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