It's Begining to Look Like Christmas

What a whirlwind of a Thanksgiving weekend! Lots of fun, food, visiting and decorating! Our turkey day was fabulous! I always enjoy cooking a nice meal for the family. I was pleased to have everything turn out wonderfully! Last year the green beans in my casserole were a little too crisp, but this year I cooked them a little first and that made all the difference.

On Friday I went with my pal Audrey and her two kiddos to a local tree farm and helped them pick out a tree. That was super fun since we've had an artificial tree for so many years now. Oh, the smell of pine! We spent a number of hours decking Audrey's halls and making a big mess in the process!

On Saturday I had a couple holiday helpers at my house, Audrey and Nik! After decorating for a few hours, Audrey and I took off and drove to Durham to meet with Laura Davis of 2 Sketches 4 You. I now design for Laura and Audrey has known Laura from the scrapbook community for a number of years. Luara was in town with her delightful daughter who was playing in a golf turnament. Here we are from left to right; Audrey, Laura and myself.

Speaking of 2 Sketches 4 You...it's another week and another fabulous sketch to play along with. That also means a great prize! This week our sponsor is DoodleFactory who makes adorable rubber stamps. A set of Sakura pens are also part of the prize package. Here is Laura's sketch and my card.

I know it's a busy time of year, but I  hope you can take some time out for yourself and play along with us! Hop on over to http://www.2sketches4you.blogspot.com/ to get all the details and check out all the other design team cards along with the entries for the week. Have fun and good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here at the Martin house the turkey will baking in the oven shortly and we will gather around our table for a special dinner to give thanks for our many blessings. We hope that you and yours enjoy this wonderful holiday and the long weekend.

As is tradition in our home, we will bring out the Christmas decorations Friday and enjoy a weekend of decking our halls. I plan to update my blog each day in the month of December to share these decorations with you along with craft projects, recipes and all the fun activities we participate in. I hope you will join me and I look forward to visiting your blog too so I can take a peek at the traditions and fun things you do.

Cheers! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal!

2 Sketches 4 You - Sketch 40

Look at this cool sketch! This week's sketch #40 is by Kazan over at 2 Sketches 4 You and there's an awesome prize package by our sponsor, JustRight Stampers! Above is my take on the sketch and the beautiful bells stamp I used  is from the JustRight holiday collection! I know it's a short week and Thanksgiving week, but I hope you have a little time for some fun and can play along! :) For all the details and to see some more examples of the sketch from the dynamic 2 Sketches 4 You design team, hop over to http://www.2sketches4you.blogspot.com/.

Last week we had a bonus sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You where design team member Cheryl created this sketch for us to play with. While at a crop last weekend, I made the 'Jolly' card based on Cheryl's sketch. Thanks Cheryl! It was a fabulous sketch!

Crafting Like Crazy

It's already Wednesday! The week is flying by! The painting of our house has finally been finished! Yay! All the rain we've gotten lately put a serious damper on the project! Monday my friend and I managed a whirlwind shopping tour of our quaint downtown. Tuesday was full of errands, the dentist and the post office! Has to be done! And today, I've been a craftin' manic! A lot of holiday things have sold from my Etsy shops so I've been trying to restock the shelves! Thank you to all of you who have purchased something! The support is so much appreciated! Now, let me share a couple of my projects with you.

This is my caroling songbird picture. He was so fun and easy to make! I painted an unfinished wood frame and papered the inside with vintage sheet music. The little bird accent is from K & Company's new line, called Evergreen. I fastened a trio of jingle bells on the lower right hand corner and a bow to the top of the bird accent...done!

This is my Winterberry Wreath I made last weekend. I found these fabulous 15" pine wreaths from the dollar store and decked it out with these lovely berries in varrious shades of blue. The final touches were the silver glittered berry and leaf pick and the wide white grosgrain bow with blue button center. I wanted to keep this, but thought I should list it in my shop since I can't keep everything. And it sold!

This is the last project I'll show you today since I need to get back to it. This barn star is actually rusty metal that I papered with bits and pieces of vintage sheet music. I inked it a bit to make it look aged and then I added tinsel stems around the edges. Another accent from the Evergreen line, a dimensional chipboard sentiment is placed in the center of the star. Lastly, the bow and a jute hanger. Ready for the tree! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my projects!

