Dress Up 2011- February

This Months Artist is

quoted from

Angela at Sew Loquacious

Gustav Klimt!  I'm sure you recognize The Kiss.  Klimt completed this "fascinating icon of the loss of self lovers experience" in 1908.   I immediately thought of The Kiss and how perfect Klimt is for February...the month for love!  Sexuality, regeneration, love and death are major themes in Klimt's artwork.   He founded the school of painting called the Vienna Sezession, which, according to the Paris Web Museum, "embodied the highly keyed erotic, psychological, and aesthetic preoccupations of turn of the century Vienna's dazzling intellectual world."  The Sezession is also known as the Viennese version of Art Nouveau

I chose this as my inspiration

I love all the shapes he uses to do his drawings..

which I thought lent itself to

Zentangles

As in mine below

He also is know for nudity....

I didn't want to do any of that,

 But my rendition of this is the the circles on the bust

I know it looks nothing like it..

But I cannot mimic his art

It is to wonderful

So I made my own

With shapes and sizes as he does

please head over to

Sew Loquacious

and check out all the dresses

DeeDee

Christmas Craft Party

I know, not the right season to be posting this....

but still a fun time for all to see...

and was a fun time for us all too...

I have an annual Christmas Craft party for the same set of friends and 1 guest every year. I have been doing it for 7 years now.

See these are my good freinds....

my non crafty friends..for the most of them.. 

(we will let you be the judge of that at the end of this post)

I believe everyone can be creative and crafty.

And they never fail me..

or themselves either..

We join together to do some crafts,

catch up with the years events..

we all work or are associated with the railroad

so most times our schedules don't mesh very well....

the age gap spans a few generations

and makes this the most fun mix for me ...

I learn so much from each of them

I so look forward the entire year...

preparing for this one fun day.

Here are the projects that they could choose to make...

or for the brave could spend the day with me and make them ALL!

The Canvas idea I got from

Scrap Stashers

at The Little Blue House

and the original idea come from

Lolly as in Lolly Chops,

check hers out she has done some awesome things with this one tree cut out.

The Christmas Bulb idea I recieved from

Paula at Littlebit of Scrappin

she sent me a Halloween one I just adored so had to do these too.

The cards also come from 

Scrap Stashers 

at The Little Blue House

this was my first try at Iris Folding..

I am hooked now and making my own desgins

The Two Picture Blocks I desgined last year

at my freinds Christmas Craft party

The Skol Can Jewel Boxes are my favorites to make and give too

you know me and my recycling ways

My freinds all settled into crafting and having a good time.

here is Sandy and Mother/Daughter

Pauline and Becky

And the other Mother/Daughter team, Barbara and Cindy along with

Ann Marie...shes the brave one in the bunch

as you will see later in this post.

Sandy did some lovely work on them blocks, don't you agree?...

She says she has a few more things from home to add to these

and then they will be finished

I think they looked great this way too

She also worked on the tree Canvas....

the letters are a light blue to match the back ground

I love this project becasue they all turn out great

no matter what is done to them

She doesn't like her distessing ..but I loved it..

I think it looks like rusted metals

Give her a vote of confidence my freinds..

she reads my blog

And her lovely rendition of the Iris Fold Christmas Card

Becky did the Jewel Box to start out...

I just love the flower over the knob on the top

I will sneak this idea into a few of mine

and the colors on this were oh so pretty

She also did the Cork Toppers

(which I now realize aren't in my picture above

but you can find them

Here ) or below

Wine Toppers

aren't they just adorbale?

here is one close up...I just love the personality for this..

Sweet and precious just like my friend Becky

Also she did the card, and made a beautiful fall pumkin

Cindy had to work this day so arrived late....

she was catching up quickly and didn't get to finish some

but the parts she did are beautiful..

