Happy New Year

I thought I'd get one last post in for 2010. I can't believe tomorrow will be 2011, this year has flown by so fast.

We had some snow that arrived Christmas Day evening. It starting snowing lightly about 9pm and by 2 am the next day, there was a little coating on the cars and grassy areas but not much and my heart sank because I was thinking we weren't going to get any accumulation and went back to bed. By 6am the next morning, we had 5 inches! An hour later I was dressed and out the door with my camera to get photos.



A little later Terry and I went for a walk in the back by the lake.

I took this while we were walking in the back on the railroad tracks. If you click on this photo and enlarge it, you can see our house in the background nestled in the trees.

I was ready for a snowball fight!

The dogs loved the snow and were rolling around in it. Kaila would lay down and duck her head under the snow like she does with water, it was so funny! I got a photo of her sticking her tongue out and it looks like she's trying to catch snowflakes. I couldn't get any of the dogs to sit still and pose for photos so I was lucky to get one of her standing still!


I really enjoyed making Christmas items, it's my favorite holiday to create for. I know it's time to move on so I made a few cards for Valentine's Day.


Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
Annette

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. The holiday will soon be upon us and a new year is right around the corner.

I've been doing alot of soul searching lately, reflecting on my life, my dreams and my goals, what's important and what's not important. There was happiness and saddness this past year. Happiness with finally reaching our dream of moving into our new home after 3 years, it has been a blessing and we are so happy here.
This year has also brought sadness and loss, an uncle with diabetes, an aunt with pancreatic cancer a few months ago and recently a beautiful favorite cousin with complications from diabetes, I miss her so much but I know she is in heaven with her dad, (my Uncle) and our Aunt and it brings me peace. I have dear friends who have lost loved ones and a very dear friend whose husband of many, many years has a life threatening disease and his time is short, my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family every single day, I just wish I lived closer so I can be there for her in person. She is an angel, a wonderful friend I love dearly and has blessed my life, my heart breaks for her.

In 2011 I will cherish each day to the fullest and not take anything for granted, I will tell my loved ones I love them as often as possible and not sweat the small things in life. Family and Friends are precious, life is precious and is a gift, I will cherish each day to the fullest that I have here on this earth.

I wish all of you a happy Holiday and may God bless each and every one of you. Thank you so much for visiting my blog this past year and for your sweet comments, it has meant so much to me and I feel so blessed to have met so many wonderful people through the world of blogging.

This will be my last post until after the holidays but I do have a few crafty things to share. First are some tag/ornaments that I made with clay using a santa mold. I hand painted the faces and added some snow tex, wool beard and a little felt hat I made and topped it off with a rusty bell.



And a project for Custom Crops, you can find the instructions and supplies here.


Happy Holidays and a blessed New Year to all!
Annette

Holiday Season

Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? We had a really nice dinner, just the two of us for our first Thanksgiving in the new house. There is one piece of Pecan Pie left that has Terry's name on it. Next year we will have the whole family over as our kitchen and dining room will probably (hopefully) be done by then. There is so much to do still (flooring, cabinets) and lots of painting downstairs. When you build a house from the ground up, everything has to be painted, it is alot of work but it is very rewarding. Terry got the buckets of paint out of the dining room for me, thought I'd take a painting break until after the New Year. I am kind of getting used to the sheetrocked walls though but will like them better with color!

It's almost time to start baking sugar cookies, one of my favorite holiday traditions every year. I love cookie cutters and always have a hard time chosing which shapes to use. The baking part is fun but I think decorating the cookies is the best part, aside from eating them!

Just a few crafty things to share. I got some snowman picks from the craft store, gave them a makeover and attached them to some little paper mache' boxes. Added some Melissa Frances papers and rub-ons, along with little trees, tinsel, buttons, ribbon, beads and glitter.



I made this card and tag set using some cute felt snowmen that I got years ago. I painted the hat and gloves and added some beads. Trees are sizzix dies cut with felt and I added snow-tex and Martha Stewart Course glitter to them. Paper is old stash Melissa Frances - love it! I highlighed all the felt with ink first before I covered with glitter.



You'd think after making 200 ornaments recently I would of had enough of gingerbread men but I can't get enough of them, I just love them! I used Making Memories paper on this card.

And a few pictures of my Cardinal themed Christmas tree. I still need to dig my tree skirt out of storage. I know when I put it down that the cats are going to think it's just a pretty blanket for them to sleep on! The cats have been good about not eating the tree this year, although occasionally I'll find a pinecone or berry spray on the carpet and of course no cats are around when I find them but I do think all of them have had their paws in it! I've got lots of white lights on the tree but took the photos during early daylight so the lights aren't showing up that great, it looks much better at night all lit up.


I've got some homemade ornaments on the tree, felt cardinals and wood snowflakes I covered with paper and glittered.

Have you started your decorating yet?
I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season!
Annette ♥