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Welcome! This is the place where I share my artsy and crafty projects. I am an evolving artist these days ... finding myself enjoying less of the cards and mini albums that I have made for years, and turning to art journaling and more artistic endeavors. I have always enjoyed some craft or other, and some of my earliest memories of my mother helping me make paper dolls and other crafts. I am now in my 60's and finding myself more passionately enjoying creating beautiful things and learning new skills and techniques and products.

While you are here I hope you will find inspiration and ideas for making your own projects, however any images or projects you find here are my personal property and should not be used for your own monetary gain, or for contests or challenges. Thank You!

12/30/2008

A Blogging Award from Rleen!

How neat is this, I got a comment from my scrapping friend, Rleen! While we've never met in person, we have been entering card making challenges on scrapbook.com for some months now. She joined us in our Christmas card exchange, and along with my card she included a gorgeous Hawaii calendar for 2009!

Anyway, she's given me this award . . .

And the rules dictate I must give it to five others. You must also link to the one you got it from (see above), and also to the ones you give it to and let them know. And there is more . . . you have to write down five things you are addicted to! So here are mine:

1 - my hubby, seriously he's a sweetie, (side note - 24 years ago today we got engaged!)

2 - Nestles white chocolate chips. Really great munching and soooo addictive!

3 - Blogging and blog hopping. Another addictive hobby!

4 - Crafting . . . . . period.

5 - My trikke. Too much fun!

So, who will I give this award to? It's really a hard decision! But there are so many, that I'm giving it to all of you! If you see your blog listed in my links, then this award goes to YOU!

Blessings Everyone!!! Becky

A Break, and Breaking Away!!!

Hi everyone! Thanks for being patient while I took a little break for Christmas!

I sure hope you had a wonderful Christmas, full of what means most to you! We certainly did! Little did we know, hubby and I, that when we declared this to be a 'drama free Christmas', that we could actually pull it off - but we did! It's been wonderful time of peace and quiet, joy and blessings, and such an enjoyable time together! We saw my parents on Christmas day for a nice visit, and had a nice meal out with hubby's sister at a restaurant half way between our homes. The rest of the time we were at OUR home, enjoying what mattered most, and celebratng Jesus birth quietly and in a relaxed pace.

In recent years (oh, last 10 or so) it's been our tradition on Christmas Eve night to go to Buckhead, a north Atlanta community to a restaurant called Dante's Down the Hatch for a nice relaxing meal of fondue and soft, relaxing jazz. This year I decided we would stay home, and have my own replica of that meal - sans the live jazz trio, lol! It's a 40+ mile trip down, then 40+ miles back, not to mention the price of the meal that just isn't in our budget these days! So, I ran an extension cord under the sofa, under the coffee table (a large storage chest type table) and covered the cord with a rug. I put a Christmas tablecloth on the table, set out Christmas dishes and a candle, and cushions on the floor. Then we got a fire going in the fireplace just a mere 5 feet away. The hot oil fondue pot was plugged in, and our plates of prepped meats and veggies, little bowls of dipping sauces, and basket of bread and great Plugra butter set at ready. Add a glass of our favorite wine, and we were ready to roll. We found a fun movie on TV and spent the next almost 2 hours eating an enjoying a great meal - just the two of us!

Christmas morning we got up a little later than usual, I put the turkey in the oven and then we opened our gifts. Hubby did a great job this year - again! I am blessed to have a husband who truly puts himself into getting me gifts I want, along with a surprise or two. This year was no different, and I got a wide variety of goodies:

a pair of flannel pj's - my request!
a black sweatshirt hoodie
a pair of white gold hoop earrings
a new fangled dominoes game called 'bendominoes'
a 365 day calendar with a different pic of Doxies for each day
a string of cultured fresh water pearls - GORGEOUS, and such a surprise!


(please forgive the jammies, the un-combed hair, etc! Bailey wanted my pearls, lol!)

a new task chair for my office - that's what was in the huge box that had me stumped!
a super pair of binoculars for birding and taking out in the canoe, etc.
a $50 gift card to my favorite LSS - Susan (at EMI), here I come!!!!
(once again, the girls wanted in on the action! The gift card was packed tightly in this wine box!)

and an iPod Nano and a stereo clock/radio docking station, which I put on my work table in the office/studio


Oh, and let's not forget the stocking stuffed with goodies from the Le Gourmet Chef outlet!

Like I said, he puts a lot of thought and effort into buying my Christmas, and I love him more for it! We don't do a lot at birthdays or anniversary, but at Christmas we celebrate in a special, loving way.

