Meet Penny!

Penny is a sweet little girl,

full of hugs and love!

Penny loves to read,

just like her new mama does!

For Christmas, Penny got a new dress, id bracelet

and a little book just her size!

Before Penny took her long journey to her new home,

we settled into a comfy chair to read her new book,

Beauty and the Beast.

Smile pretty for the camera, Penny!

Penny was rescued from a local thrift store,

prettied up, and was sent with lots of hugs and love

for her new mama!

Since I cannot be there,

Penny said she would take care of

her for now until we are together the next time!

What a sweet bear!

Thanks to Dawn at The Feathered Nest

for a perfect gift idea!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas

full of cuddly hugs and love
from those you cherish!

May you have a

Blessed New Year!



Calendar Easel Cards

So what do you give to a friend

who is also a co-worker in your office?

How about an easel card calendar?!

These were a lot of fun to make!

The hardest part was picking the paper and embellies!

Cuz there are so many possiblities!

Here's all 3 together:

First, let's look at Elvis....not a hard thing to do!  ;)

I have a friend who is a HUGE Elvis fan,

and this will do nicely!

 The picture is popped up for texture,

and I cut out a guitar to pop up, too.

The white button is a brad, with a paper-popped, music-note studded star

to prop it up!

My other friend is a nature-lover.

So I went with butterflies for hers!

Who doesn't love butterflies, after all...

You can't see it too well in the above picture,

but I added irredescent glitter to the wings

and across the top "ribbon."

 Added a flower made from bookprint

and popped a cut-out butterfly to the base.

I love this paper, but I can't remember who makes it...

This one is fun and bubbly, just like the friend it is for!

She loves vibrant colors!

Added glitter to the "flower" on the base...

And popped it up for depth and interest!

(sorry for the bad lighting!)

Here's a picture from the side showing how the easel part works.



Nice handmade gifts that will last all year!

Perfect!

It's Been HOW Long????

Proceed, O Angelic Powers! Go to Bethlehem.

Prepare the manger, for the Word comes to be born.

Wisdom proceeds from the mouth of the Most High.

Receive, O Church of God, the announcement of salvation;

Enter into the joy of the Theotokos [God-bearer]!

Let us sing with gladness, O peoples:

Blessed is He who comes:

O our God, glory to Thee!

[Verse from the Praises, Dec. 20]

I can't believe it's been well over a month since I've posted anything on my blog!  I apologize for being such a bad blogger!!!  'Tis the season....

I hope you have been able to slow down from the hussle-bussle of the holidays to take a moment or two to focus on the true meaning of the season.  It's so easy to get lost in it all... Believe me, I'm speaking from experience, here and I'm sure many of you can relate!

Every year I start out with the goal of starting everything early so I can take the time to really soak in what Christmas is all about.  But most of the time it doesn't work out that way.

So, what HAVE I been working on these last few weeks???

A few gifts, of course!

Some of them I will be able to post now, as the intended reciepients are not bloggers...yet!

Some of them will have to wait...

because YOU are WATCHING!

(you know who you are!)

Here is what I've made for my 3 nieces!

HAND MUFFS!

Thanks to my good friend, Mary, at church for giving me her pattern!

These were so much fun to make! 

They are all different sizes for their different ages.

For Mya, our "BLING" Princess! - 6 years old

For Isabelle, or Baby Bells!  2 years old

For Annikah, or Nik!  7 years old

Here is a pic of the inside:

The inside is knit with a double strand in a tube,

then you go down to a single strand with the fun fur

for the outside.

Then simply turn inside-out and sew the ends together!

I really hope they like them!

Or even know what to do with them!

:)

So....Are you ready for Christmas???

Time is running out!

Hugs!

Lori



Mojo Monday

It's been another busy week

here at the R&RP homestead!

But productive!

I made this card earlier this week

for the Mojo Monday sketch challenge

but haven't had a chance to post it until now.

I've had this Stampin' Up stamp for awhile,

just waiting for the right opportunity to use it.

