Oh Christmas Tree

I’ve always had a live tree.  It’s only in the past several years that we’ve gone to an artificial tree.  It’s against all my principles, but it’s necessary.  It’s an artificial tree, or no tree, it’s that simple.  The month gets shorter every year, and there’s never time now to get “Christmas” pulled together.  So I fill my tree with so many ornaments  you can hardly see the branches. Ahhh, but I miss the smell of pine! 

My tree is a happy one this year.  Must be because of these little red heads…

This little angel is perched in the branches, watching over the tree.  She’s new and she’s from Nordstrom! 

 

And the Allie dogs love their place among the ornaments…a pink Allie

… a gray “French General” Allie 

 

And isn’t that Henrietta Whiskers in my tree?  Can you see her?  She’s a little shy. 

 

 

My little feather tree sits in our family room and holds my childhood ornaments every year. 

 

And my sweet snow angel sits near a  container of ornaments.

 

And every year my special collection of teddy bears adorn the dining room.

 

One of these days I’m going to have a tree filled with bunnies.  Seems the right thing to do.  Of course I’ll have to get a live tree to celebrate!

Hugs,

 

Anne

I Love That Color!

What’s in a color?  Amazing when you think about it! Do you say “I HATE that color” or “I LOVE that color”? Click here and see how you respond to this color wheel.  (There’s an iPhone color app on this link too!)  Have you painted a room one of these colors?  Are you a brave red type or a shabby pink?

As the new studio addition draws near, I’ve been thinking about wall colors. Lurking nearby in the garage, we have CANS of paint. Palest of pinks, the freshest blue, a green I’ve decided I “Hate”. Test colors, used colors, colors we bought too much of. My hubby is the frugal one and of course wants to use the garage paint.  He’s picked the pale pink. “It’s already there” he says, and “we won’t have to buy any ”.

I’m the extravagant one.  I want a color that makes me feel “settled in” right away.  One that lets me mix in all my distressed, vintage finds. I want a neutral color on the wall.  I’m going with  “Devine Icing” ! Love or hate the color, you have to love the name!

 

Now, want to have a little fun with color?  Click on the  link  below and find your color horoscope!  Skip the intro, find your birthday, and ta da!  You’re a color!  I’m Lilac Snow.  Can’t believe it.  I hate Lilac!

Pantone Colorstrology

Hugs,

Anne

A Passion for Door Knobs

A passion for door knobs.  Not just any door knob, how silly would that be?  My passion is for glass door knobs.  Old ones, of the vintage kind.

It started while rummaging through an antique store.  There it was, just one.   The light, reflecting off the glass, caught my eye.  I fell in love with a door knob!  Before I left that store I had a collection of two! 

I brought them home, my collection of two.  And what are you going to do with those, my hubby asks?  

Well this week, several years later, I can answer him.   I’ve been shopping on eBay!  I’m going to have a collection.  A real collection!  One day  I will think of something very creative.  They will be used to hang curtains,  towels, or something that will make you think I’m very smart… 

But for now, they will reside in this glass jar…

With one knob placed just outside the jar …

…and maybe a bit of the old hardware close by…

I’ve created a vignette!

Can you see why I love them?

What’s your passion? What do you collect that I might need want to collect?  

 

Anyone out there collect lambs?  I do!

 

Don’t forget to enter Pat Sloan’s apron contest.  I’ll be the judge on Sunday!  Post that apron now! You could be the lucky winner!!!

Hugs,

 

Anne

Most Creative, Helpful, Wonderful, Favorite Blog of 2008

So here I am voting again, a committee of one. This time it's for the most creative, HELPFUL, wonderful blog of 2008. Did you notice I put helpful in caps?

I found Angela at Cottage Magpie through blogging almost two years ago. I fell in love with her blog! It was one of those blogs that you check everyday, just waiting for a new post! It was at the time when we were just moving into our new house and I was buying furniture right and left trying to make my house a home. Of course those were the days of the good economy. Remember those?

I was determined not to have all white furniture and so I purchased some darker pieces (online believe it or not) to fill in. Well, when the dark dresser arrived I thought Ross (my DH) would have me committed! It was so dark it was almost black. We tried it in every room I could think of, including the dining room!

Out of desperation and to save my marriage, it finally ended up in the "pink" room and I told him not to worry I could work around it. The dresser weighs a TON and by this time he was so sick of moving it I was afraid it would end up on the front porch! So it found a home in the middle of a wall, and I tried to work around it...

So, now I'm getting to the Angela part...almost...

I brought in darker pictures and added them to the wall, I tired vintage china, bird houses, anything I could think of but I just couldn't get an arrangement to balance with the dresser. And then I thought of Angela! If you send her a photo of a room you just can't pull together, this talented, creative, lady will help for FREE! And so my relationship with Angela began...I emailed her with a photo asking for her help.

First she told me to gather anything I could think of both dark and light and arrange them as best I could. She needed to know the types of pieces she had to work with. So off I went to grab a hammer and a nail.

After trying and trying this was the best I could do, not bad but I still wasn't happy. It looked out of balance. So Angela took over in Photoshop...

She played around with the picture and moved things here and there...Keep in mind this is all done in Photoshop, but it was like she was in the room with me!

She gave me several suggestions, like maybe add a mirror on the wall above the chair...

and finally...

... here is the end result, with one exception. We added crystal knobs to the dresser to "lighten" it up! The room is in perfect balance and I just love it. It's our guest room so if you come to visit, this is where you'll stay!

And the two little hearts you see in the first picture? Well those are now hanging from their new crystal knobs on the dresser. I'm too lazy to go down and take a new picture so you'll have to "make do".

And now you see why I love Cottage Magpie so much! She can help you too! Just check out her blog and you'll see some rooms she has helped people with. Thank you Angela!

Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all the best of everything in 2009. I can't thank you enough for reading my blog. You are all so appreciated! I'm taking the weekend to work on my unfinished projects that need to get done, but I'll be back on January 5th. Hope you have a fun sewing weekend too!

Hugs,

Anne

A Decorating Give Away!

It's a bit early for Valentine's Day, but I've been having so much fun making things I've decided to have a give away! These little treats are hand-made by me just for you! They'll help you decorate for that special "Love" day.

Remember that shabby log cabin block I showed a few posts back? I had one left over from my quilt and decided it needed a good home. I made a little 8" pillow that's perfect to tuck in front of a few other pillows on a chair or bed, put on top of a dresser or tuck in a basket. It may be tiny, but it will brighten up your room! And do I see pink lace trim on it? Yes, I think I do!

Personalize your home with your own crafty projects and you'll have a wonderful place. It's the key to making a house a home. We often have left-overs from craft projects that could be put to good use. The piece of fabric I used for the white heart was destined for the trash can. It's a left-over scrap of fabric from my slip cover project. I couldn't stand to throw it out so I made a heart and added three of my vintage glass buttons, and some pink velvet ribbon.

The heart on the right I made from my newest fabric "Flowers For Emma". It's also made from scraps, then I added some crystals and pink velvet ribbon and now it's destined for one of you!

If you're the winner of this random number drawing, what can you do with these hearts? There are so many things I can think of, I've given you a few ideas, just in case you win!

You know what you have to do to win this drawing! Leave a comment and I'll pick a winner on February 3rd. It's another random number generated drawing and it could be YOU!

Nite, Nite my sweet readers!