My Favorite Things

Christmas Delight

The month of December is positively too short for all of the activities that I want to fit in!  I usually start the month off decorating the house.  I love opening each bin to see what pretties await me.  It just struck me this year how beautiful the decorations are even in their packed state. There is such potential in each container, just waiting to bring Christmas joy to our house.  I know, I know ... very corny, but I can tend to get that way at Christmas ... he, he, he.

 

These are just a few of the couple dozen containers that I am STILL unpacking.   

With the month of December, comes Madrigals at our High School.  It is somewhat bittersweet this year because my oldest daughter is a senior.  So, this is her last Madrigal dinner she will participate in.  I know I may be biased, but she has the voice of an angel (although, people that are not related to her say the same thing :))  

 

This is my daughter with the boy she was partnered with for Madrigals.  I am telling you, the seamstress that makes these costumes for the kids is amazing!

I am already getting teary eyed, just writing about her last Madrigal dinner.  Oh my goodness, what will I be like come May when she graduates?!  One thing at a time.

Another favorite of mine at Christmas time is eating amazing treats.  I mean really, there has to be some benefit from going out and running in this sub-zero weather.  There is a new little restaurant in our town called Charlotte's, and in addition to having fabulous lunch items, they have amazing sweet treats.

Just look at the adorable presentation.  And of course, I saved the little berried wreath!

I have also been busy creating items for my etsy store.  I have put a few things on already, but I am working on some Christmas goodies, that I hope to have in the shop by the end of the weekend.  I will keep you posted.

I will also be back with some photos of our home all glittered up for the holidays.

till next time,

melissa  

 
 

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to stop in before the day's festivities began and wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!  We are very fortunate to live close to my family and my hubby's family.  So, we get to see both families in the course of the day.  It is a lot of food to consume in a 12 hour period, but you know, we wouldn't have it any other way!  I am very grateful for my 3 beautiful children, and my very loving and patient husband, as well as all of our extended family.

I just want to add that my daughter, Isabelle, created this little turkey masterpiece last night on a whim. I was in my studio working, and she came in wanting to look through my scraps of fabric.  She was very mysterious as to the reason.  She collected what she wanted, and then off she went to create this very festive wall hanging.  

I just love her creative spirit!  She is also the child that for the last couple of years has covered our walls with paper hearts on Valentine's Day.  What a zest for life that one has!

Have a wonderful day!

till next time,

melissa

 

I just love this time of year!

For the last 3 years the second weekend of November serves as the beginning of the holiday season festivities for me.  It is on this weekend that I attend a mixed media arts retreat in Omaha Nebraska, called Silver Bella.  A wonderfully creative woman, Teresa McFayden  hosts this amazing retreat.  It is difficult to describe the feeling of being with 200 other women from all over the country that all are such creative souls.  Over the course of the weekend I took 5 classes from some incredible instructors.  These are a few pictures of the projects that I worked on.  Some are finished, and some are a work in progress.

 I created this snowman ornament in Jennifer Murphy's class.  Jennifer's class was one of my favorites because I learned so many new techniques. She had the most comprehensive project instructions.  With all of the steps involved in the making of this fabulous ornament, it would have been so easy for the participants to have become overwhelmed.  But, because of  Jennifer's meticulous instructions, and her incredible patience, I believe everyone left the class with a completed ornament.  A couple of women put their own spin on this project and gave created adorable skirts for their snow person.  I am going to have to try that next!

 

My next class was taught by Charlotte Lyons.  We created stocking hats from recycled wool sweaters that we felted before we came to class.  By no means is my hat perfect, but I have to say I was pretty pleased with my first attempt at such a project.  I used an old cardigan for the main part of the hat.  I thought the buttons that were already part of the cardigan gave me detail without extra work ... which is always a plus.  I added a piece of a sweater scrap around the rim.  If I make another hat, I want to find a better way of finishing off the top of the hat.  Of course Charlotte's example that she showed in class was finished with much more polish than mine is here, but practice makes perfect ... right?!  I was just so pleased that at this point in the weekend I was 2 for 2 with finishing my class projects.  (Ok, I will admit, I did finish the hat in my room later that first night)  I was determined that this year I was going to actually go home with some finished projects.  In the last 2 years that I have been attending Silver Bella, I never finished one thing.  And of course when I get home, I get busy with the holiday festivities, and then the projects forever get lost where all forgotten unfinished projects go ... to the basement!