Okay, in my title I said '...and breaking away', and that's kind of what I'm doing! For the last couple of years I've concentrated almost solely on making cards, and while I LOVE making cards, and will continue to do so, probably forever, I've done some thinking about my crafting during this little break, and I've found I miss some of the other types of crafting that I love as well. So, while I'll still be making cards, I'm now working on a series of other crafts that I hope to sell both on Etsy and locally in shops and markets. Among my current projects (in addition to cards) are pincushions, lavender sachets, gift tags and bookmarks, felt brooches and ornaments, and tin can pockets. I've just started, but I've already got about a dozen pincushions and another dozen felt pins/brooches finished, and have probably 30 gift tags ready all but putting ribbon hangers on them. On many of the pincushions and sachets I am using real vintage fabrics - chicken feed sacks from my own personal stash, and a part of my history!

When I was very small we had a chicken house which my mother took care of while my dad was out driving a truck for a living. In March, 1958 the chicken house was hit by lightning and burned to the ground. My mother was 8 months pregnant with my little brother, and she and I lay on the bed in the back bedroom and watched the forestry service's crew trying to put out and contain the fire. What should have been a scary time for a not quite 6 year old, it actually is a special memory for me! It wasn't until many years later that I found out that my Mama had a huge stash - a couple of large garbage bags full - of feed sacks she had lovingly removed the stitches from, washed, dried, ironed, folded and put away. Over the years I had many clothes from that fabric, my favorite was a dress of blue and white gingham, and I have a small piece of that I'm using today to make treasures to sell. Here are some pics of a few of the latest projects:


Mini Pin Cushions - all vintage fabrics, but not embellies.


The fabric used for this lavender sachet is from an old pair of curtains that hung in my house as a child - the ric-rack, lovingly sewn on by my mother, is original. I added the buttons.



Gift Tags


So, that's what I'm up to these days! I'll still be making cards and entering challenges, but I'm also happily 'diversifying'. I can't wait to see how this venture turns out! If you see something in the 4 pics above that you are interested in, e-mail me and I'll list it on Etsy for you, otherwise it'll be after Jan. 7th before I list anything.

One last note - 24 years ago today my sweet hubby called me over to the sofa, patted his lap for me to sit down there, and said "I think it's time we went and picked out our rings." My romantic proposal, and the happiest day of my life up to that point! We were married the following July 20th, and I'm loving him more each day! How blessed am I???

Blessings friends! Have a wonderful last couple of days of 2008! Becky

12/22/2008

My Christmas Gift To You

Luke 1:26-45 and 2:1-20

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is what I choose to believe, and this is what Christmas means to me! A child was born, so He could die on a cross, to free me of my sins, so that when this body, this shell I live in now dies, I'll be able to live forever with Him in heaven. With this belief, this KNOWING deep in my heart, comes a peace you will never find anywhere else. If you don't have this peace, find a local house of worship and tell them you need to know Jesus!
I won't be around much until after Christmas, so this is my prayer for you:
Father, thank You for your Son, that He died to forgive us our sins, and give us the peace and joy that come from knowing Him. I ask you to bless the person reading this, that they may know this peace and joy as well. Touch their heart, Father, and touch their life with Your loving mercy and grace. I pray these things in Jesus name, Amen
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

12/18/2008

Blog Candy at Chez Kath!!!

Okay, it's time to be honest here. I just love Kath's blog! It's one of the first ones I read each day, and she never fails to make me laugh, which is a good thing! Anyway, Kath is having a 5 week ongoing blog candy festival, and it is on NOW! She's giving away a bunch of great Fiskars goodies this week, so hurry on over there and get in on the action! Blessings friends! Becky

12/13/2008

A New Day

Shhhhhh! Don't upset your family with your screams of "She's alive, she's alive!". Yes, I'm still here, and I'm sorry it's been over a week since I posted. It's just, well, I haven't done much - okay ANY - crafting lately! There's just too much to do right now!

I finally got our big tree in the living room decorated, the mantle as well (my new holiday header - above - is our treasured nativity set, bought our first Christmas together), and I got the Christmas dishes in the china cabinet . . .




. . . and filled my grandmother's punch bowl with red, green, blue, silver and gold glass balls and put it in there as well.


A few of my favorite ornaments above - please forgive the really BAD collage - it's my first, and I'm proud of it, but it IS kind of hard to see!.

I got the 4' tree in the kitchen decorated (see pic below), all the gingerbread man decor on the shelves and even got the Christmas toppers on the windows. I made those last year, and I must admit they are adorable! In the process, though, of putting them up, I found a major leak around the window in the kitchen, so we'll be having someone in to check that out soon!


The little Santa Claus is actually electric, and you plug the tree lights into a plug on him, and he is voice activated to turn the lights on and off at your request. I'll try to do a video of that one day soon!

