Happy Anniversary to me!

A long, long time ago in a land not so far away, a young man was smitten with a sassy ol' gal from Germany. She used to bowl at his family bowling alley (they weren't centers back then). And to get her name, he carded her one night while she was purchasing a drink in the bar. She did look mighty young for her age! He asked her out on a impromptu date, after he had acquired her unlisted phone number from her boss, who was not on his favorite person list. She hurried up to get ready for a date to the Cow Palace? Did they have cows there, she thought. Is this an omen?

So they went. Ten cent beer night. Now for a gal from Germany who was used to "real" beer, this was perfect. She held her own. Then they went to another bar on Main Street. (Looking back - 10 cent beer night and the bars -- should've paid attention!).

Four days later, the sassy ol' gal got an arrangement of orchids - how divine! and a wedding proposal. Nope, she wasn't ready.. March rolled around, another proposal. By then the beautiful bachelor house he built was ready to move in, so they did. June came with yet another proposal. This time the sassy ol' gal told the smitten lad that she would let him know when she was ready. (He should have paid more attention!)

So on December 30, 1974, the sassy ol' gal told the smitten lad at 6:30 in the morning that today was the day. By 1:30 they were married. The smitten lad's dad got to be best man and give the bride away.

They lived happily ever after with their two beautiful boys. And now with two beautiful, gorgeous, super smart and talented granddaughters. Did I say the smartest, brightest, most gorgeous granddaughters who can do no wrong and are loved beyond all measure?

And the rest is history!

January is around the corner, so we'll need a new calendar

Gather 5 coordinating decorative papers. 1 12x12" cardstock for background. Some taupe cardstock for the numbers and month shadow and a coordinating color for the month, punched snowflakes and decorative die cuts (snowflake, snowman and mitten). A bit of ribbon. t!m Holtz tiny attacher. Chestnut roan cat's eye ink. Brown brush tip pen. Some adhesive. And the following QuicKutz dies: Calendar Kit 2, 2008 Calendar months, mini winter shapes, and the "pop up windows" that were an accompaniment to Santa's Workshop. Die cut one header strip and 4 week strips from coordinating cardstock.

Adhere the days of the week letters on the wider, upper strip, centering each letter over the day column. Double stack the month die cuts. Add some glitter glue and some snow glitter. Let dry.
Don't forget to add some glitter to the center of the snowflakes.
For the birthdays of the month, use the pop up window round die adhere it to the back of the week strip with removable tape. Die cut the opening and then remove the tape and die carefully. This will help keep your die in perfect placement for cutting. Reinforce the perforated edges (on the back side) with some tape. Adhere one shape on one side of the opening. Add glue and glitter if desired.
Place a picture of the birthday person behind the opening. I like using the openings between the days on a week strip to insert a tag with important information, such as an address for a party, the birthday person's age, or whatever you need. I used the tiny attacher to attach the folded ribbon to punched tag shape.

January QuicKutz teaser!

It's the theme for the year. It's the cover page for your 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" We R Memory Keepers album. The reason I'm sharing this now.. well we needed a cover for the album and that wasn't planned at our last meeting in December. So to give yourself a head start, you'll need:

brown decorative paper (if you picked up the brown/blue paper combo - you can get the cover from the brown sheet if you cut carefully)
paper in a color to match your album cover
ribbon in a color to match your album cover
Stick on pearls - these are two toned but there are several varieties available at DML now.

The January pages are done! But wont' be posting those until the Wednesday before January club.

Merry Christmas -Froehliche Weihnachten -Joyeux Noel -S Roždestvom Khristovym

As we prepare for the holiest of all nights, the celebration of birth of our Lord and Savior, we take some time to reflect on the passing year. The things that made us laugh and the things that made us cry. Each and every one is a gift to help us grow in the Lord. To find his favor and blessing and are a part of our journey in preparation for eternal life.


From the Book of Luke, Chapter 2

The Birth of Jesus

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register.

⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^a]">[a] the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

May His blessing be with you and yours this most Holy season and always.