Don't you just love all of those ribbons?  Not to mention that fabulous vintage polka dot fabric ... yikes!!  I am such a sucker for all things textile.   Pam Garrison taught this really fun Advent Wreath class.  This is one project that, as you can see that I did not complete yet.  But, I have promised myself that I am going to ... no, really!  The idea is that you are to add a holly leaf onto the wreath every new day in December.  These leaves are the only ones that I have embellished so far.  I only have 20 more to go.  I may not finish all of the holly leaves until the end of December, but I will finish them.  I know, maybe that will be the advent activity.  I should embroider one each day and then pin it on.  I think that just might work!  Pam provided all of these wonderful ribbons for us, as well as fabric that we could choose from to wrap the wreath with.  I used my own fabric, though, because I knew it would add just the whimsy I was looking for.  Pam also provided the fun felt that was donated to her for the class by Heather Bailey.  It was so much fun to see the different interpretations of this project by all of the fabulously creative ladies in the class.

I could hardly wait to take this class.  Rebecca Sower taught this Hodge Podge Journal class.  She creates the most amazing and inspiring journals herself.  If you haven't before, please take a moment to visit her blog and experience her creativity.  Rebecca provided all of the materials we needed for this project, but we were encouraged to bring along any bling or other embellishments of our own that we might want to add to the journals.  Inside the journal is a mixture of watercolor paper, ledger paper, envelopes, a house shaped piece of chip board, as well as other odds and ends that are just waiting for thoughts and doodles to be added.

This project was such a fun way to end Silver Bella.  I got to enjoy the class with several friends that I met last year, and was fortunate enough to get to spend time with them again this year.  Needless to say, we had many laughs while making our bracelets!  Kaari Meng of the famed French General taught this class.  There is a French General store out in LA, that I would love to visit some day, but for now I just pour over their books.  Before taking this class, I never would have thought that I would be able to create such a bracelet.  My finished bracelet is a testament to what a patient teacher Kaari was.  Not to mention, my very helpful friend Jen.  I simply cannot wait to make some additional pieces with the charms and kits that I purchased while taking Kaari's class.  Does it get any better I ask you ... making jewelry and shopping, all in one convenient location.

These 3 ladies, Jen, Cammy, and Kelli were a hoot!  I had so much fun spending time with them throughout the weekend.  It's too bad that we all don't live closer. We could be creating and talking together all of the time ... he, he, he. All 3 women are so inspiring with the creative talent they each possess.  Jen and I live only a few hours apart, so we are already planning a get together.  But sadly, Cammy and Kelli live many states away!  I need to mention that you should absolutely go check out Kelli's new website, Posies on Parade.  She creates the most wonderful dolls, posie pockets, and other fanciful items.  Kelli provided some of her items to Teresa to give away as door prizes throughout the weekend.  Each time some lucky woman won one of Kelli's creations, you could hear a squeek of delight as they opened their treasure.

There is so much more that I could share about this fantastic weekend.  In fact, there are just not enough adjectives to use to aptly describe this experience!  Needless to say, I came home very inspired to do some creating of my own in my much neglected studio.  I have already finished some items that I am hoping to get onto etsy by the end of next week.  I will keep you updated!

till next time,

melissa

I just love this time of year!

For the last 3 years the second weekend of November serves as the beginning of the holiday season festivities for me.  It is on this weekend that I attend a mixed media arts retreat in Omaha Nebraska, called Silver Bella.  A wonderfully creative woman, Teresa McFayden  hosts this amazing retreat.  It is difficult to describe the feeling of being with 200 other women from all over the country that all are such creative souls.  Over the course of the weekend I took 5 classes from some incredible instructors.  These are a few pictures of the projects that I worked on.  Some are finished, and some are a work in progress.

