Ornament #16 – Denim Trees {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsOrnament #16 – Denim Trees01abedd461d7a079da40d98afeb073fe57a8da0421

I’m enamored with trees at the moment.  In my neighborhood the leaves are ablaze in reds, yellows and oranges.  They truly are breathtaking.  It’s also leaf-dropping time, at least with my trees, so Mike and I raked two bins full of leaves yesterday.  The yard looked really nice for about 20 minutes.  Now it’s blanketed in leaves again.  It is a chore, but I really don’t mind because those trees provide the shade we need in the summer.

0168740db82ba8427c9b316084b8f5e25d472e3b40So onto today’s ornament.  I’m in the middle of putting together a pillow for the dog’s lookout seat in my craft room.  It’s called the lookout seat because it’s where they “look out” through the window and survey their kingdom.  Currently it’s just a converted coffee table, but soon I hope to have a nice cushion to put on top.  I’m making it out of denim scraps from collected blue jeans.  There’s another collection!

01471a5d9f041f962454176f959078092acf0379bd019667daf089e83b08bf5f4f7a7d81bd0b226b1a0d01adfede63840f50d88ffea59a485748e7de69f6b8

 

But I digress…  I gathered my denim scraps, ribbon scraps and miscellaneous buttons and made a trio of denim trees for today’s ornament.  I sandwiched the ribbon between two layers of denim, free-stitched a tree shape and stuffed it with polyester fiberfill.  I then hot-glued the buttons down the middle of the trees.  I think they’re quite charming.

01db46f21c8be50df48fee5dcadde84e610e56d6e201cb082479e5912794676b17f435e61dacb2d496ed01a1b7880e1d263c0c84040cecf0c166b7e45d7726

 

Some close-ups.

 


Quest46LogoItem #38 – Transcribe Da’s interviews

A few years ago I went to see my grandpa (we call him Da) armed with a few pages of questions about his life.  For two weeks, we sat for a couple hours every day while I asked him questions and he answered with wonderful stories.  I have about 12 hours of those interviews in audio files and I want to transcribe them to use in my scrapbooking.


Question of the Day:  Where was the grandest Christmas tree you ever saw?  For example, last Christmas I saw a beautiful tree in the town center of my grandpa’s home town in England.

Grace

 

 

Remember to enter the giveaway – here’s how:

1)  Leave a comment on each day’s post by answering my “Question of the Day”.  The “Question of the Day” will be right above my closing.
It looks like this :: Grace

2)  Over the course of this blog series, you can enter a maximum of 30 times.

There will be Mini Give-aways on the 22nd and 29th days of November.

  • The winner of each mini give-away will get to choose an ornament from the previous week.  For instance, the winner on the 22nd will pick from Ornaments 15-21, the winner on the 29th will pick from Ornaments 22-28, etc..
  • The Mini Give-away winners are still eligible for the Grand Give-away on December 1st.

On December 1, 2014, I will have a random drawing for one (1) lucky winner.  I will contact the winner for their mailing details and will mail to anywhere in the world.

Links to {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}
Ornament #1
Ornament #2
Ornament #3
Ornament #4
Ornament #5
Ornament #6
Ornament #7
Ornament #8
Ornament #9
Ornament #10
Ornament #11
Ornament #12
Ornament #13
Ornament #14
Ornament #15

Picture 260

 

If you asked me which was my favorite Christmas tree to pee on, I don’t think I could choose.

Posted in 10 Things, 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46, Recycling, Repurposing, sewing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Surprise Mini Give-away #2 {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsI want to thank everyone who has taken part in the {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments} Give-away so far.  It’s been so much fun reading your responses and connecting with old and new friends alike.

It’s time for Mini-Give-away #2.  (Here are the details if this is your first time visiting this blog.)

WWMD Dog Paw Winner

Today’s winner of the 2nd mini give-away is: Mary Jane

Congratulations Mary Jane!  Grace

 

 

IMG_3994

 

 

 

I’m so happy for Mary Jane that my ear flipped up!  I don’t want to influence your pick, but the dog-themed ones are awesome.

