pamgarrison

a tiny step

A tiny step in the holiday direction. Remember this old French drain from this post long ago? It has become a seasonal planter. It's too small of a basin for any long term planting I've discovered. Or maybe it's that it gets too hot here and I fail to keep it moist. Regardless, today I replaced the white pumpkins with creamy poinsettias. Starting to feel more holiday spirit already after berating myself for my lack of organization all day yesterday. Really must plan better next year. Just to throw a few more celebrations in, two of the four of us that make up our household have December birthdays too. Ouch.
Enough complaining, life is good, we are blessed, any time problems are my own doing...just learning, that's all, as I'm sure many of you are too. Balance. Working on it.

This gorgeous invite is for Wendy Addison's holiday open house. If any of you were inspired by this visit to make the trip, now's the time. Wendy herself was telling us about how magical her open house is. Here's the info. :

If you go, take some pictures, would you? I'd love to see how it looks for the season.

Yesterday I was mentioning kits by other artists. I forgot to mention this one I ordered from Wee Wonderfuls . I plan to make some for my little nieces for Christmas. Not only is it an adorable pattern, it also has the most adorable packaging with special touches like the thank you postcard and stickers. People constantly amaze me with their talents. I don't know how is everyone printing their artwork into postcards, but I think it's a great way to personalize their shop and make their products more special.

 
Thursday already...tomorrow December officially begins...oh my!!!

   

I know it's the season...

...but I just can't seem to get with it. This is actually a photo of my front door last year. I found the bottle brush  wreath at a flea market, put it inside a Wendy Addison glittered star wreath, and added a few ornaments and my two turtle doves swag to greet all that came by. I believe this year I'm going to tuck my swag in the top of the tree, but who knows. We haven't even bought our tree yet, and the fall bin is still sitting on the floor of the garage, waiting for me to go through it and pack it away. As for your two turtle dove swags, if you ordered one it should arrive today (if it didn't yesterday). They were all sent out Priority Mail on Monday. Does your Post Office allow you to bring in a bunch of boxes to mail at the counter? Mine doesn't. Let's just say I am very well versed at the use of the self-help mailing machines! Anyway, thanks again for the orders, hope you have a fun time putting yours together. Don't hesitate to add to it or personalize it too!

Speaking of kits, Ulla has a couple really cute ones for sale like this one.

The two turtle doves kit introduced me to the adorable Jenny, and she in turn told me that the fab Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom fame has started a blog as well. Finding new blogs is always a little creative kit in itself, stirring up new ideas waiting to be played out in one's own style.

Hopefully, my mind will catch up to the fact that it's the holidays before they're over. Until then, I'll leave you with a couple more shots from last year.

one last paris post

Well, France actually. For the last bit of the trip, we flew to Nice. We rented a car and stayed in the countryside. The first thing I noticed was how much color there was everywhere, very different than Paris. Very beautiful in a different way. The first day we drove and walked around Nice, Monaco and Monte-Carlo. Above is the port in Nice. 

On the right is a close-up of a building in Monte-Carlo. I couldn't get over all the ornamentation on all the buildings. I don't think it's the casino, but maybe it is the back side. We went inside to see it, but didn't stay at all, not wanting to waste a minute indoors.

My favorite part of the South of France was not Monaco or Nice though, it was visiting some of the very old and small villages like Seillans and Fayence. So beautiful, so real.

The next time I'd like to go when there are fields of lavender, somehow I failed to realize that is seasonal (duh). But the grapes and countryside were beautiful nonetheless. I also loved seeing the men playing bocce ball, seemingly in every small town.Groups like this one.

Here is my favorite photo  from the whole trip. Just love it and the love it shows.

Ah, France, I miss you. Such a beautiful country. I am going back someday, that's for sure. I am thankful that I was able to go this year. ...Speaking of...

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for visiting with me here and encouraging me in my creative pursuits. I am truly grateful. Hope this weekend finds you with those you are thankful for, and maybe a little time to create.

 

the house that bob built

So I told you I'd show you what I've been working on all week (and then some, to be honest). I have been outback working in my potting shed. I am almost done. But I've gotten ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

As this photo of my daughter's handprints shows, the potting shed was built in 1998. My husband built it for me, because he knows I looooovvvvveeee houses (and probably because I begged and pleaded too).  These handprints sit right at the entrance, like a welcoming doormat.

