Happy *almost* March!
This weekend I finally took down V's Day decorations at the behest of S. Time for some St. Patty's Irish Flair...

The books are Ireland guidebooks & The Dubliners (and a children's storybook). The painting to the far right is titled, "Irish Mary" & was bought in SW VA in Richlands by a local artist. 2 of the green votives/mugs? I threw in a CE class at UArts and the candlesticks, of course are MM.

It has been a busy busy month!  February is always crazy for me.  Lots of weekend working and definitely draining, focused, intense days at work during the week.  Feb is also a month of many birthdays!  So, it contains some dancing, dinners, present wrapping, and loveliness!

I did have a chance to put up a draft curtain between the livingroom & the "shrine room" or pass-through:

One side is made out of a companion fabric to the front drapes (see...):

The other side is made from a dark dark green (looks brown) heavy wool.

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I also made an Onion Quiche for the first time last week.

The onions were cooked down and carmelized so they were SO sweet!

The recipe is here: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/caramelized_onion_quiche/

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I was lucky enough to pick up a few FREE TICKETS to a show tonight & the orchestra on Tuesday! Yay for free and yay for shows! 

Wishing you warm weather and smiles.

Bye Bye Weekend...

...and hello to another work week and February (almost!).
Here is a picture of the front of the house.  I realized that this picture was missing from the last post.  This was taken the following day, so most of the window sill hearts have melted, but you get the general idea:

We can't wait to rework the front door & paint the shutters...spring/summer maybe.

 I also took fun pictures of snowmen! But alas! I have lost them.  I will instead share this picture from when I was in Chicago a few years ago.  I am in the very center (yes, where I always belong).  The sculpture was above me. Fun!
 

Time flies...

...when you are super busy!

I can't believe it has been nearly 4 weeks since the last posting. Work, work, work, a little play, lots of projects, and a little sickness have made the time fly by.

There are many projects I cannot post as they are still in progress, but here are some fun things we've been up to:

Bathroom Closet Curtain:

We definitely needed this! No one wants to see inside a messy closet. We discussed putting the door back on, but it really got in the way in such a small space. So, a curtain was the solution.

I made it to go with the window curtain I had made over the summer. They are both just made from scraps that I have which is great (and cheap!). The closet curtain I just lined with a lightweight cotton so that it was opague.

Fun detailz:

More fun detailz (this is the high contrast photo):

Here is how it really looks (softer):

I love this pic which was taken looking into the vanity mirror.

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AND...Valentine's Decorations! S and I did take down Christmas Decorations, which would have been sad if not for V's Day fun-time-hearts.

Here is the mantle all gussied up:

I re-used 2 of the fancy candles on the mantle top which were from Christmas and replaced the colored lights in the bottom with white lights.

The heart chains are so fast and easy! I cut out hearts from old give-away magazines at night when I am tired or we are watching a movie. AND sometimes I also use cards that I want to keep (like this postcard from SWH of a llama in Manchu Picchu).

I try to use as many solids or all-over patterns as possible. The heart shape ends up more defined. BUT, sometimes I just cannot help myself - this heart is from a hot air balloon:

Just remember to use a large straight stitch if sewing with a machine (too small a stitch will perforate the hearts).

I strung them on the front windows as well and made a few chains with cardboard to hang vertically. Here they are with my snow-hearts:

I had so many hearts I have hung them around 3 of the doorways downstairs as well! Of course, there is also a heart-shaped red rose wreath on the front door. ^^

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I would also like to give a shout-out to S and his bread-making skillz! Check out this beauty of a homemade Rye Bread (it was as delicious as it was gorgeous):

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Finally, a BIG thank you to SEPTA for not running buses today! I could not get to work, so I stayed home and made a snow village (yes, UA was open, even though there was 15" of snow last night and SEPTA was not running buses...):

Previously, I had made a rhino ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabelle/4348809015/in/set-72157623284799557/ ) and a bunny ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabelle/4229163377/in/set-72157623107400198/ ).

I was looking for something a little different this time around, and was inspired by VanGogh's "The Yellow House" painting:

I do hate the cold of winter, but admit that I love when you get a big pile-up of snow and the next day is warm (like today). It makes for an ideal situation for snow building.

The snow was melting pretty fast from the roof.  I was hit twice! Hehe! I had to work quickly as well to get it all packed down b/4 it melted out of shape.

Here is a side view - you can just see the balcony on the building on the right:

Here is the village white:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2011!

Today's post will not be about the New Year nor about Christmas! Although...I do have a picture of the Jade that I hung ornaments on that I didn't post before...resist! resist!

