Before:

After:

Thanks John! We love our new porch!!! It’s just perfect!

John Coles is a dear friend of ours and our contractor for all sorts of projects. John has always humored my requests, no matter how strange or frustrating they may be. Turn a garage into a man den for my hubby? No problem. Put a new front porch on the house? No problem. Make it look exactly like it did one hundred years ago? Of course. Re-use the original blocks for the foundation, even if it means cutting them in half and fusing them to new block just so it looks original? Sure.

You have to love John, not only because he does beautiful work like this:

But because when he was finished, he said, “What are we doing next?”

Thanks for my beautiful porch, John! It is absolutely PERFECT!!!!!

For reference, here is a picture of the house in 1936:

And this is what it looked like before John started:

On January 18, 1997, my husband and I were married. According to my grandfather, it was the “coldest damn day of the year.” And he was right. It was so cold that my flowers actually froze. Those poor little roses from Chile never had a chance in a cold New Jersey January. But there was warmth inside the church and at the reception. Our reception is still the best party we ever threw, complete with filet and shrimp, cheesecake wedding cake, family, good friends and “Double Happiness” cigars.

So what do I give the man who I’ve been married to for 12 years? How do I top the Man Den (we converted our garage into a testosterone zone-no women allowed, except the dog) he got for his birthday? Why, cigar gloves–of course!

My friend, Marie found the pattern on Knitty.com and knew it would be perfect for my hubby. So I ordered the yarn and knitted like I’ve never knitted before. Since I didn’t have a lot of time, I actually knitted them right in from of him. Has he ever taken a second glance at any of my knitting projects? No. Did he ask me this time what I was knitting? Of course he did! What was I to do but to tell him it was none of his business?

After all that, the gloves were a big hit. And I’m sure he’ll find plenty of other uses besides just cigar smoking. Especially during this cold weather. Happy Anniversary Stephen!

As this year (and my Christmas vacation) wind down, I have managed to squeeze in a little time for to regain some of my sanity. There’s one sure way for me to de-stress and that’s spending quality crafting time. I managed to mix business with pleasure by creating a few thank you cards:

The blue tree card is my go-to card. Everyone should have one card idea that looks great and that you can whip up quickly, and this is mine. I love the way the trees look and it’s easy to customize the sentiment and the card colors.

The pink card is my over-the-top, I-was-really-into-playing-around-with-my stuff card. I loved making this one. There is so much glitter on this card that my craft room looks like it was in the middle of a blizzard. It was so very fun to make!

I also tried my hand at knitting earrings. That’s right, I knitted a pair of earrings. They turned out pretty cute:

The nice thing is that they are really light weight, so it’s a lot of bling with very little strain on the ear lobes.

And now that I feel a little satisfaction because I got some things finished, let me put my 2009 craft “To Do” wish list out there so I can look back this time next year and see just how little I got done:

Denise’s 2009 Craft “To Do” Wish List
1.) This really cute purse kit that appeared under my tree:

2.) These cool cupcakes that a mom in our school made:

3.) Just about every scarf in this book:

4.) Numerous pairs of socks from this yarn:

AND the BIG ONE:
5.) I need to learn how to do this:

It’s a Temari ball. It’s a Japanese craft that originated as toy balls for young Japanese children. Historically, they were created using bits of old kimonos as the centers. It is traditional for a mother to make a ball for her daughter as a New Year’s gift. They are said to bring good fortune to the person who keeps them, and are made by hand wrapping silk threads of different colors. Temari balls are believed to bestow happiness. The brilliant color and threads used also are symbolic of wishing the recipient a brilliant (happy) life.

My friends and I first saw these beautiful balls at the Wheaton Village craft show. A crafter was working one and it looked so intriguing that we had to stop and watch. The crafter told us that each ball takes over 20 hours to make and all the measurements are made using one little slip of paper.

I think these balls are gorgeous and I really want to make some in modern color combinations like blue and brown or purple and teal. I hope I can get to these this year. They’d look great on a Christmas tree or hanging in my garden window.