I used and enjoyed my potting shed for many years. (As I've mentioned before, I used to be really really into gardening. I still love gardening, just having a hard time balancing my time to include it.)  But then, I left some bulbs from the season in the shed, waiting for the next year when I could plant them again. Big mistake. Apparently, some flower bulbs are a delicacy for rats. UGH! I went into the shed and saw that the bulbs had been eaten, and rat... um... waste, was apparent. I was so grossed out (and frankly, afraid of a rat running over my feet) that I quickly closed the door and told my husband, hoping he'd handle it. Nope. So there the shed sat. I put poison in the shed and sealed it up tight from visiting animals and children. They devoured it in a day. Still hoping that one day my husband would take care of it all, I avoided the shed. Nope. In disgust, about a month ago, I had had enough, I mean really, it was embarrassing. In a fashion fitting of a CSI episode, I first studied up on the Internet how to clean it up, then proceeded to air it out, spray it with bleach and water, put on a respirator, goggles, throw away clothing, shoes and protective gloves and got to work. I spent many many days taking every. single. thing. out. Throwing all that couldn't be scrubbed with bleach away, cleaning what could be cleaned, and setting it aside. I found 2 dehydrated rats and a nest. Not only had they gone to the bathroom everywhere, but they also knocked lots of things over in the process.  After taking everything out, I hosed down the entire inside, twice.  Then sprayed it again with bleach and water, twice. Today, I began the put everything back in phase. That's the fun phase. However, in my effort to be antiseptic, I had ruined some of the waterproofing material we had put on the inside. The water logging had made some of it peel off. But this image has not left my mind since I first saw it, and it served as the perfect inspiration to solving my problem.

  Taking my cue from Alicia's patchwork closet door, I put pieces of wallpaper up in patchwork fashion over the spots I had ruined in my cleaning. I love it. Even more than how it was before I ruined it. Ah, Alicia, always an inspiration, thank you.

So this is how I spent my extra time this week. Need to finish now before company comes to town. See the chandelier? Isn't it cute? Before the rats came, we would leave the door open and light the candles while we ate outside at a table nearby. Since it's been about 80 degrees here, I suppose we could do that again real soon. Here are some close-ups:

Love this old hand sprinkler. It was my Grandmother's. To think that she stood watering with it is so comforting.

Speaking of wallpaper, yes, I will be selling some more packs very soon. As well as some other things, including the Stocking Kits. I'll let you know here first. Thank you for buying up the Swag Kits so quickly. I really think you're going to love them. I may try to get a few more of these put together as well.

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday and that it is rat free. Yuk. No more storing bulbs for me! Off to finish up my clean up, then another soccer party, baseball game, and end of year baseball party. I love watching my kids play sports, I really do, but man, I am looking forward to some free weekends!

 

ok, finally have one kit ready

Here's the "Two Turtles Doves" kit sample. This is one of the classes I taught at SilverBella. The kit is almost exactly as pictured, but a few ingredients may vary due to availability. It includes both vintage and new items like crepe paper (vintage) and yummy glass glitter (new). They are going to be on sale tomorrow at my etsy site, pamg.etsy.com  . Thanks for the expressed interest. Hopefully, there will be enough for all that feel like getting their holiday groove on (did I really just say that?)...anyway, I'll get them posted sometime in the late afternoon. We've got at least 2 soccer games tomorrow, more if the teams win, and one end of season party, so I'll do my best to get home and get them listed. I hope that etsy is cooperating. (I've heard etsy is acting up due to upgrades to the system, we'll see.)  More kit info: if you order a kit ($40.00 plus s/h), you have a few choices regarding the saying written  on it. I will  either write it for you if you want my script in glitter glue, write it in pencil for you if you wish to get your own glitter glue (stampington.com) and write it yourself, or leave it plain for you to use your own desired method, no difference in cost.  I'd suggest Happy Holidays, Joyeux Noel, Merry Christmas, Be Merry, or something with not too many letters. Any questions I need to address when I list them?

I'll try to fill you in on what I did get done this week too. Time did not cooperate and slow down as I had hoped, but I did tackle one dreaded task (mostly not creative), and will try to finish it off tomorrow for a little show and tell Sunday perhaps. Hope you had a good and creative week. I'll see some of you tomorrow on etsy!                  

in other news

Yep. I did it again. I went to the flea market.
But it's not my fault!