The window toppers - made very easily last year. The fabric was $1.00 a yard, and I already had the lace and ribbon. The fabric has a repeating pattern, and I cut it along those lines, hemmed and added the lace, then sewed the red ribbon for tabs - I love them!


My prized kitchen table and chairs - I got them (table with leaf, 4 chairs), already painted red and antiqued - for $120 at the monthly antique market near here a couple of years ago. The old lace tablecloth probably came from a yard sale.

I finished the Christmas shopping yesterday, but haven't wrapped a single one, but I can do that some time. I've got my holiday meals planned, but haven't started baking yet - by now I've usually made at least 15 dozen assorted cookies!

But amidst all the hustle and bustle and to-ing and fro-ing, I'm really trying to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus was born, so He could die, to save me from my sins, so I can spend eternity with Him in heaven. You know, the cuteness of Christmas and the birth of a baby boy sometimes puts a smokescreen over the 'big picture', but if you are a believer, the 'big picture' is truly what it's all about!

There's all kinds of stupid, selfish, pitiful things going on with both my family and my husbands family that are working to tear down and ruin our enjoyment of this season, but we are determined to make Christmas a joyful and peaceful time for us - "OUR FAMILY", and yes, there may only be two of us but we are a family! Many people with children don't get that, but you don't have to have 3 or more people to be a family unt, and to love and care for each other. Besides, if you add 'the girls' we are a family of four!!!


The next picture is proof of how blessed I am! My sweet hubby of almost 24 years isn't a very openly romantic peson, and I never get flowers just because, and birthday and anniversary presents are usually a camping trip somewhere reasonably nearby, but Christmas is different. At Christmas, and weeks and weeks before then, he spends much time and energy planning what he's going to get me for Christmas, and takes a day at home to lovingly (not very well, though) wrap each and every one. This is my stack for this year - 10 presents, and that doesn't count he stocking he will fill for me later! And he's got me stumped!!! Because NOTHNG I've asked for this year would go in that huge box on the bottom (the one wrapped in 2 different patterns of paper, lol), yet he says it is in the original packaging. I guess I'll have to wait 12 days or so to find out, and it's killing me, lol!


So, as I leave you for now, please determine what it is that means most to you this Christmas season, and dwell on that, and let the other 'stuff' fall by the wayside for a little while. Believe me, it will all stll be there in January, but maybe, if you've given your spirit time to relax and dwell on better things, you'll be more able to deal with them later on.

Blessings everyone, have a wonderful weekend! Becky G.

12/05/2008

Christmas Ornament - So Cute!

Yes, it's 3 am, and it's another one of those nights - hubby is sleeping so well that I can't sleep. What is it about overweight 50 something men that induces snoring, huh??? But when he leaves to go to work about 5 am I'll go back to bed and see if I can get in a couple of hours before time to get up and start on my pre-decorating housework - and yes, I'm way behind on that, too! I also want to make a batch of my favorite cranberry shortbread cookies to have with the hot spiced cider - yum! That's one of my favorite holiday treats - a cup of hot spiced (or mulled) apple cider and a sweet, buttery piece of cranberry shortbread cookie.

Okay, so I got a couple of thngs made yesterday, but the best by far was this sweet little birdhouse Christmas ornament! The template is from Nichole Heady and can be found HERE. Don't you just love it!?! The front and back are identical, as are the two shorter sides.




Bits and Pieces:
  • Paper - My Minds Eye 'Be Merry' Sweet Sprinkles (inked with brown ink)
  • Cardstock - Bazzill
  • Ric-Rack from WalMart
  • white lace on hanger, white flowers, pink ribbons and large round rhinestones from my friend, Tish.
  • beads, vintage velvet ribbon, Sulyn glitter and marquis rhinestones from my stash
  • adhesives - Fabri-Tac
  • tools - Carl Rotary Cutter with straight blade, scissors
  • other - I stuffed the birdhouse with a little polyfill just to give it a little weight

I hope you'll try making one of these sweet birdhouses - they are really easy to make, and although I didn't have the size and pattern of Nestabilities she used in her examples it wasn't hard to figure out alternatives. If you make one (or several) I'd love to see them, so leave me a comment and I'll go pay your blog a visit. Christmas Blessings Y'all! Becky

12/04/2008

A new tool, and 2 Sketches 4 You!

Good Morning! I hope all is well with you and yours this new day! The December shop-a-thon is behind me and put away for another month. Laundry is in a controllable state, all of the camping stuff is put away for the winter, and I'm taking today (well, most of it anyway) to play!