So there you have it, my 2009 wish list. Of course, that doesn’t mean that some other interesting craft won’t come along and distract me, but it’s a good starting point for a new year. Watch this space to see how successful I am!

Happy New Year!

May you and your family be blessed with a joyous holiday season. And may the Miracle of Christmas fill your heart. Merry Christmas!

Today, on the very first day of winter, Mother Nature made her presence known in southern New Jersey with an ice storm. Even in the frigid cold, there was beauty everywhere. I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera to record the beauty while it lasts. The sound of drip, drip, drip echoing in the silence of our ice covered world tells me that it won’t stay like this for long.

I was checking out some projects on the Splitcoast Stampers website when I came across a bunch of pictures of button trees. They are made using a styrofoam cone, corsage pins and Foof-a-la buttons by Autumn Leaves (I found them at A. C. Moore). The colors of the buttons are so gorgeous, that I had to make one for myself.

Here it is:

I have three little cones and buttons in peach and greens and enough pins (I think I used over 500 in my big tree) that I may make some little trees to give away. This would even be a fun project to do with kids, if I can trust them with little sharp objects. Maybe if they don’t sit next to each other….

It’s that time of year again. You know-the one where we run around like crazy trying to get all of our shopping and wrapping and cooking done in time. If you’re anything like me, then you don’t think the holiday season is complete without some craft projects. Normally, I would make a few dozen Christmas ornaments, hand stamp cards and manage to squeeze in what ever other excuse I could find to be up in my craft room.

This year has been a bit different for me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m working more or if the kids are finally getting old enough where their activities are taking over the calendar–or both, but I’m finding that I’m lacking in the time that it takes to create all of those handmade items. But, even though I scaled back ALOT, I still wanted to make some things by hand for my enjoyment.

This first item does serve a practical purpose. I know that people out there prefer gift cards to actual gifts, but I think gift cards and the tiny envelope they come in are just begging for some lovin’ in the form of pretty patterned paper and lots of glitter.

While reading the November/December issue of Paper Crafts, I came across instructions for these adorable gift card holders:

They even provided a template online. These gift card holders weren’t difficult to make. I did, however, manage to turn four of them into a two day project because I was having so much fun making and embellishing them.

So now, People on My List, you know what four of my gifts are-but I’m not telling who is going to get one. You’ll just have to wait and see…

So…..My girlfriends and I were spending the day together getting some retail therapy. We were laughing and carrying on and having a great time together. There were a ton of people with the same idea.

As we walked into the “Big JoAnn’s” (as we affectionately call one of our favorite craft stores), a woman comes up behind us and says, “I should buy you all lunch.” We all turned around to see who was talking to us, and it wasn’t someone we recognized. We all assumed that it was someone who had just seen us a previous stop. Then she said, “I’m Viv Pickle.”
With that, we all stopped in our tracks. Did she say she IS Viv Pickle? As in Viv Pickle Handbags? As in all of our purses are Pickle bags? Could it be? Our handbag idol standing before us in all her glory? It was! It was Viv Pickle! By then way, this photo doesn’t do her justice. She was very cute and stylish!

When we finally gained our composure, we actually had a conversation with her! That is, if you count us gushing over her handbags, “Pickle” parties, and the kindness of her customer service department a conversation. She thanked us for our comments then went on her way carrying a clipboard full of fabric swatches with her. Could that clipboard have possibly contained her newest designs? I wonder..

Of course, after she went on her way, we thought of a bunch of things we would have liked to say. But when you’re faced with handbag royalty, can you really be expected to be able to think and have an intelligent conversation?

I feel like I’ve met the Queen….

I had my first engagement shoot today and I couldn’t have had a better couple for my first time. Justin and Michelle are two of the sweetest people I know. They are so obviously happy together and so much in love that it was easy to get great shots of them. Congratulations on your engagement, Justin and Michelle! May you have a long and happy life together!