~**~**~Have a Blessed New Year~**~**~

Well 2010 is on it's way out tonight and 2011 is full of possibilities and wonderful aspirations that I hope will be fulfilled...

~Finishing the packing and prep on the house for sale...
~Selling the house to a new family...
~Joining my hubby in Lebanon...
~Finding a new home in Lebanon...
~Starting a new career...
~and whatever else the Good Lord has planned!

I'm dreaming BIG, how about you?  What does 2011 look like in your dreams?  If you don't imagine it and act on it, this year may pass away just like 2010; with nothing different...the same new years resolutions that fade by Valentine's Day.  Make this year your year for dreaming and pursuing whatever you have wanted for so long... Make your dreams be fulfilled in this year...2011!


Blessings in 2011,
Cindy

Have a Blessed Christmas!

 

From my house to yours...May the reason for the season be in your hearts this Christmas.

			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 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.

Peace, Joy, & Blessings to you this Christmas,

Cindy 

Lots of Snow

This is the sunrise & snow that greeted us on Saturday morning behind our backyard.

 It is Sunday evening...There is probably 9 inches of snow on the ground since Friday nite and more expected until mid-week at least.  The roads are slippery & snow packed.  I will just be staying in hibernating... well not really; there is so much more to do!   My hubby left this afternoon for another week at his new job.  The weekends go so fast, but more is accomplished towards preparing the house for sale.  More painting was finished & hopefully will be totally done next weekend.  I continue to pack & plan on where I want to hang some carefully chosen pieces for staging.  Don't want to put many holes in the freshly painted walls, but enough to look inviting.  I am also very picky about what I am purchasing to stage with; spending as little as possible.  I got two mahogany dining chairs to put with an old library table for a dining table, since I sold my oak set with 6 chairs.  The chairs were $5 a piece & I will either stain them or paint them white... haven't decided yet.  They are raw now, I think from being outside??  They have new fabric on the seats, but not a choice I would make so I may try to change that out too.  They are temporary until we move & buy something more suitable.  I will take a few pictures to show you when they are finished.

I got a few Christmas things out, but had already packed some things I wish I hadn't!  Oh well, that is life in the world of moving.  The decorating is minimal but it makes me happy when I look at the little vintage tree on the desk/buffet in the dining room.  It is so hard to be doing all this as Christmas draws near.  I want to do the typical things like decorating and baking, but no real time to do it.  I plan to do just a smidge of baking; some bon bon cookies (a family favorite) & a frosted sugar cookies (I bought the ready made dough), which will be easy & quick. 

Well, I am going to close this for now.  I will post a couple of pictures of my minimalistic decorations soon.  May your preparations for Christmas be bringing you joy.

Blessings,
Cindy  

Packing, Painting, Primping...Moving is hard work!

I am so busy packing that the holiday season is taking a back seat in my life.  Christmas shopping is not an option this year and my craft shows are a distant memory.  My life is getting up to boxes, tape, bubble wrap, paper, & lots of STUFF to pack.  Even though I have given several boxes (of STUFF) to St. Vincent's, I know there will be more as I go through each room.  

I divided lots of Christmas STUFF to give to our kids & re-packed up the rest.  I have a tree I got my hubby at my 1st craft show, all decorated in coke memorabilia.  He loved it & I plug it in every evening to enjoy, by myself usually.  Thankfully I have that or it wouldn't have any signs of the impending holiday.  I have to move a small desk into my dining room to use as a buffet of sorts.  I plan to put up a little vintage white tree I got at an estate sale this summer on top, with some vintage ornaments I've been collecting since then.  I just got into the vintage theme this year.  I promise to take a picture after I get it decorated.  After the holidays, I will be decorating the desk for staging.  

My hubby has already started his job & came home this weekend to the fun job of painting.  We have a cathedral ceiling in our living room, dining room, & kitchen combo.  The whole caboodle got a wonderful paint redo, with the exception of the kitchen and hall to come next weekend.  My brother in law & hubby worked all day painting & I am so thrilled to have that much progress in a single day.  

