Time to say Goodbye

This year is ending on a very sad note for my husband and I.
Yesterday morning we had to say goodbye to our sweet William.
He was a 10 year old Short Hair Pointer that was the kindest dog ever.
This was more or less the icing on the cake for the hardest year ever.

My creativity has suffered. Health has suffered. You name it.
Now this.
I will miss him so much...many will.
He's in a better place, but I'll still miss our cuddles and dog kisses.

Now, it's time to try to remember the good times, and just hope that 2012 will bring better times for all.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to ALL,
God Bless,
Jennifer

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Merry Christmas !

Hello!

Not much crafting going on this week, but a whole lot of decorating!
Bringing out all our decorations is like seeing old friends.
It warms my heart to unwrap everything and reinvent my little displays. Reminds me of my days in retail !!
Our new addition this year is the greatest Chef Santa we got from a neighbor at their yard sale...he's really fabulous !
Have a great weekend, stay warm and be kind to each other!!

xoxo,
jen

Love setting up my santa collection !

The stockings are hung...

We got this santa at a yard sale...$20 ! Score!!

Oliver and William watching me decorate...

Just out of the blue... my new Alice ornament from my sister-in-law!

More new stuff!

Well, in between getting run over by ill-mannered people in the grocery store I'm still working hard to stock my Etsy shop.
Here are the new additions!

I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving...this has been a fast year!
Wow!
Have a great weekend!

xoxo,
jen

Hmm...much cuter in person. The clip is covered with mica glitter!

Love a little bling!

Just finished !!

I'm back!

I'm back ...sometimes life gets in the way of my artsy ways.
But that's ok, really makes me appreciate the time I spend in my little studio!

I've started to work on some holiday items for my Etsy shop, so I thought I'd share.
Hope all is well out there in blog-land!

xoxoxo,
jen

Just a little peek at my vintage embellished stocking

First Santa of the Season

My little faux snowballs

Happy Halloween!

This is the fastest year! I can't believe it's Halloween already!
Saturday we went to a great Halloween party...I LOVE dressing up!
These were really fun costumes, and comfortable!

Well, since it'll be Christmas any minute now I guess I'd better get back to work! LoL !!

xoxo,
jen

Dang!

Got your costume yet ??

Inspiration

My sister -in-law puts together the best gifts! This year she got me the most wonderful Alice book full of inspiration!
If that wasn't enough, I also received the sweetest pincushion ever and a teeny ceramic Alice!
I'm thrilled!
With every turn of the page, ideas flowed! Not to copy what I see, but the ideas that came as a result. Isn't that what creativity is all about?
When I feel inspired, I feel at peace...there's nothing better than that!

xo,
jen

I Love This!

And There's More!

I'm always on the hunt for the perfect "little black dress"
This got me thinking...we ladies are all so different! And so are our ideas of that black dress.
So, as the artsy girl I am here are the two totally different styles of little black dress in the form of a lavender filled sachet!

I read The Help this summer. Great book! I love the fashions from the 50's and 60's. This was my inspiration for sachet # 1.

The second is a little bit Madonna , heavy metal and lace and chains.
Not everything needs to be girly!!!

xoxo,
jen

The Perfect Little Black Dress

Lavender Goes Hard Rock !

Keeping my word!

I said I'd be showing a couple more things...here they are! In my early crafty-smafty days I did dolls. Just dolls. I've since moved on to a lot more variety mainly because these days it's nice to have things available that have a purpose. More useful. Doesn't mean I don't still love doll making. I've really missed it...so here is my folksy Witch. Faces are always a challenge. I wanted her to have pretty eyes (not evil) and a semi-evil mouth. I'm very happy how it all turned out. The rooster feathers I used for hair are from Bass Pro Shop ! Great selection of feathers and stuff there! And in addition to the witchy-poo I stitched another owl to add to my little owl family. Filled this one with lavender!

Hope all is well out there in Blog-landia!

xo,
jen

So sweet and filled with lavender!

My Folk Art Witch!

Her hair is rooster feathers, and the net on her hat is vintage!

Just a sneak peek of some of my Fall items...more to come!

Scarry Kitty !!!

Glad he doesn't realize is 100 degees outside!

A Ruby Slipper pincushion ! Now available in my Etsy shop !

A stitching fool...

I've been stitching a lot lately...keeps my mine from wandering off about all the creepy bad stuff going on in the world! I can just totally get lost in what I'm doing.Cheaper than therapy!
After the cutesy owls were done, I decided a change of pace was in order! This was a kick in the pants! Her "top" is solid French knots and the stockings are black net ! I about pulled my hair out trying to figure out how to achieve this...LOL!!!
To all my blog buddies affected by Irene please try to stay safe...and dry!!
Prayers to you all !!

xoxo,
jen

Well, I guess you could call me diverse!

Just finished these little vintage owl babies!

The big reveal...

As I mentioned a while ago...there have been some top secret stitching going on around here!
Finally last night I was able to give this quilt I've been working on to my dear friends precious little new baby girl!!
I did my own spin from a pattern that I purchased called Tag Sale.
I'm really rusty, but managed to figure it all out. The craft room was a sea of pastel fabrics, red vines and thread...LOTS of thread!

xoxo,
jen

ps
My official title is Fairy Godmother !!!! yea!!!

Whew !! I love how girly this turned out !

I quilted it myself with wavy lines...

I also made this little door hanger !

Oliver and his diploma !! We start level 2 in September...

Oliver turned one on Monday ! The baby is growing up !

presents !!!!

Good times.

I've been really busy in the craft room lately, just can't share. I'm working on a present for a dear friend and it needs to be kept under wraps for the time being! We have had a fun couple of days. Thursday we went to Toby Keiths concert. It was fantastic! Her loves our country and isn't afraid to show it! He brought up a soldier on stage for a couple of songs. The place went wild! Next day we relaxed on the lake...then my husbands band played at a fundraiser on Saturday. It was so nice to be out enjoying friends company and the great weather. I feel very fortunate...

xo,
jen

Toby Keith concert Thursday night...fabulous!

Oliver and I on Folsom lake Friday afternoon. Excuse my messy hair !!

Saturday at the American River

My husbands band...The Republicrats ...he's the big guy wearing the hat !

Disney days !!

Hello!
Just got back from a little road trip down to Disneyland! Always my favorite place to be!! They are in the midst of a huge renovation of California Adventure! It's going to be amazing.
I got to be with my family , so my heart is still smiling!

Here are a few pictures of our grand adventure!

enjoy!

jen

At The Cove Bar in California Adventure

This is the new retro Monorail Pool slide at the Disney Hotel...yes, I went on it !!

Here's a peek of the new cars Land opening up next year!! Can't wait!

A castle picture is a must !!

The Dollar Store Queen

Got to admit it...love the dollar store! Even event planners on
on tv are promoting it! Here is the bridal shower gift I wrapped today...everything was from the Dollar store!! I used the cellophane trick from a really old Martha Stewart magazine.I think it turned out pretty cute!

Have a great weekend!

xo,
jen

Crash !!!

Last week while I was enjoying a pretty evening with my husband by the pool...Crash!!! After a lot of running around looking and freaking out it seems my storage closet in the craft room had enough! All my carefully stored boxes and baskets filled with buttons, fabric and everything else are now everywhere! It looks like something from one of those shows about "hoarders"! I'm slowly piecing everything back together...but in small doses! Maybe in the long run I can come up a way better situation?! Well folks...back to the mess!!

jen

Happy Birthday America !!

A day on the lake

Last weekend we took Oliver out for his first boat ride...fingers were crossed it would go ok!!
You never know with puppys...we couldn't be more thrilled! He did great!!!
I can't wait for many more days like this one!!
Have I done any significant crafting lately? Well...not really!
Guess I better get started on something before I forget how!

xoxo,
jen

Off we go!

Our little First Mate

Spoiled....oh yea!!!