A bit of Christmas Joy!

Hello

and happy Sunday to y'all!

How are you enjoying this crazy weather?

Close to 70 yesterday and waking up to the 20th

this morning with icy roads and flurries.

Well I hate to admit it but I'm not jumping up and down about it!

Anyway, a good day to stay indoors and get crafty

and since we only have one more week

to Christmas I would like to share my 

Christmas card with you today.

"Joy"

my primitive Christmas card.

 I decided on something a bit different this year,

no stamping, 

all die cuts and punches and 

a little embossing in the background.

Poinsettia is a Marianne Design die.
The background panel was embossed with a
Pine Needles embossing folder from RG.

Joy and greenery was cut with Sizzix dies.

The primitive wreath is a Spellbinder die.

I added a few little snow flakes just for fun and sparkle.

Simple but beautiful!

And while making our Christmas cards I had

another idea,

a matching banner!

Made exactly like the card with the only exception

that the letters where cut with the Cricut cartridge

"Sophisticated".  

And last but not least,

I joined the craze of making

"Messy Bun Hats".

This is my first one.

The hat looked a bit plain so I added the crochet flower 

with a sparkly button.

The hat pattern by Stacey Keele Thorngren is also found on 

the Naztazia website.

Perfect for cold winter days!

Thank you so much for dropping by,
stay warm and safe!
Wishing you and your families
a joyous Holiday season!
Merry Christmas!

Diana

Proud Mom and the Hustle and Bustle of the Season!

Hello 

and

Happy Sunday to y'all!

Can you believe it's the second of Advent already,

3 more weeks to Christmas,

and I'm running so...o behind on everything

including posting on the blog!

Sorry, but I have a great excuse,

our youngest son graduated from OSUT.

We are so proud of him and

Yes, we made the trip to Georgia twice over the last

30 days to visit for Family Day and

for the Turning Blue Ceremony/Graduation!

 Our little boy all grown up,

I'm tearing up just typing this post,

but adding Army Mom to my title makes 

me very very proud!

 Words can not describe what I felt that day.

Proud and sad at the same time,

knowing that in just a few short moments we had 

to say goodbye to him

and he was leaving for his new duty station.

It's hard to put it into words and I know

I will never stop worrying about him.

---

Finally got his picture framed and

working on the embellishments.

Not quiet done yet, 

I want to add all his duty stations and dates

 onto the right site of the frame but

haven't figured out how yet.

 Our handsome Infantryman!

And finally after all the hustle and bustle

of traveling we finally got our tree up this weekend.

 Same ornaments as last year with the 

exception of.. 

 ... Mr. Mouse and

 ... Mrs. Mouse.

Found these two adorable critters at a

Cracker Barrel Store somewhere between

Kentucky and Georgia.

Very appropriate ornaments for a household

 with 3 cats.

 And my gigantic stocking is hung too.

HeHe, looks like I been a real good girl this year!!! 

 Love using bottle brush trees for decorations,

actually you can find them all over our house

and not just around the holiday season.

 Another new addition to our 

Christmas decorations is this little

ladder made out of old tobacco sticks and

chicken wire.

Hope to display some of our Christmas Cards

on this little ladder. 

My old quilt stocking.

I adore old and new quilts,

so whenever I come across something made out of 

old quilt pieces it is hard for me to resist not to buy.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour 

through my 

Christmas decor!?

How is your Christmas decorating coming along?

Thank you so much for stopping by,

hope you have a wonderful

Holiday Season!

Diana

Card for a Hero!

Hello 

and

Happy Veterans Day

weekend

to everyone!

Sorry I'm a bit late posting this 

Veterans Day Card 

but it was a last minute project

and I wasn't quiet sure it would get finished in time.

But here it is, my card for my "Hero's",

my wonderful husband, who served over 20 years in the US Army

and our son who decided to follow in his Dad's footsteps!

So proud of both of them!

 The card is a double Z fold card.

Boots and little dog-tag were cut with the

Cricut cartridge "Stand and Salute".

The stamp "Hero" is from "Paper inspirations". 

 Soldier with Flag came from the Stampin'Up! set

"The Free & the Brave".

 On the back of the card I wrote:

"Real Heroes don't wear Capes!

Real Heroes wear Dog Tags and Combat Boots!"

To all the Veterans out there

"Thank you from the bottom of my hear

for your courageous unselfish service and sacrifice!".

  And at the end, a few more Fall Pumpkins.

 This little pumpkin trio will be a gift for a very

special person,

my sweet daughter-in-law,

who is celebrating a birthday this week!

Aren't they adorable?

Well, it's time to quit the pumpkin production and

start thinking about Christmas.

I know, how crazy is that but

I hate to tell you, it's right around the corner!

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Veterans Day 

to all the Heroes out there!

Diana

Happy Halloween!

Hello everyone

and

Happy Halloween 

to y'all!

I'm not sure about it all,

but with temperatures in the 80th for

Trick -or-Treating we might have to put those treats

on ice or they might melt before they make it home!

Anyway I'm not complaining, 

enjoying every bit of warm weather we can still get 

before the Brrrr... season starts.

I haven't been overly creative the last few weeks,

just trying to get all my started projects finished 

before diving into something new.