A few very favorite things

Our tree this year too is a real one. I love the smell and I love the look, but I do think that I will be finding another faux one to fit this spot. An the problems is that the branches don't really support all the heavy ornaments. What's your opinion?
I love this stocking solution!! I saw it last year but finally ordered it this year. You can order the stocking holder at Ballard Designs. Last year I waited with hopes to catch it on sale. But was foiled. So this year when the catalog came out, I let my fingers do the clicking (on the computer that is).
Here is is by the fireplace... I just love not having to put nails into the mantel.
And to finish, another video by my favorite quilter, composer, artist...Ricky Tims.

It's been quiet on the blog.... here's why!

We had a group of friends over for dinner last Thursday evening. Can you believe I have pictures of the table, the house but no pictures of who was there? The camera was out and ready, but not one picture was taken. Although the thought crossed my mind during dinner, it left just as quickly as it came. Sad indeed.
Found this charming placemat at SteinMart. Make sure you sign up for their preferred customer's card. It attaches to your key chain and then you always have their coupons at your finger tips. Dinner plates are Waechtersbach (Made in Germany). They are a very sturdy casual set. We bought these for the cabin we once had for which the casual look was perfect. Still love them here.
This set of brassware belonged to my mother-in-law. I was delighted to get them when she downsized and moved into a senior living community.
This "crystal" is some of our favorite. Is there a story behind these pieces? You betcha. Years ago in a land not so far away, Long John Silvers gave patrons on option to purchase a piece with each meal. We ate there two Christmases in a row. One of which my mother and godmother were here and helped further the cause. We now have a set of twelve of this great "crystal". Not shown are the cups and plates and a couple more pieces... all for twelve! Who knew back then that all that fat would be bad for you!
Found these great mini wreathes at Hobby Lobby years ago. I tie them to the backs of the dining room chairs with a wired red/white gingham ribbon.
If you have a sugar mold (the long wooden thing down the center of the table) buy some fluted votive holders to insert into the conical openings. Drop votive candles into the holders and light. So charming and easy!

I hope you enjoyed visiting us for a casual get together. Stay tuned for some of my favorite things this Christmas.

...a few bytes

As you look at this lovely picture (not mine and I don't know the owner sorry) of a Christmas market in a German town, I want to give a brief update.

I added a link to the right side below the "thoughts" that is a link to email me. Use this with questions that you'd love to have answered. If I get a lot of the same question, then I'll answer it in the blog :), otherwise, you'll get a private email back.

For those of you in the Lubbock QuicKutz club, the album size for next year is 5 1/2" wide by 8 1/2" tall. I am using a WeRMemory Keepers album. Go see dallas at DML and she'll get one ordered for you. The theme, (you know how much easier it is to write a paper if you have a thesis statement, don't remember??), well it's so much easier to plan when you have a direction in mind. The theme for this next year is "Enjoy the everyday moments". This project is for you. We do so much for others, that it's nice to have something that personally yours. You pick a day each month when you are going to take a picture and then we will create a page in class so that you can use your picture. My part, other than planning, is to try to have a picture taken before I put up the class page. So my day will probably be early in the month. And if you can't pick a 'date', then pick the first Saturday, the second Sunday or something along those lines. I think you will really enjoy this process. We'll be learning a lot of different ways to incorporate our dies and also learn some new techniques along the way! I promise you fun.

Check back soon for another update - I think I have some club pictures to put up and also a complete slideshow of the album we made this past year. Thank all you who watch this regularly, I love you one and all.

