulled from old clothing. She shared a beautifully tattered jacket that she purchased just for the trims and fabric, what a great way to use these pieces that can't be repaired. Her book is really beautiful, and I can't wait to see it finished!
Jeanette and Jackie created wonderful paper witch's for their books using old photos that were copied. Jeanette embellished a picture of her daughter as a young girl, while Jackie altered a beautiful photo of herself, adding quite the appropriate tiara on top!
Barbara and Mary kept the class laughing and are great friends, and wonderful artists!
Joanne used a printed image for her little witch and then glammed her up! I think this was one of the most fun parts of the class. Seeing everyone with alter old family members into such great characters. 
Somehow I missed taking any photos of Lisa and Yvette. They created such great books and I'm sorry I didn't take more to share! If you two are reading this, please e-mail me a few pictures if you will. Lisa brought a fabulous print of her Dad as a little boy, and we talked her into making him a witch with a skirt. It is the cutest thing!

Thanks ladies for a great day, I can't wait to gather with you all again!