Welcome to my studio!

With a busy work schedule and the making of some of my Christmas gifts I found I had no time to connect here on my blog.  Hopefully each of you have had a wonderful Christmas filled with the love of  family and friends.
With the beginning of a NEW YEAR I wanted my studio to be  all tidied up.  With it looking its best I want to welcome you to my studio!
WELCOME !   Do come in for a visit!

As you enter from our hallway you can pretty much see all my paper crafting area.  It is small but cozy!!  It's a fun space to share with my friends and family that enjoy paper crafting together here with me .

Here you will find the chair reserved for my guest at my main work table.  Two people can comfortably join me as I can move the Cricut table to open another work surface.  Nice, huh!?!

On this side of the table I have MY main creating area.  Everything is very close at hand and well organized.  The natural light is so enjoyed during the day.  The ceiling light fixture that my husband gave to me last Christmas, the Ott lights and table lamps offer good lighting during dreary days and at night.


This East wall has storage for most of my paper crafting supplies.  How helpful to have it well organized so I can find what I'm needing.  

This vintage cupboard on the South wall offers a good amount of storage.  My paper cutter sits handily here.
Hanging above it on a line of string  I have some of the beautiful handmade cards from friends that I so enjoy  ~ all ages!!  

       This West wall contains my reference area for my varied handcrafts that I so enjoy.

My Cricut is at the ready.  As of yesterday I joined the CRICUT CRAFT ROOM.  What fun to be able to create on a virtual online mat ~ FREE.  One does need to have the cartridges necessary to cut your paper and a USB cord to connect the Cricut to your PC or MAC.                Do try it!

Stampin' Up! stamps are stored alphabetically in bins so I can readily find the one I am looking for.  The shelves below keep my Cuttlebug and Spellbinder dies, and Zyron machines at the ready.   

As we leave my studio I thank you for sharing this time with me!  

Lots of color and many gifts from family and friends
surround me here in my haven!

My birdcage memo holder and my bulletin board hold special quotes, photos and many other special reminders of the dear people I so love having in my life! 

Feel free to leave me a note and it might just get posted with my other special belongings!!

May your NEW YEAR be blessed with the love of family and friends!  Our God has many special things in store for each of us!  Seek Him!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.  ~Psalm 89:15
Blessings of joy..........~Sandie

A Ring of Great Value!

My oldest son has given this ring to his cherished lady and set a wedding date for this coming June 2012!  What fun it was to have a hand in putting the design to paper.  My husband is the jeweler/custom designer BUT he gave me the part of putting pencil to paper in the design stages.  WHAT FUN for me!!  As I enjoy drawing I felt so honored to put my skills toward something so important!  To gain a daughter(in-law) thrills my heart!!  My youngest son is already married, so now I will have two wonderful "daughters" to call my own!  They add so much sweetness to my LifE.  I am blessed!

Lip Balm Holder Card

Greetings, my friends!

Here is a simple yet special way to present a gift of lip balm. You can find a tutorial and pattern from Renee O. on Splitcoaststampers.com. Splitcoaststampers is an excellent resource for paper crafting tutorials and information. Their "gallery" photos feature many beautiful cards & projects for inspiration.

I gave these during my early years in paper crafting  as a small gift to family members during our Christmas gathering. It seems one can always use lip balm during these Minnesota winters!

Holiday Cranberry Layered Salad

YUMMMM! This is one of my favorite tasty layered salads from my childhood holidays. To this day I look forward to savoring the sweet/tart yumminess of it each year.

It is so easy to make. The ingredients are in the photo.

First~whip the 1/2 pint of heavy cream to fluffy peaks adding sugar & vanilla extract to taste.

Then crush one inner package of graham crackers to a fine crumb.

The 2 cans of jellied cranberry or rasp/cranberry need to be mushed with a fork.

Now you are ready to layer this goodness together in a glass bowl.

I like to begin with 1/4 C. of the mushed cranberry sauce, then a layer of whipped cream topped with graham cracker crumbs. Repeat this layering to fill the bowl. OH YUM!!! What a delightful Thanksgiving and Christmas food tradition!

Snowy Winter Wonderland

Welcome to our snowy winter wonderland in Minnesota!
Streets are clear now and walking on the sidewalks is fairly safe!  The ice just limits my walking our dog, Ladie, which is not good for either of us!  TEE HEE!!

Seems that all my listed "followers" disappeared!  OH YIKES!!  If possible PLEASE sign up again to stay in touch with me.  No idea what happened out there in the blogosphere to do that to my followers!

My days are kept BUSY with work and in the making of Christmas gifts.  Since it wouldn't be wise for me to show what I'm making at this time I will have to offer other creative endeavors.    With the weekend coming I am eager to begin baking some sweet treats for Christmas visitors.  OH YUM!!!  My mother and I want to make divinity together.  Memories from my childhood of biting into the soft sweet delectable clouds spur me on!

Knowing everyone has a  busy agenda at this time of year be sure to take good care of yourselves and stay SWEET!!
Joyfully......~Sandie