These three girls made me. Well, if inviting someone constitutes forcing them to come. From the left, you see Lisa Kaus, who  was  down from Portland, Lisa Guerin, a local gal, and Jenny Doh, who is local too, and the reason Lisa K. was down.  So when they invited Amy and me to meet them and spend the day flea marketing (oh, torture me why don't you?) I was happy to oblige.

In the first photo, you see my favorite finds of the day. Clearly, I was in a (happy) blue mood. I found some Christmas ornaments, old fabric with birds on it, an old small jewelry box, and a super cute Punch and Judy plate. All with that teal/turquoise blue color.

Here's my new (old) flea market cart. I have another one, that has seen better days. I think it was a heavy old  typewriter that gave that one a permanent, annoying wobble.  So when we went to Alameda flea market, I bought this old one for $20.00. Saturday night I lined it with a vinyl table cloth from Kmart on the outside and a thrifted shower curtain from the Shabby Chic Target line. The shower curtain was especially easy to use because it already had slits (typically for rings) that made it easy to attach to the cart. The vinyl tablecloth was hard to cut with scissors, and tore a wee  bit when sewing it, but was so cheap and pretty that I couldn't resist using it. Hopefully it'll have a long life here. Here are the other patterns I bought. All of these tablecloths were between $2.50 and $5.00.

Let's see, some other info...

Jenny gave me these to show you. They are two of the newest publications from Somerset Publishing. You can find out more about them or order them here. 

...and as I promised, I am working on the kits, really I am. Here's my proof, tea-soaked birdies drying in the sun. I'm waiting for a couple other supplies as well. I will mention it here before listing on etsy.

and remember this purse by Bari J that I got when we were up in the Alameda area? Well, now Bari has a blog too.

And with all that, I'm out of time... hopefully this will be a very productive week at home, I haven't had one of those in a long time. Of course, you'll be the first to know. 

a little aging trick

Sweet Kari asked me if I had any idea how to age the shiny tinsel tree that she bought at Target for $2.50. Of course, I was intrigued. Here you'll see the tree as bought on the left, and after aging on the right. It's pretty subtle, but I think you can tell from the photo.

Here's what I used. I believe it's typically used by florists on dried flowers. I don't know what else they use it for. I bought it at a wholesale florist supply store. I'm not sure what other type of store might carry it. I saw Melissa Nuefeld on Martha's show and she mentioned that she used it to age things. It's Antique Gold, so you have to use a very light touch or it will look gold. And if you do use it, do it outside, this stuff is really strong. If anyone knows of a non wholesale source, feel free to leave the info in the comments section. There you go Kari, have fun!

if you don't want to go to target, read no more

Ok, you've been warned, proceed at your own wallet's risk. Target has some good stuff out for Christmas. Thought I'd show you what I bought in case you want to get on over there for any of it. You know how Target sells out so quickly? I hate that, and thought you might too, so I'm giving you a head's up. Who thinks that Target designers/buyers might have taken their cue from our lovely Alicia? Yeah, me too...this was the photo that made my heart sing all of last Christmas. Ok, back to my purchases. How great is the gingerbread jar for a hostess or teacher gift? The striped tape, tags, and party poppers were found in the gift-wrap section, not the Christmas section, and the little ornaments, lip balm, and sprinkles were in the dollar section at the entry.

Some of this was found in the gift wrap section too. The front roll of wrapping paper is actually half the length of the standard roll, which I think is a good idea, since I seem to often need to cut it that way when wrapping. The green paper with packages has glitter on it. It will be perfect for our girl with a December birthday.

And then this, this is what I was really excited about...

Flocked teal wrapping paper and flocked black and white wrapping paper. Both are part of gift lines that include matching flocked boxes, bags, tags, etc. And the glass glitter (!!!) ornaments? Yum. They come in a set of 2 per package, and range in price from $9.99 to $14.99 for the set. I'm going to split the packages with a friend, then we'll each have one of 4 big glass glitter ornaments for under $25.00. The glitter line also has stocking holders and big decor items. Thankfully, I managed to show some restraint.

