Homegrown Hospitality

Trim a Tree..

We are not doing a card this year,

boo, us.

But, if it counts,

I had intended to,

because I doodled a tree...

so, should you feel inspired, YOU can print out this download Download Christmastree2011

trim a tree,

frame it,

or make a card, 

or some tags...

or all three!

Yea, me!

Happy Happy Merry Merry!

uhhhhgggghhh..another class?

I know that there are 1001 on-line classes these days, many of which I have taken, a few that I wish that I had the money to take..and even one or two that I signed up for and never did the project. (I have a hunch that you may know what I am talking about.) So, as I started to post yesterday and continued to write about this new 2012 year long "follow along" class, I wanted to take a tiny bit of time to address the thoughts that you may have and based on a comment I got:

"Love it!!! I wonder if you have any tips for when I have the project staring at me, but feel so overwhelmed...that I spin in place and get nothing accomplished. I know if I just gave it 15 minutes, I would feel good, but instead I just end up having a pity party"

•  "Another class????"
•  "If I sign up for one more thing I am going to crack!"
• " I dont not have time for a scrapbook..journal...whatever it is...class"

Guess what???...This is EXACTLY WHY I am doing this class....EXACTLY WHY...because I am the same exact way. I might crack, I do not have another minute and I have too much laundry to do...

AND THIS IS WHY I AM WRITING, TEACHING AND WALKING ALONG SIDE YOU IN THIS CLASS....

WE NEED IT.

As I started to thin out the ol' shead-teau, re-read some of the books I have been reading the past year, took a closer look at my random notes, doodles and "wannabe" journal entries, I realized that I could combine everything into one small place, where I was able to go to each day, once a week, once every month...or several times a day if I wanted and scrapbook...journal and..or...doodle.

Yeah!

This is where I sit each day to blog, doodle, wander through Pinterest, read blogs, stare into the screen...and just to the left, is what I am going to use, teach, inspire, and scrapbook*journal*doodle with you:

 
Refer to the photo:

1. My small binder ready for the year.
2. My 12x12 plastic tote box thing with EVERYTHING but a little paint, modpodge and stamps that I will use along the way.
3. Books that I want to quote, refer to and tear pages from

That's all we are going to use...with the exception of the occasional tool, paint brush, marker....Here is a better look to calm your thoughts: 

Another thing about my process that I recognized, realized and arm wrestled with this past year is the fact that I can NOT create something to teach you that does not have a purpose. (Don't roll your eyes...stick with me).

Example: I LOVE love love to make things...duh....and particularly, Mini Books.  I can make a mini-book with a pile of newspapers and twine if you wanted me to....I am pretty sure if I was on Survivor and I had to make a mini book from the things I only had on the island to get off the island, I could....anyways, what I am saying is I love to make them and could teach them to you until I was blue in the face..but then what do you do with them?

It should not matter to me, what you do with them..but it does matter to me because YOU matter to me and, well... because I have THREE large plastic totes in the ol' shead teau FULL of mini books....and I am thinking you might too. One can only have soo many mini books...I think.

Okay, so after all of that..sorry...all I really wanted to tell you is that this is going to be a

• Follow along side you class
• Get things accomplished class
• Develop a habit of journal/list making class

Yikes..sorry to overwhelm you...go about your business and have a happy Monday!!!!

Thirty Five

Yes, I know that we have not had Thanksgiving yet, but PEOPLE...Christmas is just about 35 days away..and time, she is a' flyin....fast....and we need to FOCUS...plan....hunker down...get ready..so that we can ENJOY at least a few days leading up to Christmas. My morning prayers always include a big plee for help on staying foccused and help to stay on task because I go into creative overdrive and want to make everything I see and end up making nothing but a mess.

I do not know about you but I do not like to be running around like a "whirling dervish" (which, by the way, I am unfortunately becoming sorta good at) trying to get everything done at the last minute...so I HAVE to continually make a list and I have to literally check it twice, three times..and then a fourth...crossing off things, adding things on and let me just say, if you add a little doodle or two, to your list, it makes all the difference!

and hey, don't kill the messenger about the "thirty five" day thing because this messenger has been reminding you since the 4th of July...

Happy Holidays!!!!! eek..I love this time of year! 

Trailer Park Martha Christmas Idea No. 2

Remember "the tree" stamped on muslin? Well, I used my Light Olive Green, Goldenrod, Cinnamon Toast markers and a random bottle of red glittered stickles that I had to live'n it up a bit....then I used a little Helmar Decoupage and adhered it to a slightly smaller piece of chipboard, dried it, punched a hole in it, added some twine-jute-whatever it is and set it aside.

Then I grabbed one of my "I have too many jars" jar, filled it up with buttons (because I have toooo many of those as well) and set that aside.

