'twas the night before Christmas

Well, technically the morning before Christmas. I am so thankful for the ability to give my kids a good one. We are all doing well and the Lord has been good to us. Let us all remember the ones who are lost, less fortunate, or in the hospital during this time. We have HOPE and FAITH to get us all through our hard times. I hope each one of y'all out there have a blessed Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year!!

After our tree being up since Thanksgiving I have just NOW realized our star isn't burning. Gotta go see what is wrong with it.
Have a great day and Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

Merry Christmas

Hope this week finds you healthy and happy!
Feel free to use this clipart for your holiday crafting.

Good Morning!

What a beautiful sunrise this morning! One more week until Christmas - can you believe it?? I have been busy crocheting scarves, doing tshirts with the YUDU, and embroidering gifts to be mailed out today. I'm running out of time though! I need to start in January making gifts for 2011 Christmas?!
Have a wonderful day!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

CameraBag Photo

This was on my drive home the other day. I love living in the country!

Gettin ready for ole Santa Claus. Wrapped a few more gifts tonight and it just can't come fast enough. I may be 38 but I still get anxious for Christmastime like I did when I was a kid. But now I get to see the look on my kids faces when they open their gifts. It is so much fun, but I cannot tell a lie...I am sooo ready to use my new Serger and my Cricut Imagine!!

Have a good night and a great tomorrow!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

What do you think this is???

This is/was my idea to get fancy with a cake!! Go ahead and laugh... I did! I cut my cake in half in the pan, then decided to try to cut it to get a rounded shape. Well something went way wrong from point A to point B. It actually split and I decided to then cut it further when it just fell apart. Needless to say nobody had a piece of it but I may have to go get some. It was double layered with lots of chocolate icing in the middle and cream cheese icing on the top. I sure hope it tastes better than it looks! Just had to share this with ya! What NOT to do when decorating a cake- I better stick to scrapbooking, Hu?

Cuff Swap

I was in a cuff swap a few weeks back and just now posting what Sandy sent me. It is just the most beautiful thing! I can tell she took lots of TLC with this.

Gettin ready to spook

This is Gracie, my little witchy dog. She is so cute, but does not enjoy this kind of thing as much as I do!

It isn't perfect but it is DONE and was my very first crocheted project: a snuggly VERY HEAVY, literally, blanket. I'm so proud to say I finished it and it was made with my hands.

Rosette Swap Blog Party

Today is the day! I am late, but I'm here! Gypsy Brocante had her first swap which was a Rosette Swap.  I had so much fun making these!

I received my package from Renee from The Chateau of Remnants  and look at what all she sent me! Very pretty notecards and beautiful rosettes! Thanks for sharing with me Renee.  (please forgive the fact that this picture isn't in the right direction.  It shows to be the right way on my computer, but when I uploaded it, it came out the wrong way) ... but you can still see all the pretties I received.

I sent my partner a few things.... This was my FIRST SWAP EVER and I so enjoyed it!! Sandy was my swap gal and here is what I sent her ( Sandy I've borrowed this pict. from your blog.... I didn't have any where it was all together) 

Haven't been on for awhile.  I've been very busy. I'll post picts. later of the cuff Sandy sent me.  She hasn't received her's yet from me, so I can't post picts. just yet.  This was from Honey Lamb and I Cuff Swap.  I'm also working on 2 more swaps, updating the blog for The Scrapbook Attic, where I'm on the design team.  Planning classes too... for my own teaching here in town and for The Scrapbook Extravaganza.  You can go HERE to check out all the details.  I'm teaching 2 classes there and have lots of planning to do for that.

Have a great night!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

Blog Giveaway at Cotton Pickin Cute

You need to go to the Cotton Pickin Cute blog and check out her giveaway! WOW some great things there!!
You have 8 chances to win if you check out her entry guidelines. An easy way to win some beautiful things.

We are watching Facing The Giants right now.  If you have never watched it, GO NOW- RUN DON'T WALK to get it!! It is about football, but it made me cry- and I don't even LIKE football!!! It is so good.  AND SO MUCH about life!

