These are mini houses that GABY got me hooked on! She sent me some and I made templates from them and created 5 for her in return and also some for birthday and raks! So, they are such fun! Lining them up to make a whole city scape would be fab! They are quite small, ranging from 3 1/2" longx 1 1/2" wide to the smallest at 2"x1"wide. Very neat small format!

Winter Wonderland!
We got another 6 1/2 inches of snow last night, wet and heavy and coating everything! I know... I am snow grump, but I did have to stop and get some pictures to share with you, because I will admit it is very beautiful and wintery! :0) I love sharing these on my blog, because I have friends visiting here with children who never experience snow and I wish I could take them outside here to show them, but since I cannot, it is fun to show them via the net!

Even the ducks are enjoying the view! Hope you do too! Click on the pictures to see them BIGGER!

I host a cookie exchange at work! This year we had 9 participants! Here is a platter of the results. There are two platters. Each participant makes one dozen of their type of cookie for everyone playing. So this year, 9 dozen cookies. Then I swap them out and we come home with these pretty cookies, and recipes are included! This year there were:

*shortbread fingers with candy tips (4 and 11 o'clock)

*raspberry sugar cookies (middle)

*peanut butter blossoms (7 o'clock)

*peanut butter truffles (9 o'clock position)

*bourbon balls (near 6 o'clock)

*angel whispers (lemon sandwich dusted with powdered sugar) scattered

*cut outs stars, candy canes, trees and ginger bread men

*pistachio sandwich cookies (1 o'clock position)

*pecan fingers (12 o'clock position)

They all look and smell great! Aren't they pretty all plated up! :0)

Belinda is hostessing a fun ICICLE DOLL SWAP! She started these creative beauties.....see link...

http://belindaschneider.wordpress.com/icicle-doll-swap/

Anyways, Belinda is very creative and she stated these with template, instructions and all and now is having a three for three swap, sign up by the 20th! So there is still time if you want to play, they are due to her Jan. 1st though! So these are my contribution! Wheeeeeeeee, great fun making!

I wanted to finish them today so I could get them into the mail for her! You never know with Christmas how fast things are moving! So they are off to her tomorrow! All the way to Germany! :0)
THE PACKERS won today and that always makes a great finish to my day! HURRAY!

Tomorrow is a naughty word....yes, you guessed it ......MOANDAY , so I am off to enjoy the last free time of the weekend! Hugs,Patti

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1205721762

This is hilarious! I put AMBER in as an elf! Just go to the link and you can create yourself or any family member (that you have a face photo of) to be the elf......and send it to friends in an email! VERY cute, ENJOY!!!!!!!

Here we are .......snow covered! As much as I really do not enjoy snow anymore(it represents work....shoveling before and after work etc.) the lake was a beautiful sight today, the sky was PURPLE and BLUE and it was amazing over the water! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the winter wonderland view! Booooohoooooo !Hehehehe! We are expected another 5-8 inches tomorrow! MAKE IT STOP!

My sweet Niece Sarah is in town for a visit from NC! So this is Earl, Sarah and Amber today as the snow began to fall! :) That made Sarah smile, as she has not seen snow for about 7 years! It was great seeing her! Her Brother Aaron, Wife Cat and baby Lincoln were here last week, and I did not get a shot of them! :(

Take my word for it, they are all beautiful!

Hugs,Patti

These are deco pages for a Fall colors and texture deco! I had fun doing these pages! I did layers, of paint, foreign text papers, more paint, rub ons, stamping, dimensional paint, copper tape, flowers and brads. Click on the picture to see closer! The images are some of my favorites from the artist Bourgeureau. Beautiful images for sure, that touch my heart! Quotes are added and then they were complete! Thanks for looking! Hugs,Patti

Today, Amber and Anthony and Earl and I got the tree up! It was my idea this year to make room for it in our FAMILY room, where we sit most of the time, rather than the living room! I like it here! The kids choose the big red bulbs, which look great at night now and the fun mixture of ornaments from handmade Amber ornaments from when she was little to bought, and made by friends! Very fun! Looney Tunes tree skirt and all! The St. Nick is something I stitched years ago and the wooden tree there is my card holder in waiting! :0) Things are starting to look festive! YES yes!

This is my art for the SHAPE round robin deco!This is a tag shape very fun! She opted to have everyone art on a back and front and it will open like a book so when it is open, you see both pages from the same person....looks beautiful this way! I used lots of favorites here, lots of stamps, inks, oil pastels, images and quote, some dimensional paint around their heads flowers and wings OF course....heheheeh! The quote says, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer,and give strength to body and soul alike." Just a beautiful quote I think! Images by PaperWhimsey http://paperwhimsy.com/ ....go see her site,she has lots of beautiful sheets! Happy Sunday.......GO PACKERS!

IGNORE THE HAIR NETS! No one looks good in a hair net! Hehehe! Cathy came up with a great idea for one of our older customers at work! He lives alone and is just the sweetest man, but has deteriorating health! Cathy got a small table Christmas tree for him and a FRAME ORNAMENT and we took a picture to put in it! He speaks Polish to us when he comes in, with his son to visit us and he just loves us all! We treat him with special tenderness and love of course....how could anyone NOT!
So here we are blowing him kisses and I am not sure which picture we will use, but either one will make him smile! That is all we hope! From left to right is Julie, Cathy, Me and then Mary in front! Hurray! Heheehhe! Just plain fun! :0)

This is a deco for a SHAPE round robin! The heart shape was great to work with! The pages are fabric. The first is mutliple layers of fibers, threads and material under netting and stitched down free motion with a fabric image on the top! The next page has lots of my favorites (the owners request) of flowers, butterflies, lace, rhinestone brads and cute girl images! :0) The owner will love this booklet , because having the opportunity to see everyone's artwork in person is amazing and inspiring!