Our kitty, Her Royal Badness (HRB) or Princess Destroyer (Destroyer) or Bandicoot (Coot) likes to sleep part of the night in our room. Sometimes HRB likes to walk on you. Sometimes she also likes to sleep on your face:

She was one night curled up around S like below. They were both sleeping, so cute!

S was woken because 'Coot was dreaming. In her dream she was running. In real life, she was actually kicking S in the head!

Christmas Part II

A little more cheer for you!

Below is the strange little pass-through room in our house decorated for the holiday. I added the big red shiny bow over the doorway after opening up the surprise gift from Santa on Christmas - a laptop! woot!

I also finished framing the print I had done last year. Great frame that I just painted. The laurel is real, but did not smell strong enough to make a difference from it being artificial. The mini baby blue disco ball hanging down from the light really was a perfect location for it & it sparkles and sparkles:

We also hung the Santa light along the bottom of the side table (how CUTE is that!?) and I used the wreath from the centerpiece (see below) and placed the flowers in the middle. The Christmas napkin holder was also gifted to us & looks great:

I did not take any pictures of the table all set (after all that work!). It was SO busy and it just got away from me. BUT, I did recreate a place setting while doing the dishes this morning:

The BEST part about this place setting:

China is from my grandmother Lucy,

Stemware is from my great grandmother Frances,

Silver is from my great Aunt Marion,

Napkin rings are made from gifted bows from S's parents!

It is a great way to keep those not with you in the holiday.

Here is the centerpiece I made for the table:

The table ended up too narrow for a center piece; I was able to use the components in other places.

As for the napkin rings...here is how that came about...I wanted to use things I had around the studio. I have a jar of red pipe-cleaners that turned out to be perfect, and I went through my buttons to pick out a few that were my favorites:

More of the red bows that adorn the banister were used to make the napkin rings. I used the center bubble and the tails:

I also used the wire that held it together for the buttons.

I had some golden ribbon from taking apart the wreath:

They looked a little large while I was working on them. I knew they would look different on the table. The end result was very festive and lovely!:

Christmas!

The past few weeks have gone by in a blur! This week past in particular. I had off since Monday, but I've been keeping busy!

We now have an artificial tree (gift of J & M, thank you :)
I LOVE ornaments (surprised!?).
This is an ornament from the first year my parents were married (the Currier & Ives):

It just happened to be in the Santa Section!

A great idea is to save gift tags if they are pretty - especially if they are sparkley - and hang them on the tree too!:

And I have a hodge-podge of garland. I made some bottlecap garland, I have a few short strands of red beads, and my favorite is below! A's handmade garland as a gift last year:
I know, enough of the tour of the Christmas tree (I could go on...)!
Let's talk about other decorations, shall we?

I dripped the fans to look like ornament chandeliers! They came out very prettily:

I had made some tissue paper puff balls and also had some strands of beading that I have for another project that added the final touch. The beading is like the garland on a tree - finishes it!

What's that? Want to see the big picture? Surley:

Hang tight! More rooms/holiday decorations will follow shortly!
xoxo

Christmas Decorating Part I

It must be December - the Christmas Cactus is all in bloom!

Beautiful, no?


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We have been gifted a lot of wonderful Christmas decorations! How exciting. I, of course, LOVE to decorate! Yay for Christmas.

So, here are the beginning projects:
Mantle with reindeer. We do have additional lights for the wreath & around the mirror and real greenery for around the mantle which will smell like Christmas! ...coming soon...

Santa is just to the widow-side of the toy soldier. He's hard to get into a picture b/c he lights up so the exposure does not match up with everything else. BUT, here he is so you are not missing out (he's about 4' high!):

And for a bit of the 306 charm, Her Royal Badness has put herself among the decorations (SO bad, but SO cute!):

We were also gifted lots of garland and red bows.

There's no better place for garland than around a banister:

Love it!

December!

Here's my holiday card for my work peeps:
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Eva!

Kitty!

I'm SO happy to welcome EVA to our family :)

She is a Flame-Point Siamese (or a Fire-Point Siamese) and about a year old. We adopted her from a Shelter on Saturday - Morris Animal Shelter at 13th & Lombard (I recommend it).

SO SUPER CUTE! and funny! Cats crack me up.

Here she is getting some cat-scratches:

Here is what happened on the first night:

(so I peak over the bed...)

FLIES in super fast & LEAPS!

Right into my head!

She was SO freaked out and I cracked up for about 5 minutes straight. I couldn't even get out the story to tell S what happened. OMG for real. Poor thing!

But seriously, she is amazing.