Going to go get my popcorn and pepsi!!
Have a good night everybody!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

Sneak Peek

A little sneak peek of what my swap partner will be getting. This is for the Rosette swap over at Gypsy Brocante's blog. I can't wait to see what my swappin' gal thinks of her package. It is full of handmade crochet rosettes, other handmade rosettes, and some exta goodies in a cute pink box to store it all in.
Hope you all have a goodnight!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

I WON!!! YIPEEE!!!

Look at this!!

This is my first LOOT win from a blog contest EVER!! And I'm SO thankful to SHERRY for giving away such a GREAT STASH!!! I LOVE Tim Holtz and anything he has so now I'll have some new things to play with! THANK YOU SHERRY AGAIN FOR THIS FANTASTIC PRIZE!!!! And it was her first giveaway too! I think I'll go through some of my things soon and do a giveaway of my own to pass along a good deed! Maybe we should all do that? To make someone's day by telling them that they won the prize... now I'm not sure who wins there! The one who is having the giveaway or the winner of it!? Go by Sherry's blog and see what she is doing and leave a comment. We ALL love those comments!

Have a great day all of you and God Bless!!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

Look what I found yesterday! I am about to dive in and snoop all the studios in this issue. I also found a new junk mall, not new but I have never been in there. In fact they are going out of business. I will have to post Picts later of what I bought. I got an old pict album with all the Picts STILL IN IT!! Also found a small cedar box (like a mini hope chest) for $2!! Two flower frogs,four antique hankies,twelve crochet (small) doilies, two magazines from the '60s and a book full of sheet music...about an inch thick or so for -get this- .25cents!!!!! I grabbed it and was floored! This guy prob thought I was nuts!
Well, I'm off to dig into my magazine. Hope you all have a great day!
Happy Scrappin'
God Bless,
Lisa

Here is a bit of a sneaky peeky at what I've been up to lately. Gypsy Brocante blog is having a Rosette swap and I'm in! My first swap-so excited! I sure hope my swap partner likes what she's getting. I'm nervous a bit. But, making these rosettes has been so fun! We have a place close to home here that sells big bunches of flowers for about $5, so I can make a ton of these affordable. These aren't completely finished but they are close. Will she get one of these?????? Hmmm, we'll see. I will make many more in the next few days for pins, home dec., and just pretties to look at. Let me know what ya think, did I do ok for a first timer?
Have a wonderful, creative day!!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

Look at my crazy doggies! They play like this ALL THE TIME!

Close To My Heart Sale Tomorrow!

2,4,6,8 It is YOU we appreciate!! This is a fantastic sale and you can order on my website http://lisahodge.myctmh.com 
The sale starts tomorrow and runs through the 11th.  Be sure to get there early to get the good deals before they are all gone.

What is included??  My stickease stickers for $2,  Level 1 paper packs $4, and Level 2 paper packs $6!! This is such a great deal! You don't want to miss out!

A new month means a new Stamp of the Month! This is the beautiful stamp set you can earn FREE!!

*** Earn it FREE when you spend $100 or more (before shipping and tax)
*** Earn it for 75% off ($5.74) when you spend $75 or more (before shipping and tax)
*** Earn it for 50% off ($11.74) when you spend $50 or more (before shipping and tax)
*** Earn it for 25% off ($17.21) when you spend $25 or more (before shipping and tax)
*** Purchase it for full retail price ($22.95)

I do hope you can come by my site in the morning STARTS EARLY!
Have a good evening!!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

Good morning! Trying out posting from my iPhone!

Rosette Swap!

Good morning!!!

Jill at Gypsy Broncante is hosting a rosette swap.  You can click her name and go read all the details to this beautiful event! She is also hosting a giveaway - click HERE to read all about it and how to enter to win 3 of her rosettes! After the swap there will be a blog party! -- I'm loving those!  We will be showing off what we received from our swap partners. 

This will be my first swap so I'm sooo excited! I've wanted to do one but can't ever find one that is open.  I know what I'm going to do today! I'm going to be making pretty fabric rosettes! I will have these everywhere in my little pink cottage studio! I'll post some picts. when I'm finished with a few.