 I created this snowman ornament in Jennifer Murphy's class.  Jennifer's class was one of my favorites because I learned so many new techniques. She had the most comprehensive project instructions.  With all of the steps involved in the making of this fabulous ornament, it would have been so easy for the participants to have become overwhelmed.  But, because of  Jennifer's meticulous instructions, and her incredible patience, I believe everyone left the class with a completed ornament.  A couple of women put their own spin on this project and gave created adorable skirts for their snow person.  I am going to have to try that next!

 

My next class was taught by Charlotte Lyons.  We created stocking hats from recycled wool sweaters that we felted before we came to class.  By no means is my hat perfect, but I have to say I was pretty pleased with my first attempt at such a project.  I used an old cardigan for the main part of the hat.  I thought the buttons that were already part of the cardigan gave me detail without extra work ... which is always a plus.  I added a piece of a sweater scrap around the rim.  If I make another hat, I want to find a better way of finishing off the top of the hat.  Of course Charlotte's example that she showed in class was finished with much more polish than mine is here, but practice makes perfect ... right?!  I was just so pleased that at this point in the weekend I was 2 for 2 with finishing my class projects.  (Ok, I will admit, I did finish the hat in my room later that first night)  I was determined that this year I was going to actually go home with some finished projects.  In the last 2 years that I have been attending Silver Bella, I never finished one thing.  And of course when I get home, I get busy with the holiday festivities, and then the projects forever get lost where all forgotten unfinished projects go ... to the basement!

Don't you just love all of those ribbons?  Not to mention that fabulous vintage polka dot fabric ... yikes!!  I am such a sucker for all things textile.   Pam Garrison taught this really fun Advent Wreath class.  This is one project that, as you can see that I did not complete yet.  But, I have promised myself that I am going to ... no, really!  The idea is that you are to add a holly leaf onto the wreath every new day in December.  These leaves are the only ones that I have embellished so far.  I only have 20 more to go.  I may not finish all of the holly leaves until the end of December, but I will finish them.  I know, maybe that will be the advent activity.  I should embroider one each day and then pin it on.  I think that just might work!  Pam provided all of these wonderful ribbons for us, as well as fabric that we could choose from to wrap the wreath with.  I used my own fabric, though, because I knew it would add just the whimsy I was looking for.  Pam also provided the fun felt that was donated to her for the class by Heather Bailey.  It was so much fun to see the different interpretations of this project by all of the fabulously creative ladies in the class.

I could hardly wait to take this class.  Rebecca Sower taught this Hodge Podge Journal class.  She creates the most amazing and inspiring journals herself.  If you haven't before, please take a moment to visit her blog and experience her creativity.  Rebecca provided all of the materials we needed for this project, but we were encouraged to bring along any bling or other embellishments of our own that we might want to add to the journals.  Inside the journal is a mixture of watercolor paper, ledger paper, envelopes, a house shaped piece of chip board, as well as other odds and ends that are just waiting for thoughts and doodles to be added.

This project was such a fun way to end Silver Bella.  I got to enjoy the class with several friends that I met last year, and was fortunate enough to get to spend time with them again this year.  Needless to say, we had many laughs while making our bracelets!  Kaari Meng of the famed French General taught this class.  There is a French General store out in LA, that I would love to visit some day, but for now I just pour over their books.  Before taking this class, I never would have thought that I would be able to create such a bracelet.  My finished bracelet is a testament to what a patient teacher Kaari was.  Not to mention, my very helpful friend Jen.  I simply cannot wait to make some additional pieces with the charms and kits that I purchased while taking Kaari's class.  Does it get any better I ask you ... making jewelry and shopping, all in one convenient location.

These 3 ladies, Jen, Cammy, and Kelli were a hoot!  I had so much fun spending time with them throughout the weekend.  It's too bad that we all don't live closer. We could be creating and talking together all of the time ... he, he, he. All 3 women are so inspiring with the creative talent they each possess.  Jen and I live only a few hours apart, so we are already planning a get together.  But sadly, Cammy and Kelli live many states away!  I need to mention that you should absolutely go check out Kelli's new website, Posies on Parade.  She creates the most wonderful dolls, posie pockets, and other fanciful items.  Kelli provided some of her items to Teresa to give away as door prizes throughout the weekend.  Each time some lucky woman won one of Kelli's creations, you could hear a squeek of delight as they opened their treasure.