Posted in 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Homemade | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Saturday Snippets | November 15, 2014

Welcome to Saturday Snippets.  This is where I share links and odd bits of info from the past week.

Passion Planner Graphic1.  Have you heard of Kickstarter?  It’s a crowd funding website that lets people help entrepreneurs fund their enterprises.  I learned about it this week because I helped with a campaign to fund the Passion Planner.  It’s “an appointment calendar, goal setting guide, journal, sketchbook, gratitude log & personal and work to-do lists all in one notebook.” and it’s awesome.  The young woman who created the planner is only 24 and while the planner is amazing, her Kickstarter campaign is off the charts!  On November 3, she had 30 days to raise a goal of $10,000.  She hit that number in 4 hours on day 1. As of today she’s raised over $370,000 – well over 3700% percent of her original goal.  And did I mention she’s only 24!!!!  Such an inspiring story.

Bletchley Circle2.  Series 2 of The Bletchley Circle just became available on Netflix so we’ve been binge-watching it which isn’t as bad as it sounds because there are only 4 episodes.  It’s so good!

 

 

free-fonts-christmas-volume-3-flat-682x10243.  I’ve always been fascinated with fonts.  If you’re looking for free fonts for your Christmas DIY projects,  you can find them here at Elegance and Enchantment. 

 

 

Star Wars Scarf

4.  Came across designer Jessica Goddard of ODDknit made this amazing Star Wars scarf as a double knit pattern, which features both a light side, and a dark side!  So awesome!

5. Guess what’s inside a slap bracelet?


Don’t forget to checkout today’s {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments} post to enter the Giveaway for 30 Christmas Ornaments.

Well that’s all the snippets I have for today.  Have a wonderful Saturday,

Grace

 

 

01b1598367baa05616d9494cd2d10d2c5f13ef8f39_00001

 

 

 

You know what I’m fascinated with?  Everything!

Posted in 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Goals, Knitting, Lists, Organization, Paper Crafting, Saturday Snippets, Scrapbooking, TV & Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ornament #15 – Ribbon Tree {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsOrnament #15 – Ribbon Tree010ccd7ba1435d73e2884d4b2f299fe8f12f810150

Today I foraged.  And when I say “I”, I mean the dogs and I.  We all foraged for twigs in my backyard.  It took a whole 5 minutes to find all the twigs I needed because we have a huge oak tree smack dab in the middle of our yard and it’s twig-droppin’ time at the moment.  It’s also leaf dropping time and soon will be leaf-picking-up time, but that’s a story for another day ;-).

I spotted this ornament on Pinterest and instantly fell in love.  As you’ve probably picked up by now, I have collections.  My intentions are always to use the items in the collections, but more often than not, the collections overtake my intentions and my time.  I collect yarn, Santa Clauses, snowmen and all manner of crafting supplies.  Ribbon is among the crafting supplies.  I find many good buys at garage sales and thrift stores and I always wait for the 80-90% sales at the craft stores.  Over the years, and there have been many, I’ve curated quite a nice collection.

This was by far the easiest ornament to date and I’m really pleased with how they turned out.  The only materials required are twigs and ribbon scraps.

017c16783bf75bdfcb20c7cd0d3f504039813a4de701a36a5c6adc4b6ac76680f5a33a24a896bf7b00b0017e621a4869cd3aee206a3493a5b2b0ae81f121ecSome close-ups

01c386100c6e5723e30291095a2d85fb2c48aaac6001bb803d74bfe165a6b62f3142cad3b60c1766afe9012b18eacbb03dcb829ba4aba111be82695d41a7d8016e5a6c42d3ad898db9cc4f14f882c7f08da11cda

 

 

 


Quest46LogoItem #37 – Work on Project Life every week.

I’ve blogged before about Project Life, the life documentation tool I use.  I also wrote about moving to a digi Project Life, but now I’m back to paper and much happier.  While I use it more consistently than ever, I’m not very good at keeping up to date on a weekly basis.  I want to make it a weekly habit.