Right now, it is time to go move the water hose... having to water all the flowers because it is SO dry! I don't wish anything bad on the people near the Gulf with the tropical storm moving in, but I do hope we get some rain from it here in Arkansas! We surely need it!

I'll be back later with pictures... going to try to post from my iPhone, but that may not happen as I'm just learning the basics on how to use it.  Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Have a great day!
Happy Scrappin'

Lisa

INSPIRATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PICTURE HEAVY POST - STAY WITH ME ?

This is what I woke up to this morning. Nothing like a beautiful sunrise on a summer morning!

And these are what I found too! Love my flowers :)

These are my hubby's pride and joy!

And after all the things going on lately I've been really inspired to actually USE the things I have to make something!
This was fun and SO EASY! Roll up book pages, tape the back, hot glue first layer, hot glue second layer on top of that, make a rolled up rose from torn fabric and you have it. JUST DON'T ASK TO SEE THE BACK-- IT IS U-G-L-Y!! But it hangs and nobody will see the back!

A close up of the detail of the flower...

I may list one of these on Etsy. Do any of ya'll think one of these would sell on there? How much should I sell it for?

Hope you all have  a great night!
Lisa

Good Monday Morning!

It is a pretty morning! We've had rain over the weekend so that was some relief and we have cooler temps coming this week.

THANKS TO ALL WHO VISITED AND LEFT COMMENTS FROM THE BLOGGERETTE RUSH WEEK EVENT AND THE WHERE WOMEN CREATE EVENT! I'VE READ ALL THE COMMENTS AND THANK YOU! YA'LL ARE SO SWEET AND I COULDN'T BE WITH A FINER GROUP OF GALS!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE reading your comments! I do feel like I'm a part of something bigger...and like I do belong here with ya'll! You have all made me feel welcome and I can't wait for the days to come. I'm inspired to work again! Going to start some more vintage things this week and start posting here, as well as a new blog that will be just for my creative stuff. This one is a bit of everything that is me.

For now, reality is calling my name with a load of laundry that I'm sure is dry and wrinkling by now. So I guess I'll go and get to work as the hubs is on his way home.
Have a wonderful day and a great week!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Scrappin'
Lisa

Mad Tea Party Today!

I had really big plans for my Mad Tea Party celebration, but things change. I taught a class today and have came home so tired and so sleepy that I've just got to put things on hold. Oh, and on top of it all it picked today to be stormy and rainy! But in honor of today I've put a collage together using some picts. found out there on the web, and a photo frame collage from Shabby Scraps.
Hope you enjoy!

 

Have a MAD day everyone!

Lisa

RUSH Day for The Bloggerette Sorority

Karen from Some Days Are Diamonds is hosting an event... The Bloggerette Sorority "Rush". Today is THE day and although this day is almost over, I have made it! So, Karen, am I "in"??

Here is my wall hanging... I do hope ya'll like it! I had fun making this- my first thing made using a vintage photo and vintage "stuff". I'm hooked, gotta make more!!!


Here I am with my creation. I'm in my kitchen in front of my prized antique, hand painted cabinet (bought it painted, I can't paint that good! :). I'm a Southern gal, born and raised in Arkansas and been here all 38 years of my life. Love it here, seeing the stars at night, listening to the crickets sing their sweet songs, hearing the frogs holler, and all the other things that ya just can't get in the city...there just isn't anything much better!

Happy Scrappin' and Good night to all ya'll out there in the big ole blog land!!

Lisa

Welcome to my little crafty cottage!

Edited: Now that I'm awake I've added some more pictures. The 2 am uploads didn't include some things I wanted to show, so here you go :)  Enjoy!

Welcome! Won't you come in and have a look around? So glad to have you and I hope you enjoy your visit to the Where Blogger Create blog party.

My little crafty cottage is a labor of love! We had her delivered last June and I have just finished her recently. I've been working hard trying to get it just right for me to get creative and have a place for everything.

Above you'll find my front porch- which I LOVE! These are my work tables. I have 2 put together as an L shape.
Also here is a fake cake I made. It didn't turn out quite like I'd like for it to have, but I was happy with it for my first try.

