It's Been Awhile! Merry Christmas!

Well, It's been a long time since I've had the time to sit and update my blog... so here it is!  It is now 1:16am on Christmas morning...so Merry Christmas!  My children are home (19 and 23) My husband and 3 dogs are fast asleep and I have a houseful of their friends... I just LOVE it!  I'm still up so I decided to get back to my blog.

I've been pretty busy since May working mainly on Christmas items for my Etsy shop and a few large craft shows. I just love holiday season and Christmas is my favorite time of year.  Family first of course but I really love creating my arrangements and my wreaths.

I especially love my snowman family arrangements!  They are so much fun to make especially the custom pieces that clients have certain requests for.  Maybe they have 3 children and want a Mom a Dad and the 3 children in a certain winter scene!  I just finished one with a Dad who loves the Phila. Flyers, Mom loves to ice skate and their daughter loves animals.  Came out so cute! (picture posted below)

Aside from working in my shop, my family, my dogs, my home, etc... I have recently given up my part time job to devote to all the above, my shop, my family, my dogs and most recently, decorating my own house for the holidays... before Christmas Eve!  Usually I am just throwing my own decorations together and this year I finally decided to start early, and put my talents to work in my own house!  Needless to say, I have 5 Christmas trees, wreaths in just about every room, swags, outside porch archway 9ft X 2ft garland, 2 6ft pencil trees on the porch, 9ft X 2ft garland on the stairway railing going to my 2nd floor not to mention all the snowmen arrangements throughout!  

My poor husband saw me working like a banchee and of course I had to do it myself, because I'm way too fussy.  He just looked and said "you need to stop, you don't have to do all this, it only has to come down and somebody has to put it away" !  I know exactly what he was thinking.... "I'm going to have to put this all away" and yep he is right haha! :)  But it does look beautiful, he and the kids love it and I'm happy I took the time and did it the right way! I plan on keeping it all up for awhile though, to enjoy ;)  (sneak peek below)

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying their families and friends, and having a wonderful holiday weekend!  I'll try to be more attentive to my blog... After the New Year I will be busy in my shop working on Valentines Day and St. Patricks Day Wreaths and Arrangements.... I'm really excited about it!  I have alot of great unique ideas... Can't wait to get started.  It's been a great first year on Etsy and in my shop, and I'm hoping for an even better 2012... especially since I am now unemployed and now self employed!  I couldn't be happier in my new endeavor, hoping to open my shop in the Fall to the public and I'm really looking forward to a Great New Year!     

Have a great Christmas!  Sandy

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!!!

Well, this is certainly not craft related or Etsy related, as I write just about everything anyway, but it's really a day I kind of reflect back on so many years ago.  I feel it's so important to step outside of where we are today and think of what our 26th Wedding Anniversary really means to me..... My husband and I actually met when I was 18, although he says he used to watch me play little league baseball. I was a pitcher and I have to admit at 11, I was pretty good....haha... I loved it!  It wasn't until I was 18 when we met.  You can laugh now.... yes "at a disco"  haha!!!! And yes I was underage, but honestly didn't drink.  My friends and I just danced from when we got there... until we left.  Those were, as we 50 somethings say, were the good old days!  One night, there he was, walked over to me with the famous... really bad line ;)  are you ready...."Don't I know you from somewhere?"  ...not even kidding!  From that day on we were inseparable... I did believe him about the baseball thing, because seriously, who would know that?? That was 1978.  We dated for 5 years, got engaged, then married 2 years later. So more accurately 33 years later, and on our 26th Anniversary, 2 grown children, and 3 dogs later, brings me to today! We practically spent more than half our lives together, through great times, through tragedy, lots of laughs, tears, arguments, celebrations.... but I always ask my husband at every Anniversary dinner the same question and then he asks me the same one back, "if you had the chance, reflecting through all the years, would you do it all again?"  Every year, and I know we both honestly mean it, we both answer yes.... Our children are grown, our last one off to college in September and now we've come full circle..... There's is such a sense of victory and celebration on this anniversary for me... we've weathered every storm, we've successfully raised our children, though not always easy :)  I'm sure there will always be more hurdles to cross, more bickering to be done,  but for now I'll look forward to what the future has to hold, our sense of humor when we need it, the baseball games, the gardening we love to do, eating out more, the couch potato days, hanging in the pool, literally ;) (he's not a fan of swimming) the exercise we both hate, and watching the journey of our children unfold!  I have to say I'm so glad that we stayed strong when we had to, soft when we needed to, but always tried to never give up. I always believe you have to focus on the good in every day, it's there if you really look....:) and cherish all the milestones we've achieved together.