I get so happy seeing pictures from friends and their lovely families and children! It just brings such life and love to the emails from those I have met! This is a sweet friend Marilyn and her handsome son David! Of course I am not sure he would appreciate the hat (not the coolest for a guy his age)heheheh, but he looks adorable here with his Mom, Marilyn, and the quote reads..."The child must know that he is a miracle,that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been,and until the end of the world there will not be, another child such as him." I did a bleached background, it is truly one of my favorite tecniques and then added overstamping and some chalked colors to give a very cheerful and fun setting for the happy picture of them both!Hugs,Patti

This is a sweet tag book I worked on for a friend and her theme is Christmas.....it was neat getting into the Holiday spirit! :0) I know it will be here before we know it! Christmas FuN! Believe, Imagine ALWAYS! Hugs,Patti

Halloween Fun! At work today, we girls decided to be RETIRED HOOTERS girls! Haaaaaahehehe, big hanging low bbbbbbbballoons! I made the t-shirts so we would look like members of the same team! Hehehe! Mary is on the left, Me, Julie and Cathy!
This is Julie and her sweet Grandbaby Ethan (Curious George)! Ohhhhhh he is a dollie! And you are right......Julie is a GREAT lookin' Grandma! She is a doll too!

It is hard to make change with those TWINS in the way! :0)

A bit more than any of us would EVER wish for! Hahehehehe!

Steve works for us at the restaurant, doing tables and trays! He was in the Halloween spirit too!
We had a laugh filled day!

If you recall......last year we were the LUNCH LADIES and this topped that I think! Customers were roaring!!!!!!!!!! Too funny! Happy Halloween!

Muahaha, here is our scary witch for this years carved pumpkin! She has a ggggreat evil nose (the stem of course) and the rest is carved and some fun added hair and hat too!
Don't be afraid! BOOOOOOO!

Fall colors here are just about past their prime, but I wanted to share some of the beautiful and inspiring shades that God has graced us with the FALL! Enjoy!
Ohhhhhh, the eagle is a carved tree some people have in their front yard.........awesome!!!!!


I did not carve this.......it is in some people's yard, but it is an amazing eagle........I would stain it if it were me........:0) I would love this in MY yard too!

Christmas Ornaments for a swap! These are little fabric ornaments with a ribbon hanger and leaf embellishment at the bottom! They are light and should hang on a tree nicely! :)

These are ATCs for a swap! Images from paperwhimsey.com .

This was an artist choice, so I just used one of my favorite colors and made them according to what felt fun to me! Some zig zag stitching edges them and the quote is about friends! :0)

I've been tagged
I've been tagged by Patsy, now I must do the dirty deed (hee hee) and post some information!Here are the rules:1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird. 3. And tag others........I will save you all the agony......hehehe!
So here are my 7 random and/or weird facts:
1. My favorite season is FALL and I enjoy seeing the change of colors, the temperature and carving pumpkins, caramel apples and ALL the parts that make fall spectacular!
2. I am most appreciative of my artful friends who understand and join me in my art adventure......understanding the obsession and FUN of it all! :) YOU are all great!
3. I secretly(and publically) wish that I did not have to work so I would have all the time I wanted to art and play, cook and clean even.......yup!!!!!!!! I would enjoy it all much more!
4. I miss my dear(Shi Tzu doggie) Buddy who I lost a year ago in November! :(
5. The internet surprises me daily with wonderful & kind people who share their talents with me in one way or another, I am a complete stranger really to them, yet they find the heart to do this.........and that is just another sign that the WORLD is still a loving place!
6. I absolutely ADORE CHEF GORDON RAMSAY---I watch his shows and would LOVE TO MEET HIM in person! What a guy!!!!!!!!
7. If things keep going the way they are, I may have to vote for Steven Colbert for President! Hehehehe!
There ya go!!!!!!!! Hope that was entertaining and a little insight! :0)

Muaaaahaha! Time for a Halloween ATC Swap! Debbie and I found some great dimensional witches hats stickers and these cool spider stickers too.....which helped me to get my Halloween ATCs rolling! I got these finished tonight, because I just could not stop! Now my eyes are tired, time for a rest! :0) Weekends are such fun, becaus there is time for arting!!!!!!! YES!

Debbie and I had quite the day! :0) We arted like wild women and got lots of Christmas Tree ornament pillows partially done! Debbie took these to add RIBBONS and some special embellishment touches and they will be gifties for family and friends and a fun ornament for the tree! Neat right? Poor Debbie, she said I was a pretty bad slave driver! Hehehe, they tell me the same thing at work! But this was supposed to be a play day! We had a ball really and were covered in threads and the floor was too! Such fun!!!!!! Here is what we got done enough for her to take home, there is another small batch here too to be finished up! We shopped and went to a rummage sale too!Oooooooh the fun! Thanks Debbie!!! <3

Debbie took me to Hannah's today!http://www.hannahs.com/about/default.htm
They have classes and neat stuff everywhere! I loved it, it is in Illinois. What a fabulous store! Wheeeeeeee! Debbie got me this cool mini-mask! Opposite a stencil is the easiest way to describe it! You are shading everything but the mask! Anyways, Debbie and I said we'd trade atcs using it! This is the atc I made tonight! I wanted to try it just on white to start! I think it will be pretty on different things as well! You can use paint, ink , etc. on it! It is removable and reusable! It was a fun day, as it always is with Debbie! <3