Thursday, December 31, 2009

Welcome 2010!

From my family to yours, wishing you all a very Happy New Year! 


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Getting Back To Things...

...after being away is sometimes so hard...for me.  But I'm determined to "get my groove on" and get movin'!  Many of you who follow me on Facebook know that I came down with the flu the week before Christmas.  For those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, this explanation may explain why I have been M.I.A. here on my blog.  Very sick...yes...but I have made a full recovery.

While I was sitting here in my "lazy chair" with nothing to do but sleep and feel bad, I decided to do a lil' something for my son.  We have this nature reserve one town over from us where my family  & I like to take nature walks.  I have been going there since I was a teenager and just love it!  I used pictures from a walk Andrew & I took in Oct. 2008 to create this lil' mini:






















I was inspired by the pictures to use this fun line from DCWV.  I based the cover on a similar album done by Angela Moen but used a Maya Road album instead because I thought it fit my pictures better.  LOVE LOVE LOVE how it came out!  Andrew loved it too, which made "Mama" VERY HAPPY!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas (belated) and a joyous and peaceful New Year!  Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

My FAVORITE Christmas special is...


"A Charlie Brown Christmas"!  I don't care how old I am or how often I watch it...it always puts me into the right mood.  And it's such a gentle reminder of what this holiday season is all about.  It's the best half hour of my day!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

On the 13th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

some new goodies from my new friend Kim @ Valley Primitives.  Here's what I got:


I loved the last stiched frame so much, I just had to get this one!


And this snowman stitched mat will look great with my collection!  Thanks again Kim!

Today I spent the day with my girl buds at the store for our annual Christmas party/crop.  I worked on a calendar for my mother-in-law most of the day and then started on my Christmas cards. 


I used the idea from my handmade ornament.  Using a snowflake punch, I punched out white and green snowflakes and arranged them in a circle.  I added some red bling gems to some of the snowflakes and added a red grosgrain bow.  I am very happy with how they turned out...elegant but not over-the-top.  4 cards down...26 to go! 

Friday, December 11, 2009

On the 11th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

a 10 year old who still believes in Santa!  Hey...I still believe in Santa...so...it's all cool. 

This year Andrew has asked for (in addition to the usual Wii games, Nerf blasters, gift cards...etc) a puppet.  Deb, our pastor's wife and the head of the Puppetude ministry at church helped me research some puppets and recommended this guy from Puppetville:


This is "Kenny".  Isn't he cool?  His legs are removable and he comes with an armrod.  Hubby & I think he has a lot of character.  His clothing is removable too, which makes him very versatile.  I hope Andrew will like him...I know I do!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

On the 10th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

a few days off from the computer!

"Wait...what is she saying?"  Lemme explain.  Instead of spending days 4, 5, 6...and so on talking and typing, I decided to spend some time doing.  So...here's what we've been up to:


Saturday night we had our 1st real snowfall.  I just love it when it snows at night and everyone has their Christmas lights on.  This is a pic of our house (I took it from across the street.)  Vanessa had to talk me thru how to use my night settings.  It wasn't the kind of night to be setting up a tripod...so this was the best I could do.


This was the scene from our front door Sunday morning.  Such a beautiful shot with the snow covered trees.  Andrew couldn't wait to get outside and play!


Sunday afternoon Andrew had a puppet performance at one of the local nursing homes.  He belongs to our puppet ministry at church...it is a group of kids headed up by our pastor's wife and they perform Christian holiday songs to our seniors and kids clubs/events throughout the year.  He plays the black faced lamb in the this song.  Check it out!

Monday hubby helped me finish "decking the halls."  We made fudge and pecan turtle treats.  And we had some tv time.

Tuesday I spent the evening working in the studio.  I am making both of my sisters albums for Christmas.  I hope they like them.

Wednesday we had another snow day.  Andrew was home from school so we spent the day in our jammies and made cookies.


These reindeer cookies are made from peanut butter cookie dough and are decorated with pretzels for the antlers, a red M & M for the nose and mini morsels for the eyes. 


Andrew had the best job...decorating the reindeer & licking the spoon!

Today was another busy day here in the Schimanski house.  Tonight Andrew had his Winter Concert at school.  We invited both Grammas to come and watch.  Andrew was selected to perform "Jingle Bell Rock" with a few of the band students and the band teacher.  He did such a great job! 


It still amazes me how talented he is!  And not just becasue I am his mama!!  :)

Stay tuned for the 11th day of Christmas!

Friday, December 4, 2009

On the 4th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

...new handmade ornaments for my tree. 

Did I mention how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE snowmen?  These three cuties will look FAN-TAS-TIC on my tree!  Thanks Valley Primitives!  I love your shoppe!

And...lookie what else I got from her:

This lil' frame will look really nice in my kitchen.  I can't wait!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

On the 3rd Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

a *giggle*...watching you lick a spoon.


Andrew and I had such fun tonight making "cakeball treats" for his band Christmas party tomorrow.  I dipped while he added the most important ingredient...SPRINKLES!

Yes...they ARE as yummy as they look!

This is the finished batch for school in the morning.
Am I a cool mom or what??!!

I made the following holiday ornament for the employee tree at the store:

I cut out several snowflakes from a Sizzix die in both white and blue.  I adhered a layer of white snowflakes followed by a layer of blue onto a "wreath" circle cut out.  I added a third layer of snowflakes (white) and added a blue/silver ribbon bow at the bottom.  I embellished a few of the white snowflakes with pearls and added a silver tie at the top.  Kinda cute huh?  I think so.  It certainly got my "creative juices" flowin'!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

On the 2nd Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

...a painting of three snowmen...singing!

Andrew's school publishes their artwork on Artsonia...a public site for schools to showcase young artists and their artwork.  He has had several items showcased on this site...this is the 1st piece for this year.  So cute!  When this one comes home I'm taking it over to Michael's to have framed.


Today I am thankful for a sleeping puppy under the tree.  December Daily...Day 2.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

On the 1st Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

...a decorated Christmas tree.  Yip...my two honeys decorated our tree last night while I was working downstairs in the studio.





It was so wonderful this morning to wake up to the tree already done on the 1st day of December.  Some of you may be follwing Ali Edwards this month while completing your own "December Daily."  I have decided to do my own version and take a picture each day that brings joy to my heart about this wonderful holiday season.  Here is my 1st one:

Each ornament on our tree is a snowman.  This is one of my favorites.  He chunky-grubby with a carrot nose...can he be any cuter?

This week I started getting the itch to make something "Christmasy."  I took the chipboard Christmas keychain from Maya Road and decorated them.  Take a look:


Candy cane with red Stickles.  I used the Fiskars holly punch and added a red button.


I covered the tree with green swirl paper from Reminisce and added red bling jewels.


I covered the ornament with red Bazzill, used an EK Success circle punch to punch out a center from Imaginise paper, added a title, star and button to complete.  These sure got me into the Christmas spirit!