Right Now...

Right now the girls are asleep.

Right now Awesome Guy is snoozing.

Right now even my Boston Terrier is snoring.

Right now I have tea brewing...English breakfast...to drink and also a little to dye some lace and muslin...
Right now I'm getting out a hammer, nail, wire and beads...

Right now I'm listening to Erica's playlist because she said it is great. And it is. Is your playlist great? Tell me and I'll listen to it during my next "right now."

Right now is my time...no distractions, no lovable little girl in my lap, no phone ringing or door knocking.

Are you up right now? Stealing a moment away from slumber to create? Tell me...I'll pour you a cup of tea...here you are.

Enjoy your right now...maybe this will help.

Horoscopes & Swaps

So there is a horoscope on my home page and it actually told me to check my blogs...see? :)
"Leo (7/23-8/22)

If you can, try to surround yourself with people who are down to earth and grounded today. These people have the kind of focus you need right now -- they can teach you something new about how to appreciate the smaller things in life and have a good time doing anything. These mellow types of people have a lot of contentedness in their life, and you could learn a lot from them."

Okay, okay...don't have to tell me twice! :) Hugs to all my blogging friends!

I've joined two swaps that should be a load of fun. First up is Little Tokens of Love Swap from Prim & Whimsy...my partner is the Yester Dayes...how fitting is that?!

The next one is still open if you want to join in...it is super cute because you have to hunt down your eggs to see who gave it to you! Kind of a Secret Easter Bunny...you hop from blog to blog until you find the egg that was sent to you...and in turn find some great new ones! Presented by Viv on a Whim

Okay...I'm off to do what my horoscope says to do! Sure there is laundry to be done, but why mess with the universe? :)

I Won Lisa's Giveaway!!

If you read my blog, you all know that I'm a huge fan of Lisa Lectura. How lucky was I to win 2nd place in her first ever giveaway?! We went out of town and the night I came back, I checked out Mystele's blog and saw that she had one 1st place...congrats Mystele!
I was so excited to think that it might have come while I was away that I went outside in my pajamas at MIDNIGHT to check my mail. My ornament had arrived! I can't even explain how beautiful this is and I KNOW how much work went into it. The print on the fabric is so colorful and the stitchery is PERFECT! I looked at it forever, flipping it over, looking at every bead, sequin, and stitch. And the felt is scalloped, again, PERFECTLY. I have no idea how she did that, but WOW! I love the colors combination too. I was simply blown away!

Mystele did a video to thank her and I thought I'd do the same. I thought I'd let you see Madeline's reaction to it since she is way cuter than I am!

It's now hanging up next to the other blog art I have collected...I love it so much! Thank you Lisa! I am forever grateful for such a treasure!

I totally believe in paying forward, so look for a giveaway from me. A few actually...but you'll see soon!

A Different Kind of Post

I've been on an adventure...did you know? Not an adventure I planned, but one I've taken nonetheless. During this adventure, there were moments of victory and hidden pitfalls that slowed me down. It may have taken more effort than it should have...in fact, it definitely did. In the end, it's those moments of victory that matter most. Like having a healthy Awesome Guy and two little redhead beauties.
Like dressing those little redhead beauties in embellished outfits...a bit of embroidery and a vintage linen tea towel.

And letting them know that any time is a good time to wear a fancy hat.
Like having such good friends that not only understand this principle, but can also share two of the most enjoyable hours with you among old and dusty treasures.
And teaching these fairly new treasures, that no matter what, every girl deserves to be treated like a princess.
We are all on adventures. Sure, there are pitfalls. Sometimes they are hidden and surprise you completely. Don't let them stop you...you never know what victorious moment is just ahead. With moments like that, surely there must be angels among us. :)

What's your latest moment of victory?

Goodbye 2008

Christmas was tough around here...we all got the stomach flu and Awesome Guy had to have surgery yesterday. Everyone is okay now and thank goodness for that! :) We'll be spending New Year's Eve at home this year, as he recovers.

I found a video for you...love this song, and it's the original version too. Okay, so I'm also a sucker for anything Scottish as I hope to get to go there someday. I could spend hours and hours in a pub somewhere listening to a guy like this. I've spent a few hours in pubs around here doing that actually! lol

I want to thank you for being a part of my 2008. I look forward to another whole year with my blogging friends, and I'm so glad to have "met" you all. I also want to wish my sweet real life friend, Lindsey, a safe journey to Oregon...she is moving there today. I love you...thank you for being such a great friend.

Everybody Charleston! :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Blog Fun and Bits of Christmas

I need to acknowledge some awards and tags that I have gotten...I have to say that I'm very fond of all my blog friends and I wish you all a great holiday. My year has been BETTER for simply knowing you! Azul Valentina gave me the Marie Antoinette award...thank you Azul! :) If you love her avatar, just wait until you see her blog! I LOVE her paintings!
Ginger of Loves to Dream is such a dear...she was my first ever swap partner. She links to tutorials and list cool trivia in her posts just about everyday. Thank you sweet Ginger! :)


Pease Porridge of Hot Tamale tagged me with a me-me. It's been a while since I've done one of those! :)