Question of the Day:  What is your favorite Christmas or holiday dessert?

Grace

 

 

Remember to enter the giveaway – here’s how:

1)  Leave a comment on each day’s post by answering my “Question of the Day”.  The “Question of the Day” will be right above my closing.
It looks like this :: Grace

2)  Over the course of this blog series, you can enter a maximum of 30 times.

There will be Mini Give-aways on the 15th (today), 22nd and 29th days of November.

  • The winner of each mini give-away will get to choose an ornament from the previous week.  For instance, the winner on the 15th will pick from Ornaments 8-14, the winner on the 22nd will pick from Ornaments 15-21, etc..
  • The Mini Give-away winners are still eligible for the Grand Give-away on December 1st.

On December 1, 2014, I will have a random drawing for one (1) lucky winner.  I will contact the winner for their mailing details and will mail to anywhere in the world.

Links to {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}
Ornament #1
Ornament #2
Ornament #3
Ornament #4
Ornament #5
Ornament #6
Ornament #7
Ornament #8
Ornament #9
Ornament #10
Ornament #11
Ornament #12
Ornament #13
Ornament #14

01f94b0bcc1240b96555a4774ceeb3feaec69e6ee4

 

 

Foraging is what we do best – right after eating and sleeping and playing.

Posted in 10 Things, 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Accountability, Backyard, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Project Life, Quest46, Repurposing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Ornament #14 – Puppy Face {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsOrnament #14 – Puppy Face01b62d47a077291a7c03a9fb05fc51a54c4c80b626

Well I think I have the stitching bug.  And the felt bug.  And, of course, the ‘make every conceivable dog-related ornament there is’ bug.  I’m even considering re-organizing my embroidery floss stash by color.  More on that in a later post.

For today’s ornament, I first sketched the puppy face onto cardboard to make a pattern.  I needed to make the ears separate from the face because I knew I would want the ears to be a different color to the face.  I cut the base out of the 019ef700328be2599c0cf4216dee8025ea69ccb65fsame dark brown color as the ears, cut the ears separately and then cut the face out of a  lighter brown felt.

In stitching the separate pieces, I used a running stitch to attach the face and ears to the base in the same color floss, but switched to a dark brown floss for 011be5bc7c6d7ee8777c1111d581cd38f22e341c24the eyes, nose and mouth.  For the mouth and nose I used a back stitch and for the eyes I made them using french knots.  I was nervous doing the french knots, mostly because I remembered not being very good at them years ago, but they seemed to work out fine.  Time has a way of working things out.

I attached a pink button bow and ribbon to the back of the puppy face.  I think I’ll be making 3 more using the colors of my own dogs.


Quest46LogoItem #36 – Learn to knit socks.

I have always wanted to learn how to knit socks.  It’s an area of my knitting skills that is woefully lacking so when I found this excellent tutorial from VeryPinkKnits, I knew I had to give it a go.


Question of the Day:  What is your favorite holiday drink?

Grace

 

 

Remember to enter the giveaway – here’s how:

1)  Leave a comment on each day’s post by answering my “Question of the Day”.  The “Question of the Day” will be right above my closing.
It looks like this :: Grace

2)  Over the course of this blog series, you can enter a maximum of 30 times.

There will be Mini Give-aways on the 15th, 22nd and 29th days of November.

  • The winner of each mini give-away will get to choose an ornament from the previous week.  For instance, the winner on the 15th will pick from Ornaments 8-14, the winner on the 22nd will pick from Ornaments 15-21, etc..
  • The Mini Give-away winners are still eligible for the Grand Give-away on December 1st.

On December 1, 2014, I will have a random drawing for one (1) lucky winner.  I will contact the winner for their mailing details and will mail to anywhere in the world.

Links to {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}
Ornament #1
Ornament #2
Ornament #3
Ornament #4
Ornament #5
Ornament #6
Ornament #7
Ornament #8
Ornament #9
Ornament #10
Ornament #11
Ornament #12
Ornament #13

01b76d917f62e50368994defa8d0d331f370e28d4c

 

If my ears were brown and, you know, less Spock-like, that ornament could be my twin.

 

 

Posted in 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Decorating, Dogs, Goals, Homemade, Knitting, Quest46, sewing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Ornament #13 – Snowflakes {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsOrnament #13 – Snowflakes 01a7cccc3dcdcef1756d7a04286df315cf8b809588

I’m always amazed at what can be created from ordinary household items.  Case in point:  toilet paper roll tubes.

Years ago when I taught in the Children’s program at my church, Race carI used paper roll tubes in a craft where the kids made race cars.  I put the word out that I needed paper roll tubes, and I ended up with several hundred.  Needless to say, for a while, when I needed a craft, I tried to find one that would use the tubes.

Today’s ornament uses plain toilet paper roll tubes, a glue gun, white spray paint, beads and rhinestones (fake of course).  I found the beads at my local craft store; they had a clearance bin selling strings of about 50 beads for 25 cents.  It was such a bargain that I bought several.  The center of the rhinestone snowflake is from a necklace I picked up at a garage sale.

01ec72df4da4db831c0a427acfb69cc82cf1107ace012b89f1ff76b2ad5708f394ff9d536a0ef163f4f601136d52499dad299b09e7369d17d3094b56e3aa54_00001I started by flattening the tubes and then cutting them into 1/2″ strips.  I attached 6 rings with my glue gun for the center then tucked 6 more rings in between each of those for the outer rings.  I painted them, let them dry and then used the glue gun again to attach the beads.  One of these is definitely going on my wall tree.

01af87fe504c931694c25fae395e050fe598e9e5da01136f6b4bddb5b856324866d7b04d0fdd30ddfee1_0000101516690e5019fab02340731d73e29d7f0f4ad6e7c01e433f2b1576f38799d0b2c16ed5a9c7a08e388b301a7cccc3dcdcef1756d7a04286df315cf8b80958801341319877d3c4095d5a823bb6c2557a2c5931287_00001


Quest46LogoItem #35 – Make a cloth art journal.

I’ve already shared that I want to keep an art journal this year called Journal52.  I wrote about the journal in this post.  What I also want to do is make the actual art journal using a tutorial from Donna Downey from fabric and canvas.


Question of the Day:  Real or artificial Christmas tree?

Grace

 

 

Remember to enter the giveaway – here’s how:

1)  Leave a comment on each day’s post by answering my “Question of the Day”.  The “Question of the Day” will be right above my closing.
It looks like this :: Grace

2)  Over the course of this blog series, you can enter a maximum of 30 times.

There will be Mini Give-aways on the 15th, 22nd and 29th days of November.

  • The winner of each mini give-away will get to choose an ornament from the previous week.  For instance, the winner on the 15th will pick from Ornaments 8-14, the winner on the 22nd will pick from Ornaments 15-21, etc..
  • The Mini Give-away winners are still eligible for the Grand Give-away on December 1st.

On December 1, 2014, I will have a random drawing for one (1) lucky winner.  I will contact the winner for their mailing details and will mail to anywhere in the world.

Links to {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}
Ornament #1
Ornament #2
Ornament #3
Ornament #4
Ornament #5
Ornament #6
Ornament #7
Ornament #8
Ornament #9
Ornament #10
Ornament #11
Ornament #12

01eb633420312fdbb0b1df68168b2a22ce9bcee559

 

 

All this talk of snowflakes is making me a bit chilly.  I better put on my scarf.

 

 

Posted in Accountability, Art Journal, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Journal 52, Quest46, Recycling, Repurposing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Ornament #12 – Clay Puppy Paw {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsOrnament #12 -Clay Puppy Paw01834e22794c82ccdb4ca10ef4d26fc3d95d680462

For today’s ornament I used a product called Pluffy Clay.  Made by Sculpey, it’s reported to be “an amazingly versatile clay that never dries out”.  Today I put that claim to the test.  The package of Pluffy I own, I purchased TWO years ago.  I had a backup plan if this didn’t work out, but I really wanted to make these clay ornaments.

