be yourself: live with passion

What's in store for 2008?

These last few months, I have been like the proverbial duck in a pond...calmly (mostly) and placidly (well, sort of) gliding across the surface with her feet moving like mad under water to get her where she wants to go.  There's been a lot of planning going on-local classes, travel out of state, working with various suppliers and vendors and new for 2008, an online kit club!

Enter creatologie from carol wingert studio™ ®. 

This is a monthly project kit very much in keeping with what I teach when I travel.  If you click on the link above, it will take you to my creatologie blog which I plan to use for promoting the monthly kits and other online ventures.  I've been thinking about doing this for over a year now and it's because of your repeated requests for extra kits from my classes that I decided to make it happen.   These kits will be project rather than product based, with materials provided to build a specific project.  Look for actual project peeks and the option to purchase through a PayPal storefront in the next few days.

This has been such an exciting move for me that I've found myself awake at 3AM on a repeated basis, just thinking about the possibilities!

What else is happening in '08?  Here's a quick summary:

1.  My monthly class at Scrapbooks, Etc.  this year will be called TOTALLY TIMELESS: CLASSIC STYLE.  We will be creating 3 layouts which embody classic styling each month.  For January?  It's black and white...how much more classic can you get?

This is my demo board which will be hanging in the lab at the store.  Yes, that dress form is 3-D...a papier mache one cut in half and classically dressed for a night out on the town!

By the way, this is not a sequential class...you can take one or all!

2.  Monthly project classes...either at Scrapbooks, Etc. or on the road!  See the updated (finally :)) schedule on the sidebar.  My January class at Scrapbooks, Etc. will be "Spinning Your Story"...a year of your stories on a 7 gypsies ATC spinner.  Look for a sneek peek coming soon!

3.  Le Jour D'Artiste.  A whole day of creating at Scrapbooks, Etc. on Saturday, February 23rd.  There will be four of us teaching:  Tena Sprenger, Jennifer Wagner, Jenny Packard and moi.   Four projects, food, fun, prizes and just a great inspirational day with French flair...hope to see you there!

4.  Look for a rerun of "Colors of Your World" with Big Picture Scrapbooking fairly soon...and maybe a new and different class later in the year.

I ADDED "CREATE IN '08" TO MY BLOG BANNER THIS MONTH CUZ IT'S DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A CREATIVE TIME...CAN'T WAIT!

So, in the parlance of my grandmother...2008 IS GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR...I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BONES!

out with the old, in with the new...

As we reach the tail end of 2007 and look forward to 2008, I can tell you with certainty that the title of today's post is not the mantra in the Wingert household.

Yesterday, I brought home the old...some of the very old.

But, let me start by telling you the story.  (You knew there had to be a story, right?)

On Wednesday night, as I was leafing through my new Country Living magazine, I saw a farmhouse bench that reminded me that I needed to find one for my studio.  The plan is to use a footstool style bench to house my collection of vintage locker baskets but I had forgotten to follow through on my plan.  I Googled farmhouse bench and got all sorts of benches, none of which fit what I was looking for.  I made a mental note to check out some of our antique malls to see if they would have something that appealed to me.

Fast forward to Thursday.  I headed out in the morning in search of inspiration.  I've not been creating a whole lot in the past couple of weeks and felt like I needed to reconnect with products, people and creative displays.  I popped into Scrapbooks, Etc.  to pick up my display board to redo over the weekend and checked the store for new product.  I then headed over to Mystic Paper for my fix of vintage stuff.  Mystic Paper shares building space with an antique store which is owned by Kim's (one of Mystic's owners) hubby. 

As I walked down the aisle to head into Mystic, there right in front of me was a farmhouse bench...in all of it's painted, faded, and crackled beauty.  Oh my word, it was EXACTLY what I was looking for.  I just L.O.V.E. when the image I have in my brain materializes right before my eyes!  Has that happened to you, too?

As I meandered through the store, I came across a vintage postal scale...rustic but in operating condition.  I snagged that as well.

When I got to the front counter, there was this aged silver coffee service and tray that was just begging me to bring it home.  I succumbed.

I have to say that I did feel a bit guilty about going out and buying more stuff, especially after such a great Christmas...but I guess I overcame the guilt quickly enough to really enjoy the stuff I picked up.  Have any of you had shopping guilts this week as well?

After picking up the new Stampington magazine called Life Images, plus the recent editions of Somerset Studio and Somerset Life, I ran across a couple of vintage pocket watches...get this, one of them was ticking but didn't have any hands...which kind of reminded me of myself sometimes...ticking but totally not productive! :) 

I had to laugh when I brought the stuff in the house...Vern's expression said it all...where are we going to put this stuff?

