Merry Christmas

These beautiful tiny bottle brush trees I purchased from my friend, Tracey at the Fieldstone Vintage Market. You can access her blog and her Etsy at http://raggygirlvintage.blogspot.com/

The only thing I added was the tiny cloche. What do you think, Tracey?

This photo shows how tiny they are. They are the cutest!

My china cabinet is sooooo different this year after my Dad painted it white this summer.

It was fun decorating it for the holidays.

See the lovely centre piece from Sandi. I am sure she would love a visit, too.

http://acottagemuse.blogspot.com/

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas and hugs for the New Year.

Advent Calendar TA-DA!

This project took me a whole year to make.

Some of my friends and followers have been waiting a long time for the unveiling.

I purchased the instructions from Paula http://www.2gypsygirls.com/

I thoroughly enjoyed the creative process. I am sure it will stay up past December.

Any bets as to how long?

The Last Two Tags

I was getting really, really close to finishing the Advent calendar. But I ran into a little problem.

I misplaced the first 11 tags. Not so little a problem really. I had the picture frame already hung and all the other tags up, but the missing ones were, well . . . missing.

My sister came to my rescue. We tore my upstairs apart looking for them, about to give up. Then success! Would you like to see how they all look together now?

Two Talented Friends

My friend Ana from http://apetitecottage.blogspot.com/A Petite Cottage made a special white Lady Pamela pumpkin just for me. She has an Etsy shop you might like to visit. Please tell her Lady Pamela sent you.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/APetiteCottage.com

I also have two talented sisters who like to make me things. This was a great thrift store find foot stool, my Dad painted the legs white and my younger sister made a slipcover for it that looks much nicer in my cottage. I positively squeeled when I saw it!

Unfortunately, she doesn't have a blog or an Etsy shop, but she is t-h-i-n-k-i-n-g about signing up for Etsy in the new year.

I absolutely love it! and her, too of course.

The free graphic was from the Graphics Fairy.

http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

White Fall Decor 2011

A lovely teacup caddy gifted me by my friend BHS holds a collection of white teacups.

The tag and lavendar sachet was a gift from Tracey at

http://raggygirlvintage.blogspot.com

Mini white pumpkins fill my current favorite item from Sandi at http://acottagemuse.blogspot.com

I may have 'nagged' her a little about it, seeing it in some of her posts until she finally found one she could part with. I know it wasn't the polite thing to do, but part of me is really glad I did. Thank you Sandi.

My personal attempt at a 'Mum'-kin. That is where you take a fake Dollar store pumpkin and some fabric mums and jab them all over the pumpkin until they look like the old fashioned swimming caps back in the day. Know what I mean? These ones I coffee stained first.

This is the 35 year old maple finished china cabinet that Mom and Dad gave us for our wedding gift. DH was going to paint it white for me for my birthday in June, but Dad was bored after building the deck, so he volunteered. It gave DH more time to enjoy the summer on the deck instead of doing all the "Honey-Do" list things I usually have for him. We did alot of daytrips this past summer instead.

One poor wee pumpkin in the kitchen, that is all it got.

*Smiles*

Advent Tags - Almost Done

Tag #18

This post is especially for Dona and Colleen who have been waiting patiently for the last few tags. Well, here they are at last!

Tag #21

Tag#22

Tag#23

Tag#24

I have only 2 tags left. One I couldn't make because it requires a miniature Christmas tree and I refuse to dig out the decoration boxes this early. The very last one is, of course Christmas Day. I think I will wait with that one for a surprize.

I have all the quilting pins made, the frame painted white and looking for a piece of ceiling tile to pin the tags on come December. I will post the finished project then.

Thank you all for your encouragement while making this rather big project. I really did enjoy it.

What I Learned Today

It has been sooooo long since I have posted on my blog. My summer has been filled with busyness, it all seems like it has gone by with a blur. Kind of like the Road Runner in the old cartoon. I don't even remember everything that we did this year. I sincerely hope my fall slows down some.

I wanted to share a passage in this book with you that I am reading "Tea Time With God". I hope some of you will be able to relate as well.

"Our society is obsessed with time. We try to stay "on schedule" and "be on time." On holidays, days off from work, and on vacations, we want to "make the most of time." Our usual lament is that there is just " not enough time."