 

01093ac9a7ae7cb15aa461dedcf1d0504714b952280178f71e587da6b9c515faf4de1796370eeabe0caf01f1b921c5dedb670c9e3f590665b009020a9c32d9I opened the package, followed the instructions and sure enough the clay worked beautifully.  It was NOT dry, very easy to work with, rolled out beautifully and sliced very well.  I used a soap mold to stamp my puppy paw impression and then cut out a circle around the impression using a paper-crafting circle die.  Not the most conventional use of a circle die, but it worked.  I poked a hole at the top for the ribbon using my shish kabob skewers and “cooked” them in a 275 degree oven for 20 minutes.  After the ornaments cooled off, I painted them using Martha Stewart’s Pearl acrylic paint (Jet Stream).  The Jet Stream color is a light wintery blue and the pearl-essence gives them a lovely glittery look.

01e7c3b4e1b67f3be4acc88f077053599d4917da1901be83e4822e23b27ce42aa69300db87c913091d26018dced5a9c0c9fff1ea73dae7ce21d04a387b04ff

 

 

 

 

015639ba9ba624e25000994a9ca029b2ad5302e47c

 

I used white Pluffy, but the product comes in 16 different colors and I would highly recommend it and use it again.


Quest46LogoItem #34 – Declutter and decorate the Master Bedroom.

Everyone has a room in their house/apartment that is the catch-all hideaway especially when company’s coming over.  For us it’s the Master Bedroom.  I’m, by far, the worst culprit in our family, but I want to change that.  I first want to declutter and then decorate the room to make it a peaceful, beautiful space.


Question of the Day:  When do you start listening to Christmas music?

Grace

 

 

Remember to enter the giveaway – here’s how:

1)  Leave a comment on each day’s post by answering my “Question of the Day”.  The “Question of the Day” will be right above my closing.
It looks like this :: Grace

2)  Over the course of this blog series, you can enter a maximum of 30 times.

There will be Mini Give-aways on the 15th, 22nd and 29th days of November.

  • The winner of each mini give-away will get to choose an ornament from the previous week.  For instance, the winner on the 15th will pick from Ornaments 8-14, the winner on the 22nd will pick from Ornaments 15-21, etc..
  • The Mini Give-away winners are still eligible for the Grand Give-away on December 1st.

On December 1, 2014, I will have a random drawing for one (1) lucky winner.  I will contact the winner for their mailing details and will mail to anywhere in the world.

Links to {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}
Ornament #1
Ornament #2
Ornament #3
Ornament #4
Ornament #5
Ornament #6
Ornament #7
Ornament #8
Ornament #9
Ornament #10
Ornament #11

IMG_2962

 

 

 

Once again I offered to let mom use my paw print and once again she said I was too wiggly.  I still don’t agree.

Posted in 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Decorating, Dogs, Goals, Homemade, Organization, Quest46 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Ornament #11 – Crochet Star {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsOrnament #11 – Crochet Star01975f3c23ee446d9c7de2af88d31e0493c539bf8c

Crochet is the first craft I learned after my introduction to sewing cards when I was 4.  Actually I was 7 when my mom taught me to crochet.  I’ve told the story before in a post about organizing my yarn, so my love of crochet I owe to my mom.

01bdb2e8a606947afb085f25ba9420c30560bc999dI wanted to do some type of yarn-y ornament and when I saw this tutorial for a Christmas star, I knew I’d found the one.  The pattern was super easy to follow and I found myself making one after the other.  It was a bit addictive and difficult to stop.  They crocheted up really fast (10 minutes each) and I’m even thinking they could make a cool garland to hang up on the mantel.  Oh the possibilities are endless!

Once again, this is the type of ornament that would make an excellent gift tag as well.

