Baby Burp Cloths

With our 1st grandchild coming in the Spring, I've been getting reacquainted with my sewing machine. So I figured there had to be a more attractive-looking burp cloth than the ones my husband and I used so many years ago with our boys. Yes, we just used plain old cloth diapers!

I found this tutorial while searching for inspiration:

http://chickpeastudio.typepad.com/chickpea_sewing_studio/diaper-burp-cloth-tutoria.html

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to insert a link into my blog yet!

Merry Christmas

A few of our holiday decorations this year:

Spiced Nuts

Spiced Nuts

1 egg white
2 T water
3 - 4 c nuts
¾ c sugar
¼ t nutmeg
1 ¼ t cinnamon


Beat egg white with water. Add nuts; stir until moist.

Sift together dry ingredients. Add to nuts; stir until coated. Spread nuts on cookie sheet.

Bake at 250 degrees 25 – 30 minutes, stirring ½ way through.

Enjoy!

gift tags using buttons

A couple more ideas for gift tags using Papertrey's Holiday Button Bits:

Snowman Gift Tags

I just love the combination of felt and paper in crafting projects. When I saw Heather Nichols' blog using these 2 items to create cute gift tags, I knew I would have to try my hand at it. Although I didn't have the Nestabilities Labels die, I am still very pleased with their outcome. Instead, I used the square die, the snowman from Papertrey's Holiday Trees and stamped the back with to/from and "merry christmas" from Papertrey's Holiday Button Bits.

Holiday Button Cards

Here are a couple of the cards I created for Christmas:














Papertrey Holiday Button Bits stamps, Papertrey buttons, Fiskars pp, Nestabilities dies, velvet rickrack ribbon from Etsy seller, christopherpines













Papertrey Holiday Tree stamps, Imaginisce pp, Nestabilities dies, velvet rickrack ribbon from Etsy seller, christopherpines

Glitter House

Wow, it's been quite a while since posted, huh?! I guess life kinda got in the way and I needed some motivation! Anyway, I'm back and have enjoyed creating some new holiday items.

I just love the paper mache houses that I have seen altered. The only local place I could find any was Hobby Lobby. This small house was just $1.99! I gave it a coat of gesso and then painted, sprayed it with adhesive and then sprinkled Martha Stewart tinsel glitter over the whole house. I was able to complete 4 houses with only 1 bottle of tinsel glitter. The snowman came from a package of 6 small snowman ornaments I also found at Hobby Lobby. The windows and door are vellum adhered from the inside.

5 little words ...

You're gonna be a grandma! We were so delighted to hear them! So, sometime in March 2010 there will be a new member of the family. Not to mention, a new member of Red Sox Nation!!!!!

Do we fear the naming of our new grandchild with one of those wacky names, like Apple, Moon Beam or Dweezil? Uh, no! My son and his wife are a down-to-earth, traditional couple. I have no fear that they will be fabulous, nurturing parents.

BAD, BAD BLOGGER
I've been such a bad blogger lately that I had no idea that amidesignsjewellery had nominated me for a Blog Award until I checked my blog today. Thanks so much, Alison! Anyway, here is the link for her Blog Award nominations: http://amidesignsjewellery.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-award.html

What would a blog post of mine be without wildlife photos!

Monarch Butterflies








American Goldfinch

Birds & Snakes

Jennifer Maguire is doing a neat 9-week class over at 2Peas. It's called "Thinking Inking" and it is centered around Distress Inks. This is a tag I made from the 1st class:












This is the 2nd set of birds that have built nest very close to the house -- this time the nuthatches used our Topsy Turvy tomato planter for their home. They fledged just a couple of days ago.









As a city-bred gal, living in a rural setting in Georgia has really been an eye-opening experience. I have no problem with the bird nests -- I love seeing how protective mother birds are and how she knows just when it's time for them to move to their own place, but, the snake I found underneath my gas grill cover, I was just not prepared for. He was relocated deeper in the woods behind the house!

Why is it so difficult for me to blog?

I have so much motivation to create while I lie awake at 2, 3, and 4:00 in the morning, but, life takes over when I get up and my creative motivation seems to vanish.

My Etsy shop started off with jewelry, but, there are so many talented artisans on Etsy that it is just too hard to get noticed as a beginner. So, I have gone back to my 1st love -- papercrafts. As I have been a scrapper and cardmaker for a long time, it feel more comfortable listing my papercraft items.


My 1st attempt at Kristina Werner's Color Challenge:









Recent additions to my shop:

Cards For Heroes

Ready to ship off another package to "Cards For Heroes". The box will have 172 cards to distribute to soldiers to send to their loved ones. If anybody doesn't happen to know about this endeavor, here is the link to their website: http://cardsforheroes.org/











New Etsy Listings:









More Flowers -- Daylilies & Clematis

Topsy Turvy

Living in rural Georgia with little sun in the back yard, we decided to do a little planting and took a stab at the Topsy Turvy tomato grower. And, lo and behold, this weekend we spotted a little tomato!









Although the chickadees have left the nest above our front door, we have new guests in the backyard -- a couple of nuthatches are making home improvements in one of the birdhouses!

New stuff:

Empty Nest

Well, the nest is empty above our front door. The day they flew from their nest, I got one final photo of the 4 of them.









New items I've added to my shop:

The Babies are here....

I was able to snap a few photos of the baby Chickadees over our front door, while mama was keeping a watchful eye over them and ME!!













Although, it has been rather difficult to get back into the swing of things since getting back from Savannah, (along with the glorious weather we are having here in Georgia), I have managed to create a few mini-card sets:

Bad Blogger

Just returned from my son's wedding in Savannah. It was a beautiful mass at a gorgeous cathedral. The weather was picture perfect.

The morning we left, we discovered that the chickadees had hatched in the nest above our front door, and, isn't mama chickadee protective!

On our return, we discovered many new plants blooming! The clematis bloomed and the irises are almost ready.



Last night's surprise was that our backyard is, apparently, a haven for
Eastern Bluebirds -- what a fabulous sight!

TGIF

My latest card -- to hold a gift card or cash. Last holiday season, I made similar cards, but, I adapted these to fit into a standard-sized envelope.

One of my very favorite blogs to follow is a fellow Etsy seller. Her name is Kristina Werner and she has a great tutorial. Check it out if you are a cardmaker or scrapbooker -- stamping and embossing on buttons!

http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/

New cards: