Christmas 2011

We had a fantastic holiday!  So much went on in such a short period of time...we travel this week yet, but I can actually take a few minutes to sit, blog, and relax.  And I can't wait for the "round 2" of craziness!!  (aka...the in-laws...house in the woods in the middle of nowhere...21 people!!!!!)

Our vacation days began with visitors from N. Carolina, who surprised us with an unexpected furry house guest. 

 "Waffles" was the quietest house guest EVER!  She slept all night in a lidded basket.  ~never made a peep~ 

 Christmas Eve started with a bang!  We exchanged our "family gifts" with the kids. We did it early this year. That way, they had something to do, while waiting for the afternoon festivities to begin.  I never in my life saw a kid scream SO LOUD over an $8 video game!!  If I would've known that, that would've been all we bought him!  :)

                                   (check out Elise's face in that one~  She was crackinggggggggg up!!!)


The kids were truly in SHOCK that they BOTH got guitars from mommy and daddy.  Real guitars!!  Let the tuning and lessons begin!

                                                                                                                                                                            

 

    what a natural!!!!                                    

 Then came the party at Gramma's house. Needless to say, it was full of laughs and lotsa, lotsa music!! 

                                (check out Santa, Elfie, and little baby Rudolph!)

                                 

                                           (this picture CRACKS ME UPPPPPPPPP!!)

The prep for Santa was complete....

...and finally Christmas morning

                          the smiles...

                          the shock!...

                          a little crafting...

                         1 of 4 homemade tech deck ramps...

Overall, we had a fantastic Christmas!!  I can't wait 'til tomorrow...another 4 days of hype!! 

Final pictures...

So I went back to Merge today to finish the tree branch.  Everyone at the worship service last week wrote on a tag....
....something that the Lord brings to you.... 
The tags made the wall project a bit more personal ~ not just "basic wall art."  You can read my previous post for more detail on that...
but anyway, I promised a picture of the completed project~ 

I think the most amazing part of the whole thing is that I hung them all straight, even, and equally spaced on the FIRST TRY! 

project of the week...

I've been going to a new worship service Sunday mornings. 2 friends of mine lead it.  It's set up like a bible study with music...a very relaxed environment...a room filled with friends. 

Merge ministries got to be so well attended, that they needed to move locations.  So....they moved into a very large warehouse in town.  With hours of volunteer time, including electrical work, paint, sandblasting, drywalling, etc...the space is absolutely beautiful.  Exposed brick with large windows, hardwood floors, and natural wood pillars just screams to me!! 

Anyway, long story short, Merge asked me to help out with wall art.  ...to come up with ANY idea...  Ya know, it's really, really difficult to do that.  If someone gave me a "theme" or "color idea" that they wanted, it would be a bit more simple.  I think they were thinking they were being nice letting me do "whatever."  Phew!  What pressure!!  When I called to give him (Matt) a list of my ideas, his response was, "Sure sounds great!  They all sound great!  You just be creative!" 

Because the 2 main walls are about ... oh I don't know... 30-40 feet long, I knew whatever I did had to be big!  I recommended painting a large section of the one wall (between pillars) with magnetic chalkboard paint...that way they could list reminders, hang posters, doodle, or whatever on it.  And it wasn't very expensive to do.  (which is KEY!)

The other main wall, I decided to paint three 4-foot canvases. My inspiration came from the symbol for life.  The tree. 

The canvases turned out great.  Everyone was very complimentary.  I'll be taking picture of the space on Thursday, but for now...here are the pics from "the beginning." 

I simply spray painted the edges with black semi-gloss...

 ...then brushed the center in a cross-hatch pattern with copper metallic paint, called "copper penny." 
This color complimented the brick wall and hardwood floors beautifully...and the black tied in nicely with the chalkboard on the opposite side of the room...

 Don't you just love my wonderful workspace?  It's so handy and I love all the room I have (cough, cough)...

Again, Thursday I'll post pictures of the final product, hanging at the warehouse. 

Looking at these...I think I'm a wanna-be artist!! 

1st Annual Gingerbread House Party!

Making gingerbread houses is SO.MUCH.FUN!!!  Honestly, there's not a ton of prep...

