Completed Christmas Mini House Book

[click to Enlarge]

Yesterday I finished up the House book I blogged the pages for previously. I thought it would be simple and cute to bind the pages together by using wire and spiral binding it. Sort of like a notebook. I thought it might be decorative but also give the pages space and everything since they are thick and embellished. I didnt want any of the pages to bend because there wasnt enough room for them to open up correctly. After I bound the pages together, I had fun finding all my little doodads and fibers/ribbons and adding some pizazz to it .lol. I found this gold key that I have had forever and didnt know when I was ever going to use it on anything. These great Tin stars that I purchased last Christmas, and even a large and small golden bell! It was fun :) I really love how this turned out and I sort of grew attached to it haha! Go figure! I think today I might work on Christmas cards, and a few ornament idea's I have rattling around in my brain. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

"Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling." ~Edna Ferber

Christmas Mini House Book Pages

In the group LetsMakeSomething we had a Christmas Mini House Book mingle. Where you take a mini-house template and create a front and back cover, and 4 front and back decorated pages in a Christmas theme, then you bind it all together into a little book. They make GREAT keepsake Holiday decorations! Today I put together the cover's and the pages. This is what I came up with. I plan on putting it all together into a book tomorrow. I was so excited for the pages that I couldnt wait to share :) Tomorrow I will blog the pictures of the completed book :)

Thanks for taking a gander!

1st Card of the Season!

Yesterday I began my journey into Christmas card making! Oh boy! This is the first year that I will be handmaking all of the cards that we are sending out for the holidays. So I am a bit nervous and hope everyone doesnt laugh hysterically at my first attempt at this. This is the first card I created. I learned of a website through the Red Cross called Holiday Mail for Heroes where you can send cards to be distributed to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world.

My sister and I are trying to spread the word to get those that are interested to send at least one card this holiday season. Soooo since I was inspired yesterday with this, I went ahead and created my card which I will be sending tomorrow. It really is something nice to do for all of those that might be serving right now and can not be with family and friends for the holidays.

"Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put
it into words is all that is neccessary." ~Margaret Cousins

about the fall bizarre...

I have been feeling really lousy over the past week with a nasty cold that has decided to take my voice now... *sighs* so I am just now getting to blogging about the Bizarre we had at our church. The picture is of all the craft items I created for the bizarre to help raise money for the church. We did really well with the bizarre and hot dog dinner sale. We raised over $800! WHOOPEE! We were all so excited and proud about that fact. We have just enough for our Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets for the families in our community that need a little help this year! YAY! All of my items sold except for the picture frame and the red snowman, but thats okay :) I am putting the picture frame up for grabs in my shop but I decided to keep the Snowman hee hee! Thanks everyone for their words of encouragement and everything about the bizarre and the kind words about my creations!

Have you ever?

My friend Lori posted this on her blog Fresh Picked Whimsy and thought it would be fun to post too.

Here's what you do: cut and paste the list into your blog and bold anything on the list that you have done in your lifetime so far. I honestly dont have that much to bold on my list... but maybe someday :)



1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

And soon I will have #85 crossed off :D

Give the list a try its fun and interesting to learn about your friends :D

Handpainted Cardinal Star

This is another wooden unfinished item from Michaels. I added a suction cup to the top so that I could hang it in a window, but it can be replaced with a ribbon if you chose to hang it elsewhere.

The background is dark blue with lighter blue swirls. Then of course the cardinal as the focal point. The stars and the edging is in gold sparkles. The back is also painted but in solid gold. It took me a bit longer to complete this project because of all of the details and the little additions I kept adding *lol* I wish the photo was clearer but with the clear varnish the flash put a glare on it :( Here's another view, not sure how much better it actually is lol.

Holiday Magnet Clips

Another unfinished wooden item set that I found at Michaels. *lol* They are Magnet clips. You can hold cards, photos etc in the clip and stick it on your fridge :) I thought they were adorable. So I painted each one.. again there is sparkles involved. And added crystals to each one. Clear on the bear, and multi-colors on the tree :)

Holiday Picture Frame

I also found this great unfinished wooden frame at Michaels. It was a buck!! So I bought many of them as well so that I could do various designs on them. I handpainted this frame. You cant tell but the white snowflakes sparkle in clear, the berries sparkle in red and the bells on the deer collar sparkle gold. I embellished it with a nice festive ribbon on the top and bottom that I found in the discount bin at Michaels and then I added a green ribbon bow :) Since this is my first frame that I have created I think Im going to keep it and then create a few others for gifts and for the fall bizarre at the church. I have already added a picture to it :) Forgive the photo, it was dark and for some reason my camera takes grainy pictures w/out flash but if I used flash it would have glared off of the frame.. *sighs*

Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and
the love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time
when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of
God.”~anonymous

Snow wooden sign

I found these great wooden signs at Michaels on Discount and I just had to grab a ton of them. This is the first one that I finished. You cant tell in the picture but the snowflake and the white stripes and circles on the letters sparkle. And the crystals on the snowflake are pink, green and clear. :)

My lil sis liked it so much that she requested one in red and green :D So I finished one for her and the crystals are in clear and red. And the white parts sparkle as well, you can see it a little better with this picture but not as much as I was hoping. I hate how pics and scans never show all the details *lol*

Wooden Keepsake Box

I thought it would be nice to work on some wood items so I found this cute little unfinished keepsake box at Michaels for only a few bucks. So I painted it, added gold leaf to the top and some jewels and then varnished it. I thought the gold leaf made the carved designs pop. It turned out really nicely, I have it sitting in my living room on the coffee table at the moment :)

Alot of catching up to do....

It has been such a long time since I updated my blog. Eeesh. Seems like everytime I get the chance to sit down and type something up or share a new creation, something else pops up and I get side tracked. *sighs* But I've updated my blog look (finally) and I happen to like my little Thanksgiving theme, even if it will need to be changed in a few weeks again *lol* I have been creating things like crazy and will blog as many of them as I can today and the coming days so that I can catch up. I've really just been focusing on Christmas and the Holidays. I always get into a festive mood right after Halloween. Its my favorite time of the year, and I really enjoy making my greeting cards, and other crafts/decorations etc. I've also been really active in our church and with the holidays coming up our church is super busy with a Christmas play, fundraising, and other things. I joined the Ladies Aid of our church and this Friday we are having a 'Fall Bizarre' where we are going to sell our arts and crafts, and baked goods etc. to raise money for the Church and we use the money to create food baskets & toys for the needy families in our area. So that will be really nice. I've been creating tons of Holiday themed items for the Bizarre and will be busy mid-week baking and cooking. Eesh. Its fun and I really enjoy being active in our church. I also caught a terrible cold last week and I was really feeling aweful, but today is the first day that I have been feeling a little better. At least I can smell and breath out of my nose, even if I do have a cough still. I'm hoping by mid-week or the weekend it will be gone for good. I always get sick at least 1 time when the season's change. I guess its just the weather change. Ok well, thats just a tiny update from me. Stay tuned for tons of art creations :) Hoping all are doing well and had a fun Halloween. :)

Halloween ATC Coffin Card

I know its way past Halloween *lol* but I did create this ATC coffin card for a swap in Artistic-Creations and I never got the chance to blog about it. So here it is *lol* It was fun, At first I wasnt sure about it but I think I like how it turned out. :)

p.s the little boy collage image came from Paper Imagery Designs ;)