2 Sketches 4 You - Sketch 39

It's another Monday! I can't believe Thanksgiving is in less than two weeks! Wow! Wasn't Halloween only a couple days ago?

Anyway, you know what happens on Mondays? Another 2 Sketches 4 You design is out which makes Monday a heck of a lot more fun than Mondays used to be! This week Laura made cool new sketch for you to play with and there's a great prize package for the winning card! Creative Cuts & More is the sponsor for the week and they are giving away a really fun Christmas card kit!

Above is Laura's sketch #39 and my take on it which also includes a dimensional sleigh from Creative Cuts & More!

To see the all the goodies included in the Creative Cuts & More prize kit and to get all the details, go to http://www.2sketches4you.blogspot.com/. While you're there, check out all the cards from the other design team members....wowza! Plus, there's a bonus sketch from design team member, Cheryl!

Thankful

We have come a long long way since the pilgrims arrived and learned from the indians how to plant and  fish for food! We have so much to be thankful for, our lives are so much easier! I've been counting my many blessings and enjoyed decorating for Thanksgiving. Here are our first pilgrim couple that I found at Garden Supply in Cary and was fortunate to get at 40% off!

Here's the entire mantel where the pilgrims proudly stand. I love the leaves and rich warm hues of autumn!

If you don't look carefully, you will miss this little bird perched atop a real mini white pumpkin.

Here's the accent table in our foyer decked out with my favorite amber glass pumpkins that we've had for a number of years! Gotta love the fun things you can find at Target! One of my new decorations, also a favorite, is the lighted pussy willow! Saw these at Ivy Cottage in Cary and scooped up a set right quick! They are so unique and have a beautiful glow.

Here's a peek at my decorating crew! They work best with a cup of hot tea a few fun size Snicker bars!  That's all the fuel they require to instruct me on where to place things! Thanks girls! :)

Well, enjoy the holiday! We wish you countless blessings and a wonderful Thanksgiving day feast.

A Snowman Kind of Day

I had a fabulous crafy day with my friend yesterday! I made a whole bunch of Christmas cards and towards the end of the day I realized that a snowman theme was going on! This trio of skating snowman (Jolee's) makes me laugh! Such a cute snow family they are! Paper is old. Did some hand stitched lines and added some very glittery Martha Stewart snowflakes.

This card has a rusty metal snowman ornament I bought years ago. I attached it with a lovely wide satin ribbon bow. Anna Griffin always has the most lovely ribbons! The papers are Fancy Pants, new this season.

This sweet snowman is actually a miniature ornament I bought at Michael's. I just knew he would look fabulous on a card! The papers are old, can't remember off hand who the manufacturer is. That lovely snowflake in the upper left hand corner is a Jolee's sticker...very sparkley!

My last card for you...this snowman is a K & Company sticker. I love the vintage look of him and thought he would look perfect with some old sheet music. I had some Beethoven...does that mix? Oh well! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my snowman card display! Now go craft up a few snow people for yourself! These cards will go on sale in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested. That address is http://www.cardblanc.etsy.com/.

2 Sketches 4 You - Sketch 38

It's a brand new week and that means there's a cool new card sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You! They have the most awesome sketches! And this week you could win a gift certificate for some terrific rubber stamps at DRS Designs! Above is the new sketch and the card I made for it. For further details on this week's sketch and sponsor, jump over to http://www.2sketches4you.blogspot.com/. Hope you have fun and win that certificate! 

I Made the 2 Sketches 4 You Design Team!

Oh happy day! I made the team! Not exactly sure how that happened?!?! I thought I'd give it a go, but didn't think with all the talent out there that I would actually make it! Whoot whoot! I made it! I'm so excited to work on my first sketch! Why don't you come play and see if you can win an awesome set of Sakura Stardust pens and a very cool set of Starving Artistamps. To get a look at these goodies and details go the the 2 Sketches 4 You site at http://www.2sketches4you.blogspot.com/.

Above are the cards I entered for the design team and the sketch for this week. Let's play!