A quick note and a journal...

It's been a week since I last posted, no excuses, same old thing, busy, busy, busy.
Here are a few of the things on my plate right now...2 scrapbooks to complete for a customer...2 1/2 years worth of photos, 33 layouts done so far, 1 cd label to design for a local musician,
working on 2 new items for the gallery for Valentine's Day and preparing for a Craft Show the first weekend in February. All this and more along with caring for 2 little girls keeps me off of the computer most days.
All of my personal projects have been put on hold but thought I would share a few pages from one of the journals I had been working on...

Here's is the book I used, I picked up several of these a few years ago at Big Lots for less than $1 each. I just knew I could use them someday...

Cover

A few of my favorite pages so far. My plan is for each page to feature something about me, my favorite quotes, things that have impacted my life, memories of childhood and so on. I want to create a keepsake for my grandchildren because I wish I knew more about my grandparents, more than what I can remember and what I was told.

Hopefully it won't be another full week before I post again but you know how it is, life gets hectic.

Have a wonderful day.

Be back soon.

Birds & Butterflies...

I've been meaning to post a few photos of the birds and butterflies I created but kept forgetting to take the photos. Finally snapped a few down at the market last Saturday to share...


I love using the black, cream & red combination in my work. For these, I used a variety of patterned papers along with vintage sheet music and pages from old books.
Yesterday was quite productive, finished a few more cards and worked on a batch of Valentine tags. Hoping to finish the tags today and then I'll begin working on Valentine heart shaped ornaments. Looking forward to sharing them with you soon.
Hope you have a wonderful day.
Be back soon.

Be my Valentine...

I have always been a big fan of homemade Valentine's. I still have one that I made as a child.
Here are a few I made last night to sell at the market...

I just love using vintage images. As if you haven't already figured that out!

Another busy day ahead, a few more cards to make and several other projects, all going at once.

No idle hands here...

Hope your day is delightful and filled with joy.

Be back soon.

The girls...

Emma and Jaelyn keep my busy and on my toes and I wouldn't want it any other way.
A few photos to share...

Coloring...we are using crayons to learn colors.

Reading...they love looking at books.

Chillin'...having a morning snack.
Caring for children is a lot of fun although very tiring. I don't mind because I get such joy from having them here. I never in a million years would have thought this is what I would be doing at this stage in my life. I'm so lucky to share my days with these 2 sweet angels.
Hope your week has started off well.
Be back soon.

Home Tweet Home

I've been working on new items for the Heritage Crafters Gallery...

I've created several birdhouses using vintage music, pages from old books and lots of vintage images. I'm working on several other items, getting ready for Bird Day on January 31st.
The wrought iron stand is another Goodwill find, a real bargain at $1.29. I'm not sure what it is exactly, it has 3 arms, each with one hook. It works great for displaying and also for hanging items to dry. I'm pretty certain it's not for mugs since they normally have at least 4 arms or pegs. If you have any idea what it's original use was, please let me know. It's peaked my curiosity.
Hope your week is going well.
Be back soon.

See you soon brother...

We said farewell to Brandon on Friday...

Emma and Granny
And if we haven't had enough heartache the last year and a half, my youngest brother found out this weekend that he will be going back to Afganistan in June.
All I can do these days is hope and pray...

Thank You Veterans

As my brother prepares to leave tomorrow for Iraq, the men and women of our military have been on my mind a lot lately. I just want to say Thank You for defending our freedom.
Have a great day.
Be back soon.

Recent finds...

I miss the days of yard sales however there are many other places to find bargains during the winter, Goodwill, thrift shops, consignment shops, to mention a few. I try to get out at least once every couple of weeks to do some bargain hunting. Here are a few of the items I purchased during December...

3 books of music and a copper metal frog, $6 for everything.

Found this bowl at Goodwill, not very pretty but definitely functional. I created this arrangement from greens and berries found in the woods behind our house. I was quite surprised to find a large Nandina bush at the very back of our property, it didn't have many berries left thanks to the deer so I got a few extra bunches from a bush at my dad's.

Love this vintage plant stand I found at Goodwill and plan to use it as a display piece at the market. A true bargain for only $3.
We have a new thrift shop, Encore and a consignment shop, From Me to You, here in Madison Heights and both are filled with some great deals. I've just made an appointment to take some of my unused items to the consignment shop later this week, maybe I'll make some money to support my habit.
I worked a little yesterday on paper birdhouses and houses for the market. I'm still in the experimenting stage and having so much fun with these. I promise to share a few photos soon.
Hope you are having a great week.
Be back soon.

