Happy New Year Sugahs!

Happy New Year dear family and friends!!

Time to start anew, wipe the slate, rev the engines and ponder what 2011 may hold for each of us.

{courtesy of photographer xxxrmt here}

Cheers to you with some pink champagne!

{If I could transport you to lovely Paris, I would do that too!}

{courtesy of Graphics Fairy}

I am not really into resolutions for 2011.

But I am into inspirations and motivations.

My bucket list:

Keep working on the lifestyle change {the word diet makes my skin crawl.  I like a healthy eating mindset and I am starting to enjoy the gym - who knew?}

Striving to improve on the whole life balance thing - family, work, creativity all into synergy

{can you feel the synergy?}

Be more diligent about letting the people I love know I love them.

{I am terrible at remembering to send cards but I think of the people dear to my heart often}

Continue to cultivate the "brave girl" persona {it's a love thang and check out the Brave Girls if you get the chance.  I have not been to one of their camps but I would love too sometime}

Put more time into my relationship with the Lord {carve out more quiet time for reading my Bible and nourishing my soul, less sloughing off going to church}

Be more focused about making time to be creative by being more organized with my time. {thank you Tiffany for your kind words and inspiration on how to achieve this -- some days I wish I could just clone myself to get everything done.  I need to be content that not everything will get done every day}

Less volunteering for this busy Mom, wife, friend, individual so I can focus on all of the above things.

{I am sitting on my hands instead of raising them - using my auction going skills for this one}

I am sure in the days ahead I will be adding a few more things to the list.

These are just a few things I have been reflecting on as I anticipate the new year.

Are there any resolutions or inspirations you want to share?

I love reading other people's lists {like Sadie Lou's post - love everything on her list} - they inspire me to edit my own.

Thank you for stopping by to visit sugahs!

Sending you the best of wishes for a wonderful 2011!

xo's ~ Heidi

Snow day in Georgia

Hi sweet friends ~ has everyone been having a good holiday break?

Recently, we had a snow day here in Georgia!

We do not get the beautiful, powdery snow drifts as our friends might up north (at least not this year, haha).

Grass and snow angel ~ a little rustic, lol.

The one inch plus sprinkling was pretty though, especially since it began snowing on Christmas eve.

While "snowed in" (I can't even say that without laughing), I was able to spend a few precious hours in the craft room here and there.

The honey and I actually had a craft date one night ~ him working on model airplanes at his table and me tossing ink and ruffling crepe paper at mine.  I think this is one date we will have again! ;-)

a little birdie inspired notepad

I didn't have any light blue crepe paper.  What is a girl to do?

I spritzed some Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Hydrangea (blue with a golden sheen) onto white crepe paper.

I love how the colors were mushy with lighter and darker places.  This inspires me to glimmer mist my crepe paper more!

a little feathery goodness and a corsage pin

The burlap texture against the velvety ribbon - yum!

Are there any color combinations you love lately?

A bubblegum birdie with crochet trim and yummy ribbons!

I decided to use some Melissa Frances chunky glitter in aqua on this one.

I {heart}anything Melissa Frances!

Love the Maya Road leaf corsage pin on this one too!

French inspired sweetness fit for a queen!

If you would want to take this one home, I have listed it in my etsy store here!

I think I would welcome more snow days, with a snuggie and hot chocolate, of course.

Did you have a "snow day" lately where you did something fun?

Thanks for stopping by sweet friends!

xo's ~ Heidi



Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas

and

Happy Holidays

my dear family and friends!

Wishing for you a time of peace, joy and love.

xo's ~ Heidi

Pastel peppermint bark

In between wrapping gifts and Christmas festivities, I came across a neat post by Such Pretty Things for pastel peppermint bark.  {instructions here}

I have made red and white peppermint bark in the past but had not considered making a pastel version.

What a pretty idea and so simple to make!

I scooped up some white candy melts and gel food coloring.

Here is the pale aqua and white version.

Those of you who know me know I love glitter!

Would it surprise you that I have some edible glitter?

Here is a pic of the bark sprinkled with glitter.

(just a vertical and horizontal pattern made with toothpicks)

I think my bark was still a little too warm because the glitter was not as "fluffy" as it would normally be on cupcakes.

Here is the pink and mint version.

(I got a little swirly with the toothpicks ;-) )

The colors I used were Wilton Leaf Green, Soft Blue and Pink.

