My Resolution

My resolution for 2010 is to paint more!

This past year I only did 2 paintings!..I can't even believe it.

I did a few other projects in which I painted but still, 2?...no good. lol

We had to move twice this year so my painting just  kinda took a back seat.

The 2 paintings I did do in 2009 though are my favorites so far.

This one I did back in February:

It's very large!

(30" x 50")

 The largest I have ever done, and I really love it.

Sher still needs to frame it up for me, but it will take a lot of wood

so we just haven't got around to it yet.

I know once it's  framed it will make such a difference and

look so lovely  :0) -I can't wait.

This is my latest painting:

(20" x 40" without the frame)

I didn't even plan on painting the day I made this!

...but, voila! -it was born.

I reallly like it. We have a thing for trees, so it fits right in!

I saw a painting like it and it inspired me to try painting one similar

because it reminded me so much of our trip to Muir woods last year.

It now lives above our mantel in the living room,

and the first painting lives in our master bedroom.

I hope everyone has a really blessed 2010, that all your dreams come true,

and that many blessings come your way!

Merry Christmas!!!

MeRrY ChRisTmaS!!!!

It's finally here!

That's both exciting and sad because I don't like it when Christmas ends!

We've passed out goodies to co workers and neighbors

And now on Christmas Eve, we are off to my Mom's

house to make homemade tamales together!

YuM!

We might make some of these for dessert...

Empanadas just like Grandma used to make, filled

with pumpkin or camote (sweet potato)

Even Yummier!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas full of love and happiness!

~Merry Christmas everyone!~

And may we remember the reason for the season.

God Bless.

~My Favorite~

When it's time to pull out the Christmas decorations,

this is always my favorite set to run in to.

It is a nativity set I painted a few years ago.

After each piece was completed I wrote on the bottom what date it was

and the order in which I finished them.

I'm so glad I did this too!

I really admire these hand carved and hand painted Russian

nativity sets, but they can be a little pricey.

When I made this set we were just setting out and didn't have a lot of extra cash

to spend on decorations so I decided to try making my own version.

This is the original nativity set that inspired me to make mine.

It's so gorgeous.

For mine, I just found a pine board scrap that my dad had in the garage, and

traced out the drawings I had made on paper.

Sher then cut it out for me and I painted it!

I did a lot of the detail painting such as the dots using toothpicks.

Here are close ups, and what they look like on the back:

Maybe someday I'll actually get the real set, but for now- I LOVE MINE!

I hope everyone has a really blessed and Merry Christmas!

Our home, Ready for Christmas!

~Dessert Anyone?~

I have a little obsession with sweets.

The ceramic kind mostly..the biggest plus of this obsession

is that they have no impact on my waistline!

Here are a few photos of our home...

Most of my decorations are sweet related!

Here's the dining room:

Would you fancy anything from the dessert bar?

I actually made the little cakes you see on the top and bottom plates.

The tarts I bought.

I also made the topiary, 2 of them... each gumdrop is handmade!!

I also made the little gingerbread house you see in this picture.

I've always wanted to make one but can't stand that all the work will just be eaten away!

So..I made an everlasting gingerbread house out of mdf!

This is the new chandelier that we installed in the dining room,

covered in candies!

View from the kitchen:

In the kitchen I have a little tree standing in the corner.

I LOVE decorating this tree each year, all the ornaments bring

back so many memories..I made all the ornaments on the tree except for the little fruit tarts.

~I know, I'm crazy~

:0)

 I just adore the little cupcakes, cakes, ribbon candies and cookies so much!!

(you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them)

~The Main Tree~

We always get a real tree for our main living room...

That smell is like no other!

We have this strange half wall on one side of the living room

(which drives me nuts), so we placed out tree in front of it with the village sitting behind it in

our "hall" way.

We love mixing colored and white lights.

Who says you have to choose anyway, right?

So across from the village is our bookshelf,

which I display one of my nativity sets in.

We have a few little hangings on the doors around our home,

these were made out of cardboard.

  Our entry:

Even our bedroom gets a little change,

Green toile instead of blue. I'd like to eventually add some more red into the mix

 during Christmas time. Perhaps candy cane striped sheets or something.

Maybe next year..

Well, there it is..our humble home.

I love Christmas decorations because they hide all the things

we still need to change! Taking the decorations down is sooo sad...

so I am trying to enjoy every second of it!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

God bless.

$35.oo Chairs!

New -to me! lol

I found these chairs on craigslist for $35.oo each.

The green fabric is alright and I think I can live with it for a little while,

or until I decide what to re-do them in.

They are over sized,  pretty comfy and

I love the design they have on their backs.

For now they are living on one side of the living room, in

a little reading area :0)

Sorry for the bad pictures, we need a new camera!!!

12 Days of Christmas Quilt and Tree

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided to make this last year lol!

It's a throw sized quilt and sewn very wonky!

I added "me" into it by painting the panels.

I just used some scrap canvas I had, drew out the scenes

and then painted it with fabric paint.

Here's my very crooked quilt!

haha

Here's a close up of the painted panels:

I love the "3 french hens" panel..I just had to add a piece of furniture

into that one since that's what we enjoy building!

Out of these the #6 is my fave because of the cute baby chick :0)

Gotta love #8's apron :0)

I had a lot of fun making #11 and #12

Even though it's all crooked I loved seeing the painted panels

when I brought it out this year.

Here's the tree we started in the master bedroom:

It has pears, birds, and little drums.

I'm working on more ornaments but might not finish them in time for this year.

-So there will be some to look forward to next year!

I'll share our real tree soon and my favorite Christmas theme:

SWEETS!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sher's 12 Days Of Christmas Book

Me and Sher lived in Malaysia for 5 months in 2004.

While there, I had a Looot of time, so I came up with the idea of making 

him a little book for Christmas.

We didn't have much money,

 so I just had my markers and colored pencils to play with. 

I found a 3 ring binder/photo album at our neighborhood grocery store

and a drawing pad.

I actually did this right under his nose! At the time he didn't really know about the 

12 days of Christmas or how Christmas obsessed I was haha.

-So it was easy to do..when he wasn't looking I finished it with the 

"For Sher" page. Then I packed it up to bring home

with us on Thanksgiving, and presented it to him on Christmas.

We bring it out every year and smile at every page.

Every time I look through it I can remember the specific days and what

was going on in Malaysia as I worked on it.

Here's how it came out:

I painted the outside of the album as soon as I got back home, 

then hid it away until Christmas.

Partridge in a Pear Tree.

2 Turtle Doves.

3 French Hens

(I love this one)

4 Calling Birds

(They are all speaking in Russian, his native language)

5 Golden Rings

6 Geese-a- Laying

(This one has a door you can open up)

7 Swans-a-Swimming

(notice the one in the left bottom corner lol)

8 Maids -a-Milking

This one has a door you can open up also:

9 Ladies Dancing

10 Lords-a-Leaping

11 Pipers Piping

12 Drummer's Drumming

Needless to say, this book created a theme for us. So every

year I try to add something to the theme and we have our master bedroom

decorated with 12 days of Christmas.

I have a quilt I made last year to share with you and

I'll also post pics of the tree we have in there tomorrow.

God bless. :0)