it's Valentine's already

I am hosting a Valentine's Day swap for the Charmsters group that i belong to. we formed through Artnsoul, Portland - 2007. We had a lovely charm swap with 50 participants and i met a great group of people through the group! So we decided to forge on and i suggesed a Valentine's charm swap. i wanted to keep this swap a little smaller, but low and behold, before i knew it the particpants numbered 50 again! we are each making 52 charms. 50 for swapping and then 2 will go to our honorary members, Glenny and Cindy, the two women who run Artnsoul. The due date for the Valentine's Day swap is fast approaching, so i wanted to get mine finished. As the host, i will be receiving all those packets of charms and then sorting them into 50 different piles! (my husband has already volunteered to help sort). so i wanted mine finished by this weekend as i have other things to get done as well (gifts for Artnest, trades for Artfest, 27 ATC's for a fabric ATC book with Beeshay to name a few!)

so here are my charms for the swap. i took little wood hearts and made mini collages. the background consists of tissue papers and gold foil i save from chocolates! then i reduced vintage Valentine's Day cards from a box of vintage cards i purchased at a flea market and collaged them on top. i drilled a hole, did some wire wrapping with beads, used some tea dye on the side of the wood to age it and then added my jump ring. i think they are pretty cool!

Beautiful Bracelet

this is the gift i received from my friend, Kim Bueme (http://www.artdogslife.blogspot.com/), in Ohio. (i went to visit her in sept.)isn't it gorgeous? i love the red beads and the PMC charm about friendship. Especially lovely is the clasp she chose for opening and closing the bracelet. just love it. Kim learn this technique from Nina Bagley (http://www.ninabagley.com/info/inhome.asp). Kim is good friends with Nina and just adores her - which makes the gift even more special! I will be taking this class from Nina this summer along with Kim, Julie and my friend, Zhulia! i can't wait. check out the class description to see what awesome technqiues i will be learning:
http://www.valleyridgeartstudio.com/programs/workshop.asp?WorkshopID=77

I just snail mailed a note of gratitude to kim - but in case she pops in for a visit-
Thanks so much my dear friend, Kim, i just love it!

what did you get for Christmas?

This has to be my favoritest gift. It was commissioned by my husband, from my friend and brilliant artist, Lindsay Brackeen - http://www.lindsaybrackeen.blogspot.com/ . He told her he wanted one of her brown haired girls and to please include my beloved, kitty, Pebbles in the painting some where. i had Pebbles for 18 years and i still miss him! He sent her some photos and then she went through my flickr photos as well to find other things that i love to include in the painting (birds, nests and birdhouses!)She included my favorite saying - "to seek that which nourishes my soul", which is on the skirt i am wearing in the painting - and um, yes, i am that pretty!lol.) Is it not fabulous? i got tears in my eyes when i saw it. it is quite stunning. jeff wants to have it framed. she wrote on the back of it "lovingly commissioned by jeff for kecia" which i thought was sweet. She even wrapped it so that jeff didn't have to. it really was quite a gift. Lindsay is so talented and i can't wait to meet her in person when we room together at Artfest. She has an etsy store, so if you'd like to check out more of her work, take a look here (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5143614). more fabulous gifts to be shown off later!

bad night for tucker

oh my god, tucker had such a bad night last night. he seemed like he was having such a good day yesterday too. cough was much better, he was in a good mood, etc. So we got him ready for bed around 10:00 and then jeff and i went to lay down. (me upstairs and jeff in the room across from tucker). jeff can hear tucker from his room and i keep a baby monitor in my room to listen out for him. around 11:00 i could hear that he was still up, so i went to check on him and gave him a quick diaper change. i kept waiting for him to fall asleep so i could go to bed. around 12:30 i went back to his room to see whaht was going on. well, he was just wide awake and doing this kind of moany/groaney thing. i moved him from his bed and put him on his shakey table. (it is a motion table that moves back and forth). tucker loves it as he really craves movement. i figured this would help make him sleepy. Well, that never happened! he was up all night! i gave him a breathing treatment around 3:30, followed by a vest treament at 4:00 (the vest is an airway clearance system that does percussion on his chest and helps loosen secretions). i left the vest on for 20 minutes (with me sitting behind him holding him up). i think that helped make him a little more tired. finally around 6:30am i woke up jeff and told him i had to go to bed. i haven't pulled an all nighter like that since college! so i slept for 4 hours and then got up to get tuck ready to go to see our neighbor (a doctor) at his office. we just wanted to make sure that tuck's chest was clear, etc. kind of weird for tuck to not fall asleep at all. i also called my friend who works with tucker's pulmonologist to ask her a question. then she told me that the treatments that we gave tucker yesterday (pulmicort)is probably what kept tucker up all night, since it is a steroid. Aha - that explains it! Our neighbor, Kurt, said that tucker's chest sounded clear, so that was good. he changed his antibotic, but that's about all we can do but what we are already doing. however, we won't be giving him pulmicort today! he'll get a few other treatments instead. i got in another two hours of sleep and am now waiting for dillon to get home from the movies (he went to see the sequel to National Treasure). we are going to be hanging out tonight since he leaves for Disneyworld tomorrow with our neighbors. he will be back on New Year's Eve around 9:00pm. i have mixed feelings about him going. he'll be having a great time, but i am nervous about him flying without me. Let's put it this way, it's a great opportunity, but i'll be glad when he is back home!