1. In the picture above, the one in the middle is my ABSOLUTE favorite of hers! It's so icy...I can remember the cold snows of PA! :)
2. My ears are super small...they stopped growing when I was little.
3. I long to be a gardener, but I kill everything I touch. lol
4. I wish I could wear dresses like in the 1860's. I did once for a ball, and the weight of it got to
be too much, but it was still fun!
5. I love to dance with Awesome Guy...especially swing!
6. My favorite Christmas song is Frank Sinatra's Jingle Bells. Sa boo ba dobie. :)

Each year, we buy one ornament for Awesome Guy and I, and one for the girls. This is ours...isn't it great?! It's by Dani of Ambitions Design...if you read my blog even a little you know I'm a big fan! I couldn't believe all the detail that went into this...the picture does not do it justice, but there it is on the prime spot of our tree. :) Thanks Dani!
I made this for Awesome Guy's secret santa gift. It's a candle with a personalized cozy. I DO so much love my embroidery machine! :)

I made up some Christmas ornaments using a print of my Santa painting. They are on etsy right now. :)

Before I leave, how about that little bit of Frankie? :)

P.S. I see everyone commenting about how they are taking a break from blogging until the new year. Not me...I'm right here...this IS my break! lol :)

Twas the Night Before Christmas

I'm so excited! This is my first ever treasury! A big thank you to bebeandalice for finding such a neat way to tell this famous story!

P.S. I stumbled across a great drink last night! I'm starting to get a sore throat and our lemonade was a little sour. Too lazy to get regular sugar out of the pantry, I threw the little bit of cinnamon sugar I had left into the lemonade and WOW! was it good! :) Has anyone else ever had that? It actually tastes a bit Christmas-y! Let me know if you try it! :)

Ahhh...the Traditions of Christmas

As with many of you, our house has been buzzing with holiday activity.

There's decorating the tree...

Listening to the Christmas story at the Courthouse Lighting in Prescott...

Stopping by the casino to see the amazing gingerbread houses on display...

Caroling at the retirement home...Carving the pumpkin....

WAIT.....Carving the WHAT??? I admit it. That bit of Halloween got away from me. I BOUGHT the pumpkin with plenty of time, but it just never happened. We were TOO busy. The amazing thing is, this pumpkin never rotted! Not even a teensy bit! I saw my chance to make it up to my girls. We went to work and made an....
ELF-O-LANTERN!!

A perfect mixture of Christmas and Halloween...kind of like this gingerbread house that won a prize in Prescott last weekend.

OR like

This site is great and they just posted all new items at midnight last night.

I'm off to go look...are you?

Santa's Cookie Break

It's tough delivering all those packages in one night! Santa takes a much needed cookie break before getting started again. He's munching down over on ebay. I've been having fun with the metallics and glitters lately...good season to be playing with them! His beard has a tint of glitter and the green is shimmery, but subtle.

So you saw the tree I did for Lil, but I'm having such a hard time with Madeline's Wizard of Oz tree! It's a white tree, with a white feather boa and marabou boa...that much looked good. Then I added red balls with blue gingham ribbon and now it looks awful. :( Definitely not stuffed! So far I've thought of using yellow ribbon for the yellow brick road. Something emerald-y maybe? What do you think?

I'm sure you are all super busy this time of year and have a lot to do on your plates. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for stopping by to visit me! :)

Please help! :0

I can't seem to get my header to show ever since I changed to three columns. Has anyone had this problem before? Would anyone be willing to help me out? Thanks!

A Watched Pot...

Or rather a watched ebay page, never gets any bids. I have 10 items ending today and I'm checking it every 5 minutes. On days it's not ending I check like 4 times a day just because I get to do a little happy dance when I get a bid! lol

It's not healthy though, so I am going to distract myself by sharing some goodies with you!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We went to my in-laws and it was SO nice. My MIL even made pretty butter so you know the rest was great if the butter is pretty! Every little detail was appreciated! :)

Lillian's been practicing on the sewing machine...It tickles me how sweet and crafty she is!

My Christmas angel sold before I finished her...can't complain when that happens! :) Their last name is going to be on the ribbon she's holding...like she is watching over their family. I have time to make one more if anyone else is interested. :)
Last year I bought the girls little trees for their rooms for $5 each after Christmas. I have decorated Lil's so far...she has a Tinkerbell room that I keep meaning to post about.
I used to work retail and was one of the lucky ones that got to decorate the trees in the Christmas department. Lucky until you realize that you have to fit 3000 ornaments on one tree, not to mention push a bunch of stuffed animals in there too! I loved it though...and if there is one thing I learned it is stuff, stuff, and STUFF that tree! I covered the stool it's sitting on with a lace shawl I bought in a antique store when I was just a teenager...love that thing!
I filled the tree up with two feather boas in pink, purple, and white. Then baby pink balls with mint green ribbons.
I took a bunch of extra silk flowers and sprayed adhesive on them before dusting them with pink and white glitter. They were so easy to stick in.
The topper is made from three huge pink flowers and a blue fairy from my party business resting on top. I glittered her wings up a bit too. The tree is on a timer so we'll never forget to turn it on and off. The tree and balls cost me $10 and the rest was from what my mom calls my own "Mini-Michaels" here in the house! lol

Do you decorate more than one tree? Themed trees? What is your most unique ornament? Have fun stuffing those trees! :)

Grosgrain: Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

This little dress is so cute! I hope that I win it for Madeline! :)

Grosgrain: Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!