But now my dear hubby is gone until next Friday night and I am here alone mostly, except for Sophie (our dog) and our cat, Mocha.  Unfortunately Mocha had a stroke a couple of weeks ago & although she isn't suffering, it is apparent that she is going down hill.  She sleeps most of the time (not unusual) and this week has substantially dropped her food & water intake (unusual).  She still loves attention and I call her  ~little old lady~ because she is nearly 17 now.

Our kids stop in & give me a hand and I got out for a few hours of shopping with a friend to buy several items to freshen up the house for sale time... a kitchen rug, candles, donuts...hmmm, not the donuts for the house, for my stress!!  I wish I wasn't a stress eater!  

Last but not least, going to church on Sunday morning is a sanctuary in the stress of my life.  I am so thankful for that!

So I will keep on packing until I am done, paint & clean until I am done, and primp & stage until I am done...I will mark each milestone off my list.  Then ultimately our home will be ready for sale & a new family to come.

May you check things off your lists and feel the accomplishment that getting things done can bring...

Blessings,
Cindy 

Just listed some bottle brush trees on Etsy.com...finally

Hi Everyone!!
I just got some items listed on Etsy tonight.  I had several bottle brush trees, jar snowmen, and other items left so I decided to try Etsy.  I hope it isn't too late in the shopping season to sell anything, but that was my choice to wait for my two shows to finish.  It always takes longer to list things than I think it will take.  I'm definitely a newbie to Etsy as far as actually posting items!!  I will be putting more on in the next couple of days, then call it good.  I have too much to do to take too much time playing with my crafts! LOL!

My hubby left this afternoon to get settled before his new job starts tomorrow.  I HATE goodbyes~I know that I will see him most weekends, but it will be crazy until all is ready for the house to be listed.  Waking up to lots of snow didn't make me feel any better either!  

Here's our snow covered Sophie this morning!

 I have packing, painting, purging, and primping to do.  I staged the home we sold previously and it sold within 6 weeks; in a sluggish market, in a small town.  So I am anxious to see what happens this time.  I love the process after the clutter is gone, painting & blemishes fixed, and the house is sparkling and clean...then the fun begins!  Getting every room to look polished with special touches that make someone imagine them living in this home; that is what I am looking forward to.  Then, of course, a family wanting to buy the house.  I have already been praying for God to prepare that family to discover our home and make it their home.  I can't explain how ~at peace~ I feel about this.  It is only by the grace of God that I have the peace that our home will sell quickly and smoothly.  It will take a lot of work, but be so worth it.  Now I just need the energy and a little sleep wouldn't be bad either!!

I will keep you posted on my progress.  May your week be full of expectations fulfilled!!  I would love that too!!  

Blessings,
Cindy

Bottle Snowmen...Snowmen Bowl Fillers...Snow*Snow*Snow

I thought I'd share some Bottle Snowmen that I made for my craft shows.  I will be putting them in the craft show next week and if I have any left, they will go on Etsy. They have hand molded clay heads and glass bottle bodies, with glitter, snow, a tag, trinkets inside, plus the tinsel scarf with beads and wrapped on wire are charms & beads also. Each one is different. They stand about 4 inches tall.  They can hang, but I prefer them standing, perhaps with a mini bottle brush tree... hmmm, I should have thought of that when I was taking pictures!  I am enjoying photographing my items in creative ways, so let me know what you think.  I love all the comments/compliments/advice that I get from you.  You don't know how much it means to me!  Please keep them coming!!

 

 These are my Snowmen Bowl Fillers that I have shared before.  They are all packaged and ready to give, complete with handmade tag, plus they smell like Christmas!