There is so much more that I could share about this fantastic weekend.  In fact, there are just not enough adjectives to use to aptly describe this experience!  Needless to say, I came home very inspired to do some creating of my own in my much neglected studio.  I have already finished some items that I am hoping to get onto etsy by the end of next week.  I will keep you updated!

till next time,

melissa

pop tart love

I will confess, that I have long had a soft spot for pop tarts.  But my affection for this fruity pastry goodness has only deepened with the introduction of the new commercials at the beginning of this summer.  Am I the only one that has fallen for these commercials that look like a "Candyland" board game come to life?  I can hear these commercials serenading me from the tv even if I am in another room.  The fun little music is a perfect match for the ice cream and soda shop colors of this make believe pop tart world.

If you have not experienced this delightful little treat, you should go watch at youtube and I guarantee a smile will be brought to your face!

till next time,

melissa

Girlfriend Staycation

I have heard the word "staycation" used quite a bit this summer as people have talked about their summer plans.  Well, my friends Kyra and Laura and I have been celebrating a "girls weekend" now for the last 3 summers, with summer being our 4th.  We have always gone away somewhere within a 4 hour driving distance from our homes.  But with the economy being what it is, we decided to save money this year and "get away" to Kyra's home.  Her husband was already planning to be out of town and her mom so graciously agreed to watch her kids for the weekend.  

We decided that it really didn't matter what we were doing and where.  The whole point of our tradition is to have uninterrupted time set aside so we can talk and share stories and just be silly.  And of course, shopping (even if it needs to be scaled back) is generally involved :)  There usually is not a quiet moment the entire weekend.  And this weekend was no exception.  Even though we see each other on a fairly regular basis in every day life, there just never seems to be enough time to fit in all that we have to say. After all, 3 women with 3 very full lives, to say that there is a lot to talk about, is an understatement!

Although we spent much time at Kyra's "bed and breakfast", we did take a couple day trips. None of our weekends would be complete without driving fiascos.  This year we even had "Jill" to guide us and we still got lost!!  "Jill" is  Laura's handy dandy GPS device.  Suffice it to say that "Jill" kept bringing us back to closed roads, no matter how many times she re-calibrated when we would try to go around the closed roads.  We eventually found our way home, with many laughs along the way.

 

I was so excited that our girls weekend coincided with a home sale that a fellow blogger was hosting in St. Charles, Illinois. I read about the sale that Kasey of Lola B's was going to have in Country Living Magazine.  I always seem to read about these amazing sales, and then they are usually held out on the West Coast.  Well, not this one!  Kasey's sale was so charming.  She had such a fabulous mix of items for sale from furniture that she had so beautifully refurbished, jewelry, pillows, sachets, and so much more.  I loved the banner that she had hanging above her garage.  I am always looking for new ideas for banners.  I took the idea of using burlap and made a birthday banner for my daughter.  I will show a picture of that in my next post.

I wish I had gotten better pictures from inside her garage.  It really looked like an adorable little shop in there!

Kasey was a good sport to let Laura, Kyra, and I get a photograph with her while standing inside a bed frame that she had refurbished :)

kyra, laura, myself, kasey

Kasey was so kind as to offer to let us go inside and take a look around the main level of her adorable house.  It was definitely something right out of a magazine.  It is so much fun to see the details of other people's homes.

I absolutely adore this chair.  

And just look at the display of frames on the wall ...

Thank you, Kasey, for graciously opening up your home ... what a treat!

This was just a piece of our fabulous "girls weekend staycation".  I am so thankful to have such good friends to make these great memories with.

And I cannot end this post without a shout out to Kyra ... you by far host the best bed and breakfast I have ever visited!!!

till next time,

melissa

what a great night!

This evening began with my husband offering to go to a "chick flick" with me when a friend of mine cancelled.  The movie he was committing to see was "He's Just Not That Into You".  It has been quite a while since my husband has accompanied me to this sort of movie because I usually go with girlfriends, so as to spare him the experience.  I do have to say, however, that most of the "chick flicks" that he has seen with me in the past, he has been able to find something he has enjoyed about them ... he is a good sport. 