0174796ef7eaa4d7f18eeab8de8c97210f62108a5901779865f13aec9f51dad7c42f44b636d7da16121f

 


Quest46LogoItem #33 – Make birds for wall tree.Birds

I’ve blogged about my wall tree before (here and here).  I have decorations for holiday times, but I want to keep the tree up year round, so I decided it needs to have some birds.  I’ve been curating bird patterns and projects on my “Birds, Birds” Pinterest board and plan to fill my tree with a family of birds.


Question of the Day:  Do you put your decorations away the day after Christmas or do you wait until after the first of the year?

Grace

 

 

Remember to enter the giveaway – here’s how:

1)  Leave a comment on each day’s post by answering my “Question of the Day”.  The “Question of the Day” will be right above my closing.
It looks like this :: Grace

2)  Over the course of this blog series, you can enter a maximum of 30 times.

There will be Mini Give-aways on the 15th, 22nd and 29th days of November.

  • The winner of each mini give-away will get to choose an ornament from the previous week.  For instance, the winner on the 15th will pick from Ornaments 8-14, the winner on the 22nd will pick from Ornaments 15-21, etc..
  • The Mini Give-away winners are still eligible for the Grand Give-away on December 1st.

On December 1, 2014, I will have a random drawing for one (1) lucky winner.  I will contact the winner for their mailing details and will mail to anywhere in the world.

Links to {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}
Ornament #1
Ornament #2
Ornament #3
Ornament #4
Ornament #5
Ornament #6
Ornament #7
Ornament #8
Ornament #9
Ornament #10

IMG_4902

 

 

 

Really?? Birds??  In the house???  You’re really raising the bar with this one!!

Posted in 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Crochet, Decorating, Goals, Homemade, Quest46, Yarn | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Ornament #10 – Felt Dog Paw {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}

30 Days Christmas OrnamentsOrnament #10 – Felt Dog Paw0102c4f01eed0e38f711a92bbc4559f230e8632c77

A three-legged dog walks up to the bartender in a saloon.  The bartender says, “Howdy, how can I help you?”  The dog replies, “I’m looking for the man who shot my paw”.

It’s my favorite joke.  Gets me every time and I couldn’t help thinking about it while I was making these ornaments.

0129495e9da9e294f91149c5a1607ec74675377cbcI used felt, ribbon and my sewing machine to stitch them together.  I cut the 2 bases and the pads with coordinating felt, stitched the pads to one of the bases first, then sandwiched the ribbon between the two bases.  I was going to stuff them, but they looked pretty good flat.  I can imagine a whole bunch of these in bright colors all over a Christmas tree.013bcb849d19654d0efba1ed3b3565222cc2ab575c

013e3ea3a2fcf61122b9e8469ea012b4d1e4fb8698Once again, this is the type of ornament that would make an excellent gift tag as well.

 


Quest46LogoItem #32 – Read through the Bible – 1 Chapter per day.

I’ve read the Bible consistently most of my life, but I’ve never read it cover to cover.  On my last trip to visit my Grandpa, we01470afa8ef785bb5f3aa05a541701b6607ee813db were sorting through his house, getting it ready to be sold, and I came across an old Bible.  I opened the front cover and discovered that it was presented to him when he was 6 years old (in 1925) for perfect attendance.   He used it most of his adult life; the pages were tattered and the spine needs repair.  As I looked through the pages, I noticed that he made a habit of writing 01c98b2c20d11c796631f44a0d668a68a27eb64efcone word at the top of different chapters.  That one word summarized that text for him.  The part that made me cry was at the end when I found the words: “Key Word to the Bible: COME”.  He wanted me to have his Bible and ever since seeing his ‘one word’ habit, I thought about reading through the whole book and trying to find one word for each chapter.  Now reading the whole Bible, chapter by chapter, takes over 3 years, but I’m going to start January 1.  I’m also going to dedicate a journal to the one word and a relevant verse.0158f809801ed05f74164cf1956c4fe047256af590012a2b77ee5a95d39edb44db23a9555f24d443cd4101d32b12b29426c1a2c480e2b6394fd55f169e0e30


Question of the Day:  What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever given?