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas, love, Kecia

okay, going for the record # of posts in one day....

well, just kidding, but this is my 4th post today. i must be quite excited about Christmas eve! I just wanted to post this photo of a yard display my neighbor Wayne down the street put up. it looks so pretty, especially at night since he put spotlights on them.

Molasses Sugar Cookies

Since i shared a favorite receipe on Thanksgiving, I figured i'd do the same today. This is my favorite cookie receipe. they are similiar to the cookies at Starbuck's called, "Snickerdoodles". very yummy!

3/4 cup shortening
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 egg
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

melt shortening over low heat. remove and let cool. once cooled, add sugar, molasses and egg - beat/mix well.

sift together flour,soda,cloves, ginger, cinnamon and salt. add to first mixture and mix well (i use my hands for this part!)

make little dough balls and then roll each in sugar. place on cookie sheet. take a fork and push dough down and make that cute little mark on your cookie!

cook at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy - yummy with milk or coffee!!!!

Allegra

I got a little busy in the last few days that i neglected to thank someone who did something nice for me! Major faux pas! anyway, i wanted to thank my friend, Allegra, for sending me this darling little angel ornament to grace my tree. Allegra, said it was "an angel to watch over an angel".

I appreciate the gift so much Allegra, thank you!

Christmas eve

wow, it's Christmas Eve, i can't believe it is finally here. i've seen some small children in the last few days (3,4, 5 years old) and i love to ask them if they are excited for Santa to come. it is true Christmas spirit in the eyes of a child who is nodding their head uncontrollably in excitment. they are wide eyed and look like they could pop any minute in anticipation. one girl told me all about her party at school, how fun it was, etc. life is so exciting through the eyes of a child. their innocence and purity gives me hope. i love it.

tucker has been sick for a few days with an upper respiratory cold. it can be quite stressful on me and jeff. both of us tend to withdraw from each other when he is ill. i think it is our coping mechanisms turning on. I know for myself it makes me feel a little post traumatic stress -ish from our days in the hospital. we don't like going there (who does? unless it is to see a new born baby). the smells, the phones ringing, the nurses, the doctors, the tests, the waiting, the noises, other children crying. very over stimulating and when i am feeling stressed out i can't take much stimulus at all. so when he's sick, we think, "how serious is this? is it just a cold? does he have pneumonia - on and on". the old worrying. we get very little sleep as he requires suctioning, nebulizer treatments, etc. the lack of sleep makes us feel like zombies. but he had a pretty good night last night; although his cough is starting up again. he's on an antibotic (thanks to our neighbor who is a doctor...) - so it is just a matter of getting through it.

i hope this Christmas eve day finds you well and eager for Santa's visit later! i will be unveiling this years family Christmas photo on my blog tomorrow - so stop by if you have time and take a look.

Santa in his firetruck

Our town has this cute tradition that i just love. On the Saturday before Christmas, Santa drives by neighborhoods in a firetruck (with sirens blaring) and hands out candy canes to the children. there are alot of helpers in the truck with him and lots of waving going on. I make Dillon come out on the porch with me and we wave frantically at Santa, hoping the firetruck will come all the way down our dead end street. (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't). either way it is quite fun.