I was a little nervous about taking him to this particular movie, because I had heard so many varying opinions of the movie.  I wasn't even sure whether I was going to like it.  Needless to say, we both loved it.  We laughed and cried throughout the movie.  I personally, would definitely recommend it.  And not that hubby was trying to score points with me, but he certainly did!!

To top the night off, I was just looking at a few blogs before I turned in for the night, when I came across a reference to the Picnik website.  It is a free site that you can edit your photos on.  Since I have the urge to lash out irrationally whenever I try to figure anything out on Photoshop Elements, I decided to give this site a try.  Oh my gosh ... IT IS AMAZING.  I love it.

For tonight, I played around with editing a photo I had previously taken of crocus growing in my yard. Here are some of the results.

The first photo is the original, the second was edited using a 60's exposure, and then framing it with a polaroid frame.  The last one I played with adding text and a frame.  If you are not familiar with Picnik, I encourage you to go try it out.  The site is very user friendly.

till next time,

melissa

fabulous swaps

I have to say, I just love participating in swaps.  As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I was partnered with Heather Rowely of Speckled Egg for a "Things That I Love" swap hosted by Artsy Mama.  Heather knew that I loved fabric, so she sent some amazing fabric that I am so excited to use.  She also sent a lovely heart wreath that she wrapped first in a satin ribbon, and then covered that with lace, and then finished it off with fun felt flowers ... love, love, love it.  Heather added into my amazing package spring dish towels, an easter ornament, a porcelain bird, and a quilted bag.  I was definitely spoiled!!!

Thanks so much Heather.

Heather told me that she really liked pillows, so I decided to make her a pillow for Spring.  I used an embroidery pattern for the bird that I downloaded from Craft Pudding.  I also made her a "love" banner. Heather has a much better picture of the banner over on her website.  I sent some items that for some unknown reason I did not get photographs of before I sent them off ... who knows why I do the things I do sometimes.  I packaged up a small embroidery kit, a small vintage looking valentine box filled with vintage ribbons, a yummy candle, and a little ceramic blue bird.

I truly had so much fun doing this swap.

Another swap that I recently participated in was one hosted by Sew, Mama, Sew.  The swappers were put into groups of 5, and then we each sent out a fat quarter to the other people in our group.  I, of course, signed up to be in 2 groups because I just cannot get enough fabric!   I started to photograph all of the fat quarters together, but they did not necessarily look good together.  I decided that in order for each of them to properly shine, each fat quarter(s) needed their own photo.  (Some people sent out 2 fat quarters to everyone)

As you can see, I received some really fun fabrics.  I can't wait to play.

I just signed up for a new swap hosted by a blog called A Year of Color, started by Kari of Artsy Mama. There is information about A Year of Color at Artsy Mama.  This new swap is a garland swap ... I can't wait.

Have a great weekend.

till next time,

melissa

inspiration

Recently, I was out shopping at one of my favorite places, Von Maur, and came across these absolutely adorable little shoes.  Sadly, my daughters are way too old to wear these beauties (my youngest is 12 years old).  Heck with my daughters wearing them ... I would like to wear them! Be honest, wouldn't you just love to put on a pair of these, even if just in the privacy of your house?!  These shoes gives me inspiration to be creative, a girly girl, and just down right silly.  I know, that is a lot to put onto one pair of shoes.  Oh well, since I have far exceeded the age limit for these, I will just have to settle for the inspiration I get from just gazing at the photograph.

I hope these bring a smile to your face today.

A little side note ... this is my first somewhat successful try at adding a frame around my photograph, using Photoshop Elements.  Over on Teresa McFayden's blog, My Minutia, she has given 4 tutorials so far on how to use Photoshop Elements to edit photos.  I have many books on the subject, but I can never seem to achieve my desired outcome.  That is, until I followed Teresa's instructions :)  

My editing is certainly not perfect, but it is the closest I have come yet.

till next time,

melissa

is anyone still out there?

I can't imagine that I still have anyone checking into my blog since I have been away for 3 months ... oh my goodness, has it really been that long?!  How time flies when you are NOT having fun.  