Happy Anniversary to us ;)

Enjoy the day!    Sandy

Happy Tuesday! Is it really???? Have a laugh on me :)

Well, today was another busy, crazy day..... the pool guy was coming early in the morning, 2 of my 3 dogs had to go to the groomers (I was embarrased to even take them... felt like an bad mother ;)  Had to leave poor Lola, the Pug, home alone.... she howled :(  Found out my son didn't get measured for his Tux for graduation ugggggggggg..... which, by the way is THIS Sunday, and had to go today.... oh and I forgot....all before I had to be at work for 3!  And so it began..... I attempt to remove Baby, the Poodle and Tasha, the Bischon from the sunroom... as I begin to put their leashes on Lola,  is patiently sitting there (which is not easy for her) for me to also put hers on.... she then realizes her leash isn't being snapped on :( so what does she do, she pulls her hanging leash from the shelf and drops it in front of me with that adorable pug mug staring at me and her curly tail wagging away.  I have attempted to take 3 of them at once before (crazy right???) and that's a whole other blog haha!  As I proceed to walk to the door, my little chubby darling starts biting my ankle and barking, realizing, she's staying home.  I quickly escaped only to hear her howling and crying as I run out the door with the other 2 dogs.... bad mother.....I drop them off, and surprisingly on time. Pool guy calls.... he's at my house almost done. Had my son go to get measured for his tux, by himself, (he is almost 19) ...feeling guilty anyway... bad mother yet again haha.... I had to get back to my house, but not before I realized I was passing the nursery where I usually treat myself to a rose bush or two or three.... you get the idea! My anniversary's tomorrow so....( I have a serious perennial addiction ;) found one, of course, a beautiful peachy yellow... just one because I had no time to look.. grabbed it and rushed to get home.... uh oh.... pool guy, sitting, sweating, and waiting for me.  Pay the bill...  Pool guy leaves.... I go into my house, you got it.... my phone rings.......  ( are you exhausted yet :)  the dogs are ready!!!  Hop back into the car pick up the dogs get back home and realize...... I have 15 minutes to get dressed and leave for work.... I really must live for this adrenaline rush thing because I actually made it to work on time.  Quite the accomplishment for today!!!!!  The pools opened, the dogs groomed, the son's tuxedo for graduation measured and ordered, even bought a rose bush for myself and work on time.....and believe it or not, came home from work, just a little exhausted.... haha....really hungry, to find that my husband surprised me and supper was waiting!  Ahhhhh.... So all in all it was really a happy, and very accomplished, exhausting, Tuesday and most importantly, Lola the Pug forgave me, ( I slipped her a bone ;) ......



PS. Back to wreaths and arrangements tomorrow.... day off!


Have a wonderful night!

Sandy

Its About Time..... Sunshine and Blogging!

I haven't blogged in awhile.  It seems, since Easter and Mother's Day, I've been busy.... non-stop! The days are just flying by. All the things I love, my family, baseball games, special dinners, shopping, sleeping in, were definately my priority for these few weeks!  And because my daughter was in for the 2 weekends, it was girl time and family time, which I love.  I also love to drive my daughter back to New York, when it's time for her to go because I am... I'll admit it... a little selfish ;)  I try to spend and cherish every minute I can with her because I do have to share her time with my husband, son and of course her friends, and thats ok. But, when it's time for her to go back, it's just us... 2 sometimes 3 hours (uggggg - traffic) great conversations, lots of laughs, sometimes not saying anything, just wonderful quality time.  Of course, then I HAVE to stay over, we watch The Kardashians, talk some more, then go to sleep.  When I get up, usually around 7, I get my car to move it, and yes there is usually a ticket on it, (I now have 3 of them....) then we go for breakfast, I drop her off at work, say our "I love you's", then I'm on my way.... not regretting a second of it.... :)

When I get home on Monday, my day off.... so to speak....I play catch up! It's rained so much that on any nice day, when I'm not working, or going to New York, I love to be outside working in my yard, with my husband, and of course with my dogs, playing and lounging, (the dogs, not me ;) getting the pool area ready, picking up all the cuttings from my husbands continuous hobby of trimming trees, working in my garden, and of course... the dreaded yard cleanup.  This consists of anything that certain family members don't want to throw away in the garbage cans ends up behind shrubs, in the yard, driveway and much to my dismay....among my beautiful flowers.... you know who you are :)  haha! Then, because I am now outside on nice days, there is a slight shift in my priorities...... unfortunately...  I do try to get my laundry caught up, and my house straightened but.... it's not working out how I would like it to, why? Well because on, not so nice days,  I've been working on new items, believe it or not... starting to get ready for my busiest season, Christmas, which I love!  It's my favorite season to make my arrangements and wreaths! .... Also, updating my Etsy shop, twitter, facebook, and last but not least, my blog! So, if I'm not too consistant with my blogging, you'll have to forgive me... but I will get around to it..... I read on someones twitter, from a mom which I found very funny but true, something like "My family wants dinner, don't they realize I'm on Etsy?" I'm sure many of us can relate.....

Have a wonderful night!     Sandy

Bride in Bloom designs by Suzie2q: A Little Champagne Please

My treasury that I put together is featured in this beautiful blog. Much thanks to Suzie, you made my day ! I really love all these colors...... Enjoy! Bride in Bloom designs by Suzie2q: A Little Champagne Please: "My pink sweetheart rose caketopper was featured in this wonderful pink treasury!"

My Perennial Addiction!

It's been awhile since I had the time to sit and blog. Since Easter I've been pretty busy with the holiday and  Mother's Day.  I'm by no means complaining.... It's been really nice to have my family together.  We ate out alot (which I LOVE) saw a lot of AAA Yankee games (which I also LOVE) and spent some really nice quality time together!  My daughter was in for those two weekends and it was soooo nice having some girl time, no offense to my 3 dogs, Lola, Baby and Tasha or my husband and my son, haha :)  

Also, Spring is in the air and that also means ALOT of work around the yard!  We have lots of trees which means LOTS of leaves and cleanup. I LOVE to do gardening and I've been noticing so many perennials that I forgot I planted popping up underneath all those leaves.  The grass is the greenest I've ever seen and my rose bushes (about 25 of them) look so healthy,  I can't wait to see them when they bloom!  I've been hibernating in the house all winter and it has been such a rainy spring, this was the first time I really looked around and realized just how beautiful nature truly is.... the joy it brings me to see life springing up all around me, the vibrant colors, the beautiful birds in the garden.  I just love it!  I am finally feeling that the warm weather and summer may actually be coming....  I went out by our "still covered" pool to rake some old leaves and clean up little with the help of my three dogs, (as you can see.. absolutely NO help!  :)  and saw my gorgeous wisteria tree in full bloom!  How beautiful it is and it smells so amazing, it's such a shame that it only lasts a short while.  But I know as soon as the wisteria tree loses its flowers the rest of the gardens start magically appearing one by one, plant by plant...

I started my gardens about 10 years ago and tried to time the bloom times so I'm never without color in my yard! It started out with "just a couple" perennials, as I told my husband, then the addiction began....I soon started reading perennial planting books.  I couldn't get in my car without passing any and every nursery and garden center, loading up my SUV to the point where I could barely see out my windows, and of course while my unsuspecting husband was at work. When the sales persons start to know me by name in every place I stopped, it can't  be good.... haha!  I would even buy the poor dead plants so I could plant them for the upcoming year..... Before I knew it, I was digging out grass to accommodate my wonderful addiction!

Now, a little note about my husband and his yard...... NO ONE can touch his grass!! He loves working on the yard, the pool, shaping and cutting the trees, one branch at a time haha! I didn't think he would notice every year we were "quadrupling" the amount of beautiful plants around our home.  He never really said anything, it looked beautiful.....UNTIL I DUG UP HIS GRASS..... and in more than one area!  I tried to justify it by saying it would be less grass to cut and that I will take care of all my gardens throughout the yard.  I did hold up my end of the bargain.  He eventually did get over it, and even supported my habit by buying me new rose bushes for our anniversary and Mother's Day!  I do have to say that I had to cut back on my lovely habit because it got VERY expensive and the guilt started to sink in. I came up with a new idea from a fellow gardener and started taking cuttings and dividing alot of the perennials I already have throughout my garden and just transplanting them into new areas.... Thank goodness I have a big yard :) I do have to say, with the beautiful days we've been having...... I'm starting to get that old feeling.... that I have to get in my car and visit some of my flower stomping grounds, but I'll try and keep it under control.  I do have an anniversary coming up, so I hope I have a new addition to my overabundant garden :)  I guess there's worse things in the world to be addicted to and not nearly as satisfying and beautiful as mine :) ..............

Enjoy the day!      Sandy

In My Yard It's Thanksgiving Every Day!!!

Happy Tuesday!

Just a quick little blog..... I thought I would post this very little story along with the pictures I took from my back yard. Just for your entertainment!  Every day around 10:00am and 3:30pm my 3 dogs start howling and barking and after 10 years I know what that means......turkeys!  Yep I said turkeys.... I live in a residential neighborhood by a high school in the middle of a busy  little town, not a farm to be seen haha, and every day, except of course around Thanksgiving (how smart are they ;) twice a day we have a parade of about 20 to 30 huge turkeys.  No idea where they come from, where they go at night, (don't want to know) but I can tell time by their visits, and of course the dogs, howling and barking until they decide to go to the neighbors yard.... I never seem to have a camera handy when they make their appearance but yesterday I had the camera in hand!  So I'm posting the pictures because people would never believe it or the size of them. Just imagine what 20-30 look like in my yard!  I did get a pretty good picture of 4 of them, the rest were soon to follow, about 20 and some babies.  It's pretty rare to see them with their feathers out.  Two are male and two are female. The guys are the ones fanning their feathers and strutting their stuff to attract the attention of the 2 ladies!  (so typical..... haha)   Enjoy.......

  

The boys!

The girls and boys!

NOW... BACK TO BUSINESS!

I did manage to get to my shop and I got quite a bit accomplished! Enjoying and sometimes dancing (haha) to my music, drinking my coconut flavored iced coffee, I started piecing about 6 wreaths and 4 silk floral arrangements.  I had ideas what I wanted to do all day and it started to flow. I was able to complete 2 (shown below) and the rest probably tonight!  I have a custom order that I can't wait to start, a wreath for a customer who sent me a picture of the colorful wallpaper covered wall where she would like it - so I can match or coodinate the wreath with it!    What a great idea!  So that's my next project. When it's done I'll post the before and after!

I also started to piece out some of my.... do I dare..... Christmas items and ideas! It's my busiest season and I have several craft shows that I do.  I'll post them as I get the dates. I love my holiday snowman arrangements, (pictued below, this one available for sale!) probably my favorite pieces to do.  I create winter family scenes out of whimsical little plush snowmen, sometimes other interesting creatures, trees, wooden birdhouses, you name it I try to put it in. Many of my customers like me to custom make arrangements to represent their family members.... and because family is so important to me,  I really get so much joy out of making these special arrangements for them! Not to mention my newest project, pre-decorated Christmas trees! LOVE doing these! I've done up to 6 ft. pencil trees, (pictured below, that one is sold) (special order only) but make anywhere from 2 ft. to the most popular 4 ft.  My husband loves ;) ;) when I have to take them to the craft shows along with ALL the other things, haha.....usually I make about 15-20 4ft. and about 10 2ft. tabletop trees.  The 4 ft. ones are in heavy plaster, sometimes cast iron bases, he particularly loves those ;) ....  What a good sport!  Thankfully, we usually only have to bring one or two back to the shop.... 

  

    I'll blog again the first minute I have!

Enjoy the day!   Sandy