I'm watcing one of my favorite movies, "Never been kissed" with Drew Barrymore, Michael Vartan (yummy),David Arquette and Leelee Sobieski. I love the concept. Drew Barrymore returns to highschool undercover. she had a rough time in highschool originally (ok, well who didn't?)and she has high hopes of having a better go round this time. it is cute, sweet and painful at the same time as Drew Barrymore is still quite nerdy, no matter how hard she tries. to quote her boss as she endures yet another embarrassing moment, he says "it's like the all humilation network". It is a fun concept to consider, would you fit in with the kids of today if you returned to high school undercover? (seriously doubt it, i'd have no patience for the dramatics- i'd be super-bee-atch) would you do anything different? it would be a perfect time to use that old adage, "i wish i knew then what i know now"! i think if anything i would be more aggressive; especially with this one guy who was always hassling me.the only thing i can't understand about this movie is why they put Drew Barrymore in such a horrible wig and ugly clothes for her big return to highschool! i definitely wish i had a boyfriend in highschool that looked like Michael Vartan!

That reminds me of when i was in 7th and 8th grade and this one guy, Terry, a football player, was always doing stuff to me. I had a paper route (ugh, i know!)and of course, he was on my route. he and his friends would throw rocks at me as i was riding away on my bike (sweet, huh?)he was such a smuck.In particular, he was really mean to my twin brother. so a few years ago, i went to my reunion for that school and saw that guy. he kept talking about how pretty i was, how great i turned out, etc. it was a little sickening to be truthful. finally i said to him, "why were you such a shithead to me and my brother in school?" i think he was a little surprised by my comment. i felt so empowered by telling him how i felt, that i don't even remember his reponse!

my necklace from Cindy Forrester

yeah, it's here! and Cindy just emailed me that hers has arrived as well - so she'll be opening hers soon. i hope she likes it! (it's always so stressful wondering if the person you are creating for will like what you did for them!)Well, i just opened mine and it is GORGEOUS! Cindy does soldered piece and then incorporates vintage filigree pieces into the mix. i love filigree pieces. there is something so timeworn about them. my piece has a vintage photo of a woman sitting in a very elegant chair. Cindy added text that says "Queen of my throne". She's antiqued the soldered edges with a black patina (maybe....) - but it looks aged. She added green beads and then attached them to a chain. green, being my favorite color, which i thought was cool of her to include. behind the soldered piece is a lovely piece of vintage lace. by the closure of the necklace she added a small coin that i think is quite smashing.

cindy's blog can be found athttp://cindyforrester.wordpress.com/ and she also has an etsy store (yummy!)- take a look at her creations at: cindyforrester.etsy.com

here's what Cindy had to say about the necklace she received from me:

Well I absolutely love my necklace...I love the blue patina it so matches the bird (bird is gorgeous) and I love the resin you use, it is so clear and my favorite word Hope, the whole necklace is awesome and I will treasure it! Also I like how you signed it.

Sorry, but i need to be whiney for a minute

This is my absolute biggest pet peeve and it just happened to me YET again. I don't know if it is the same way around where you live, but NJ is NOTORIOUS for horrible customer service.

I was just at Barnes and Noble to pick up some books for Dillon. I went early and there were maybe 3 people in there. I found the books quickly and went to get in line. well all of the 3 people are in line, of course, at the same time and there is only ONE cashier. I don't want to sound impatient; but the cashier looked like he was in his 70's, so he wasn't exactly Speedy Gonzales if you know what i mean. So we are waiting and waiting and waiting............ i look over to the customer service station and there are 6 employees standing around talking! i wait another minute and yet nothing changes. finally i frantically wave over the one of the employees and gestured to the line. she says "okay, hold on, hold on" - like the nerve of me to be in a hurry. she got one of my famous eye rolls for that. So another girl comes over and takes the next customer who has a return, which she can't do. so she makes that lady go over to yet another line and then starts a 10 minute procession on "who is doing returns" and "what extension to i call them on" (just yell over to the customer service station because odds are good they are standing there talking.....)I guess multi tasking isn't a concept there, because i think she could have been ringing me up during this whole thing. finally she locates the "return person" and then starts ringing me up. i was paid and done and the poor lady with her return is still standing there. my cashier has already bolted and the person doing "returns" was busy figuring out something extremely important with Ed, the 70 plus cashier. I was fuming. i turned to the other lady patiently waiting and said "i believe that these people do not appreciate our time" and then i promptly yelled "HELLO, could you please help this woman out"? Okay, i admit, i am PMS'ing at the moment, but quite honestly, i am sick how these stores are run. it is the same everywhere (in NJ at least). it is impossible to "quickly" run into a store. there's always some hoopla or whatever and usually ONE cashier. I've decided that will be the last time in that particular Barnes and Noble. I'm have tempted to call the mgr. of the store too because i'm so tired of it.

okay, there, i feel better for venting................... (and i guess that didn't have much Christmas spirit, but i hope you'll give me some slack..............)