'

Change of topic...
I am posting this because I just had to take a break from packing.  My house is a mess and I'm sure it will be until I get it totally ready for sale.  I am a little melancholy right now...It was weird to think that yesterday was our final Thanksgiving in this house; our home for nine years.  It was just my hubby and me for the day so it was really quiet.  There are a lot of changes coming and I will just go day by day facing each as they come.  I am excited about moving, there is just so much to do in the interim and seeing how long it will take for me to actually move to join my hubby...oh & all this in winter with more snow than we have seen in years!!  Of course!!  Well I have procrastinated long enough... there is a cabinet waiting to be emptied so I can put it on Craig's List.  Have a great day everyone and try not to shop til you drop.  Right now that sounds like more fun than what I'm doing!!  What am I thinking?? I wouldn't want to be in the insane crowds!  LOL!

Blessings,
Cindy 

Happy Thanksgiving To You and Yours!

May the blessings of Thanksgiving surround you and your loved ones this day, whether near or far away, and bring joy that will continue throughout this holiday season.

Blessings As Always,
Cindy

Well things have changed, but I'm still thankful!

My last post was about how I was going to put stuff on Etsy... well that has changed.  I decided to do another show in a small town, Madras, about 30 minutes away.  I got asked by a very wonderful crafter that I respect to be in their show.  It is "Angels in the Attic"...isn't that cute!  Anyway the show is December 2nd, 3rd, & 4th.  All I need to do is drop off my tagged items & they do all the other work.  Hmmm that sounds good after all the work I did on the last show!  ;-)  So I finished a few things I didn't get done for Snowflake Boutique and am tagging again with the new shows tags.  But that isn't all...

We are moving!  My husband has gotten a job at the town we lived in previously to living here in Redmond.  We will be moving closer to our eldest son & his wife and away from our daughter, and other son & his wife.  Of course, I would love them to move too... spoken like a true mother, I know!  But God can work on that for me, right??  Why does life have to be so hard sometimes?  We are leaving many friends here sad and going back to some very happy friends in the valley.   There will be a lot to do getting the house ready for sale... I know... the middle of winter.  But it will work out; I have faith.  That doesn't mean it will be easy.  I hate the in-between part of only seeing my husband on the weekends he can come home and this time I will be alone.  When we moved here I had kids still at home.  I am really thankful to have our little dog to protect me... I'm not sure how that would work!!  My hubby leaves December 5th to start work & has a place to stay which was is a big blessing.

So this Thanksgiving it will be my husband and I having a ham dinner  (easier than turkey) for the final time in our home of nine years.  I want to cry at the thought.  But I know that life goes on and I loved living in the valley closer to our beloved coast and many more wonderful craft stores, not to mention our son and his lovely wife.  I cried when we left them when we moved here... what irony.  I know I won't miss all the snow & ice here in Central Oregon.  I get to go back to RAIN!!  LOL!! 

Time to pack, declutter, depersonalize our home, and sell it to another family that will hopefully enjoy it as much as we have.  I do have excitement about another place to decorate!  We are selling a lot of our furniture so the possibilities are endless!!  I will keep you updated on this journey...

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and be thankful for everything... even unexpected surprises.

Blessings,

Cindy

Snowflake Boutique is over, now I'm working on putting items on Etsy... I'll keep you posted

My craft show, Snowflake Boutique was the 5th & 6th of this month and it has taken me this long to recuperate.  It is always an exhausting, exhilarating, and exciting week of flurry from set-up to take down.  I sold pretty well.  I have a fair amount of items left to put on Etsy, which I am working on listing.  I wish I had measurements of the room the show was in, but it is huge and empty when we start and the same when we leave... but in between it is transformed into a boutique with over 80 vendors and items put in categories like Christmas, garden, fall, kids, kitchen, etc.  After the lattice, tables, benches, & cloths were ready, I ended up setting  up the whole Christmas area by myself  until someone helped me towards the end of the day.  I must say my favorite Christmas area ended up being the Vintage/Shabby Chic table.  I decided to make one table in that theme when I emptied some boxes with lots of pretty goodies that fit together with my bottle brush trees.  Another vendor did lots of vintage looking snowmen made out of papermache and another did some sweet snowmen with old quilt bodies.  I had to have one of them!  I promised I would share some pictures, but I really need to be careful with other people's items, so here are some far away pics along with the fairgrounds sign with our show...I will post in a few days about my Etsy listings and get it all figured out how to add it to my blog.  I have other things in my life on the horizon that I will talk about later; but for now I send you my heartfelt thanks for reading my blog, leaving me comments, compliments, advise, and just friendship in this land of blogs!  What a joy I receive when I discover a new follower or a comment for me from someone taking their time to write.  I cherish them all and I continue to find new blogs that I also enjoy, learn from, or just take in their *eye candy*!! 