But I added one more little thing to my 

Halloween decor,

a little skull frame.

 Very easy to make, frame and stamp came out of Michael's 

$ bins and the paper is just a piece of scrap I had laying around.

 While digging through my Halloween decorations I came 

across this little door-hanging.

WoW, it sure is ancient, I made it when the boys were

still little and I thought I should try my hands on quilting.

I confess, it was a very short lived experiment and 

the little Jack-o-Lantern hanging is all I have to show for.

Heads off to all the quilters out there, I admire your talent!!!

And last but not least...

 ... Hurrah...

... it's finished!

My little afghan is finally done!

Time to snuggle up under it, well, 

I might have to wait for cooler temps do do so!

Anyway, now I have time to knit more Pumpkins, LoL,

 for my Thanksgiving decorations that is!

Hope you enjoyed looking around!

Have a Safe and 

Happy Halloween!

Thank you so much for your visit!

Diana

Pumpkins, Pumpkins...

Pumpkins everywhere!

Good Sunday morning to y'all!

Well I did a little detour with my

knitting needles this week!

This time through the Pumpkin Patch, LoL!

But it was well worth it,

they are absolutely adorable!

 They are true stash busters,

anything goes, 

because shape or size don't matter.

 Little bitty...

 ... or large.

 From sock yarn to cotton and anything in between.

They are just to cute!

I meant to make them last year but never gotten around to,

but I'm glad I did them this year 

and

I already have a few more colors lined up.

Here are a few links to the patterns I used:

DIY Knit Pumpkins

Knit Pumpkin by Katrina McNerney

and

Autumn Pumpkins by Jan Lewis

I promise they are super fast and easy to make

and the best of all,

you can't just stop with one!!!

Ask my Hubby, 

because there are now

Pumpkins, Pumpkins everywhere!!!

Have a wonderful day

and

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Happy Knitting, maybe "Pumpkins"?!

Diana

It's Fall Y'all and Time to Dress up the Cat!

Good Sunday morning to everyone

and 

yes, Fall has officially arrived!

Now the only thing missing is the 

fall like temperatures! 

But to get you a bit in the mood of the upcoming

Halloween season I actually (for a change) got an

early start on my cards!

"Dress up the Cat"

is for all my cat loving friends,

including me.

 Kitty is stamped with the new Art Impression stamp set "Howl-oween".

 Sparkly pumpkin embellishment.

 The kitty is the spitting image of one of our fur babies,

our Russian Blue "Max",

and "No" we do not dress him up for Halloween,

also he should wear a cape on occasion, 

the way he flies through the house and over furniture, LoL!

The letters for "Boo!" are dies and 

the spider web was cut with Cricut cartridge

"Potions and Spells".

The itty bitty spiders are a punch.

 I hope you liked my

"It's Halloween...

time to dress up the cat"

card.

The stamp set also features a cute dressed up doggie,

I might get creative and make a few cards 

for my dog loving friends!

Last but not least a little update on my

 crochet afghan...

... it's growing nicely...

... just a few more color sets to go.

I have to admit the longer I been working on it

the more I fall in love with the colors and pattern.

It sure will keep me warm on cold winter nights!

Thank you so much for taking time to stop by!

Just curious, do you dress up your pet for

Halloween?

Have a wonderful week,

to next time!

Diana

Flying high!

 Hello everyone

and 

I'm hoping you are having a great weekend!

It's still hot around here

but you can feel a bit of Fall in the air.

The County and State Fair has come and gone,

school is back in session,

the morning air is a bit crisper and

some of our trees are losing their leaves.

I'm not sure I'm ready for Fall or even what comes

after it, I wished summer could last forever!

Anyway,  welcome to September!

September marks not only the beginning of Fall

but is also my uncles Birthday month.

So for the special occasion I created this

Hot Air Balloon card for him.  

 "Flying High"

Image was stamped with a 7gypsies stampset

by Hampton Art.

 Hot Air Balloon was cut with the Cricut  cartridge

"Victorian Romance" in two different sizes.

4 inches for the background and 

2.5 inches for the smaller front one.

 A bit of sparkle.

I know, the Balloons are actually meant for

Valentines Day,

but they were the only ones I could find on my cartridges

and since I'm sending lots of love his way,

they will work! 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Hope you have a great weekend 

and a wonderful week ahead!

Diana

Textured Afghan Planked!

Hello

and 

Happy Sunday to everyone!

Well I did it again!

Yes, 

I started a new project before I finished my old one!

But I couldn't resist, the afghan was just to cute

and I really wanted to try out the pattern!

And best of all, I found the pattern book on our

Libraries bargain table, 25 cents,

now who could resist that?!

 Originally called "Pale Green Textured Blanked"

but after taking inventory of my yarn stash 

I decided on a bit different color theme.

The new color line up.  

 The bargain book.

"Crocheted Afghans" by Melody Griffiths.

Just love how the classic waffle stitch gives the 

afghan that wonderful texture.

I'm hoping to get the blanket done before the weather turns cooler,

oh yes, and my fall cowl too! 

Looks like I'm going to be busy 

knitting and crocheting the next few weeks!

Thank you so much for stopping in!

Hope you all have a great week 

and 

maybe I got you inspired to start a new project! 

Diana