Happy Targeting!

silver bella has come and gone

and what a whirlwind it was! So fun. I love being surrounded by creative people. I don't care if they favour my style or one that is completely different, I just love it when people love to make stuff. Like my dear dear friend Kelly here. She used to live down the street from me, but now lives in Ohio. I never get to see her anymore, let alone craft with her, so it was such a treat to get her out to Silver Bella for the weekend. Anyway, let me start at the beginning...

So I had a connecting flight in Phoenix, where I was to meet up with Kim and her friend Cori. We had never met, so clever Kim made these signs of me to hold in front of their faces as they got to the terminal. Very funny...and very cute signs, but I was so embarrassed, I confiscated them immediately. I do love them though, and can't help but laugh when I remember  that moment...good thing Kim is so quiet and shy, ha ha!

Once we all arrived at the airport, sweet Becca picked us up  and joined us for dinner. Although most of us had not met previously, we instantly bonded. You'd think with a reaction like this, I'd remember what happened to cause me to guffaw like this, but no, can't remember what it was. Clearly, a good time was being had by all. These women are so great. All sweet, funny, clever, creative, generous, helpful, really. I could go on and on, but I will leave it at that. Thank you all so much, I loved meeting and spending time with you. Just sorry it went by so fast. Maybe next year?

During dinner, sweet sweet Becky quietly asked if Kelly and I might like to go to an antique shop the next day where you have to dig for treasure...uhhhh  yeah!!!! So Teresa and Becky picked us all up and took us to Second Chance...loved it! Here you'll see Kelly and Cori on the hunt for jewelry pieces. Kelly is my other friend that makes jewelry. Her pieces are similar (use vintage stuff) yet different than my other jewelry artist friend Amy, and we are working on getting Kelly to set up an etsy shop. You know I'll let you know as soon as she does.

Here Teresa and I are sorting through trims and things. Lots of treasures were found by all, but especially Carolyn, Kelly, and me. The others went to lunch next store while we kept up the hunt for hidden treasures. I'll show you what I found another day, when my box arrives. (Yep, bought more than my suitcases could hold.)

Happy Bellas heading home...until Carolyn pointed out the need for a photo in front of this building, which brought on another round of laughter and silliness, pretending to be too cool (notice I couldn't even keep a straight face, figuratively and literally).

Then it was back to the hotel for set up and sign in for all the participants. Teresa really went all out (and her family too, who were there helping) planning the event, getting sponsors (see the silver bella blog for info) and creating the magic that occurred. Teresa's friend (and sponsor) Holly (who owns a local store called Creative Elements) decorated the room with pink feather trees and snowflakes and each guest received a pink cake box with materials to make a festive garland which Miss Foof herself created and taught. Then it was time for the Bella boutique.

Oh my, too many treasures to show,and too many vendors to cover(mentioned on the silver bella blog as well), but here are some of the photos I took of the wares for sale.

The next day, each attendee had 5 (!!!) different 2 hour classes, two of which I taught. A crazy long day of crafting! I met new friends and was happy to see some old friends as well. It was fun to put some people's faces with their blogs, and to have blog readers introduce themselves. Here's a photo of Carolyn's last class, with creations in hand. Looks like a happy bella group to me! 

It was a busy, fun filled weekend. Thank you again Teresa, for all the hard work and creativity you put to use making it a special event for us all. As for those that have asked, yes, I will have some kits to sell and will give notice here first. It won't happen before Monday to be sure. Thanks for the interest. Guess I better try to get the mess in my house from the whirlwind of preparation picked up now...wish me luck!

 

 

we interrupt this non-stop french talk to bring you...

Yes, I still have one more post about our trip to France, but I leave tomorrow am for Silver Bella, so I had to check in and say goodbye for now. (These are the kits for one of my classes before being shipped.) If you're going to be there, please say hi, even if you're not in one of my classes. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can check out the SilverBellablog for the info. 

Unfortunately, it seems once again I hardly had any time to make anything for the boutique Friday night. But I did put together some vintage flower packs shown here among a few other things.

So, of course, I'll bring you with me in spirit, and take lots of photos to fill you in when I get back. I fly in Sunday night, so I'll try to post Monday. Then this little homebody will be home until March!!   

Oh! I forgot! Had to share this photo of my favorite tricker-treater last night (besides my own two, of course!)...here's Bergdorf, Bergie for short, as Batman...it's hard to see the cape in the photo, but you can imagine it...sooo cute!