There are two Greek words for the English word time. Chronos, where we get the word chronology, refers to measured time - the time on a clock, the days, weeks, and months of a calendar. Kairos , however, means purposeful time, time which God has filled with meaning, the "right" time.

We have all experienced "kairos" moments - times when everything came together, times when it was "right" to make an important call or write a crucial letter, apply for a particular job, or have a decisive talk with a friend or spouse. These are moments when we gain insight or renewed perspective, see the bigger picture, and discern God's hand is bringing together the fragments of our life.

How do the ticking moments of the clock become filled with a sense of God's time? To turn chronos time into kairos time we need to "take time off" for reflection and quiet. Our resting is not passive inactivity, but an intentional commitment to pay attention to God in all the times of our life."

Walk in wisdom . . . redeeming the time.

Colossians 4:5

My New Deck

This spring my Dad built my dream deck. I have always wanted a deck where I could sit outside, maybe entertain sometimes, and enjoy my wee little garden space. He did a fabulous job, bigger and better than I imagined. Thank you, Daddy.

Now for the table in the front - it is a gift from my lady friends. It goes with the new wicker chairs that I got for my birthday last month. Well, if you are going to have a deck, you have to have somewhere to sit - right?
The beautiful white banner on the fence is from an Etsy vendor, Catcarousel, all the way from Spain. She sews them from beautiful white crisp cotton fabric, each flag is different. I wish I had a camera that would take close-ups so you could see how pretty it is.

There is my garden shed in the background. The photos are a bit darker because of the cloud cover, but the forcast was for rain tomorrow.

I have a lavender plant in the ice bucket that I bought at the Passionate Home's Canadian Farm Chick Tag and Garden sale. If you can't read it, it says 'Fleurs' on it. I love it!

Thank you for joining me on my deck, I hope you had a good time.

Please visit some of the other's from White Wednesday, just click on the photo on my sidebar.

My Incredibly Talented Friend

My girlfriends gave me a lovely early birthday luncheon and this was one of the gifts that I received. It is entirely handmade from paper and a paper mache book box.
Each delicate flower is made by hand by the artiste, and the box itself is painted white. You would not believe how lovely this is in person.

See the beautiful crystal bead closure.

The inside is lined with criss-crossed ribbon and pearls. Thank you, Betty.

I am linking to White Wednesday - Just click on the photo on the sidebar.

Advent Tags # 16,17,19 & 20

#16

The last two posts have given you a break from tags for awhile, but I am still trying to get them finished before the end of summer. If you have been counting - I have 5 left to go. I also have a HUGE frame to spray paint white and a ceiling tile to cover and quilting pins to make to hang the tags, so this project is NOT over yet. But I am please with how far I have come. I think all the positive comments I have gotten is the real reason I keep going. I thank you all for them.
#17

#19

#20

I have everything I need for the missing #18, so that should show up soon.

Happy White Wednesday.

Why I {Heart} Blogging

You meet the nicest people in blogland, and when you get the chance to meet them in person, it seems, well, sort of extraordinarily special. This weekend I had the chance to go to the Old School Market in Abbotsford where I met some of my online friends. Tracey from RaggyGirlVintage also has an Etsy shop and made me a fabulous pillow, which was wrapped up in ribbon and an extra special gift of a lavender bag and a hand stamped clothes peg. I think it looks great where I left it for my photo shoot. If you click on her blog name there will be some photos of the sale. I did not take any because of the sea of people there, all you would of seen were the backs of many heads.


I also got a hug from Colleen at Vintage Home
...and appearantly just missed Janis my friend from Rust and Ruffles for the second time this week by seconds.

It has been a whirlwind kind of week.

White Wednesday #100

Today we celebrated one of my friends birthdays by taking her out for lunch. We tried a new place called SerendipiTea in Abbotsford. The decor is right up my ally, so I snapped a few photos to show you all for White Wednesday, since White Wednesday is also celebrating a special birthday. (BTW my friend is NOT 100!)
Lots of White everywhere. The food was delicious.

Simply Elegant.

China and Tea cups.

Leaded glass doors.

Make sure you visit Faded Charm.

Leave a comment and you might even win one of the special giveaways!