Chance to Win a Scrapbook Kit

Click here for a chance to win a Doodlebug Design scrapbook kit. If you mention it on your blog, you will get an extra chance.

PS. Happy Birthday Honey!

To My Readers

Merry Christmas!

Sunday Silliness

moar funny pictures

Christmas Paperwhites

I love to force some bulbs around this time of year. Paper whites are so easy to do and they grow and bloom very quickly.

Here's how: find a shallow dish and fill with decorative rocks. (You can find both in the craft store's floral section.) Set the paper white bulbs on top of the rocks and fill the dish with water until it is just touching the bottoms of the bulbs. Within a few days you will see roots growing out of the bulbs. (Make sure to keep the water level at the bottom of the bulbs.) The shoots will grow and blooms will form in about 3 weeks. You cannot reuse the bulbs because forcing them uses up nutrients that cannot be replaced.

You'll love having flowers blooming in your house in the middle of winter!

Photo Frame and Quilt Block

I made this photo frame by stamping with white pigment ink on the front of the glass panel on this cute little clipboard. The stamps are from A Sparkles © Bright and Happy Holiday from Clear Artistic Stamps.



You can simply slide a photo behind the glass and it will have the blue paper in the background and the snowman in the foreground.

And now, drum roll please.....

I actually finished my block of the month blocks for 2009! And it's still 2009! Amazing, isn't it?


This block is called Ranger's Pride from www.quilterscache.com. This was an easy pattern that creates a secondary pinwheel when all the blocks are pieced together. I need to remember this one for future use.

Have a great Friday! One week to Christmas!

Gingerbread House!

The girls put together their gingerbread house last night:



If you look closely, you will notice that we used the old Austrian tradition of holding up a falling roof with candy bars and taffy.


And if you look very closely, you'll see the drips of gorilla glue that Daddy added after the girls went to bed.



see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Stamped Pencil Holder

I used the iris stamp from A Dreamer's Moment to decorate this simple pencil cup. I colored the image with pencils and Shimmerz paint, then added a little Diamond Dust for sparkle. Whadja think?

Sunday Silliness

moar funny pictures

Don't worry kitty, everyone else in my house feels the same way about it.

Sorry Cardmakers....

I can hear the collective groooooan of my card making followers who are saying, "What, more quilting???" Sorry, but I've been on a sewing kick lately and I'm almost caught up on my block of the month quilt.

Here is the Sept. block (Sarah's Choice):


Here is the October block (Birdhouses):



Here is the November block (Missouri Star):


All patterns are from www.quilterscache.com. I only have one block left before I can put the whole thing together.

It's a cold day here, but sunny. Good day to get some housework done and then maybe work on some Christmas crafts. Have a good Saturday!

Candle Mat

This candle mat will be a Christmas present for a gift exchange that I am participating in this year. I made it from a kit that I bought the last time I was at Pohlar's. It's made with insulated batting to protect the table from the heat of the candle. It's quilt-as-you-go, which saves so much time.

It's really cold here this morning--we had to really bundle up for the bus stop. Have a great Thursday!

Blog Hop Winner

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Clear Artistic Stamps Ornament Blog Hop. The winner is Connie Melancon.

And a special thanks to all who left comments here on my blog. I just loved reading all of them.

Waaaay Behind

I'm pretty far behind on my Block of the Month quilt. This is the block that I should have made in August. It's called Four Patch Fox and Geese and it's found on www.quilterscache.com. Now I need to make the blocks for September through December to get caught up. GAK! After that I will figure out how to put them together.

Sunday Silliness

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I'm Sewing Again

I made this quilt block for our block of the month in my quilting group. It's called Heaven's A Blaze, and can be found at www.quilterscache.com. It's completely paper-pieced.

On Thursday night, I helped my daughter's Brownie troop leader teach the girls to use a sewing machine. Eight little girls using a sewing machine for the first time! They were so excited. Here's to passing a love of sewing onto the next generation!

BTW, the girls are making a crazy quilt. Pictures will come later when it is finished!

Christmas Ornament Blog Hop

Welcome to the second

Clear Artistic Stamps Blog Hop!

I hope you are enjoying your little tour of ornaments that the design team has prepared for you!

Here are my ornaments:



They are based upon the Star Box tutorial at Splitcoast. I tweaked it a bit by leaving the ends open and scaling down to have some cute little ornaments.



These are really easy to make, and even the kids could be involved in making some of these.

I used Shimmer card stock in Silver Fox and Diamond Dust from the Midnight Moonlight Collection. Here is a close up where you can see the shimmery silver:


Stamps are from Sparkles © Bright and Happy Holiday and Crimson Christmas.


Leave a comment on this and/or any other designer blog in this hop and you get entered for a chance of winning a grand prize of 9 stamp sets and 10 shimmerz paints. One entry per blog, but for each comment your name will go into the drawing. Here's the fantastic prize:


The winner will be announced on Wednesday, December 9th at the Cottage Studio.

Now hop on over to Wendi's Blog to see what she has prepared for you :)

Thanks for stopping by--and don't forget to leave a comment!