Below is a picture showing the whole room from the front door. The dimensions are 12X20. I love the room I had as I was in the spare bedroom in the house. We had this building special built to the size I thought I'd need.

This is where I read all of YOUR blogs at! I can look out my front window and enjoy the sunshine. The window that was there was just a 24X36, but we had that one taken out and this one put in- so glad we did. I have to have my sunlight!

This is Matilda. That is the name the lady from the antique store gave her. I love my pom pom, but had no where to put it- so it is her head! The collar is also a handmade antique. It had to go on Matilda and she LOVES it. The cabinet behind her holds all my crepe paper rolls, doilies, lace and such. It is perfect for storing lots of things as the drawers are only about 3 inches tall and there are 10 of them.

I'm not sure why this picture looks squished, but it is my Yudu cabinet and I have my Big Shot here and all my dies.

This is my desk I use as my "office business" but it doubles as a work space for my kids. I have all their art supplies out for them to come in and create any time they want to.

Here is my very large and ugly shelf- but hey, it sure holds a lot of stuff! I have my glitter, tulle, beads, and vintage goodies here along with my DreamCuts cutter. Also my Xyron stuff is here along with some extra stuff (better known as JUNK!)

One of my favorite things about my room is my pegboard and the lights around it. I love the glow and I can have a bit of holiday cheer all year long!

Most of my things came from yard sales or from our local antique store. This little shelf was originally an old post office item. It holds so much- that is great for a small space.

Another find at the antique store! I couldn't believe my eyes when I stumbled upon it! I grabbed it at a steal for $12.

Another hobby I have is crocheting. I started because I wanted to make my own flower embellishments for scrappin'. I didn't know anything when I started. I taught myself with the help from YouTube and experimenting. Now I've figured out some of the other basic stitches and have started a blanket for my son. It is coming along slowly, but surely.

Oh and I cannot leave out my two sweet girls! They are always out here with me- and usually asleep! That is why I refer to them as floor warmers! :)
This is Gracie... studio floor warmer number one. I got her a few months back and fell in love with her. She is so sweet, but VERY stubborn sometimes!

This little cutie pie is Bella, floor warmer number two. I first named her Angel, but SHE AIN'T NO ANGEL!!! So Bella she is, or little 'en. She came along just three weeks ago. I wondered if Gracie would leave her alone... well, miss Bella follows poor Gracie around trying to chew on every inch of her furry little body! She has gotten better, as now they will lay snuggled up together. She is such a snuggly little girl. Usually right after her bath she will go to sleep while I'm drying her off. BUT... house breaking is BREAKING ME!!! But she's cute :) That is what keeps me going!

Here is my little building on the lot where it was built, the pict. with me standing by the porch was the day it was delivered and the other two are as she looks today.

This collage shows my pegboard and my collection of things. That is what it is - definitely a collection!

Next is some of my "pretties". I love this old stuff! It has a beauty that the new things just can't compare to. I'm like a lot of others... just can't get enough. In fact, I'm supposed to be looking at more tomorrow. Hopefully the price will be good!

Random shots of my studio, it is hard to show everything in just a few pictures so I thought the collage would work better.

The last set is a couple more of my favorite things. My pink payphone that really works. You drop in a coin and you get the ding you used to with the older ones. It is push button, so it is a cheater- but I still love it!
Another love of mine is yarn. I love the feel, color and texture! I just can't get enough of it :)

I went to a yard sale today and hit the jackpot! I got these things and a ton more. I found the prettiest lace and old aprons, doilies, table runners, and fabric. You won't believe how much I spent....

LOOK AT THIS! I've never in my life found anything so pretty! I just about fell over when I found it! Oh, and when I found all the fabric and lace I grabbed it up thinking I might have to knock someone over if they reached for it. I'm sure I looked like a starved animal at his feast when I was going through it all!!

OK, I spent $20.75! I was thrilled with all I brought home!

I do hope you enjoyed coming in to my little crafty cottage. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I'd love some crafty/creative criticism... Just be nice :)

I'm off to take a looksie at all the other creative bloggers' blogs out there.
Have a wonderful weekend and God Bless!!!

Happy Scrappin'
Lisa