I can see some beautiful things coming to life

we will meet again for a follow up

Love the birds in the tree on her canvas..

and the wood texture of her wood block

Barbara, did a Christmas themed tree,

 It looks like candy to me and I loved her

Iris fold card lots too

Then Ann Marie

The Brave one...

stayed to make almost all the projects offered

She crafted late into the night

we talked and laughed and had a bit of fun

her cards turned out awesome too

And a pink little jewel box for her

I loved her picture block, simple in design

but add a picture to this and

it looks so lovely

She also did this lovely one for a childs

school teacher....and the stash from her basket

Her bulbs, which I love turned out awesome.

She always loves the ornaments

So every year I search for one just for her

Remember the railroad deal...

this one is so cute...

I had so much fun this day with all my CRAFTY freinds....

and am already looking forward to next years party

Merry Christmas to you my freinds

Well while Ann Marie was crafting away over there

I put on my crafters hat and started to play a little

I have been having lots of back problems

so wasn't doing much

but I did manage to get this

Longhorn Card

done, this is of my own design

and I must say

I just loved it

and will be making more

Then for a matched set we ofcourse needed

A Texas State Card too

this also my own design

not my favorite...design needs some work

I hope to offer these designs to you once I tweek them to work everytime

so stay tuned if you do and do Iris folding

Well there you have it..I know it was long...but I cannot skimp on my friendships now can I

NOPE!

thanks for traveling thru my fun day with my freinds

leave me comment on how crafty you think they are

I think they are!!...

I know they are!!.

one day they will know it too..

Happy Crafting to you my blogland freinds

Merry Belated Christmas to you too

DeeDee

Home for a Break

My Daughter called me yesterday with a small surprise... Her hubby Gabe is home from Afganistan for his 2 week break... she posted some great pics on Facebook for me to see.... Well not just for me, but I feel like they are.. I live for them... it is my closest contact out side of Skype. She picked him up at the Airport by herself....and he went to the sitters house to surprise the kids....

here he is waiting for them ..

they thought they were playing Hide n Seek with the other kids

A great picture of them both seeing Daddy!!!

and the full engulf of love in one hug..

This says it all for me

he is such a great dad...

I love him for that

Plus he loves my Girl lots too...

side bonus don't ya think

he always is on thier level when he is with them

all 6' 4" of him...lol

tired and worn out from long travels home

gone for a precious moment in time

Aww!! those dimple Smiles that only daddy brings

(ok I am crying as I write this)

yes I am a bawler

A favorite movie on the screen

Prally Goonies or Sand Lot

whats up smalls.

A little girls dream...Being in her daddy's arm

thats a million dollar smile right there.

he come bearing gifts...so special they are

but nothing compares to

him being there.

My Daughter always expresses herself

in so many ways.

She memoralizes the

Special Day in her own way

She types funny things

and makes us all think

but behind that lense is

A women I am proud of

my own little trooper

all grown up

with weight on her shoulders

I cannot imagine.

I love you my girl

with all a moms heart...

Please all my blogland friends,

 keep our troops in

your daily prayers.

My family is but a small

part of the bigger picture

they need us,

as we need them.

God bless them all

and keep them safe

to love thier family

for now

for always

forever

again

Love you Srgt. Riley

Mom #2

DeeDee

LBH Get It Together- Week #3

Large Embellishments

I got me some organizing going on here, this was an idea I had already started in a small way...but took it to the next level this week..I sepereated by holidays first

then the rest is still in a drawer, not real sure how to seperate it just yet

need to clean out some stash

here we go

I had enough room for my Valentines stuff

And my Halloween/ Fall stuff

But my Christmas stuff

fills this box

and the two tins on the left side...lol

I get this out every year and craft from them

the tin itself brings back memories

and sets me in the Chrsitmas Spirit

and the Craft Spirit too.

I still need to get to The Little Blue House to get my

Chalk Board papers cut into labels and tags

to get all my stuff marked

I have the stuff to finish off my book

holders, but need the tags to go with

Head on over to The Little Blue House

and get you room all together too

Happy Organizing

DeeDee

Heart from the Heart Swap

I got myself involved in the

A Heart From The Heart Swap 

over at my freind

 Debbie's Mosaic Magpie Blog 

you have to make a stuffed heart to fit a small flat rate box. 
And style, any color, any way you want.

