Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!

Here's Tilda bringing in the New Year.

I just had to stop what I was doing and colour up this image. I thought it was very appropriate for the occasion. I am only half an hour away from midnight on this New Year's Eve. Yes, I am spending a quite evening at home...LOL.

I would like first to thank each and everyone of you who visited my blog--now and in the past...even if only once, hee hee. I've had so much fun sharing my work with you--it's been a blast. Hope to continue doing so--I'm planning on it...LOL.

Happy New Year to you all! Hope 2011 will be a fabulous one. Be happy! Be healthy!

xoxo


SNS #63 brings you - your Christmas story (and giftcard winner!)




Welcome to Saturday Nite Special #63, the Happy New Year / Christmas Story edition!

If you're new here, join in! There are three categories to link to. Home Decor as well as Crafts, Sewing, Recipes, plus the 3rd themed link up. Check below for this weekend's theme.

Party starts Fri night and ends Sunday 11pm pacific, so you have all weekend to join!

I LOVE to highlight inspiring posts during the event on the sidebar, so make sure you check in several times over the weekend. You may be next. :)

~ your Christmas story ~


Two dead trees in one year. BEAT THAT ONE. :)


And then there was the one about the big mall shopping fiasco. Getting lost in a mall of chaos... good grief....

But did I let it get to me? Far from it. You can read all about my own 2010 story

 HERE

Link up your own Christmas stories in this weekend's 3rd themed linkup! 

What did you do? What did you get?!? I can't wait to hear aaaaall about it!




Winner of the giftcard...

Congrats nan!

No email in your profile so please email me with your shipping address and I'll get your card to you asap!

signmakergirl@hotmail.com

And what a sweet story nan shared! Did you read all the incredible Christmas memory comments in that post? Oh my gosh. Spend some time HERE when you can. You'll love it.


~ Upcoming  Themes ~

Jan 7 - cool storage solutions!

I have a funny feeling we're all about to start on a big cleaning frenzy. So why not share some of the creative and pretty storage solutions you come up with?



Be sure to check the themed linkups master list to add your newest creations anytime.

List HERE.
~ SNS blah blah linkup rules ~

1. Please link up your intended post, NOT your blog homepage url. (post, then click the title of your post, then cut and paste that url) If your post has been deleted, please try again.

 2. Please put a link in your post (button or text) that leads back to the party so others can see what's up! (see BUTTONS label under main blog header)

 3. This party is geared for DIY type projects we can all attempt to make ourselves. Items for sale may be linked up IF your entry is posted on your blog and in tutorial style.

4. For Home Decor and Crafts, Sewing, Cooking, please link projects up that are new to SNS and/or within 1 month old.  This helps keep content fresh!

The 3rd weekly themed link may have older posts and not brand new to SNS and will remain open for your new additions at any time. Click HERE for the main list.

If you can't decide which category to enter yours in, please just pick ONE and go with it. It's all good!

Happy New Year, friends!







More Cardinals



I want to wish you a Happy New Year.  Do you have big celebration plans for tonight?  I have been busy today working on some design work.   I did not have time to create a new card for today's post, so I am posting another card previously made for Heartfelt Creations

This is a 5x7 inch card. The cardinal border was stamped using black Memento ink and colored using colored pencils and oms. It was cut out with a Nestabilities “Sm Deckled Mega Rectangles” die then mounted onto a piece of black card stock. The background designer paper is from the DCWV “Christmas Combo” stack. The greeting was stamped and cut out with one of the new JustRite tag Nestabilities. It was attached with glue dots and two small pearls added. To complete the card, a double, burgundy, silk bow was added.

Heartfelt Creations products used:  HCPC 3348 Cardinal Pine Cone Border PreCut set; HCD 706 Cardinal Family Diecuts; HCPC 3353 Cardinal Family PreCut Set; HCPC 3351 Cardinal With Holly Berries PreCut set

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend.

A Christmas like no other (2010 story)


Well now, that was quite a Christmas!


