Christmas Cards

Good morning!

As promised, here is my prototype Christmas card for this year.

The poinsettia stamp is a stamp I got from The Angel Company that I love!  I have used it a lot.  It just speaks to me of Christmas.  I miss The Angel Company and wish they weren't out of business.

Anyway, I stamped the poinsettia, colored it in with copics, and cut it out.  I layered two different complementary patterned papers on my card front, glued the poinsettia on it, then made the border using red cardstock and a Fiskars scallop edge punch.  I stamped Merry Christmas (The Angel Company), and adhered it to the seam of the two patterned papers. 

I stamped a holiday greeting on the inside of the card and it's done. 

The beauty of this card is that you can change the look by using different Christmas patterned papers.

The majority of my Christmas cards will be this or a variation, but I did make some stray Christmas cards when I would get bored coloring, so if you are on my Christmas card list, you might get something totally different.  ;-)

Also, as a token of my appreciation, I am offering Free Shipping through December 15, 2013 at My Paper Moon. Just use coupon code THANKS at checkout to receive your free shipping.  Free gift with every order. 

And we have....chickens!

Good morning!  I know it's been a while since I have posted, but lots of stuff happening...

When I was growing up in Ohio, my dad always had a garden. Every evening when he would come home from work, he would work in his garden, plowing, planting, fertilizing, weeding, harvesting.  I sometimes would help him weed in the garden.  And when the crops were harvested, I remember stringing wheel barrows full of beans.  And then my mom's job would begin, freezing and canning those veggies for the winter.  You didn't just run out to the store and buy fresh veggies. (Well, I guess some of our neighbors who didn't have gardens, did). At the time I didn't appreciate all the hard work that went into having a garden.

I recently subscribed to Grit magazine (remember those from your youth?), and one of the articles was about raising a garden in small increments.  My husband and I thought it was a good idea, so we planted a small garden in the flower bed that runs alongside our house.  I need to take pictures, but we have tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, onions, cabbage, radishes and lettuce growing.  And his pineapple plants.

I recently found out that I am allowed to have 2 chickens in my neighborhood.  I have ALWAYS wanted to live on a farm, so after checking with my local government,  I decided to give it a try.

First of all, you need somewhere to keep these chickens.  Enter my darling husband.  He's the brains and muscle behind any project, and he didn't disappoint.  Here are pictures of the coop and run.

This is the inside of the coop. The girls spend their nights here. The red basket has been replaced by a nesting box.  I can close them in by shutting the little door between the coop and the run.

This is the run where the girls can get exercise and eat grass, bugs, food and water.

My friend, Pat, who told me I could have chickens, got me these 2 beauties. We have named them a couple of times, but I think we are sticking with Harriet and Pearl.

Here are Henrietta and Pearl. Henrietta is definitely the top chicken.

Our first egg.

Within an hour of putting the girls in their new home, they laid their first 2 eggs, so they must like their new home.

They are so much fun to watch, that I have been neglecting my Christmas cards, but I'll post my labors on that front tomorrow.

Stay tuned....

P. S.  If you use coupon code THANKS at checkout at My Paper Moon, you will get Free Shipping through December 15, 2013.