Blessings,
Cindy 

I Won the Home and Heart Giveaway...here it is in pictures...

I won the Home and Heart giveaway "Hands of Friendship" necklace; but it was so much more...  Jody made receiving my package a gift in itself.  From the outside package wrap to unfolding each layer of gifts tucked inside and then another behind that, until I got to the actual prize itself... the necklace.  I have never taken so long to open a gift and what pleasure it brought me, especially when I must admit that I was sick with the flu and feeling rather down.  But I won't go on any more about what treasures my package had; I will show you. I took pictures every step of the way to let you see what I saw as I opened my package from Jody at Home and Heart...

The outside box was decorated with this sweet girl!

Upon opening the outside box, I found a lovely box hand decorated with lots of sparkles, a decorated envelope, and a nice package of black napkins.

Inside the envelope was a handmade card with a sweet not from Jody, behind that was some black checked file dividers wrapped with a ribbon and charms...sensing a theme??

 

 

Inside the beautiful hand decorated box was a black crinkle tissue tied with black ribbon, a flower and a beaded hat pin.

And inside that little package was this fabulous little handmade pocket with buttons, bows, glitter, papers, tulle, and beaded trim, ready to hang all by itself!!

Here's a close up... there are even beads on the wire handle!  Sweet!!

And tucked inside the pocket was this special gift...made by Jody!  Isn't it beautiful??

Please visit Jody's beautiful blog at http://ahomeandheart.blogspot.com/.  You may need to copy & paste this address.

I want to thank Jody again for having such a wonderful giveaway and express how honored I am for winning. I will never forget it and will cherish my gifts.  May you find your gifts in unexpected ways this week.. through a friend's call, a child's laughter, a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or in whatever comes your way.

Blessings,
Cindy 

I Won a Giveaway from Home and Heart! Craft Show set up starts tomorrow...

First of all, I WON A GIVEAWAY!  It really made my day to win and then to receive such a wonderful present in the mail while I was sick.  It was the 'Hands of Friendship' giveaway at Home and Heart.  I will be posting pics when I have a little more time.  All I can say is that I have never took so long opening a package... that's in a good way!! LOL!  I say a huge thank you to Jody!  You must check out her blog.  She is a talented lady and has a fantabulous blog.  http://ahomeandheart.blogspot.com (probably will have to cut & paste this)  I will share everything I experienced opening my giveaway gift from start to finish soon.

Well, all the hard work is coming to a close as I prepare for my craft show this week.  I've been tagging & boxing while being sick.  Yep, I got the flu.  I've been sick for 4 days now and finally over the worst of it.  Set up starts tomorrow and it will be a super-duper busy time for all of us involved setting up, doing the show, and taking it all back down again.  I still have more to do, so I will go for now.  I will have pics to show you of more things I made, plus a few sneak peaks of the show.  

Hope you are having a nice November so far...and here is a couple of pictures from last years fall colors I thought I'd share...

Blessings,
Cindy

Wonderful Wedding and finished spoon project... Comments appreciated!

After many months of procrastination (I blogged about these in June!) I finally got my nesting spoons done and ready to bag!  I really am pleased with how they turned out.  I took advice about adding wire and decided some beads & bling would be fun.  I redid the tags also.  I had even more fun & made some with seashells too.  Now the most fun part... pricing... NOT!  LOL!

Blues...

Greens...

Seashells...

My favorite!

How do you like my full size hand embroidered table cloth I got at a garage sale for $2??!!  It is in exquisite condition and I know I will enjoy it for many years to come.