Going through two dead trees in one year... beat that! :)

 No, wait. How about a shopping trip like no other?  Realizing sticking to simple pleasures ARE in vogue. For me anyway. Huh...


Decorating

The season sure felt like it came early. TOO early. I wasn't ready, which I shared HERE. However, after getting into the swing of things, I realized I felt better about it.

 

Putting out many mom memory kind of pieces proved to be just the right touch.  It honestly helped to keep me on the right track. 'Don't be sad, be glad!' And I was.

My own full Christmas decor reveal is HERE.

~ Christmas Eve ~

Church Service

Check! This one's a must. We always take in the Christmas Eve service. With the stage lit only with gorgeous trees in bright white lights, it was yet another magical experience that had you riveted on your feet bellowing out the rockish tunes that I favor.

Christmas eve at my mom's

Christmas Eve, we gathered at my mom's empty house. By the time we arrived, everyone was sitting in the kitchen with their lawn chairs in a circle waiting for...

this little number. :) 

Our family has never done stockings, but rather plates. So in true mom and dad tradition, I set bright white plates around the base of the tree we brought and we filled them up with nuts, candy and fruit.




I created simple name tags from paper bags and some of my mom's Christmas jewelry. We had tons of food strewn all over the counters just like mom would have done. And guess what? We forgot to feel sad. :)

Christmas Day


This shot was taken at midnight, complete with our traditional baking soda snowy footprints.

Come Christmas morn, "Mom! Why did you do that? He isn't real you know."

The footprints will be there whether he's real or not or my son is living at home or not. It isn't just about Santa. It's about believing in things we can't see.

Friends and family

My son and I were not alone on Christmas day. Not by a long shot. 
For lunch, we were invited to an amazing full spread to our close friends' place. Wonderful food, some board game playing and friendly banter had us giggling until dinnertime.

Then we head to my sister's for another feast. And my 'seester' packed us such a large goodie bag I was eating lavish dinners for days! She's such a good 'mom.'  :)


Downtime

My son then went to his other parent's place for a few days, leaving me to create decorating havoc once again. I took down Christmas early due to the dead tree scenario and crashed and burned my blog office, which I'll share with you next week.  No worries... I fixed it again and made it even better. :) (how cool is that license plate crate?!?)

My son is home now and over the next two days we'll be playing board games and doing things we love to do to finish this year off right!

Presents!

Magical. Not only did my son open and love his gifts, my neighbor was VERY good to me. She made sure this sole parent single mom had something to open. A robe, chocolates, bath set, homemade ornaments, a coffee gift card, dishcloth, notepad... etc etc...  and a whole lotta love.

 Now, how does a sole parent shop with a son that's always with her anyway? And how does he get something for me?

 Easy! We shop together. We show each other a bunch of things we like then go our separate ways. At check out, one goes before the other, requesting that the cashier bag the goods separately. It worked out fabulous and we both got what we wanted. :) 


 Tell me these measuring cups and spoons aren't the cutest thing evah! I can READ them without my glasses too...

Generosity from blogland


To my complete and utter surprise, I also had three Christmas angels from blogland come forward. In the form of donations.

One was from non blogger but avid reader.  She read a post that hit her right when she needed it.


One was from an anonymous blogging friend. Her family had saved up all their change for an entire year into a special jar, in which they do every year. Then they donate it to someone they feel can use it, adding a request I do the same for next year. The unbelievable idea also came with a book which I haven't finished yet. Why us? She read my last year's Christmas story of going without and decided then that we'd be the recipients of their jar this Christmas.


The 3rd was from a blogging decorator. She read a post that touched her. There were many similarities to our stories and she knew what it was like going without. So she made sure we didn't this year.


Putting the non shiny aspects of my life out there for all to read isn't the easiest thing to do. But I have to say, the amount of emails and gratitude I receive from them far bypasses any difficulty. Helping others WILL come back to you in some form, even in the most unexpected of ways!

Thank-you dear friends. The funds are special and will be spent in such a way where I'll be able to give back to many many MANY of you. Count on it.



Giving comes in many forms.

And I wish to thank all of you in blogland. You don't need to make a donation to make my days special. YOU are there encouraging me every time I post. I wouldn't get a fraction of the amount done if I didn't show and tell it to all to you. 

Know what? I have every right and reason to pout and feel massive loss right now. Losing my mom in March did not come without difficulty. But choosing a good direction FEELS better. And right. So, in my mom's honor, I'm choosing to get up, shake off the sadness, and get motivated in directions I've yet to touch on.

I hope you choose a similar direction. And if you don't have it in you to do this on your own, keep reading here. I'll make sure I help you along your way. That's what this blog is all about.

"Mom, I sure hope you're watching. Because there's no stopping me. Thank-YOU for encouraging me and letting me trash and redecorate your own place every time we came for a visit. I'm going to make you proud. :) And I'm going to help others along the way. When I see you one day soon, I'll tell you all about it just like we use to do.  xo"

Thank-you all from the bottom of my heart for help making 2010 one of the most incredible Christmas seasons to date!

Let's rock 2011 like no other. Are you in?!?





Got your own Christmas 2010 story all put together yet? Share it with us this weekend on SNS' 3rd themed linkup! See ya then. :)

Did any one thing make this season special for you? I'd love to hear about it. :)

Here's To A Great 2011!

Here's to a wonderful evening of celebrating! What do you have planned for the night?


We are taking a low key approach, heading down the street to enjoy an "East Coast New Years Eve" with several families and all the kids. We'll be ringing in 2011 three hours early, to accommodate the younger kids schedules! I am so appreciative of having many wonderful friends in my neighborhood...and I am also surprised and delighted by all the friends that come by to visit me at this blog each week. Thank you a million times over! Do you know that it would not be one ounce of fun to write this blog without you? And all the projects I take on would not be nearly as satisfying to tackle, not having you to share them with. So thank you for spending a bit of your busy day to check in. I absolutely, completely, appreciate it.

Here's to a great 2011 and all that is in store!
Happy New Year...Janell

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Winter Birthday

Hello!

I was finding it very hard to get back into things (by that I mean cardmaking...LOL)--I just wanted to laze around a bit more. But I have upcoming birthdays to make cards for, so back to the craft room...

I have birthday cards to make for my twin nieces...yikes...2 cards at once!!! Well okay, one at a time, but two in a row and no pause in between...LOL. My nieces are passionate about snowboarding, so I wanted to show their interest in this sport on their cards. I'm going to have fun these cards. By fun, I mean because there is no snowboarding Tilda in the Magnolia collections, I'm going to have to improvise...hee hee...I just love doing this.

I have just finished this project. What do you think? You think my niece will like this?

I've made this into an easel card (my favorite type of card) and mounted it on a gift box.

The card is 6" x 6" (my usual size), so that's the size of the box. I made this into a one-drawer-only box that's 1 3/8" high, so that I can fill it with those Ferrero Rocher and Rondnoir (that's the dark one--yum yum) chocolates that the girls love so much. I can fit 16 pieces of them in the box.


This adorable Magnolia image is Tilda with Gift and she is from the So Jolly & Under the Mistletoe Collection 2009. Magnolia stamps are available from Magnolia-licious and if the item is not in stock, you can ask Diana to order it in for you.

Normally, this Tilda is holding a wrapped gift box, but of course I've replaced it with a snowboard. I got the shape from the internet. I drew it out on a piece of white paper, stamped some swirls and snowflakes on them, covered the entire thing with double-sided scor-tape, sprinkled cool-highlight glitter and then cut out the snowboard shape with a scissor.


I am using this project into the following challenges:

All That Scraps Magnolia Challenge #5 - Winter where you live.
Bunny Zoe's Craft Challenge 6 - Sparkle and Shine.
Magnolia Down Under Challenge # 77 - A gift for you.
Totally Tilda Challenge #12 - Easel card with Tilda.
Passion for Promarkers Week 80 Mega Christmas Challenge - Anything goes.
Paper Sundaes Challenge # 49 - Cut it out!
Top Tip Tuesday Challenge #15 - Get embellishing!
Creative Card Crew - Birthday.
Crafts and Me Challenge #20 - Anything goes.
7 Kids College Fund Challenge #11 - Anything goes.
Crafty Catz Challenge 63 - Your choice (Challenge 57 - spots and stripes).
Allsorts Week 83 - Free and easy, anything goes.
ABC DT Challenge - Baby It's Cold Outside Challenge

This is the look of the inside of the card. That striped DP is light enough that I can write my personal birthday wishes right on it.


Okay I'm done with this one and now back to the drawing board and start on the 2nd card!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to drop by. I appreciate your visit. Hope you're all enjoying this holiday season.


Stamps: Tilda with Gift from Magnolia's So Jolly & Under the Mistletoe Collection 2009, PSX F-1550 Evergreen forest.

DP's: from Hot Off the Press Papar Pizzazz Jackie's Vintage Paper Pad.

Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Ten and Shapeabilities 2010 Snowflake Pendant, EK Success snowflake punches, Martha Stewart double edge punch snowflake trim.

Misc.: Tim Holtz distress ink pad Dusty Concord, Recollections pearls, Vintage Attic Treasures pearls, Jewel Ritz micro-fine glitter cool highlights and lavender on the snowflakes, Martha Stewart crystal fine glitter on the snowboard, wooden button plugs that I purchased at either Michaels or Lee Valley Tools--available at hardware stores too I think.

Favorite Projects of 2010~

Honestly, I can't believe that 2011 is just a couple of days away. The last few months of this year seemed to crawl by as the hubby recuperated from his car accident and I wondered if life would ever get back to normal. But as things started to gain some semblance of normalcy, this year sped up and now it's virtually sprinting to the finish line.

As I looked back over 2010 at The Shabby Nest, there were a few projects that really jumped out as my favorites, and I wanted to share them all with you. (Just click on the project's title if you'd like to learn more about it.)

Pillow tutorials...

The Pretty Pleated Pillow



The Snowblossom Pillow



Furniture redo's...

The Rehabbed Console



The Princess' Wrought Iron bed



Miscellaneous...

DIY Smocked Curtains




PB Knock-off Chalkboard



Room Redo's...

The Sock Monkey Bedroom



Whew! What a list! Linking up to Rhoda's Top Projects of 2010 Party!

I'm sooooo looking forward to 2011 and all the projects it has to bring! I hope you'll all join me for the ride.

xoxo
Wendy

Seattle Road Trip: Cool Swims, Pike Place Market & The Picasso Exhibit


Early this week we took a quick trip up the road to Seattle to see friends, the Picasso Exhibit, sites and to enjoy some pool time.

Wait, it's December. This fact stopped me, but not the kids.


A pool deck with city atmosphere and the soothing sounds of a passing...train?!




Okay, enough of that. Get in the water to warm up, please!





Of course, is a visit to Seattle complete without a trip to the first Starbucks...



...or Le Panier's for some delicious pastries?



Then across the street to the Market.






I wish this spot was closer to home, what an unbelievable selection of seafood.





Heading up the hill to Daiso Japan, Isabella gets her hands on the camera.



A favorite stop! The "Japanese dollar store" with endless fun finds.




I made sure to pick up a pack of these for my next stenciling project.
The price was right.





Next, a bit of culture. Visiting SAM and the Picasso exhibit made me miss Chicago and all the time spent at the Art Institute...a trip to that city this summer would certainly be a treat.



Finally, a great bite before hitting the road. Beecher's makes the Best tomato soup and grilled panini sandwiches...ever.



I hope you enjoyed this tour of a brief visit to the great city of Seattle!