The Weather Outside is Frightful..

But winning is so delightful! I woke up to a rare sight of snow! yes, snow, all over the ground and shivered at the thought. Since we don't even own a shovel or scrapers or anything else, I had nothing else to do but check my email and get caught up online, and discovered today that I won (by popular vote) the holiday ornament contest hosted by the Bluegrass Etsy Street Team with this ornament:
Thanks to everyone who voted for me and visited my store and my teammates wonderful shops as well! I am honored to be on such a cool team with talented Etsians from all over Kentucky. You can visit their blog here.

Now I can go back to watching the neighbor kids use an old tire and broken skateboard as a sled and sled down the middle of the street, er, I mean hill. Cause that's how we do it in Kentucky!

OMG!!!

Come get a start on your Christmas Shopping at the CCA HOLIDAY CHEER BAZAAR. Saturday, November 22nd from 9:00-3:00 p.m. held at the Community Christian Academy High School, located at the corner of Highway 45 and Lebanon Church Rd across from Paducah Athletic Club.

Lots of booths including Jewelry, Fabulous Bags and Purses, Crafts, Home Decor, Christmas Decor, Children's Books, Candles, Skin Care, and all sorts of fabulous vendors in between - even Baked Goods and Cookware!!

Register for a FREE basket full of GREAT gifts from many of our Vendors!! Including this super fun pendant (and matching necklace) and from Daydream Art Studios:

FaLaLaLa

Available online at http://daydreamartstudios.etsy.com and at the Holiday Cheer Bazaar at Community Christian Academy in Paducah, KY this Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm. Proceeds from the Bazaar benefit Hungarian missions and the CCA Cheerleaders.

More Snow...

flakes, that is! Every day this week I'm going to show off a different handmade ornament using my snowflake drawings I showed you before. It's finally been sunny enough (even though its very chilly! Brrr!) to finally photograph all my glittery delights. I completely glittered the house putting glitter on the inside and outside, and then added even more sparkle and bling with genuine Swarovski crystals! The snowflake design floats on the inside and is transparent, and then has a matching transluscent snowflake charm on the outside. Pretty, right? I love how they turned out, but then I am sort of hypnotized by shiny objects.

All are available at the Holiday Cheer Bazaar at Community Christian Academy in Paducah, KY this Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm, or in my online shop.

It's Snowing in the Amazon!

Ok, so not really, but this week has been a wierd mix of Amazon, Brazil, and snowflakes. Amazon.com, that is. If you don't already know, this is the place to shop for anything not handmade. Toys and DVDs are always cheaper than even sale prices anywhere else, shipping is free half the time, and you can find what friends and family really want by searching for anyone's wish list. Oh, and my brother works for Amazon.com designing the website or software or something like that, and he just got married and is expecting baby number one! So I'm doing my part to make sure his job is safe from budget cuts. This week I got half of my Christmas shopping done, saved a ton of money, and got free shipping! Now to start making all those handmade with love gifts!

A lot of the gifts I love to give are different ornaments every year. This year I decided to make snowflake ornaments, which I also sell at holiday crafts shows locally and in my online store. Here's a peek of the designs before I turn them into ornaments next week. I am pretty excited to design some for a contest in a few weeks for Bluegrass Etsy.

Oh, and speaking of Amazon, this week has been Brazil week in homeschool. I have learned a lot about the culture, government, wildlife, and of course, food! In this house projects usually have either art or food in them (or both). So here's the drink of the week, not alcoholic but jacked up with caffeine instead.

Brazilian Iced Chocolate

2 oz bakers (unsweetened) chocolate

1/4 cup pure cane sugar

1 cup double strength coffee, hot

2 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup Coke, chilled

Whipped cream to top

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Stir sugar into melted chocolate, and gradually add hot coffee while stirring constantly. Add milk and continue to stir until mixture is creamy and smooth. Cover and chill until cold, then stir in Coke. Serve over ice, and top with whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!