On to the wedding...
Our son, Nathaniel married his beautiful bride, Jessica on Saturday.  It was a wonderful day with some glitches...for one, the minister was sick & arrived one hour late!  It makes a memory we'll never forget, after the stress of the moment is over!  There always has to be something happen that doesn't go as planned!  The weather was perfect for October and there were many family & friends that shared in Nathan & Jessica's special day.  It is such a blessing to meet people that your children know in their every day lives that tell you great things about your kids!  There were several people who told my husband and I about how special our son is to them.  We are blessed to have a new daughter-in-love to join our family.  It was a day full of love, merriment, making memories, and many blessings.   May your week be filled with such as these...



Blessings,
Cindy

Bleached, Dyed, Glittered, Decorated, DONE!

Well I got my bottle brush trees finished and ready to tag & bag.  This was a very messy project with many days of work involved from start to finish.  I had found the bleached bottle brush trees by googling when I had seen one on a blog somewhere.  I wish I could remember where but there have been a lot I've looked at since and many different versions of how to achieve the bleached/dyed bottle brush look on the green Lemax trees.  I tried different ways to bleach the trees, after ruining a bunch of them, I ended up finally finding a process I liked.  Anyway, I had searched many hours at thrift stores and yard sales to find items to use on my trees.  I had gotten a wonderful surprise one day when I went to a newer thrift store, Humane Society Thrift Store.  There was a baggie of vintage glass bead garland, filled full of several different colors for a price I couldn't pass up!  I had gotten a green string of garland at an antique store for much more for just the one string than I paid for the 6 strings!  I was doing the bargain dance inside... outside I was composed (alright I was smiling from ear to ear)!! LOL!  I also had gotten several packages of vintage laces, again stuffed full.  It was a wonderful day in my neighborhood!!  When I saw online how much the garlands go for I nearly fell over & bonked my head on the computer!  So started my endless search for more vintage items.  I got more goodies along the way and found old thread spools to use as bases.  I hadn't seen any trees on spools like that anywhere, but that doesn't mean someone hasn't done it...but I like to think I thought of it in my own little crafting corner.  If someone else has, I would love to see them.  So after many hours of bleaching, dyeing, glittering, and decorating...I finally finished my sparkly trees.  I had decided when experimenting, that less is more.  The trees alone without decoration are pretty enough, but the added vintage was icing on the cake.  I'd love to know what you think.  I wish I could capture the lovely glistening glitter on pictures.    Here's my trees that I plan on putting in the Snowflake Boutique in November...and maybe a sneak pre-sale...

These are 8 1/2 inches tall.

These are 4 1/2 to 5 inches tall.

More 4 1/2 to 5 inches...

These were the tops of the larger trees I ruined... I salvaged the tops.  These are 5 inches tall.

I loved the blues together (4 1/2 inches)

These are the baby ones... 3 to 3 1/2 inches tall.

My baby pastels.

All glittery!

Well I guess that I need to get on to the next project.   I am working on the spoons with nests that I had on a previous post.  I'm adding beads...the beads are a nice added touch that was recommended to me by fellow bloggers.  Aren't online friends wonderful??  :-)  I'll post pictures when they are done too.  Here's hoping you are accomplishing whatever you are working on, whether it is crafting, decorating, or your hearts desire.

Blessings,
Cindy 

Working on lots of goodies for upcoming craft show...

In a few days I'll re-post with some pictures.  I have been really busy crafting, which I'm sure I'm not alone in that activity!!  I am the Jury Chairman for the Snowflake Boutique here in Redmond, Oregon.  We have had a lot of new vendors with some really beautiful and creative things.  I'm going to have a hard time resisting spending money on other people's crafts!  We have two more juries and 3 more meetings.  The show is at the fairgrounds here on November 5th and 6th.  We will be very busy setting up for 2 1/2 days before the show, working during the show, and then the take down on Saturday at 4pm for a couple of hours.  The final chore is counting a & organizing all the tags for checks to be made.  Then the whole process starts again...  But for now I craft!  Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Blessings,

