Happy New Year!

Here’s to the bright New Year, 

and a fond farewell to the old; 

here’s to the things that are yet to come,

and to the memories that we hold.  

(Author unknown)

Ring in the new year safely, enjoy those you love, and hopefully steal a midnight kiss!

Happy New Year,

Laurie 

What's New

What's new for you in 2011?

Some of my goals for the new year include:

Eat Clean

Work out consistently

Open an etsy shop

Spend quality time with extended family

Spend more time in the studio

Save more

Finish home decor projects and start some new ones!...

Looking at beautiful images is a great way to find

inspiration for completing those projects.

    Here are some of the trends I've come across for

home decor in 2011...

 

From Ikea...

 House and Home...

A little purple...

A bit of blue...

A splash of color...

Beautiful neutrals...

What do you hope to accomplish in the new year?

May 2011 find you chasing new dreams and living life to the fullest!

Laurie

Image one - House Beautiful Magazine

Images two, three, four, five - Ikea

Image six - House and Home

Images seven, eight, ten, eleven, thirteen - The Bella Life Blog

Image fourteen - Restoration Hardware

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

xoxo,

Laurie

Playing With Words

I found the coolest thing!

It's called Wordle

If you're a wordie like me, this is for you!

 

Just type in a bunch of words press go and this is what you get...

I chose words that have meaning in my life. You could do the 

same or choose words to a favorite poem, story, song etc. Here is part

of The Night Before Christmas story...

Take a few minutes out of this crazy time of year and

try it! It might keep your kids busy for awhile too! 

Click here if you want to try it...

Careful, it's addicting...

Have a great week,

Laurie

Christmas Wishes

If you could have anything said Santa what would it be?

hmmm... let me see...

Maybe a set of these.

 

 

How about wine of the month.

A stack of these please.

A pair of these.

 

 

 

Or these.

 Or this.

Hand-scraped hardwoods would be nice.

Maybe something for the house.

 

1.  Le Creuset - Caribbean Blue Round French Ovens

2.  William Sonoma Wine Club

3.  Vintage Grainsacks

4.  Born Boots

5.  Duck Shirt

6.  Handscraped Hardwood Flooring

7.  Restoration Hardware- chair, bedding, sofa

I went over my list with Santa and he said...

No problem!

Worthy Goods Giveaway Winner!

My last post had a link to our Worthy Goods blog...

The link took you to a little cork counting guessing game.

The closest guess and winner of the stocking is...

Kim of White Whispers 2 u !!!

Kim's guess was 278 corks.  The amount of corks under 

the cloche was 318...

Congratulations Kim and many thanks to all who played along with us!

Merry Christmas!

Stocking Love and a Giveaway!

Happy...Happy...Happy...

creating and being in a creative space makes me very Happy...

Projects for the week included filling a custom order for five lovely Christmas stockings.

The only criteria given was for two long and three short fat stockings all in varying shades of taupe and white.  I had already designed the long stocking pattern but needed a short fatty.

Here's how my design process works.

1.  Visualize - I try to see the finished product (in my little head) before I draw or cut.  This helps me to know where I'm going with the design.  I also try to picture each step from design to completion.  I like to use my seam ripper as little as possible :0)

2.  Draw a pattern on freezer paper.

3.  Sew a mock up out of muslin.

4.  Make adjustments to mock up.  I ended up making three different sizes before I liked it!

5.  Choose fabrics.

5.  Cut out, pin and sew.

6.  Pop a favorite holiday CD into my laptop.  This happens to be Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.  I can do this once the process is in full swing...  nice...

7.  Decide on a cuff design and choose the trim.

8.  Kiss them all good bye and send them off to their new home.

Another part of my week was spent filling a custom order for two of these...

This may be an all time favorite Worthy Goods stocking!

Because of this...

Debbie and I have decided to give one away!

Head on over to our Worthy Goods blog to enter.

worthygoods.blogspot.com

I hope you win!!!

That's a wrap!

The long weekend was great...

Thanksgiving brought frigid temps in the NW,
but that didn't stop my crazy family from hosting
our own private Turkey Trot!

Young, old and somewhere in between met at our designated park at 9:30am for the annual Turkey Trot.  We usually run a formal race complete with tee shirts and entrance fees, but opted for a more laid back race this year.

My brother-in-law, Stuart was in charge of the course...

The course was set up for runners and walkers...

my sweet mom and equally sweet sis-in-law, Nancy

my brother Tim, and niece Becca

my sister, Sis... bringing it in!

The best part of the race...
homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls and hot coffee waiting at the finish line!

Chelsea, my amazing daughter was in charge of the cinnamon rolls.  You can get the recipe on her blog, by clicking here...
My hubby was sidelined by a flu bug, but rallied enough to brew the coffee (a key element for the participants at the finish line!)

Seemingly simple things turn out to be favorite memories...
Oh, and Thanksgiving dinner was great too!