*buy bulk candy at the grocery store, along with graham crackers and white icing (1 per child), marshmallows, chex cereal, and coconut.

*Foil-wrap cardboard.

*Add a "sawed-off" milk/o.j. carton to the foil-wrapped base, with tape.

*give everyone a butter knife to saw through the graham crackers to make them the size you need.  They actually "saw" and "cut" rather easily without breaking!

Now these are some happy kids!  I love living in a neighborhood that has lotsa kids!  Hopefully, when they're all grown, they'll say to their own kids, "When I was little, there was this lady that lived down the street, and every year at Christmas time..." 

Triplicity Designs makes its debut!!!

You can't get more excited than when something just falls into your lap.  This whole business venture has been a whirlwind for me and my 2 friends, Bobbi & Sara. We kept it very hush hush for quite a while...just in case things didn't work out...because then we would look like a bunch of dorks.  But honestly, everything fell into place and today was THE OPEN HOUSE!!! 

We, Triplicity Designs, are creating/designing furniture and homegoods from reclaimed wood and other findings from old factory buildings.  The Woods Company, Inc. is our supplier of these items.  All the separate pieces are quite unique...the history behind each piece is fascinating! 

We designed and fabricated several pieces for The Woods Company, Inc. open house today.  They were having somewhat of an "information session" for architects and builders, and our lovely things were there on display as well!

                            (my coat rack...designed by me, and assembled by Sara's husband)

                                                        

                                                                 (my corkboard)

                                                                
                                                                (Sara's lamp)

                                                

                                                              (Bobbi's reading nook) - I mean seriously?  Couldn't ya just take your new favorite magazine and curl up on that...mmmmmm......lovely job, Bobbi! 

                                                   

                                (end table) ~ wish I had a picture of the construction of the inside

This was quite a fulfilling day for each of us.  The three of us never dreamed we would be called "designers."  But to be introduced to others as that...well...I admit...it was VERY cool!! 

This dream-turned-reality may succeed...and it may fizzle...but while it's here...it's gonna be FUN!! 

Opportunity = Scary!!

Opportunities come and go. Some you snoot at and move on...others you feel compelled to go along for the ride.  Whether it be a great deal on a new home, a new business venture, or what have you...

opportunity = "the unknown"

There are few times in my life where I have had an opportunity to do something that is just that...."UNKNOWN"... I'm not typically that kind of gal ~ one who says 'ok, whatever!'  I'M the kind of gal that asks every question in the book, because I need details!!  The more details, the better (for me anyway!!).   But this time, currently, right now, I'm having the guts to go with the flow ~ like so many people do!!  Usually I'm envious of those that are able to do that...and I'm proud to say, I've joined the band wagon with this... I'm going with the flow!!  So far, the 'flow' has been very uncertain, which is driving me insane! ~ but that's okay.  I'm surviving!!  

So...Cheers to a new chapter in my life.  The chapter of an uncertain business venture!  I can't believe I'm doing this...and I can't believe it's reality! 

Love My Job!

...I love my job.

There are VERY few people in this world that can say that!  Not only am I lucky to love the job I have, I'm luck to have "a" job! I feel very blessed for that.

So...this week in Occupational Therapy, my students are going to be cutting & following directions to assemble this
A-W-E-S-O-M-E creation!!! 


Last week at our town's Applefest, I bought a haunted house kit, from the local Council for the Arts.  Laurie, a local artist, had created this and was selling individual kits. "GREAT," I thought.  "Perfect for my students!!!!!"  I just now got around to checking this out.  I was WAY disappointed to find out Laurie had copyrighted the project.  Hmmph.  

Then I had a lightbulb moment!!  I remembered she has a website!  SO, I went on-line and found it...and on it was her phone number!  SO...
I called her right up. She was very pleased to find out I wanted to do this. She immediately allowed me to trace the pattern and make as many copies as I'd like, for my student's use.  

Tonight, my kids and I put together the kit I bought. It is such a cute house!  My kids loved helping with it and I'm sure my students will too!  They LOVE crafts!  So many parents these days don't have time to devote to crafting at home.  The kids THRIVE on it! 

So off to Michael's tomorrow before school to load up on Halloween stickers, and purple card stock!  

Happy Halloween!