Finished!

I decided to make 8 charms for friends of Dillon's instead of buying them things (go handmade!). One of them he already gave out, but here are the 7 others. the other 2 pictures (of single charms) are two charms that i started at Artnsoul in Oct. (believe it or not!) - but then when i got home my soldering iron died (bummer), so i really haven't gotten to them. so when i was finishing these up tonight, i thought, "get them done"! the longer one is my favorite. the black strip you see though, was one of those "label stickers" where you click the letter to spell a word. my word said "celebrate", but apparently the heat from soldering caused the white letters to fade (another bummer...) the smaller charm holds a piece from a horoscope bracelet (vintage) and i took the virgo sign and created that charm for myself.

Thanks, Denise!

Today i received a little unexpected treat in the mail! Recently i sent out some blog candy to the winners of my last contest and one of the winners, Denise Mares, from Oregon, sent me back some blog candy of my own! she sent me a frozen Charlotte doll, about 1 1/2" tall. So sweet! Thank you very much Denise, i really appreciate the gift - very touching that you wanted to give something back to me. Denise and i met at Artnsoul in Portland and hopefully willl run into each other in Hampton!

Not a Christmas movie

Last night i was tired, but couldn't fall asleep, so i decided to turn on the tv. i came across a scary movie so i decided to watch it. i love scary movies - the only problem is - is that it is hard to scare me. i just see all the token hollywood plot lines coming - so it is rare that i get scared. but i do enjoy them anyway. However - this movie last night was not scary - IT WAS GROSS! I highly recommend avoiding the movie, "Hostel"! it was pure, graphic gore. the plot line was minimal and of course there was plenty of T&A every few minutes. don't even ask me WHY i watched the whole thing! after it was over, i kept thinking, "why in the world did i just watch that?" thankfully i am not one to get nightmares after such movies, but my stomach was a bit queasy!

my tree

here's the tree i created for my room - my enjoyment! my mom wanted to see what it looked like!

Storm

Wow, that was some storm. lasted 2 days. we didn't get any snow and really not that much rain, but the wind - wow! it was at least 25-40 mph. the howling it made outside was incredible. the windows were rattling and was i swear i felt the house sway! everything on the porch was blown over and a few things were broken. the basketball hoop even fell over. we saw plenty of tree limbs and one on top of a house nearby.

before the wind got too bad, Dillon and i were in the hot tub, obvilious to the wind that was getting read to blow. it was cold but the hot tub was nice and hot - 104 degrees. however, once the wind started, it got a little sketchy. when the hot tub cover blew over into the yard, we knew it was time to get out!

There's a storm a brewin

Right now i am sitting in my room (my sanctuary). It is quite dark in here as i've got all the lights out except for the lights on my christmas tree. I spent the morning in Tucker's room taking care of him and decorating a tree for my room. i realized today that i do all these trees for the house and dillon and tucker have small trees in their rooms - but i've never made a tree just for me. so that is what i did today using a tree from my craft shows that i had hung bookmark ornaments on. after removing all the leftover bookmarkers, i wrapped the 3' tree in lights. then i went out to the main tree and picked out some of my more favorite ornaments. i also went outside and plucked a nest out of the thicket on the side of the house to put in my tree.

So here i am sit in my room with Lilly on my bed (who isn't feeling well..:( - i think she ate either some of the Christmas tree or a plant on the table; both of which i saw her munching on) and we are watching "The Notebook". i'm not one to watch movies like this (romantic) and i'm not sure why - but tonight i've got it on. My window is open so i can listen to the rain/snow that is supposably coming. i love listening to storms or the silence of snow falling at night when everyone is sleeping. i keep a towel handy to line my window so the rain doesn't get on my bed or me - but i love having my window open at night. i don't care how cold it is in the winter, my window is open every night. Sometimes i can hear the raccoons knocking over the trash cans and every so often when our little owls come back, i hear them in the trees across the street. hoot, hoot they say to one another back and forth through out the night. in the morning jeff and i will ask each other, did you hear the owls last night? (he stays downstairs across from Tucker's room).

The wind is picking up and i can hear the leaves swirling around in the street as the wind pushes them about. I'm quite cozy in my bed as i am laying on new sheets! i hate shopping for sheets as i never seem to find ones that i like. either the print is ugly or the thread count is too chinsy or the pockets aren't deep enough for my bed. but today when i was at Kmart picking up boring household items like bleach, a new toilet seat, etc. i thought i'd look at their sheets. I started looking and some were actually kind of cool. What, i thought - prints i actually like? Surely they won't fit my deep fitted mattress. So i quickly called home and asked my friend, Michele, who was watching Tuck while i ran out if she could measure the width of my mattress to see if they'd fit. Yay - she said they would. so home they came, washed, dried and on the bed they are!

For dinner i had the yummiest porterhouse steak with a delicious garlic butter on top, a side of french fries, some asparagus and a wonderful house salad along with a nice glass of red wine. Scrumptious!

Can it get any better than this?

Pet Stockings!

A few years ago i was in some store after Christmas and they had these cute little "pet" stockings on clearance. so i bought 4 - 2 with cats on them and 2 with dogs on them. I had dillon go around the house and see what sort of stuffed animals he could find to represent them (thank god for beanie babies!) So, Boo (black cat) has one, Lilly (himalayan kitty) has one, Kirby (golden retriever) has one and then the two westies, Pepper and Gracie share a stocking. the only one who doesn't have her own stocking is Lilo, our bunny.

**the reason one of the westie's has a patch over the eye is because in 1999 we took a cruise and dillon brought that beanie with him. our room attendant accidently sent the westie to the wash (along with Dillon's beloved blankie!) we didn't think we'd get them back considering how much laundry gets done down there, but she managed to find them both. the westie lost an eye, but i told dillon we could fix her right up!

trade with cindy is finished!

okay, so i finished up the necklace today for my trade with Cindy Forrester (http://cindyforrester.wordpress.com/). she had requested a birdhouse shape, blue patina, a bluebird and the word "hope". how did i do?

Good job, Inger!

I've been waiting to see if someone would say anything about the "non-star" on our tree and today, my blogging friend, Inger did! she said:

I am loving the sonic hedgehog on top of your christmas tree! Super cool. Much more fun than we star we use:) You have a beautiful tree!

Good eye, Inger! This is a tradition i started long ago when Dillon was young. For some reason, i'm just not into putting a star or an angel on my tree - so i would have dillon go pick out a "guest star" from his stuffed animals. Every year he picks out someone different. I kind thought he wouldn't really be into it (being 14 and all.....),so i was pleasantly surprised when he said, "i'm going to go pick out someone for the top of the tree".

Thanks for all the nice compliments on my trees! Just to let you all know, the smaller trees that i just posted about stay decorated year round. i don't take any of the ornaments off. When the holidays are over, i take them down as is and put them in my basement until next year!

Trees, trees, trees!

Besides our big tree, i do a few smaller trees and place them about the house. The first tree (starting from the bottom up) is my snowman tree. It has 39 little snowmen on it that i made from baby socks. i just love this little tree because the snowmen are so cute, they make me smile and because i made them all.

the next tree is my bird tree. it is so full of ornaments i don't think there is any extra space anywhere. plus it looks like it will topple over it is so full! i can't even begin to guess how many bird ornaments are on it! but you know i love my birds, so it also brings me a lot of joy.

the last tree is one i did many years ago. it is a frog tree! before i switched over to birds - i loved froggies! so i made this funny little tree. people would give me frogs for my tree which was fun. it is the first tree i bring out every season.

sometimes someone's words can just make you feel great!

Please go read my friend, Allegra's post about receving her blog candy from me. it really warmed me up inside. What a sweetie she and her beloved, Barry are. So nice and kind. You'll love her writing, very eloquent. Seems like it slips off her tonque like butter. glad you are feeling better, Allegra!

http://beadingstars.blogspot.com/

Thank goodness, my tree is done!

For those of you who have seen my homemade banners, or better yet, received them as a gift, bought one at my show (Amy!) or won one as blog candy (Allegra!) - this is a huge banner i made for myself. it says " Deveney Family". I hunge pine cones from my back yard on it and then tied to primitive snowmen on each end (representing tucker and dillon). when i pick up more ornament hooks, i will hanging up these darling mini round ornaments in between the pie cones.

this is what happens when you don't disconnect your hoses!