No worries...I'll find a place for everything...even if it means recycling something else.

After all, our motto for 2008 could very well be in with the old, out with the new!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

sometimes simpler is better...

I started the holiday season with grand plans and a long To Do list, much of which was changed or just didn't happen.

The week before Christmas, I was feeling really off and ended up with a migraine that kept me in bed for about 30 hours...pretty intense.  Needless to say, that put a major crimp in the plans and caused me to rethink my To Do list.  Maybe sometimes things like that happen to make us focus on what's really important, vital and necessary.

It ended up being a pretty simple Christmas.  Christmas Eve dinner wasn't as fancy as some but there was was plenty of food and no one left hungry.  The deep cleaning...well, let's just say it was pretty shallow...more like whiffing over some obvious areas. :)  But, it really didn't much matter.  The family was either too classy to say something or they knew I would give them a dust rag and tell them to help themselves.

I collected things from around the house to build the table decorations...a hurricane candle holder filled with simple silver and white glass balls, silver, mercury glass and pewter candleholders with white tapers donated by Ashley from her collection...white textured tableclothes layered on top of each other and simple white dishes.   It ended up looking so pretty...and definitely was simple to put together.

We don't typically go to the Christmas Eve service at church when we are entertaining at our home but this year, we ended up changing the dinner hour so that we could go.  I'm so glad we did...it was such an inspiring and awesome service...and standing room only.  So worth going and being reminded of the reason for the celebrations.

We definitely had a great Christmas Eve with family...a smaller and much quieter group than last year since the Idaho clan couldn't come this year.  Hmmm, I wonder if it's my side of the family that's the rowdy bunch? 

Vern's parents drove out again this year...they are really amazing with their stamina and determination.  Vern's Dad was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and he is currently undergoing chemo...nothing would dissuade him from driving out...after all, he had a perfectly good new vehicle sitting in his garage!  If it would take them a couple of hours to get here, that's one thing but this was a 4 day drive from Pennsylvania to Arizona!  We certainly appreciate them making the effort to come out to spend Christmas with the rest of us.

Christmas Day was really laid back and quiet...Vern, Ash and I opened our gifts early in the morning and we really savored the experience.  I got some of the coolest stuff-great clothes and jewelry, the huge Parisian clock pictured above (which I've been wanting for quite a while) and the Flemish doll form pictured here.  I've wanted one of these doll forms for a long time but the reading I've done about acquiring an antique one is that they are getting harder to find and therefore are quite pricey.  You know, a reproduction of the antique is quite fine with me.  She's pretty tall...around 30"...and I love her sweet expression.  You know what else?  She looks like she could be related to the primitive angel Vern got me last year.

It was fun being surprised and seeing Vern's and Ashley's reactions to surprises they received.

My day was spent in sweats...totally laid back...totally comfortable...simple and just what I needed.

I thought back to the long list and the grand plans and decided that, for this year, simpler did turn out to be better.  We'll leave those grander celebrations for another year.

I wanted to say thanks to so many of you who took time out of your busy schedules to leave a comment, to email your family Christmas photos and to hand make and send the fabulous cards.  I appreciate your caring and giving spirit...thanks.

Whether it was grand or simple, I hope that you enjoyed your Christmas!

TO YOU AND YOURS....

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

I am blessed to have you in my life...I wish for you and your families the JOYS of the season!

it's that time of year...

...when we're all so busy.

So, I just wanted to drop in and say hi and leave you with a little thought:

"ONE OF THE SECRETS OF A HAPPY LIFE IS CONTINUOUS SMALL TREATS."

IRIS MURDOCH, WRITER

I hope you enjoy some small treats in this busy week before Christmas...a hug from a little one, a steaming cup of hot chocolate, tea or coffee, a wonderful homemade cookie, a gift from a friend, the twinkling lights on your tree, a beautiful Christmas card...you don't have to look far!

"polenta pile-up" inspiration

Don't you just love it when you're blog hopping and get hit with some sort of inspiration to create? 

You know, you see a piece of art, some awesome photographs, a piece of hand made jewelry or some from scratch food and you are actually stirred to action and motivated to do something?

Such was the case last week when reading Alicia Paulson's blog.  I love reading her blog...it makes me feel like I'm sitting in one of her cozy chairs listening to her stories.  I have to admit that, not being a knitter, my eyes totally glaze over when reading about knitting instructions, but her cooking stories and doggie stories have me laughing and sometimes crying.  She definitely has the ability to draw her readers into her life...what a gift...truly.