Twenty-Ten

Happy first Monday of 2010.

How has your New Year begun?
Our's has begun pretty much the same way 2009 ended, so much to do, so little time most days. I'm sitting here this morning with several lists in front of me, not knowing exactly where to start. Oh well, I'll figure it out. Right now I'm going to give the little ones some breakfast and then we'll play for a while until naptime.
Hope your week is wonderful.
Be back soon.

Happy New Year

Welcome 2010! Hope your New Year's Eve was great.
Image couresy of Clearly Vintage.
Spending today in my workroom. I've got birds, butterflies and photos scattered everywhere, all in various stages, waiting to be completed for the market. Plan on spending tomorrow morning at the market, the afternoon running a few errands and then attending a farewell party for my brother, Brandon, who is being deployed to Iraq (a second time in 3 years), he leaves a week from today.
Looking forward to a productive weekend and even more productive week.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Be back soon.

My little elf...

Over the holiday, I spent time playing in Photoshop with some of the photos I took, here are 2 of my favorites...


Jaelyn
One of the 2 little girls I keep part-time during the week. She is the sweetest little girl, very quite, very well behaved and I just love having her around. She's such a happy child too.

Another busy week ahead, although a short one. Nothing planned for New Year's Eve, we normally hang out at home. We'll watch a bit of football, maybe a movie, just sit back and enjoy. If I fix a meal, it will be fondue, if we get take-out, it will be Chinese.
Hope you have a great week.
Be back soon.

Happy holiday...

Hope your Christmas was wonderful.
We have been busy...Christmas Eve day we drove to Harrisonburg to finish our shopping. I also had to get frames and Harrisonburg was the closest location with any in stock. It took about 2 hours to get there, my favorite part of the trip was the portion over snow covered Afton Mountain. Shopping complete, we ventured to Walmart for our groceries. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning cooking and preparing for a 2 days of family and celebration. We had our family get together Christmas afternoon and then the day with our children and grandchildren yesterday. A very simple and laid back holiday. Just what we needed. Spent the morning picking up around the house, getting things put away. I'm ready to take down my tree but that can wait. I feel the need to play with paper and glue.
Busy days ahead, my gallery display needs lots of new items and I have several album projects to complete.
Hope your holiday season is a happy one.
Be back soon.

Ornaments

I love to recycle, I save a variety of items. A couple of years ago it seemed I recieved a CD of some sort in the mail on a daily basis, AOL was famous for sending them weekly and I saved them all!
Here are some of the ornaments I created using them...

Imagine

Dream

Faith

Believe

Away in a Manger
The music is from old hymnals, I created 5 of these using different hymns.

Angel

Winter Fun

Many of these have already sold, took a few new ones down to the market last Friday and I'm working on a whole series with birds for Bird Lovers Day in January.

Just 2 more days...

We are headed out very early in the morning to finish our shopping. Sounds very last minute however we planned it this way. We both have the day off, one of very few we get, and decided several weeks ago we would spend the day finishing up, then we are treating ourselves to lunch out, then grocery shopping, then home for the holiday. Tomorrow night will be spent wrapping gifts and cooking. I have plenty of Christmas music, all the fixins for hot chocolate and White Christmas is on all day on A&E.

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season.

Have a great day.

Be back soon.

O' Christmas Tree

It took a while but I finally got the tree decorated last week and thought I would share a few photos...

This year our main tree stands in the corner of the dining room. I didn't feel like moving furniture in the living room to make room.

Lots of white lights and ornaments, I like to cover my tree.

Baked cookies yesterday and hope to get some wrapping done this evening.
Going to be at the market this afternoon, lots to do this morning before I leave so I better get busy.

3 more days...

Have a great day.

Be back soon.

How we spent our weekend...

It began snowing here about 3:15 on Friday afternoon.

This was Friday night, already 5 to 6 inches on the ground and still coming down.

Early Saturday morning, at least 16 inches and still snowing.

Later Saturday morning, we begin to dig out, it's still snowing. It stopped sometime early afternoon. Almost 24 hours of snow. With the temperatures remaining low all week, it's expected that a lot of the snow will still be on the ground on Christmas Day.

Sunday morning, more digging.

Sunday afternoon.

By late afternoon, we can finally get to the road.

Since I couldn't go anywhere, I got all my gifts made, watched a lot of football, even got a bit of cleaning done, very productive weekend.

Hugh got to work okay this morning although it took quite a bit longer than usual. Route 29 from here to Lynchburg was a solid sheet of ice at 5:30am.

Hope you had a great weekend, enjoy your week.

Four more days...

Be back soon.