Well, without sounding too whiny and without going into all of the boring details ... life has definitely been getting the better of our family since last fall.  It began back at the end of October with my 40 year old husband being diagnosed with a dangerously high blood pressure.  You know how most men are, they don't go to the doctor until they absolutely have to.  Well, he was scheduled to go on a trip to Columbia, South America with our church that he pastors.  It was through the process of getting all of the required immunizations that his high blood pressure was discovered.  Of course then tests showed his cholesterol being ridiculously high for his age as well.  Needless to say, he did not make the trip to Columbia because all of this was discovered only 2 days before he was to leave, not allowing enough time to see if the prescribed medication would work.  The obvious concerns were him having a stroke or a heart attack and not being able to get the appropriate medical treatment while there were staying in remote areas of Columbia.

Once things started to settle down with my husband's health, my 17 year old daughter was then admitted to the hospital right after Thanksgiving for a week with what the doctors could and can still only diagnose as a neurological movement disorder.  She started with slight uncontrollable muscle twitches in her leg, and then the movements progressed over the next couple of days into full on body contractions.  It looked very much like she was having seizure after seizure with very little relief in between each episode.  The tests showed, however, that what she was experiencing was not seizures. In the days that followed she had test after test. In the meantime, her legs became so weak she could not even walk.  The best the doctors could come up with was that she had a neurological movement disorder brought on possibly by a virus.  With the help of various medications, the symptoms started to lessen to the point that she was able to go home.  She then stayed home for the next 2 weeks from school, still trying to recuperate.  

After Christmas break she was able to go back to school full time, and she started driving again in January.  She still continues to have symptoms, but thankfully she is able to fully function in all of her many activities in life.  This experience has caused our entire family to grow and learn so much.  We have been so blessed by amazing family and friends who have been walking through this experience with us.  We also have been blessed by the amazing doctors that have worked on and continue to work on my daughter's case.  Sometimes there just are not concrete answers to the problems we face.

On a very happy side not, my daughter earned her first lead role in her high school's production of "Sound of Music".  She is going to be Mother Abess, and she is very excited to have a beautiful solo to perform.  I will be sure to post pictures at the end of March after the musical is completed.

Now we move on in time to a week ago when the same 17 year old daughter from above totaled her car in a one car accident.  Thankfully she came out unharmed.  However, the same cannot be said of the 3 mailboxes and a large sign that she ran over.  Suffice it to say she was driving too fast around a corner on a country road and then swerved to avoid hitting a small animal crossing the road, and then the car spun and the rest is history. Once again we witnessed blessings in this situation.  It was a blessing that there were no other cars on the road when this happened and a blessing that my daughter didn't hit a light pole instead of mailboxes.  Consequently, our family of 5 is now sharing our one functioning vehicle.  Please don't get me wrong, however, we are quite thankful for that one vehicle!!

And wouldn't you know that right before we got the call about the accident, my husband had just gotten a call from his physician with results from a routine blood test required since his October diagnosis.  We were informed that he has type 2 diabetes.  I am telling you, that I am beginning to question God's sense of humor!  My husband has taken the news so well.  He is doing a lot of reading and studying about how his eating and lack of exercise need to drastically change.  And of course, his change in diet will affect the rest of us in the house.  But, quite honestly, I think that will be a good change.  It is so easy to fall into bad eating habits when the family schedule is so busy.  It is just hard to see my husband in this somewhat vulnerable situation.  And it of course reminds me once again how precious and sometimes fragile life can be.

I debated on whether to share any of this because there are so many families with so many more difficult obstacles they are facing on a daily basis, and I am so grateful for all that God has blessed me with.  But, I would be lying if I said I wasn't struggling.  One thing that has kept me going is visiting the fabulously creative and touching blogs out there.  I feel like I am ready to re-enter the creative world out there, in fact I just plain need to ... ready or not!  

So with all of that said, and with much more detail than I intended, I hope to get back to some regular crafty posting.  I recently participated in a fabulous swap through a blog group I joined, A Year of Color, hosted by Kari Ranstrom of Artsy Mama.  I was partnered with the absolutely sweet Heather Rowely of Speckled Egg.  I will be posting pictures of the amazing treasures that she sent me.

Thanks so much for being such patient listeners :)

till next time,

melissa