So, last week, I'm reading her entry about her friend creating a lunch with something she called "polenta pile-up" which consisted of chunks of polenta, roasted eggplant and fresh Parmesan.  Remember the Parmesan days?  Well, there was still a chunk of fresh stuff in the fridge...and there was polenta in my pantry...just needed the eggplant and the fresh basil.  After looking at the photo, I started craving the combo so much that I went out in the rain on a busy Friday afternoon to buy what I needed.

Not even a power outage at Trader Joe's (which meant the store was closed down) interfered with my mission.  I sat in boatloads of traffic, waiting for the police officer to direct me through the non-working traffic light, and drove to the nearest grocery store.  Eggplant was easy to find but fresh basil...not so much.  I knew they had to have fresh basil...I mean, why would they carry large bags of watercress (how many people use watercress, anyway!) and not have basil?  Since I couldn't find anyone working in produce, I went to the Deli manager...fortunately for me, she had hunted for basil earlier that day and was able to direct me to it immediately.  Anyway, mission accomplished!

I took a little different direction than the polenta pile up as pictured and made a layered casserole in individual gratin dishes...the layering consisted of polenta, followed by a layer of roasted and seasoned eggplant, fresh basil, tomato sauce and grated Parm.   I baked it until bubbly and served it with fabulous salmon grilled by hubby.  Can I just say lip smacking good?

So, thanks Alicia for the polenta inspiration!  It's definitely going into our book of family recipes!

Any inspirations that have come your way recently by way of someone's blog?

a forgotten treasure...

A couple of days ago, as I was rooting through one of my armoires, I found this altered lunch box.  I had totally forgotten about it and was thrilled to see it again.

This box brings back all sorts of great memories.  I was working on it at the time the Acquistions Editor at F+W contacted me to see if Tena and I were interested in putting together a proposal for North Light Books.  Well, of course we were!

Christine needed a few samples from us which typified our work and since it was around Christmas and this project was fresh and new, I sent it along to her as part of the proposal package.

Needless to say, the rest is history.

It was a whirlwind year and a half in the creation and publication of Artful Memories and then Lifelines and somewhere along the way, the project was returned and buried in the back of the armoire, forgotten until this week.

The lunch box was purchased from Stampington and was covered with various papers from Rusty Pickle, K&Co., and a large sheet of vintage Christmas postcard paper.  There are lots of layers of papers and labels and the entire project is sealed with a matte finish Mod Podge which is stippled and not brushed.  Stippling Mod Podge eliminates brush strokes and gives a very nice and evenly textured finish. 

The inside cards are cut to fit from lightweight chipboard and again are bits and pieces of layered papers.  The fronts of the cards are basically descriptions of the recipes on the back.  The recipes are some of those which are part of our traditional holiday meals...I think I have my work cut out for me in completing the collection of recipes...we sure do like to cook and eat around the holidays.

Have you discovered something forgotten this season?  If not, my wish for you is that you do...and that you experience the same giddy delight as I did in finding my forgotten treasure.

The Sheep Keeper

I've gotten emails from some of you asking about Thatcher, our older Bouvier who went through surgery just about a year ago.  I wanted to say thanks for your concern...all of us in the family definitely appreciate it.

Thatcher was diagnosed post surgery with mega-esophagus, which basically means that he has a pouch in his esophagus which collects food and causes him to gag.  Over the past year, we've been working on different food combinations that will give him his nutrition without him losing his cookies...definitely a real challenge.

We've finally hit on a combination that seems to be working-boiled boneless, skinless chicken breasts, brown jasmine rice and green beans, all blended together into something that looks like pancake batter.  HE LOVES IT...and why wouldn't he, I ask?  We think that he likes this program so much that his life will be extended for a few more years, just so that he can keep eating like this! 

I wanted to show you a few pix of Thatcher doing his new job for the Christmas season.  As you may know, Bouviers are herding dogs...bred to herd cattle...and both of ours definitely have the herding instinct.  In addition to that, Thatcher has a good bit of the caretaker in him...he's been that way since he was a pup and took care of his litter mate sisters.  It's one of the most endearing things about him...how he takes care of all of us, especially Ashley.

The sheep in the first pic is normally up on one of the armoires...however, since that space is now taken up by Santas, the sheep has been placed under the entry table.  As you can see in the second pic, Thatcher has taken it upon himself to be the sheep keeper and to make sure that it stays put.