First up, I took a few minutes this morning to make a new board to use for taking pictures of my projects. I had a bit (20" x 20") of 1/2 inch thick foam core board, and a very badly cut-up chenille bedspread I bought several years ago at Big Lots for next to nothing, so I decided to make a wintery-warm chenille board! I simply cut the fabric to fit and used my handy-dandy electric stapler to fasten it on the back. You can see it in the next pic - my entry for this week's 2 Sketches 4 You sketch from Laura.


Note: I apologize for the pictures - they say rain is on it's way, and there's no sunshine to be found outside, so I had to use my poor indoor lighting. But, the card shines on it's own merit!

It's surely a good thing that the sketches on 2S4Y are simply for inspiration, and they encourage you to do your own take on it, because once I got started, this card took on a life of it's own! It's amazing how quickly this card came together once I'd found what I wanted to use for the central theme - the journaling tag, bird rub-on and Heidi Swapp stamp.

Here are a few more pictures for sharing.

Bits and Pieces:

  • Bazzill Cardstock
  • Jenni Bowlin Studio 'red wallpaper' paper and bird on flowered limb rub-on
  • Heidi Swapp 'thank you' stamp with black ink and Ranger black embossing powder
  • Diamond Stickles
  • black, white and red felt, and gingham from my craft stash
  • straight pin with freshwater pearl head free from One Hundred Wishes - it came on some ribbon I ordered!
  • journaling tag - from website - Mirabyl - you can find it in my list of sources to the left.
  • adhesives - adhesive squares from Dollar General, foam squares, Fabri-Tac
Tools Used:
  • Cuttlebug with Nestabilities 'Classic Circle Small' for felt circles
  • scissors, Carl Rotary cutter with straight, Colonial and Squiggle blades
  • heat embossing tool
  • 1/4 inch hole punch (for gingham bows on right hand side)
  • wood clothespins to hold on felt and fabric while the glue dried - I just love clothespins!

This is one my favorite ever cards, and I hope you enjoy it, too! I hope to get at least one more done today, so I'm off to my crafting table, with my little girlies gnawing on their rawhide bones on the blanket beside my feet. A great day for playing! Blessings y'all! Becky

12/03/2008

Coming Soon . . .

Just wanted to say "HI" and let you know I'll be with my Mom today, doing her first of the month errands and shopping. Believe me, it's a whole day thing, and I'll be exhausted when I get back home tonight.

But!

I did get a card made for 2S4Y last night, and hope to get a pic made and get it loaded tonight. I'm quite proud of the end result, too. It's one of those cards that, once I got started, it took on a life of it's own, and pretty much told me what it wanted to be. I'll just say it's black, white and red, and has birds, gingham and felt! Enough of a hint for now! Have a great day, and I hope to get the picture loaded tonight! Blessings friends! Becky

12/02/2008

A little more blog candy times four . . .

Erica is celebrating a whopping 50,000 hits on her blog by giving away some great goodies! Now, I can understand why all the visits to her blog, because she makes some gorgeous cards!!! Even if you don't want to enter for the goodies, you should go check out her blog and see the lovely creations!

Also, Claire is celebrating 36,000+ hits on her blog with this amazing bunch of goodies! Her card creations are pretty amazin as well, so please go check out her blog!

And, Bev is giving away some special 'Christmas Candy', just because - isn't she sweet!!! So jump on over there and check out her gorgeous blog!

Lastly, you won't believe this one! Ila is celebrating 100,000 hits on her blog and is giving away two great goodie packges! You need to visit her blog anyway - can you say beautiful!!!

Blessings friends! Becky

12/01/2008

Drum Roll Please!!!!!

I've just checked out the blog, and Julie has posted the info, so now I'm free to tell you all . . . . .

I've been invited to join the 'Team' over at the Inspirational blog!!! What this means is that now, while I'm reading all of my regular blogs, and finding more new ones to enjoy, I'll also be scouring the blogworld for bits of inspiration to post on there for all to see.

If you haven't checked out Inspirational, you really should pay them a visit and see some really beautiful creations. And don't be surprised if you get a message from me, asking for permission to showcase your lovely creations on there as well!

Oh, (LOL!) and don't forget to look at my new little blinkie over to the left - it means I'm an official member of the team. Thanks Julie and the rest of the team at Inspirational!!!

Blog Candy!!!


Will you take a look at all the incredible goodies Linda Salte is giving away on her blog!!! She's celebrating reaching a weight loss goal - Congratulations!!! If you'd like to enter, just go HERE.
By the way, big news coming on my blog in the next day or two - keep your eyes open!!! Blessings, Becky!

Back To The Real World!

Hi Friends! Just wanted to let you know we are back home and had a wonderful time. I got absolutely nothing crafty done (in fact, haven't in almost 2 weeks - ouch!) but have some things planned. You can read more about the trip on my Hearth and Home blog.

Have a wonderful week! God Bless, Becky