Christmas in the Kitchen

Even our kitchen has it's own tree with specially designated ornaments. It was as much fun to "gather" these as it has been any other. The two little gingerbread people in the cupcake forms came from Paris in Las Vegas. Many of the mini kitchen utensils came from our local Christmas wonderland - Holland Gardens. The mini dishes came from Dilliards, and the tree was purchased at TJ Maxx several years ago, pre-lit for $9.99!! What a steal.
I saw ornaments like these in Las Vegas for half an arm and a leg. Well the idea never left the creative storage area of the brain and one day I sat down to figure out how to make them. After several bottles of wine, I finally had enough corks. Man was that a tough day - JK!! If you ask nicely at restaurants they usually will part with one or two...
Then I purchased some silver chain at a craft store along with some scrapbooking round brads. I needed one for each end of the cork, so two per ornament. I hooked the chain on the brad and then pushed the brad into the cork. (E6000 forms that mysterious bond that holds all this together.) Oh, that rooster - well he was/is a napkin ring from Stein Mart.
Nestled in the branches are even some stockings made from QuicKutz dies.
Ornaments made from mini copper cookie cutters.
And a mini mold. I am so not sure where I found this. Used a metal punch to get the hole in the top and voila! another ornament.

I want to apologize for having to turn on the comment verification, there's been some spam floating into the blog and I certainly wouldn't want any vile comments or nasty bug to come your way. It won't be long, just long enough to make this nonsense stop. :-)

Be Creative!

QuicKutz club December - it's looking a lot like Christmas

It's time for QuicKutz club. The last meeting of the year. It sure has been fun to create these different pages each month. How are your albums coming along? I am planning on putting some pictures in the last half of the year :(. I'm ending up with two rather simple pages, we are all busy enough and I don't want to add one more UFO (unfinished object) to the pile!!
The next page is optional. It's made from a page protector. A bit of sewing, a few inserts, some glitter and a glitter globe and the page is finished..

Supplies!

3 pieces assorted Christmas paper (coordinating)

1 piece green embossed with holly leaves cardstock

1 piece white paper

1 ft-1/4" black beige check ribbon

1 yd-1/8" brown satin ribbon

QK: mini accordian album round die

Small snowflake die

Deep edge MS punch - lacy scallop

brown cat's eye ink pad

inverted scallop MS corner and edge punch

MS pine bough punch

Red Stickles

Scattered Straw Distress ink pad

Peeled Paint Distress ink pad

adhesives:

Cheetah adhesive runner

Mono-Aqua glut

glue dots

Optional project (depends on IF there is time)

page protector for their album size

K&Company Christmas shaker box

K&Company Adhesive Chipboard - Evergreen words

red glitter or micro beads - could be white too.

Come prepared to have a good time.. we are going to be using the new Martha Stewart coordinating corner and straight punches. And if we get to the optional page, we'll be glittering, sewing and sticking all on a page protector.. See you Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 10am!

Collections.. surely I'm not the only one.

It's St. Nikolaus day in Europe. So in honor of the Saint of all good things, the forerunner to our Santa Claus, I'm going to share my homage to this jolly old man.
My name is Marlis and I am a Santa-holic. I love Santas and have them everywhere. Not that I believe that Santa is the reason for the reason, but because I love the jolly old man.
This Mark Roberts Santa fairy was a gift from my sister in law. She won it at the Taste of Home cooking show and knew she'd never display it. I was the lucky winner!
This Santa is only about 4" tall, made of resin....

And this cuddly version is one of my fav's. I think I bought him so I could make another but that never happened.
This is a German Steinbach smoker. His body separates at the waist and you can put a scented smoker cone inside. When you put the upper body back on, the smoke comes out of his mouth. He's also a 'mover'. If you wind him up, his sled undulates as it moves forward.
See that smoke coming out?

Another German Santa. This time with candle. I purchased this at Design Today on 34th street not too many Christmases ago.
Oh and another Santa I purchased to remake.. Never did. but he's really a small gift bag!
Love this guy, so rustic.
This is a Debrecht Russian santa.
Another collectible. I loved him for all his toys..

This was a Santa that I made our of my youngest son's baby clothes. And then I used toys that resembled the toys he used to play with. The little brass box was a gift from his Granny.
I totally love this guy's beard... it's so long and so many strands of yarn.
This is a Pipka Russian Santa.
And this is the jolly old man all in shades of white with lots of 'frosting' all over. So sparkly.
Purchased last year at United Market Street. He is a bottle topper.
I've had this Santa lantern so long I can't remember where I got him.
Our hallway, the delight of the granddaughters. So many Santas and soooo much temptation!