He nestles up as close as he can to the sheep, and goes into this deep sleep, despite the fact that the sheep's ear is poking him in the back.

Definitely our caretaker...notice how his hair is almost as curly as the sheep's.

Anyway, we are enjoying our sheep keeper and are thrilled that he is still with us.

So, here's to many more blended chicken, rice and green bean meals!  After all, someone's got to keep that sheep in line. :)

A Celebration of Traditions

My blog friend, Jill, is hosting a blog event called "Celebration of Traditions".  What a great way to remember what our families have been doing for years and what things we have come up with that our children and grandchildren will be calling their family traditions.  I'm so honored to participate in Jill's event and to share some of the Christmas traditions in my family.  She has posted a list of people who are participating and has linked to all of our blogs...so join in the fun as we celebrate the traditions of the season.

From the time I can remember, Christmas has been a time of celebration and family.

There was no doubt in my mind as to the purpose of Christmas; it was a celebration of the birth of Christ.  The music at our home and at church, the play when I was the angel bringing glad tidings of great joy, the Christmas cards and the decorations all reminded me of the reason for the holiday.

Santa played a small role in the celebration of Christmas; well, at least he did until I was about 3 or 4 when my older brother figured out that the presents that were hidden in the hall closet were a train set for him and a doll stroller for me...and that my parents were pawning them off as Santa gifts.  Well, the magic of Santa was pretty short lived for me...since I did in fact get that doll stroller on Christmas morning!

Ashley usually had one or two Santa gifts under the tree and I'm not quite sure exactly when she stopped believing that Santa actually brought the gifts.  For years, we took Ashley to T.C. Eggington's restaurant for "Tea With Santa".  TC's is a brunchery that's only open for breakfast and lunch and they would reopen it for an invitation only tea party after the lunch hour on a Saturday in December.

We all loved that tradition, as well as the one where Ashley put out cookies for Santa...to this day there's a "Santa" gift under the tree for Miss Ash.

Christmas was one of the times when my Mom's creativity really blossomed.  Mom is a pretty shy person and she doesn't do things for show...but when it came to Christmas, she loved decorating and preparing and she was so attentive to the details.  We often had the extended family over for dinner on Christmas Day and she would go all out with the meal preparations, the table settings and the gorgeous hand made candles and fresh greenery that would be the centerpiece for the table. 

It was so easy for me to get caught up in all of the details with her...I loved baking and decorating cookies and setting the table became one of my important "jobs" when we were expecting company.  Somewhere along the way, we began doing the whole family celebration on Christmas Eve and more often than not, the dinner is held at our house.  I love preparing the food, the table, the decorations...following in the footsteps of my Mom.  Interestingly enough, there's someone else who is totally into it these days...Ashley.  I'm guessing that she will carry forward many of the food traditions.

Mom was also totally into gift wrapping and making the presents look perfect.  While I'm not about perfection as much, I do love having the presents coordinated and pretty!  For years, I've used plain kraft paper which I buy in large rolls and every year, I change out the colors of the ribbons...this year, it's silver, white and vintage music ribbon to coordinate with the white trees.

Through all of the preparation, making things pretty, taking delight in the decorating, I am reminded of what this holiday means to me and to my family.  It truly is a celebration...it's the birthday of a King!  And, the birthday of a King is a pretty special event which warrants special traditions!

Do you have any traditions that you'd like to share with all of us?  I'd love to hear about something that you've established or something that's been passed down in your family...and, most certainly, link to your blog so that we can share in your celebrations of the season.

I hope that you take time to preserve some of the traditions and to talk about them with the family...better yet, take time to journal them...on your blog, in your journal, in a special mini book or a scrapbook album.  Wishing you peace, joy and many blessings through your celebrations.

   

So...what's still on your "To Do" list?

Yesterday, I sat down and wrote down what still needed to be done before Christmas.

Well, that was depressing...it seems like just about everything is still not done.

How's this for a To Do list?

1. * Shop for 95% of Christmas gifts
2. * Wrap and ship part of them
3. * Wrap remaining ones
4. * Buy and address Christmas cards
5. * Plan Christmas Eve dinner menu
6. * Deep clean house...that's a biggie!
7. * A little bit of baking...just for the fun of it

I think that life will be busy for the next few weeks.

What's on your To Do list?  If you have a lot to do, please tell me...you know how misery loves company :).  If you don't have much to do, tell me...it will help motivate me to get moving!

Hope you have a happy and productive weekend working on your "To Do" list!

BTW, Ashley thinks that this snowman is a little scary.  Now me, I just think he's kind of cute and funky.