Don't be alarmed, this did not happen to me - but it did happen to a guy who lives down the street from me! I was driving dillon and josh home from school the other day when we drove by this house and josh says, look at the water coming out in front of his house. So i stopped and sure enough, water was just spraying everywhere. i guess it'd been going on for a few days as the driveway, fountain, grass, shrubs and part of the street were frozen! so i took the kids home, grabbed my camera and came back. I know this guy -and i know he is in Florida right now. so i took my pics and then called the police to report the broken water pipe. the main issue being that the street was being affected.

here's what i got done today

Well, we got our tree today and i finished decorating the house. so that's a good start. the tree we will do in a few days as the needles need to drop just a little more. tomorrow i'm going to work on some soldered charms for some friends of dillon's and for a blog buddy. then i will do some more work on a resin charm that i am working on for a trade with Cindy Forrester. Cindy and i met through etsy; although i already knew of her through Deryn Mentock's blog when she mentioned her. Then i was reading a jewlery magazine and there was a picture of a necklace that i really liked and i saw the artist was Cindy Forrester. So when i saw she hearted my etsy shoppe, i convo'd her and asked her if she was the one Deryn had mentioned in her blog and she said yes. Such a small world! anyway, we got to talking and decided we wanted to do a trade! i love doing trades like this. i had admired her work and she mine, so it is very inspiring to create for her. So i will do some work on her piece.

i also have to install my new router which finally arrived (my other router died and it was fairly new!). after the whole "dell" incident, i totally DREAD calling the company tomorrow to get this installed. i am sure it will be easy, but just not looking forward to it. there is always a glitch (either it's me and i have totally bad luck or i don't know what! basically, nothing comes easy for me. there's always a challenge). so cross your fingers that it install fine and works because i don't need the headache!

well it's late and time for bed!

So how are the holidays going so far?

How is the shopping going? do you have to mail many things out - have you done it? have you done your cards yet? done any wrapping yet? still have lots more shopping to do? feeling overwhelemed by all these questions? these are all these thoughts running around in my head - so don't feel alone!

being the only person in my family on the east coast, i have a lot of mailing out to do. i've gotten a few things done for that, but still have more to do. i'm making most of my gifts this year and i have a few more to finish. plus dillon just asked me if i could make some gifts for some of his "girl" friends. turns out there are 7 of them! i'm trying to figure out when i am suppose to do all this stuff! i have a lot of time to do things, but lately, it is being stolen from me left and right (my time). now i need to finish decorating, so some baking, shop for groceries, get a tree and decorate that too! plus finish all these hand made gifts!

guess i really need to buckle down this week and make the most of my time! might have to go back to making a list so i can organize my time again! are we having fun yet? (at least my blog is decorated!)

i'll be listing this on etsy

i finished 3 resin necklaces today.Two are gifts (aren't they lucky?) and then this one is going on etsy. By the way, you can find all the techniques and product information in Jane Wynn's book, "Altered Curiousities". I got to meet Jane at vendor night in Portland when i purchased her book and a necklace - very sweet person.

these are a few of my favorite things.....

i got out the Christmas decorations last night and it is always so fun to go through them after not seeing them for a year! i did a little decorating today, but unfortunately it made me notice how dirty my house is! so i think i've done more cleaning than decorating. but anyway, i took some pictures of some of my more sentimental things.

the first picture (working from the bottom to the top...) is a paper mache snowman that someone made of "Tillie". Tillie is an icon from Asbury Park. He was the symbol of the old arcade. Asbury Park when through a horrible period of decay and many buildings were closed/abandoned. Now Asbury Park is going through a resurggence and older buildings are being demolished. A "save Tillie" organization was created and funds were earned to save the icon, which is currently being stored somewhere! Jeff bought the snowman for me a few years ago at a local shop and the girl never made any more - so it is really precious to me.

the next picture is of a snowman (i like snowman, can you tell?) that i made when i was little; although i don't rememeber how old. I made it from a t-shirt and a tube sock. i think he is so cute. his neck is really wobbly!

the 3rd picture from the top is yet another snowman! I bought this snowman when i lived in Guam (age 10). i remember we were out doing Christmas stuff and i saw him and just loved him! when you turn him, he plays music ("frosty the snowman"). His base broke long ago, but you can still turn him to play the music. i sit him in a smaller planter so he doesn't fall over.

the last picture is off a vintage candy dish that was my mom's. i coveted that dish and was so happy when she finally gave it to me a few years ago! it is perfect for putting her homemade peanut butter fudge in. we are currently patiently waiting for this years batch to come (she sends it from California!)

i'd love to hear about your precious holidays decorations.

holiday banner

I've been working on my holiday banner, but can't figure out why it is so HUGE! can anyone tell me how to make it smaller? maybe there is too many pictures? (specific instructions much appreciated!)

update: thanks Allegra and Barry for helping me reduce my holiday banner!

Teenagers!

So tonight i asked my 14 year old son to put away the dishes, only to be told that he was "in a meeting" (meaning he was on his cell phone with a friend!)

Wow, i can remember the day when i was asked/told to do a chore, i did it! and i certainly didn't tell my mother that i was "in a meeting"!

in his defense, about 10 minutes later he put the dishes away!

update: i feel kind of bad because when i posted his comment, i thought it was funny thing to say to your mom. but when Dillon read it, he said it made him look like he was being a jerk (his words ) or something - which wasn't the case at all. And, he corrected me and said it was only about 3 minutes later when he put the dishes away!

Anti contest on another blog

If you have a blog, you might want to check out this cute little holiday "anti contest" (their description!) at http://contesthotel.blogspot.com/. (see button to the right, called "deck the blog"). Basically the contest is about decorating your blog with the holiday spirit! take a look, it's cute.

Christmas Memories

Christmas is such a magical time. it reminds me so much of being a little girl. In my opinion, being little is the best time of life! your are clueless about the scariest aspects of the world and life. Everything is so fresh and exciting and experiences are brand new. the excitment of Christmas was so thrilling! i can remember the anticipation on Christmas Eve like it was yesterday. One Christmas in particular i remember we were staying at my grandparents in Ventura, California. there were 4 kids and only 3 bedrooms, so i think all of us kids were out in the living room on couches and on the floor in sleeping bags. the fireplace was in that room, so it was really hard for us to fall asleep since we were waiting for Santa to come down the chimney. Besides the excitement of trying to fall asleep, what stands out to me the most and really triggers memories for me, is the clock in that room. it was a cuckoo clock and you could hear it ticking all night. i have fond memories of that ticking noise because it reminds of that Christmas waiting for Santa. It reminds me of that precious time as a little girl.

here are the winners!

So, as promised, i've returned from Pennysylvania and have picked the winners for my blog candy giveaway. since it's the holidays and i am feeing that holiday spirit, i actually drew 5 names for my giveaway! The winners are:Lani of Healing Expressions, RedBessBonney, Allegra, Marci and Denise!

One person will receive my homemade Christmas banner, one person will receive one of my resin charms that i just learned how to make and 3 people will receive one of my "kworky" dolls.

thanks for playing!

day thirty, 30 days of thanks

wow, have i really reached day 30? where did the time go? In my opinion, tomorrow is officially the kick off day (for me anyway, i know it's started already....) for me to play Christmas music. I admit it, i love Christmas music! and i really tire of people complaining about having to listen to it during the holiday season (usually it's store clerks who have to listen to it constantly, so i might have to cut them some slack!) i like to put it on in my studio on my XM radio (the Holly station) or i carry Christmas CD's in my car. As soon as i get up in the morning, i like to turn on the stereo and play Christmas CD's while the kids are getting ready for school. I feel that music is key to memories (along with smells). I have fond memories when i hear certain holiday songs that my mom played when we were little. For years, i tracked down all the music we use to listen to (now happily on CD"s) and those songs are now incorporated into my children's memories. Here are some of the CD's we listen to (warning - some of these are old and maybe not familiar to you). Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass Band - Christmas Album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album, John Denver & The Muppets, Ray Conniff - We wish you a merry Christmas, A Patridge Family Christmas Album, Nat King Cole , Squirrel Nut Zippers - Christmas Caravan and the all time favorite - TSO (Transiberian Orchestra) - and luckily i've gotten to see them twice now!

day 29, thirty days of thanks continues.......

today i am thankful for creating! i've spent the last 4 days creating, learning new things and having a great time doing it! i am so thankful for this outlet to create. it really is such an incredible way, for me, to spend my time. i couldn't think of anything better (except if we bought that lovely house in Pennsylvania and i was spending time puttering around there AND creating!)

here is a picture of something i created in the last few days and just put the finishing touches on (although the chain i am ify on....) it is a christmas gift for my sister (and i don't think she reads this regularly, so i doubt she'll see it....... tell me what you think!

cool pics from Pennsylvania

enjoy!