I joined my first swap!!!

For many months I have watched as many of you have ooh-ed and aah-ed over the wonderful goodies you received in the mail through a swap. And every time I would say to myself..."one of these days I will get in on one of those before it's too late. Well, I am happy to say, I have finally joined a fabulous swap. Cathy over at Treasured Heirlooms is hosting a Valentine box swap. We even get to choose our choice of color!!! Please go on over to see Cathy if you are interested. We will all be showing all the wonderful goodies we received on Valentine's Day, February 14. (Which just happens to be my birthday!) I can't wait to get started!!!!

The greatest gift

I had a few things I wanted to say to all of you. In this time of friends, family and giving, I wanted you all to know that during this past year you have all given me the greatest give I could ever have hoped for. The gift of yourselves. I never knew how much I would LOVE blogging when I started back in May. I have met so many women that I truly believe I can call my friends. You have all shared your stories with me, your creativity, your inspiration and probably most of all, your time. Thank you, Thank you , Thank you, To all of you who have left such sweet and wonderful comments for me. I sincerely apologize if I have failed to get back some of you. Life can get to be rather hectic at times, but I cherish each and every one. If you frequently come by, but don't leave me a note to let me know you've been here, thank you for spending part of your day with me. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of warmth and love, and SMILES!!!!! From myself and Jasmine and all the rest of my family...

Merry Christmas!!!!

Rebecca's having a giveaway!

Rebecca , from Rebecca for Vintage Living is one of my favorite bloggers. Her style is so amazing! Anyway, her birthday was this week, so to celebrate she is giving away 7 gorgeous handmade stars. I am crossing my fingers and saying a little prayer because these are little works of art and I REALLY want one!!!! Pop over to her blog say hi, and sign up. Maybe you will be a lucky winner!

Vintage style Snowgirl.

I wanted to share with you the snowman I finally finished. It only took me 2 Christmases to get it done! I started with the paper clay snowman last year. I used a Styrofoam cone and ball to make her. The proportions were all wrong though, so I put her in a drawer and forgot about her. This year I pulled her out and knew I wanted to do something with her. I added the arms that I made out of more paper clay, but her proportions were still wrong.... Then I had a vision of the lovely Santos girls with their wooden skirts. (Denise, you know what I mean.) So I got out some bamboo skewers and a round box bottom and viola! She was so much fun to make. She is covered in mica flake. Her hat is made from chipboard and covered in German glass glitter and the sheet music covered base has very fine clear glitter on it. I love her and now feel the need to give her a brother! Maybe next year.....

My new garland and a big heartfelt Thanks!!!

I've been working on this garland for a couple of weeks now and finally feel like I love it. This is thanks to two very talented women who gave me inspiration. Karoline from Cherished Vintage did a tutorial on how to make these paper snowflakes. They are so amazing and easy to make. You can find that tutorial here.






Then, while blog hopping I came upon Miss Sandy's blog, Quill Cottage. Sandy makes the most gorgeous snowflake ornaments. I knew I just had to make some for myself. Sandy has graciously allowed me to "borrow"some of her designs and post about them here. Please go on over to her blog and check out her amazing work. After seeing her stuff the creativity just started flowing out of me and I was making my own designs as well!!!


I'm so thrilled with the finished garland. It's so "me". Thank you ladies for sharing your talent with all of us and giving me a fabulous new garland for my room!