it's a boy!

his name is Jesus!

much love to you all as we celebrate the birth of our precious Lord and Savior!

Merry Christmas!

shabby trees; a tutorial

so excited to be a guest gardener here on saturday!!! hope you have time to visit! the ladies at the patch have been working overtime, cultivating some holiday happy to share with us!

merry*merry!

i love paper!

and i love flowers!


and i love*love paper flowers!


and i love creating!


i spotted a lovely tissue paper wreath in holiday with matthew mead that i am dying to put together.


i will share more once she all assembled and embellished.


merry*merry to you!

pretty.

i am totally challenging myself to use what i have on hand. be creative. make it pretty.

this is a repurposed cabinet card. the actual picture was either missing or used elsewhere. i have a whole stack of them.


this one became a birthday card for a wonderful friend. she is the kind of girl who appreciates the unique, handmade pretties that are fun to make and share.

the little girl is an image from a business card or ephemera bit shared by hope at paper relics in a swap. she is featured on the web site home page over there. i put her on a little pop out for extra happy.

merry*merry!

even more lovelies.

oh yes, another package arrived at my doorstep!!!
girls, if you love to get mail, but don't, here's what you need to do: join a swap!!!!


these sweet creations are from mary. is that little birdie the cutest thing ever, or what?


oh, and i love this rag doll angel. she totally mixed media for this precious girl. so sweet.



and the soldering on this glass ornie is perfection! i love the old fashioned rose on music sheets - just so pretty.

my little pink tree is plumb full of gor.geous girlie ornies!!!! swoooon.
merry*merry!!!

finally...

the beautiful weather we've been enjoying is a blessing, but it just doesn't feel right. you know?




NOW it feels like Christmas!!

happy wishes to you!!!

oohhhh - ornie love!

let me just say, i was oh so happy to join a swap hosted by the talented cassandra at an artful adventure for an ornament swap!

it was seriously just what i needed to get me back in the groove and thinking about Christmas!!!

we were placed in groups of 4 and we were each asked to create 3 different ornaments to send to our partners. cassandra placed us with girls who had similar likes, which made it easier to create.


i sent my new friends a cheerful pink chenille house, an elegant pearl and lace fabric Christmas tree and a burlap frozen charolette angel, complete with a bell....you know, "everytime a bell rings an angel gets her wings".


so much fun! and the packages i received?!? LOVELY!!!


trisha, who might have the best blog name ever, sent these goodies!


so sweet. AND sparkly!!!



this little felted nest is darling. look at those tiny glittered eggs!



this paper rose covered ornament is completely intriguing to me. i LOVE it! She rolled the paper and brushed the palest of pink powders along the edges. it's soooo pretty. thank you, trisha! (i'll be begging for a tutorial on this beauty!)

there's more!

caroline sent these little lovelies!


how sweet is this? i LOVE the rose images she placed in the bottle cap and GLITTERED!!!! super-cute!



this ornie is made from wood, complete with an engraved rose and frills!!!


and this! look at this GORGEOUS glittered birdie!!! she is the sweetest thing. her little "eggs" are beautiful polished beads (stones?). they are super smooth!!!

thank you, girls, for spoiling me rotten!!!

i am expecting a package soon from our other partner. (mailing anything this time of year is always an interesting experience! no worries, no hurries!)

have a happy day, dear friends!
merry*merry!

sweetness.

i love these little pink houses!


hello, december!
the Christmas countdown is on!

merry*merry to you!

our new creation station...

fourteen years ago, my lover and i bought this precious cottage. okay, it was actually a run down rental where drug deals were made, but we could see the potential. we worked and worked and worked, filled it with love and babies, and kept working, but it's hard to keep up the pace with real jobs and minimal extra cash. you know what i'm saying? it may not be everyone's dream, but it's our home. our happy home.


let's just say the queens of this castle were recently relocated. (my man needs an office, and we've sorta outgrown our space, so it was all good.)

here is our previous art room.

ahhhhhhh. good times. (i can't believe how good it looked when it was clean, which in all reality was probably just for this photo.)

and here is the before shot of our new space. it's in the basement, right off the family room. (we've been dreaming of finishing the basement for a looonnnnggg time. it is way exciting to be so close to wrapping it up)! i anticipate plenty of togetherness taking place in this new living space. (we even got a t.v., our ten year old thinks he won the lottery.) (yes, for those of you who did not know, we have been without a television for 5 years. i haven't missed it one bit.)


i've snapped a bunch of photos to show you.


it was time to dig through storage, use what we can and purge the rest. this old green cupboard finally gets to be used! (she's full of Christmas pretties.)




every nook and cranny is being utilized.


each cubby or cupboard has a story and a memory for me.


this is a happy place.



i had to come to terms with the amount of supplies i have. it is most definitely time to stop shopping and start creating.


it looks organized*ish, which is a ton of work for a right brained girl like me.


beatrice's art desk is butted up right next to mine. she has already spent hours drawing and designing in our new space.




i will share some handmade pretties soon.


i couldn't wait to set up my pink tree and hang some of my silver bella ornies.






the jars continue to be a symptom of my ocd. i am getting help.


oh, the floor...i totally just painted the concrete. i'm planning to cover it with glitter, paper scrappies, dripped glue, and other random bits soon and knew that i would destroy carpet.

here is a banner i made years ago featuring a favorite louisa may alcott quote; a little kingdom i possess where thoughts and feelings dwell.

perfect.

happy day, friends!
be back soon!!!