Happy Anniversary.

Upon checking the calendar today, I realized that through the evening, Feburary 2009 will drift into history, then on into eternity. I somehow thought it would mean so much more to me. Feburary is the one year anniversary of my blog. A year ago I was anticipating where I would be in a year. Wondering if there would be anyone "out there" that would read my blog, questioning if I had anything to say that would be of value to anyone else. Those first few weeks I worried if anyone would want to link to me and what was I going to say next. It seemed like it did not take long before I had made some wonderful blog friends and was becoming part of a community of like minded people who shared my dreams with me and also shared their dreams. It has been a great year I could not have done this year without all of you who share your time with me. You have validated me, commented on my ideas, shared your lives and your hearts with me. I look forward to giving back to this wonderful community. It has been fun and I look forward to the coming year. I invite you to come along, bring your ideas and your wisdom and we will travel the road ahead together.

Feeling Irish

While I am not sure that I can claim any Irish heritage, my grandmother and all of her siblings had red hair. I inherited a bit of that and my husband tells me that I am a blond with a red head attitude. So much for putting people into sterotypes. Anyway, it seems like this time of year every has some type of Irish heritage. I love the differences in people and what they bring to the table as far as tastes, language, interests and beliefs. If you are Irish please know of my admiration for your heritage if not, blend in, wear the green,and enjoy this time to celebrate with our Irish friends.

Keeping Life in Balance

I have posted some photos maybe not as much for my readers, but maybe more for myself. Keeping life in balance, is an issue I think that we all face from time to time. I read many of your blogs, and I take to heart what each of is trying to say about yourself and your life. We are all challenged by life and the expectations that we put on it. Take time to balance your scales of life. Look at how you measure your time. Let us seek after those things that are lasting, measuring ourselves not by others but by how we do our best everyday. Thank you for sharing your life and inspiring mine. Deb

Redesigning Old Jewelry

One of the issues of working at home, is staying motivated. I am in the process of writing a new book on recycling or actually redesigning used and vintage jewelry. I worked on a design team for several years, surrounded by creative people. It was always so nice to get instant feedback on an idea. Working alone means I have to keep myself continually refreshed with visual input. Using the internet helps with some of that. Creativity knows no boundaries. And unfortunately it can come and go with bad weather, lack of sleep, family drama and any other thing that can take attention and focus from the work at hand. Wish me luck as I continue to plow through my project. Here is a pile of jewelry that I am sorting through for pieces that I can remake. I may be in over my head, I guess we will see.

Sharing a Good Thing, Visit Dover Publications

Do any of you like clipart as much as I do? Dover Publications sends out free clipart when you subscribe to their site. If you are interested, click here Dover Publications. They are one of my favorite places to shop for vintage clipart. Check it out!

Yearning for Flowers

I am not sure how far away spring is but I can tell you that winter already seems far to long. I live in Utah and we get a little snow everyday. Most days the snow is not staying on the ground, but we still have many gray and overcast days. Yesterday, Liberty, Utah got 34 inches of snow. Ogden, Utah, which is about an hour from where I live, got 14 inches. We had a bit but the sun came out long enough to melt off the new snow. I am yearning to see the flowers again. I was annoyed with the bees on the lavender last summer and now I wouldn't mind them at all. Thanks for your comments they help brighten these days. Deb

Waiting for Spring

I am anxious for spring. We still have snow, and will continue to have snow storms for a while. I am going to spend the afternoon making homemade bread. I think it will help brighten the day if the family can come out of the cold to the smell of fresh bread.

Ideas from the Free Valentine's Day Patterns

I really had a lot of fun making up these samples. Hopefully these projects will give you some ideas for using the patterns.

Free Valentines Day Patterns (offer expires Feb. 28)

PLEASE MAKE SURE I HAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR REQUEST. Most of the time I can get your address off of your profile but I have had many without them, so let me know and Happy Valentine's Day! Leave me a comment and I will send you the free templates. I don't want to spam anyone so please let me know that you will be interested. If you sign up through my subscription link, my Halloween poster may appear. I am working on replacing that, but in the meantime, you will receive the Valentine Package.

Valentine Blog Open House

Everyone is welcome to participate. If you have a fun idea that you would like to share I will post it as the hostess and give a link so others can come to your blog for say a great recipe for sugar cookies, or a fun way to decorate your front door for the holiday, anything that you would like to share, it is Open House, sort of like pot luck, only this time we will be able to share great ideas. I will be posting all week for Valentine's Day so make sure you come back and if you are not already on my list sign up for the free patterns.