Grace

 

 

Remember to enter the giveaway – here’s how:

1)  Leave a comment on each day’s post by answering my “Question of the Day”.  The “Question of the Day” will be right above my closing.
It looks like this :: Grace

2)  Over the course of this blog series, you can enter a maximum of 30 times.

There will be Mini Give-aways on the 15th, 22nd and 29th days of November.

  • The winner of each mini give-away will get to choose an ornament from the previous week.  For instance, the winner on the 15th will pick from Ornaments 8-14, the winner on the 22nd will pick from Ornaments 15-21, etc..
  • The Mini Give-away winners are still eligible for the Grand Give-away on December 1st.

On December 1, 2014, I will have a random drawing for one (1) lucky winner.  I will contact the winner for their mailing details and will mail to anywhere in the world.

Links to {30 Days of Christmas Ornaments}
Ornament #1
Ornament #2
Ornament #3
Ornament #4
Ornament #5
Ornament #6
Ornament #7
Ornament #8
Ornament #9

0114f08458459795f68e17027c718b2c4c62bf0ed0

 

 

That’s our favorite joke also.

 

Posted in 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Accountability, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Decorating, Dogs, Goals, Homemade, Quest46, sewing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Paws || Walk On – 11.2 – 11.15

Every now and then when I’m walking dogs, I will just stop, ask them to sit for about 30 seconds and then I will say “walk on”. That is there cue to start walking again. I do this for a couple of reasons: 1. They’re super focused when they’re on the walk and I like to know I can get their attention any time I need it. 2. It’s good to continue to incorporate training into their daily routines. Just as we need to continue to refine our skills, so must dogs.

This always reminds me how important it is for me to pause and reflect on the past week and then think about the next one as I “walk on”.

Paws | Week of 11.2-11.8

• Worked on and posted about Ornaments every day.  Join me for the Mini Give-aways and the Grand Give-away.  Details here.
• called my Grandpa in England.
• signed up for the Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange.
• tidied up from my Mom’s party.  There’s nothing like a having a house full of people to force you to do a deep clean!
Stranded• started reading Stranded by Dani Pettrey
• worked on a knitting project.  Details to come later
• received my first letter from my Pen Pal in Australia.  She’s fantastic and I’m so excited to get to know her better.
• cut out materials for dog beds and collars.
• posted daily to Instagram for the #dogphotoaday challenge.  So much fun!
• Skyped/Knit with a friend who lives in San Diego.
• found a good portion of my ribbon stash for the Pinterest party.  Taught the basics of making bows using the Bowdabra.
• had my teeth cleaned at the dentist.  Love my hygienist!
• met with a friend for coffee and knitting.
• went shopping with my mom for Christmas presents for my grandpa.
• Took care of Brewster, Phoebe and Izzy for a couple of days.

01cf08af59cf3b29c4da9aa6368dbc3e02e6f1f23f

011dcb6ebb53f8a7fbf61828795bd5afba4d701fce

 

 

 

 

Walk On | Week of 11.9-11.15

• call my Grandpa in England.
• make more dog beds and collars to sell on Etsy.
DogPhotoADay• post daily to Instagram for the #dogphotoaday challenge.
30 Days Christmas Ornaments• prep, organize and post my November blog series, “30 Days of Christmas Ornaments”.
• Take care of Monte the dog this week.
• Skype/Knit with a friend who lives in San Diego.
• watch a free workshop on CreativeLive all about starting a handmade business.
• begin planning and prepping December Holiday Card Series.
• make birthday cards for November birthdays.
• pay bills
• finish reading Stranded by Dani Pettrey.

My favorite quote from the week:  “The only thing worse than starting something and failing is not starting something.”  Seth Godin.

Have a wonderful week,
Grace


 

0137ae5c66a4ed634bf1688db2dd209aec218054ff

 

 

Good thing it’s hard to fail at walks.  Just one foot in front of the other.  Or in my case, four feet…

Posted in 30 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Accountability, Books, Cards, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Cleaning, Dogs, Education, Goals, Homemade, Knitting, Paper Crafting, Pen Pal, Pinterest, sewing, Yarn | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment