Friday Finishes!

This week I was able to make two items and one is a freebie. The freebie is offered by Michelle Palmer on her facebook page, Michelle Palmer Artist. She offers one each year, and I love this new one. It was fun to do and can be done in primitive wools or bright wools.

The stocking is about 9" tall. I think it makes a nice gift that you can add some candy to, or some lip balm, etc. You can find the pattern at the link above. You can see a little shading on his head and tail, I used walnut ink but it faded as it dried, so I can add a little more.

My next piece is a design by Kathy Schmitz for her One Stitch Club. I decided to do it in Christmas colors,  on a tea towel,  perfect for a gift.

This week I was able to get in a beach day. Bill has his laser surgery and a late appointment the next day, so we got in a  few hours at the beach. I got  quite a few nice treasures, that large chunk is an old green piece and the larger rock would make a nice shape to do a nativity scene.

Do you see that smaller dark piece above the green and yellow one?

Well, I got a nice surprise when I put it to the light and saw that it was a piece of red glass with a gold decoration on it.  I almost threw it away, thinking it was a piece of a new bottle.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and not snow bound. It is colder here, but it will be sunny.

Christmas at my House!

This weekend we got out, mostly shopping and a drive, but it was way too cold to get out for walks. No new projects to show, a few I need to finish before Christmas and a few to start.

I tried taking photos of some of my Christmas decorations with the lights on, but hard to get, since light ruins the effect and dark, you cannot see anything. Not the best photos, but I thought I would share a few with you.

This year I went with more lights, I love having them, it warms up the house and has a calming effect. I also found some clear plastic trees that have changing lights, great to put with groupings. This is my nativity, we bought it a few years after we got married. It came from a discount store, plastic pieces that cost a dollar a piece, so I could only get so many, lol. Now I wish I had bought a lot more, it is hard to find this type and size, but I have found a few animals over the years.

A shelf my husband built, sits on the wall above the dining table. A nice place to decorate for the seasons. Some day we will tear down the wall with the odd cut out, to make room for an island. The cats tend to move things around, so most of my decorations are crooked. The 3 larger stitched pillows are gifts from my friends.

I found a new christmas piece in our local consignment. I love nativities and this church has the nativity, going around each side and you can put a battery candle to light it up. I do love a bit of folk art too.

Above my larger windows, I have garlands, angel lights and a banner that says Joyeux noel. This year I want to make a long banner quilt, depicting the nativity, to hang here.

A find this weekend was this cute snowman that holds photos. A fun piece that I can change out each year, with new photos.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my decorations. I wanted to put out more items and fun ones for when the kids visit. This winter we will be taking everything off the walls, time to repair all the damage and repaint.

I will leave you with one final photo, my son and grandson Alex, he is such a happy baby and I can't wait to start taking him on adventures with us.

More decorations and free designs

It was a rainy and windy day today, so i decided to clean and see what new decorations I could make with what I had.
I made some paper cuttings and finally hung them. I had an old wreath and I put that to cover up the big hole in the wall;)
I love the hanging ornaments and if you would like to make your own, you can now get the patterns free on papercutters.info
Look for the link to back street designs. They have the books scanned in and lots of other patterns too, even stitchery patterns.



On the kitchen side, I added some greenery and a poinsettia swag, along with my red candle holders. A nice simple gathering.



I decided not to put out my ceramic nativity, it is a larger set, and I am running out of space, lol. I always put my first nativity up, it is just plastic, but I love it. Sometimes I get lucky and find pieces for it, at the thrift stores. Someday, I would like to make a creche to go with it.

More Holiday Decorations

One of the things I am doing this year, is using what I have with little outside expenses for decorating.
I am actually enjoying making items and being creative with what I have. One of the things I have collected is red glass. It is perfect for holiday decorations. I do have to limit it though, to high places, away from kitties. I made this little arrangement with just a few new pieces of red glass and a candle and it really warms up the spot.



I loved making the trees so much, that I had to make a more elaborate one, lol. Today I made this one from an old pattern book I have. I love how it has little items on the branches. I haven't glued it together yet since I am thinking watercoloring the tree and objects, might make a beautiful colored piece. I will use my watercolor pencils and less water so the paper doesn't get too saturated. For the cuttings I have used laid paper. Check out your local library, they usually have paper crafts and they are great projects to do with the kids too.