The edible glitter is also made by Wilton.

What a pretty hostess gift or tea tray treat!

Thanks for stopping by sweet friends!  I hope you are having a very sweet holiday season.

xo's ~ Heidi

A gift from a friend and some of my favorite things

Are you one of those "movers"?

I like to call it freshening the nest . . . moving things around for a fresh look from time to time.

When I start freshening vignettes, sometimes certain treasures become my favorite things.

Such is the case for this sweet brass frame.  I love the tarnished patina and its peaceful simplicity.

This one I keep on my kitchen window sill to bring me joy at the beginning and end of my day. 

These wintry chilly days are perfect for enjoying my tea things.

This is my adorable prayer lady who resides among my teapots and creamers.

While she was once a salt shaker, she is now the madam of my tiny tea corner.

 

Now peeking into the powder room, I have a silver brush, Hull planter and vintage talc tin which I am just smitten with!

Here is the detail of the top of the brush.

I know it is hard to see but it has a letter "M" engraved on it.

Every now and then I will polish it a little but not too much.

I love the tarnished look.  ;-)

I am most exctied to share a recent gift I received from my friend Karin Fulton!

Karin is a very talented artist who until now has worked with mostly oils and acrylics.

She recently began working with wax as her medium for a technique called encaustic painting.

Encaustic works, or any project I have seen lately with melted wax enchants and intrigues me.

Ok, ok, I could ramble on about encaustics all day ~ let's get to the sumptious collage of details!

This is the mixed media encaustic work Karin created.

{how did she know I love dress forms?  ;-)}

I swear I could have fainted when she first showed it to me!

The layers . . . the depth . . . the colors ~ so beautiful!!

The crochet lace and button are infused with wax onto a background of dress patterns.

A bit of vintage ledger paper

I {heart} vintage paper ~ do you?

Especially, handwriting ~ there is something about old ink and fanciful writing that makes my heart skip a beat.  I know I am weird and I am quite ok with that, tee hee hee.

Vintage snaps, mother of pearl button and old skeleton key.

{is your heart fluttering yet?}

Here is a close up of the key.

{yes, mine is fluttering!}

I adore dress forms {insert cheesy grin here}!

Karin added the right touch of bling {she knows I heart that too!}.

It is terribly hard to capture the depth wax creates in this piece.

Here is another photo which gives a little more hint of the texture ~ subtly shiny with depth.

The color is pure vintage dreamy!

Here is a pic of the fabric tape measure which was also infused as one of the borders.

What an awesome medium to combine simple and eclectic objects into something divine!

Thank you Karin!

I will adore and cherish this always!

Thanks for stopping by my sweet friends!

xo's ~ Heidi

A Sugar Cookie Christmas

I have been busy whipping up some sugar cookie goodness . . .

the "no calorie" kind!!

Liz at Cydney's Alley in Senoia, Ga, asked me if I would make some brooches using chenille,vintage finds and trims to sell in her shop.  I have had such a fun time making these!

They remind me of dressed up sugar cookies!

 

Some have old buttons and some have vintage jewels as centers.

They can be worn as a pin or clip

Icicle Queen!

Love the satin and yummy vintage lace bits!

What else could I coat with sugary goodness?

How about this tag/ornament I made using the Tim Holtz bird cage die?

I die cut some felt and coated it with clear chunky glitter.

The little birdie is make from a lucious damask fabric.

{yes, I am a textile junkie!}

The millinery flowers were not quite right the right color so I brushed a little distress ink in TEA STAIN on them to grunge them up a bit.

Sandwiched behind the bird cage is some vintage lace.

I could see a pennant banner made with these too!



Speaking of sweet . . .

one of my daughter's friends is having a birthday and I needed a cute tag or embellishment for

her gift bag.

I found a free, super quick and easy tutorial on making rosettes on Snazzie Drawer's website!

She has gorgeous tutorials for purchase and beautiful photography!

I decided to use striped fabric and sugar coat it with chunky glitter.

{do you see a pattern here?  A girl likes her glitter, it's true.}

What is the best part?

The little sweetie this is going to can wear it as a hair clip!

Wouldn't these make great ornaments too?!

I hope I have been able to cure a little sweet tooth today.

Thanks for stopping by Sugahs!

xo's ~ Heidi