Cindy 

Life happens sometimes

The past month has brought many things that I don't necessarily want to deal with, but I can't just run and hide.  I won't dwell on the hard times in this blog, but touch on them.  I have thought many times about writing a new post, but just couldn't bring myself to take the time to do it, to create one, to sound positive & bubbly when I just don't feel like it.  I have read other blogs that the blogger got comments that complained about them sharing health issues or some other woe.  The commenter only wanted the fun crafting ideas or decorating designs.  That is sad to me.  If we can't share our ups & downs then we are denying they exist...a perfect world.  Just be happy!  But life isn't like that.  Yes, there are joys, but there are also sorrows.  If we only had wonderful moments in our lives, I think we wouldn't appreciate them as much as when we also have tough times.  That isn't to say that heaven should have sorrows!!  We will be in a totally different realm of understanding then and this world doesn't compare to that.  I think that sharing our ups and downs in life gives other people going through hard times a hope that they couldn't get any other way... a knowledge that they are not alone.  Sometimes sharing a problem can bring an answer or a snippet of help from another person who may have dealt with the same type of pain or sorrow and discovered a solution in their journey.  

Angel Sculpture in Newport, Oregon

I hurt my back this summer and after an MRI discovered that I have 5 bulging disks, two major and pinching a nerve.  This causes back pain and pain radiating down both my legs.  Walking or standing for more than a few minutes brings more pain.  I had a epidural injection hoping it would help my pain, but it didn't help much.  I also have seen a chiropractor twice to try to help also.  That has caused more pain.  I am trying to prevent surgery at this point.  I am waking up about 2:00am every morning in pain and then am restless the rest of the night.  I am using that time to pray for others and for answers about what I should do about my back.

I also have an uncle who is in the process of dying.  He is my mother's last remaining brother from a family of 5 children.  I live several hours away and just try to be there for my mother with long talks on the phone.  

Our middle son is getting married on October 16th.  His fiance & our son have done most everything themselves so it has been easy for my part.  But I will be getting the house ready for company.  All the while I am crafting for a craft show November 5th & 6th, plus I'm the jury chairman for the show.  I have 5 meetings left, then a 4 day marathon of setting up, the 2 day show, then taking down.  There are other things that I won't go into that are also going on.

All in all, I know that God is with me.  His Love Never Fails!  I know that there is a reason that I am going through this and maybe someday I'll know why.  

So now you know my story as it is right now.  I will continue on making my way through each day and thanking God for my many blessings.  There are always blessings to thankful for, even in the dark times. 

Blessings to You & Yours,
Cindy

Summer is already over... It is September ~some memories from my summer~

September is here!  Where did the summer go?  It seems like yesterday that I was planning all the camping trips, get-together's with family, our son's graduation from college, our 33rd wedding anniversary,  my trip to visit family & friends, besides all the fun shopping to find new treasures, and start my holiday crafting.  Now it is time to focus on our middle son's wedding in October,  my holiday boutique in November, and off course the holidays!  Whew!  Time is going too fast for me and the older I get, the faster it goes.  I thought for today, I would share some of my summer moments.  One last look at a fun-filled, busy summer full of memories I will cherish.  Was your summer as crazy as mine?  Were there unexpected trials or triumphs... or just lazy days of summer?  I know that some things are better when we look back on them.  We can forget the arguments over silly things that at the time seemed much more important, the heat that made me miserable while waiting for graduation to start, the uncomfortable silences with family that sometimes we have, and any other things that get in the way of pure bliss at just doing something we had waited so long for...that is life.  Nothing will ever be perfect and remembering mostly the good, will somehow take some of the pain away from the hard to handle moments that we all have.  May your blessings be many and your hardships few...

summer flowers

sun thru the trees

Oregon coast

sunset on coast

4th of July traveling memorial

sunset after the storm at home

some crafting done!

treasures

travel thru the mountains...

birthday roses from my wonderful husband!

flowers from a BFF for my birthday

smokey skies from fires

Lighthouse in Bandon

A little frog visiting my front porch

Blessings,
Cindy