Sure hope ...

... that everyone's Christmas was blessed and merry!

It is such a sweet time of the year ... the glisten and glitter of the decorations, reconnecting with family and friends, and the rekindling of spirit that comes with this holiday season!

And then there's always the hustle and bustle, the stress, the anxiety that also comes with this time of the year. That I won't miss!

Now its time to look forward to 2011 ... with new hope, new beginnings, new ideas, new resolutions. I sincerely hope that it brings only the best of everything to each and every one of you.

I've been busy making all kinds of projects ... many were for gifts, so I didn't post photos of them ... and now I realize that I didn't take photos of too many of them!

Now I'm working on samples using the AWESOME calligraphy stamps that Cheryl at Ten Seconds Studio created .... I LOVE them! They're big, beautiful and oh so versatile ... if you haven't ordered one yet ... you should.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy new year!

Maison de Joie .....

... another fabulous day with Carol Wingert.

I feel so blessed, lucky, privileged to have attended all of her heirloom events this year. Thank you Carol for the energy you put into each one of these events to keep them unique, pleasing and challenging.

I'm going to let the photos tell the story .... and be sure to keep an eye on Carol's blog for her eloquent description of the day!

We arrived at Annette's beautiful house at 8:30 for breakfast. Carol's daughter, Ashley, did an amazing job with the food ...... breakfast was fruit cups, quiches, pumpkin cake ... to mention only a few ....

We gathered our breakfast and made ourselves at home in the resort like backyard ...

After we were fed, it was time to settle in at our places ... this is what we started with ......

at the tables, nestled amongst all the fabulous Christmas decorations ....

Carol walked us through the latest heirloom book ... this one perfect for the holiday season, Christmas white, with some beautifully elegant designs, and a touch of sparkle ......

Carol and our hostesses .... Earlene and Annette .....

The whole lucky group ......

And then before we knew it, it was time for lunch .... more delicious food .....

enjoyed in the backyard ......

and the work continues ......

there were work stations inside and out ...... the weather was a perfect 75 degrees ..

Afternoon snacks ..... chocolate covered popcorn, cookies, hot peach cobbler .... again, to just mention a few ....

Prepared by our cute little chef ......

And the day draws to a close ..... we're happy, stuffed and full of Christmas spirit and joy ......

as we watch the sunset on our perfect day .....

A very special thanks to everyone that made this day possible.

So much to be thankful for .....

God keeps sending me angels .... i wasn't familiar with that song until I was watching a tv show called "The Defenders", and Jim Belushi started singing it at the end of the show. If you follow the show, it was a touching moment. I did a search on i-tunes and downloaded Kathy Mattea's version of it. Its one of my favorites now ... a song with a message ... check it out!

And speaking of angels .... I can't say that I collect angels, but I keep finding ones that speak to me .... this is my latest addition .... she flows, i love her wings and her spirit ......

On this wonderful day, I've got so many things to be thankful for ... I truly feel blessed ... I know the angels are watching over me!

God bless all of you today and everyday!

The canvas winners ...

... are being announced tomorrow! Thank each and every one of you for all the donations to this great cause! Be sure to have your ticket numbers available and watch here for the winning numbers to be announced tomorrow ... and be sure and watch the Taco Tuesday!

When things just fall together ....

... its a beautiful thing! An unexpected invitation brought five women together who quickly bonded, created awesome art, formed great friendships and had a very memorable long weekend.

Here's what happened .....

Cheryl from Ten Seconds Studio invited Terri, Roxanne and I to come enjoy a long weekend with her at her Bra Free Lake House. Carolyn from The Crafty Scrapper in Texas joined us too. Of course, we accepted .... upon arriving at the Lake House, the first thing we saw was the beautiful view from the deck overlooking the lake and inlet.

We then proceeded to turn the house into our art studio. Cheryl has done a grand job at setting this place up with lighting, supplies, table space and all the necessities a group needs for a great get together.

Roxanne volunteered to do all the food planning and cooking .... and she totally spoiled us. We ate like queens ....

This gorgeous creature came to visit every day, but this evening he came right up to us, stayed for awhile (he wanted dinner, I think) and then floated off into the sunset .....

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed many of our meals on the deck ....

enjoying the beautiful scenery ......

We were up early and stayed up very late (or is that early when you're referring to 2 am) creating together and inspiring each other. The slow burn technique that Terri and I learned from Julie Haymaker was a huge hit ... in fact, once we got everyone started with the woodburning it seemed like we were looking for any thing and any shape we could burn and color.

Here's a look at a few of the things we created with woodburning, paints, color pencils, paper and metal ......

And it was impossible to pick a favorite ......

Thank you Cheryl for a very special weekend.

If you're looking for a place to spend a bit of "girl" time, check out the Bra Free lake house or the country house ... I found it rather magical! You can get details on renting either location here

And now I'm off to put the finishing touches on a few of those projects ...

Enjoy your week!

Just a few days left ..

... to buy tickets for the breast cancer awareness fund raiser at Ten Seconds Studio.

Please help make this fundraiser a huge success .... and pick up a cool canvas along the way!

Go here to make your donation .... 20 tickets for $20 or 120 tickets for $100.

Go here to the October 4th posting to see the canvases. I had the opportunity to see them in person ... they rock!

You can make a difference!

Under the covers ...

... of the Carol Wingert Bountiful Harvest heirloom book.

Took a little bit of work and time to finish this project, but it was so worth it. Carol and her books are so full of techniques and inspiration!

First, the cover ... antique lace and appliques, the book is made of heavy canvas ..

Gold leafing, a beautiful print on old onion skin paper ....

A collage built on brown velvet ....

An interesting book making technique under "life" ...

Wax coated leaves and a spoon angel to guard the pocket behind her ....

Frogs and more appliques .....

More cool fabrics and trims ......

The last pages ... and a very fun trim on the edge of the back cover that Carol showed us how to make .....

Thanks again, Carol, for an awesome day and another beautiful heirloom book!

I'm off for a long, relaxing, funfilled girls only weekend in Texas!! Pictures next week!

Enjoy your week!!

Its ALL for the girls!!

Everywhere you look its coming up pink! Without a doubt, its Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Cheryl and Megan Darrow of Ten Seconds Studio is doing a fabulous fundraiser for the cause. I am thrilled to be a part of it, along with Terri Zwicker, Jennifer McGuire, Lisa Pace, Tim Holtz and numerous others.

There are ten amazing canvases that will be auctioned off ... and ALL proceeds go to saving the girls!

Click on the link above to be directed to the photos of the canvases and find out how you can help save the girls !!

Here's a photo of the corner of mine .... I failed to take a picture of the whole thing before it got shipped off .... is it lame if I attempt to win it back ..... because I think its one of the coolest things I've ever made .... and I can't duplicate it because of all the old rusty special pieces that went on it!! Hey, its all for the girls!!


Having two sisters (and numerous friends) that are survivors, this is a cause near and dear to my heart. Please help spread the word to make this fundraiser a huge success.

Click on over to Ten Seconds Studio and help save the girls!!

It's coming fast ...

... the holidays that is!

Just a quick card I made today .... Copics and Spicas ... you can't see all the glitter, but i can!

Spent the rest of the day working on my book from Carol Wingert's Bountiful Harvest. Its going to take some time to finish that project ... pictures for another day.

Today was ....

... one of those magical days when I got to spend all day playing in my room. I had plans of getting sooo many things done, but I realize that I work very slowly ... but I enjoy every moment along the way. When I'm working in my room, I'm playing with colors, and digging for embellishments, and staring and looking and searching ... but to me thats all part of the fun and creation.

I managed to get five cards done today .... and I enjoyed every minute!!

All the cards have images on them colored with Copics, lots of Spica glitter, and touches of black soot distress ink.

The design of one of the cards came from this layout that Terri made for me after her last visit to Phoenix. She's great at layers and layers and layers ... and as I was admiring this today .... while I was staring and looking and searching ..... I decided to borrow an idea from this ....

Can you see where the idea came from? Ha ... I didn't realize its almost the same colors until just now ....

Then I had these cute Halloween stamp sets to play with ..... I used the spider web embossing folder and highlighted the "webs" with silver and clear Spica pens ..... I'm not a big Halloween person, but these were pretty fun to make!

I used to have a cool brown distressed background on the side panels of my blog ... it disappeared .... I don't know where it went .... hmmmmm .... plain brown is still brown, so until I can figure out where it went ..... guess that will do!

Enjoy your week!

A Bountiful Harvest ....

... in so many ways! Thank you Carol Wingert!!

The lucky girls that attended this event have been looking forward to it for a few months now ... and it didn't disappoint at all!! Everything about this event was about fall ... fall colors, decor, food ... and even though we broke a high heat record yesterday at 109, you could still feel the chill of fall everywhere ... it was grand!

Patty has attended the past events held at Carols, and offered to host one at her house. We arrived at Patty's around 8:30 Saturday morning and were shown upstairs to the loft, which comfortably seated 16 working areas.

Carol had a table filled with these darling "cupcakes", seated on a beatiful china pedestal ... she had made and personalized one for each of us. So "sweet" ... yes!

At our place setting was our kit ... housed in this fabulous rusted chest ....

Carol started around 9 with the introduction of what the day would hold ....

Shared with us the amazing technique filled heirloom book that we would be creating .... might I just add that she is incredibly talented!!!

After the introduction we headed to the kitchen for our first feast ... breakfast!

After feeding on croisants and quiche and fruit and all the other delectables we headed back upstairs. Carol presented each of us with our "cupcake" and we introduced ourselves.

Lots of sewing going on .... we each had our turns on the numerous sewing machines ....

The first 4 hours flew by and it was time to head back to the kitchen for lunch .... this is our grand hostess, Patty. She and her husband did all the cooking and cleaning ... what a delight!!

Each meal was presented with a complete menu listing .... lunch was turkey and pork and sweet potatoes with all the special trimmings .... a truly bountiful fall menu. So delicious!!

Patty's home is so pretty ... groups gathered here and there during meals. It was so easy to feel right at home.

Several more hours flew by ... and it was time for dessert! I can't say this was the highlight of the day because there were SO many highlights, but these were a favorite!! Those white balls are balls made of red velvet cake dipped in the perfect icing, held on a stick in the bouquet .. no one wanted to pull them out of the pot, but we all wanted to eat them!

After dessert it was back to the loft and time to start winding down .... the perfect end to a perfect day!!

Carol, you're the best!! I can't thank you enough for the efforts and energy that you put into making these days so special for us lucky ladies that get to enjoy this with you!

I'm off to unpack my goodies from yesterday and fondle my book a bit!

Enjoy your week!