Then I grabbed my big bag of "stuffing", a scrap of muslin and the ball jar "ring" part of the lid.  I placed a ball of stuffing on the counter (visualize this) placed the piece of muslin over the ball of stuffing and then I placed the bar jar "ring" part of the lid over that....then I flipped it over, place the lid circle piece into the top (with the muslin ends hanging out) and I GENTLY tugged and pulled to get it just right....

then I trimmed the excess muslin edges and I screwed the lid onto the jar, poked a few pins in the puff, finished it off with a strip of fabric tied around the outside of the lid...and fell in love...

Now, you may not have 457,000 extra buttons lying around, and honestly, it would be weird to give someone a jar of buttons as a gift..but wouldn't be soooo cute to create a little sewing kit in the jar?? some thread, floss, needles, pins, little pair of scissors....

so cute, just sayin...plus my mom saw it last night and said that she thinks it is the cutest thing she has ever seen! (she has said that before..it is just an expression us mom's use when our kids make something!)

Home...

is where I like to sit..and stitch..and stamp..and sew... and where I feel best.

Did As I Heard

Here in Southern California this past weekend, or at least in my neck of the woods, it was cold...wet...rainy...clear..cold..wet...rainy...clear (repeat)so I plugged in the ol' crock pot, bought a box of logs (that are still in the car!) put away the paper, turned on Lifetime (man I wish it was the 25 days of Christmas on that channel!!) and pulled out the ridiculous amount of felt that I own...

and then spent the next 18 or so hours fiddling.

I say fiddling, because that is exactly what I did...a whole lot of R&D with nothing to show but these four little puffy pin cushion pillows and a whole lot of die cut felt pieces.

After too many hours of being lost a pile of felt, EARLY Sunday morning (and I mean EARLY because I forgot the the "time changed") I "got the message" to put away the felt!!!.

so I cleaned it all up..

and put it all away.

Not sure why, but I did as I heard.

Then, as if I knew what I was doing, I grabbed my ridiculous supply of muslin fabric, black ink pads, alphabet stamps and my big HEart die....and went to work. One thing I know from this past weekend is that with our hands & hearts, together we will DO SOMETHING.

and continued to stitch pretty much the whole day (in-between loads of laundry)

As I took a picture of them this morning and then stopped to just look at them...the JOY heart really stuck out to me..so I added a new little spot over there on the left hand side called "For Sale". 

A portion of the sales of these Little Muslin HEarts are going to be donated to purchasing Joy Jars for the holidays.

To read more about Jesse Rees..go here.

To read more about The NEGU Foundation..go here.

Trailer Park Martha Christmas

I am just going to throw it right at you like a wild curve ball...TWO MONTHS...eight weeks....60 days from right now...

is 2012...this time in just eight weeks, you will be watching the Rose Parade thinking "Wow, Christmas has already been over for a week"

Hey..don't kill the messenger...

My dear sweet creative sisters...it is time to "Haul out the Holly", gather your supplies and get ready to create the "Trailer Park Martha" Christmas way.

Times are tough and when that happens, I don't know about you, but it makes me wildly creative and I become tougher, stronger, braver and more committed than ever to not fall down..and if , no, when I do, which is pretty normal, I get back up, dust off and keep on keepin on!

"For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again..." Proverbs 24:16

I am going to be using JUST THE THINGS I ALREADY HAVE like numbers, mixed letters, brads, all things kraft color, barn red, texture, manila tags, a little silver here and there, newsprint, black ink and who knows...just make sure you come back often to see what I am making and what you can do with the stuff you have.

and I won't mention that the ol' Valentine put the Christmas lights up on the house yesterday to razz the men folk on the street....I heard the ramblings of a light war a' brewin.

Fah,lah,lah,lah,lah....

 

Lack of Supplies & Lack of Faith...

You don't need a lot of supplies....

Don't think that because you do not have fancy gadgets, heavy weight card stock or even dies, you can not create something just a lovely as MS(or her assistants) could...This is where we "Trailer Park Marthas" show up, grab a Trader Joe's bag, some notebook paper and some scissors and cut our little happy hearts away...

and the same goes for Faith...

Even if you feel like you do not have enough...

I betcha you do...

"Because of your lack of faith. I tell you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20

A "Sorta" Mission Statement

My faith, beliefs and everyday life of family, home, life, love, & laundry inspire and fuel my creativity. I share it here with the hope that you will be inspired to share and create for yourself and for others.

With that said, I have developed new techniques to go along with new classes based on mixing faith and creativity AND adding back in "the element of being together"  Getting together with others to create is becoming a lost art and I for one do not want to sit and watch it happen.

I have taken almost an entire year off of teaching in-store, except for a few trips and I am almost ready to get out and teach again, with several changes to the way I teach.

I am hoping that you will have an open mind to my new ways and that you will consider taking some time to be together with other women to create, to experiment, to create a mess, to be inspired and to relax.

Strength of Heart

Be strong and have strength of heart. Do not be afraid or shake with fear because of them. For the Lord your God is the One Who goes with you. He will be faithful to you. He will not leave you alone.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLV)