Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace...

Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to their own town to register.



So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.



While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.



And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,




“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”



So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.



merry Christmas, and blessings to each one of you! it is my prayer that we would all remember the true gift, the baby Lord Jesus, the only hope any of us have, throughout this precious season.

swap glory!

so. i was way happy to get to participate in a 3x3 inchy swap with miss danielle of the vintage dragonfly. the twelve days of Christmas!!!! in beautiful feminine colors!!! yayyyyy! i do not have all of the artists here linked, please forgive me.

on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...


a partridge in a pear tree, (this one is the square that i created.)


2 Turtle Doves (michelle witchell)


3 French Hens (mary ann mckeating)


4 Colly Birds (paulette kramer)


5 Gold Rings (amy bauer)


6 Geese-a-Laying (connie senytiko)


7 Swans-a-Swimming (therese kramer)


8 Maids-a-Milking (jana perenchio)


9 Ladies Dancing (heather rowley)


10 Lords-a-Leaping (danielle muller)


11 Pipers Piping (sheila rumney)


12 Drummers Drumming (sherry williams)


isn't it just gor.geous? we sent our squares to miss danielle, and she sent back this lovely wall hanging. i totally LOVE it! thanks to all the girls who shared their gift of creating!!!



okay. believe it or not. NOT EVEN done sharing the swap glory! i also got to play with miss cristina - the sweet pea - in a very vintage Christmas ephemera swap.


girls. the package came last nite, and i am so not over it yet!!!! A.MAZ.ING! the goodies that came to my doorstep are seriously making my heart pitter patter - i can't wait to lock myself up in our little art room and create to my heart's content! i need a snow day!!!! here are just a few snapshots.







friends.
i have to say that this swap business is so much FUN!!!! i am going to proclaim 2011 the year of the swap at create breathe! hope you will all stay tuned and play along!

happy HAPPY day to you!
much love

artful thursday - sparkly garland!!!

hi girlies!

here's our artful thursday project for today! can you see it back there???? the black arrows are there to guide your eye...they aren't really in the pretty display!!! :)




dig out those old fashioned shiny bright light reflectors, some bendy wire, little mercury glass balls, and buttons.

punch two holes in each reflector - i used the crop-o-dile because i love it, but a regular paper punch would work, too.



determine the length of your desired garland and cut the wire to that length.
use a button as a stopper.




thread the reflector through the wire, and add another button. these button stoppers will keep the reflectors from slipping.



in between each reflector, i added various mercury glass balls.




you could add all sorts of pretties to this garland. lace, tiny ornaments, ribbons, oooh, even anagram letters spelling out winter or wish or merry! i might have to try that next time.

happy day to you!!!

silver bella - ooh-la-la!

okay, friends. here's what i have to say about silver bella.
LOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEEEEDDDD IT!

here are a few snapshots from -seriously- a wonderful weekend! i threw together some photo collages to try to save on the length of this post! (i don't think it really helped!!!)

karla and meleen - they hit it off last year, and were thrilled to spend some time together! meleen is just wonderful. so much fun!
me - right before the finale dinner
karla at vendor nite - "hats on parade" was the theme! she looked so stinking cute in her totally vintage hat.


these are just a few of the tables from vendor nite - fabulous shopping. fab.u.lous! karla and i had a table this year. it was a ton of fun, but way hard work, too. we sold lots of supplies and cutie patootie baby bootie kits! check out our etsy shop if you missed something!

peacoats and partyhats - candace and suzanne - ooooh, i was swooning over this booth. i felt like a kid in a candy store!

the best part of silver bella? the friends! danielle, sissy, amy!


suzanne - oh, it was so much fun to get to know her a bit! check out her blog, if you haven't! her home is covered in shabby chic glory, i am totally inspired by her decorating. beeeaaauuutttiful! and cherie - oh my goodness! what a sweet-sweet soul, she is precious.

these are our western nebraska bellas! last year, it was just karla and i...look at us now! lora, janet, clara, lisa, and chris! so much fun!!! we are hoping for some future crafting and shopping with these gals!


okay - jamieson on the left - is for sure a new friend! i can't wait for her to get her blog going!


valerie, suzanne, and candace - all 9 of us (from the two previous photos) sat together at opening night! oh the thrill!


michelle - our swap hostess for the incredible bella souvenir journal. she is way cool. let me say it again. way. cool.

this brings me to the swaps!

karlatta and i hosted "the love chapter" swap. this was designed by splitting the scripture 1 corinthinians 13:4-8 into 16 parts and giving each phrase to one girl. she then created 16 ornaments of her phrase to be swapped. they can then be displayed together, making lovely valentine's day pretties! (or anytime, really!)

here are the finished ornaments...feast your eyes on these gorgeous creations!




i am going to list the participants, but please forgive me, girls, for not getting your blogs linked up here! (this post is taking forever!) lisa hajda, kris malone, marsi bennet, lisa super, merry gray, cherie wilson, hope ellington, stephanie oyler, colleen moody, lisa orme, shannon johnson, jennifer hilliard, heather ales, julie baxley, karla steele, and me! thank you, girls for joining us! we just love the finished product!

i also participated in the 3x3 inchy stitch swap. oh my gosh! so totally addicting! i really enjoyed this and plan to keep making more! the size is perfect, doesn't take any thought at all, and the result is adorable! i am planning to create one large banner with these little sweet things! hostesses for this swap were kris and tami. thanks, ladies!





this is just a tiny taste of the silver bella souvenir journal! holy stink! i am telling you...this is a beautiful piece of work! so much PAPER!!! (i so love paper!)





okay, the girls who played along with the journal were: kim caldwell, meleen dupre, michelle geller, mollie mccabe, karla nathan, kathi pilar, karla steele, cheryl stoneham, suzanne duda, lisa thompson, rachel velder, susie vergenz, cherie wilson, and me. thank you, bella friends, for this wonderful keepsake! it is a total treasure.

okay. my classes. there are no photos because i was too busy creating!
josephines jewels with kari meng. excellent. she is a superb teacher.
nana's basket with charlotte lyons. soooo fabulous. i could do this kind of crafting all day!
around the elipse with sally jean. hard. hate soldering. she's a hoot, tho!
project runway with colette copeland. LOVE! ooohhhh! so loved this one!
oh tannenbaum with kerry lynn yeary. soooo much happy fun! meleen and laura were great tablemates! : )

i've got to wrap this up! jenny doh totally moved us with her wise words. read them here. really. read them.

this photo of karla and i was swiped from teresa - the queen bella! thank you!!!!

happy - happy day, friends! and thanks to those of you who read this ridiculously long post!