Happy New Year!

I hope that Christmas was as wonderful for you as it was for me.  It is always a treat to come together as a family and enjoy each other.  This season has been oh, so busy for me.  In addition to the dozen shows that I did and taking a booth at a local artisan market, we also celebrated two granddaughters' birthdays, a Christmas program, and a college graduation.  My daughter Heidi, received her Bachelors in Psychology from Colorado State University.  We are very proud of her.  She currently holds an additional Bachelor of Arts, Associates Degree, and a Masters in Human Resources.  She begins her work on her doctorate this next year.

Heidi's oldest, Brooklynne turned 9 on the 12th of December.  What a joy!

 Skylar, my son, Scott's daughter, turned 15 on Christmas day.  She is such a beauty!

All three of the grand girls spent the day with me baking cookies.  What fun we had!  They are posing with the aprons that I made them.

I must have been a very good girl this year, because Santa brought me a new sewing machine.  And I love it.  This thing does it all.

It has over 600 stitches, self'-threading, all digital, and it even cuts the threads for you.  I am already getting so spoiled!Already this week I have made two pillows and three new dolls.

All three dolls are already at my booth at a Borgata and will be listed the first of the week in my Etsy shop,  They will sell for $20 ea, so email me if you are interested.

Well, I had better get busy.  Happy New Year, my bloggie friends!  See ya next year!

Feeling pretty festive.....

Believe it, or not, I did get that mess of a craft room cleaned, organized and purged.  It was like getting an early Christmas gift.  Some of the items I found while purging my hoard became gifts....like the pillow covers with Transformers on them.....gift for my 5 year old step-grandson.  Both of the youngest granddaughters are getting frilly little aprons that I made from the fabric in Christmas prints (I have an  entire tote of this!)  I think I will have a few more gifts that I can finish up before the big day arrives.

So the decorations are up and I thought I would give you a peek:

 This is the tree that we cut from the forest.  When we got it home, it was 13 1/2 feet tall.  My ceiling is only 7 feet....

 This Hoosier is my pride and joy.  Each Christmas I fill it full of Santas.

 These little guys are everywhere......

 Hubby does the exterior...

My vintage Santa greets everyone....

So I am nearly done shopping and will do the baking with the grand girls next week.  I am off to do laundry, take the dogs to the vet, vacuum, and sneak into my studio once more........

Crafter Confessional

My shows are finished and other that a small booth in a local artisan's market, a Borgata, I have no sewing, gluing, stocking, set ups and tear downs to do.  I am happy to say that this was my most successful season yet.  I learned alot, made new friends and witnessed delight in the faces of some of my customers.  My inventory and energy are depleted and now I can get down to the task at hand:  Christmas.

But, alas, I must confess......I am a hoarder.  I collect broken doo dads, worn shirts, rusty nails, and off season floral.  But that's not the worst of it......yes, I confess, I collect fabric.  I have had this obsession for as long as I can remember but when my kids were young and still at home, household space was at a premium.  As the kids grew and moved out, my stash grew and moved in.  Today with shows done and the tree up, I decided to attempt fabric organization.  I may have taken too big a bite........

I took this out of the closet:

And this:

        This is piled on the treadmill:

         And near my sewing machine:

    And full bolts of fabric tucked into hiding places:

This is not counting the four drawer cabinet full of scraps and the bolt of fabric that is MIA but I know I will find sooner.......or most likely later...........

So I am off to organize and clean, and perhaps a bit of purging.  Gotta get busy so I can start on my Spring Crafts!