I haven't done hand work for some time so
I thought I shall try this out...
so it began...
I cannot believe I have no sketch to go from...
thats my norm in paper crafts ya know...

So here is my rough layout

With a few fun things on the side

She is made from reclaimed fabrics

A few skirts

A few jackets

Antique beads

And reclaimed ribbons

Its a place to start

I worked a couple weeks on this project...

which is not normal for me

and I loved my results

lots of small little details

Antique beads from my friend Alice,

  some cute ribbon roses

a little bit of handwork

Some Glitz and Glamor

and a beautiful necklace

made of pearls and gems stones

the gem donated from my freind Sandy

And a small message for my new blogland freind

I told Debbie I think I just might have

seperation anxiety from this pretty girl

She is so my style, But I pass her along

Because I know I will recieve in return

A Heart of matching loveliness

to swoon over and enjoy.

thanks Deb for letting me join

and to my new blogland friend

I hope you love her as I do

From my heart to yours.

DeeDee

Texas Hugsister Meet-Up

I have been a member of the PCCrafter Message Board and have many freinds there..  my freind Venus and I met a few years ago in person...and we decided to get another little meet-up together. We decided Corsicana,TX was the spot...Scrappin Good Time was the scrapbook store there... I have to tell you the ladies there are so nice and they are working to open a retreat site there....check it out...

There were 4 of us going to meet- up

Venus and I both brought Make n Takes to work on

left to right back row: Sandy (my Freind)
DeeDee (Thats Me)

Amy (Flower class insructor)

left to right front row: Susie (shop owner), Venus (Venus), Irene (Zippimom)

Venus brought a fun litte treat box to work on...

and included the candy too

Valentine themed...YUM!

then she gave us this Sweet Little gift made from a paper bag.

creative uh...I love them both

here is Miss Venus with all her fun stuff we made

I so wish she lived closer so we could craft more together

keep a prayer for her 2 boys in Afganistan

She is a lovely lady and a good friend

And then theres Miss Irene. Her first time to a meet up with us

all the way from Houston, TX

She is so photogenic

and makes all kinds of fun stuff

And my Freind Sandy...she is new to paper crafts,

but does some awesome beadworks

and her paper crafts aren't bad either..

I love spending time with her

and she inspires me in many ways.

I am so glad she come with me this day

Then Miss Venus showed us this little cutie

isn't it just adorable?

And she then pulled this out

I Love, Love , Love this

little needle keep

My make n take was a Valentines card

cute little cupcake and envelope

and this was supposed to be my gift but I didn't get them done

so our other make n take was this little box

with Chocolate!!! inside...nice uh...lol

My gift is a small jewel box for each of them

and inside was a small charm

with one of my favorite friends graphics

and on the back...

the famous saying on our message boad

"Hold on Tight We Won't Let Go"

Then Miss Amy was so nice to give us a little class on making flowers

at a great price too!!!...

I have wanted to make these for EVER!...

so I was so very grateful for

the spur of the moment class.

Thanks Miss Amy

we used scrap scrap paper...I will make some really pretty ones soon

We were all getting hungry so we headed down town to a place called

Dee's Cafe  ....funny uh

well it has a new name now but the side of the building still has this on it

it is the last remaining Soda Fountain in Texas they say

and some great potato salad the ladies at Scrappin Good Time reccomended

it is sweet in taste...not the mustard kind I am used to

They had a live Country singer and all

and he player requests if he knew them

here is some history on the restraunt on the front of their menu

Then me smiling with my stuff

I had a great day with my freinds

made some new friends at the

 Scrappin Good Times Shop

and hope to attend a weekend retreat at thier new place

Thanks for having us Miss Susie,

Step and Amy so nice to meet you too!!

Then Miss Venus pulled out this lovely Christmas gift for me

I seen her make one of these and just adored it

I love it and it has its new home right there next to my sewing companion

I hope the next meet up that we do more ladies will come join us

it is just so much fun

Happy Crafting my Blogland friends

DeeDee