Valentine Ideas for Sharing

I love having creative friends, Kathy made up these adorable paper cones for Valentine's Day gift giving she is sharing them with us. She has invited us to watch her video for making the cones.Insightful Nana.

Insightful Nana also offered to share her wonderful Valentine's Day tags for our Open House. She is a multi-talented lady so make sure you let her know that you appreciate the free downloads.Insightful Nana.

It just would not be Valentine's Day without sugar cookies frosted with buttercream frosting and candy sprinkles. There are so many wonderful sites on the internet that sell decorated cookies. Choosing one to blog about was the hard part so here is a shout out for the Chocolate Bakery.

Valentine Blog Open House

Okay don't panic! I know----there is just one week until Valentine's Day. I am hosting a Valentine's Day Blog Open House. This week I will share ideas and links for making your Valentine's Day a little extra special. With the help of a few good friends, there is a lot to choose from so make sure you check out the links, you won't want to miss anything and make sure that you sign up for your free party favor printables.

Valentine's Day

Just thought I would share some more of my painting with you. These images are available as a download they can be found at www.pccrafters.com They are from my Paper Roses collection by Debbie Crabtree.

Celebrating Valentine's Day

I have always enjoyed celebrating Valentine's Day. I love shiny glittered hearts, pink frosted sugar cookies with candy sprinkles and heart shaped boxes filled with chocolates. It is time to bring out the cookie sheets and get my Valentine's Day gifts put together.

Amazing Valentine Baking

Once in a while you run across something that has the "WOW" factor. I just had to let you all in on this website. I enjoy cooking and baking and the Mad Baker has some really great recipes. Check it out. Mad Baker.

Valentine Blog Party

Make sure you sign up for your free Valentine Blog Party Printables

The (almost) Five Dollar Valentine Gift

Okay here is the finished project. The main supplies cost me about five dollars. The popcorn containers were 2/$1.00. I used one so that is $.50. The balloon was $1.00. The Coca Cola bottle was $1.00. The box of theater candy was $1.00 and the microwave popcorn was 4 pkg./$1.00, I used one so that is $.25. An enclosure card would be between $.50 and $1.00. Skip the card and make your own from paper scraps at home and you have a mini gift basket for approximately $5.00. I finished off the gift by tying it all together in cellophane sheeting. You may want to hold things in place with a little piece of double stick tape. I had most of the trimming supplies on hand. You could save a little bit of money by purchasing a package of cellophane bags at the store for, you got it, $1.00. Cellophane, package shred, ribbons, extra candy and a movie rental card could be added to make the gift closer to ten dollars. Hey I have a great idea-use both popcorn boxes and make the gift for two! Romantic.

Inexpensive Valentine Gifts

Oh course there is nothing like a diamond ring to say "I love you" on Valentine's Day, but if that is not in your budget and you have already found your sweetheart, you may be looking for other ideas on how to celebrate. I stopped into the dollar store and I think I may have found a new source for some of my crafting ideas. I LOVED shopping in there! Our local dollar store has had so many fun things to use for decorating or parties or inexpensive gifts. Here are some of the items that I found recently. Pictured are pink glittered hearts on a pick, so nice to tuck into a bouquet of fresh flowers or maybe just into a green plant. I also found this wonderful shred to add to a gift basket or drop into a cellophane bag with a couple of your honey's favorite chocolate bars. Ummmmm, this really has me thinking. What ever you do make it fun and your local dollar store might just be the place to start. I think you will be amazed at what you can put together for your Valentine greeting cards start at 2/$1.00, so whatever your budget is, you may want to check it out. What could it cost you,$1.00? (ps. My daughter loved the plastic popcorn boxes, We will post the ideas with these tomorrow, so come back. I will have to see what I can do with that candy mold too).

The Holiday Queen

Over the last year I have become blogging friends with Melissa from The Holiday Queen. Melissa is a wonderfully talented woman with a real unusual twist on style. I LIKE IT!

I am always enchanted with her work. I love telling people when I feel I have found a good thing, and The Holiday Queen is at the top of my list. Make sure you visit her for a little "eye candy".
www.theholidayqueen.blogspot.com

More Valentine Ideas

Leave me a comment with your email address and I will send you additional photos of this Valentine's Day Card idea. This card has other pieces linked to it with a ribbon, it looks so cute hanging on a doorknob or hook. Let me know if you like it and I will get you more information on how to make it.