LOVE it!

I know I will get a lot of use out of this stamp!

Here is the Mojo Monday sketch:

My oldest daughter came to visit today!

It was so good to see her!!!!

We had fun bumming around a little,

then we met her dad for dinner,

and played a little in my craft room.

It was super-hard to let her go again....

It wasn't long enough, but I'll take what I can get!

Tomorrow night we are having some friends

over to the house to watch the Packer game!

GO PACK! GO!

My daughter, Taylor, of Lady Lemondrop's Sunroom,

is making cupcakes for the occasion!

 

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

Hugs!

Lori

A New Nest...

A couple, actually....

A pair even!

The results of a productive evening in the "playroom!"

For me, these are a great size ~

the nests are no larger than 3/4" wide,

which is about the size of a dime.

~~ PERFECT!~~

And I'm in the "development" stages of a coordinating necklace!

Stay tuned!

:)

Hope you are all having a wonderful week,

                                            my friends!

Hugs!

Lori

More Fall Decorating on the Shelf

I took a trip to Michael's last weekend

to add some fall colors to the tops

of my bookcases in the sitting room.

I found a leaf garland and a couple bunches of white daisies to help break up all the darker colors.

I believe the pillow used to belong to my Grandma K.

 I love the gilded butterflies in fall colors!

The frame and picture are awaiting

a fresh coat of white.

But until then, they are perfect fall accents!

In my last post I had a gold teapot on this shelf.

But it has found a new spot in my kitchen.

And a little orange birdcage has taken it's place!

($1 bin at Michael's!  SCORE!)

 And replaced the candles with pumpkin scented ones.

A little more fall colors than what it started out being

but I'm happy with the results!

And here is where my gold teapot ended up:

 In my tea shop!

I wish!

It's really my kitchen...

 That little wire pumpkin is a place card holder!

 This chicken teapot belonged to my Grandma K.

I bring it out every fall!

I found this sign at a local furniture store

several years ago!

A bargin at only $40!

This weekend is our church's yearly fundraiser

at Fall Fest in beautiful Door County, WI!

We will be selling our famous,

authentic Greek Gyros!

Mmmmmmmmm!!!!

Looks like the weather will be perfect

so there should be plenty of hungry people there!

Looking forward to a weekend of

work and play with my church family!

It is always such a good time of fun & fellowship!

Maybe I will have some pictures to share when I return on Monday.

Until then, I hope you all will have time to enjoy the beauty of God's creation this weekend!

Hugs!

Lori

A Gold Mine of Fall Whites

Many years ago I started a teapot collection.

I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite,

but this one always remains

on display in my cabinet.

I would say it numbers in my top 10!

I can't remember where I got it...

it was on one of my numerous 

treasure hunts.

And since I've had it for awhile now,

you can bet that it didn't cost much

as I didn't have much spare change when I

first started collecting!

Then one day, on another treasure hunt

I found a matching teacup!

I couldn't believe it when I saw it!

A perfect match!

This teacup has the sticker on it

from the original owners travels.

It says:

"Santa Claus 

House

North Pole

Alaska!"

Both the teapot and the teacup have the

22 kt. gold stamp on the bottom,

but this is the stamp from the teacup:

I love using this set for fall decorating!

I pulled out some gold frames and

pictures I had bought to paint white someday

to add to the display.

 But until they are transformed, they make a 

great addition to my fall shelf-top!

Along with a pretty white curtain panel,

tied at the top with some vintage lace edging

I picked up last week on a treasure hunt

with my mom!

The key is from Michael's $1 bin!

And the candlesticks came from a resale shop 

here in town.

The frame & picture are from garage sales,

which I'm sure didn't cost more than $1 each!

This is how the display started, but it didn't stay this way!

I wanted to share this with you for 

Teacup Tuesday

and 

White Wednesday.

Stop in later this week when I will show

you the final display...

"Exactly the same, but totally different!" 

as my brother always would say!

 Have a wonderful week!

Hugs!

Lori