HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi friends,
Just passing through to wish you all the best in the new year coming up.  May 2015 be the year to remember for great achievements in health and, happiness.

Come back to see how well I behave in the new year and what Mom will make for me next........

Will see you back in the New Year 2015!!!!!!!!
From Mark, Moki and myself
Hugs
Nicole

Moki ready for Christmas

Hi Friends,

I have found some extra time to make Moki a Santa outfit this week.  I just realized that I should have made a bag filled with little presents too!  But, he won't mind since he is my every day present, even for Christmas.  This little guy on his worst days a total joy to have.  On his best days a total delight to share my every moments with.

When Mark and I are sitting at night enjoying a coffee together, this little guy is surprising us with new moves, new tricks, new ways to get our attention although he needs nothing creative to get our eyes go to him as he is such a good looking dog to start.  We never get tired of looking at him.

His teeth are almost done growing and we went through yet again another period of biting spells but a lot of chews on hands saved our fingers in the end. 

So without further due, here are his shots of the week and his suit so you can see what it looks like off of him!

The site where I get some of my patterns for my dog outfits is as follows: http://www.mimiandtara.com/  She just made a Tux jacket to go with the tux I just made last week.  I will make another Tux in black and white so I can make the jacket to coordinate.  I think I like to sew for my trendy little one :)

Look at him!  He was so cute so while I was taking pictures of him this way I couldn't help but laugh out loud, he was looking at me knowing that Mama was happy it was looking good on him. 

 
 
 


 

Near the end of the making of his Santa outfit, since he knew it was for him.  He would jump trying to see what I was doing that took so long to finish it.  I had to try it on him multiple times to see that all was fitting nicely.

Since these photos were taken we finally were able to stabilize him long enough to clear his eyes from all the fur obstructing his vision.  His top fur is looking more and more silver, the face and front of him is always getting whiter.  I love that his ears are a little darker than the rest.  It adds to his charming looks lol

I am going to bring my newer sewing machine to get is cleaned up where we bought it years ago, it didn't like to travel abroad and back.  Right now I am sewing with my very old and trusty Singer Industrial machine near 50 years old.  One thing though, I only have one lower bobbin to use and it has white on it.  So I had to sew his belt with white.  I hope it made you smile, while staying in the Christmas spirit.

Thank you for visiting, I appreciate all comments, I actually love comments so let me know what you think and if you feel like sharing some websites that have dog outfits for free, add them in the comment box for everyone to see.  Thank you!

 

If I don't post any cards through Christmas and New Years, I want to wish you all a 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2015. 

We can wish for peace, happiness and love for everyone.

 

Christmas hugs,

Nicole xx



More of Moki's photos

Hi Friends,

Well, as you probably have done one time or twice already, I love to go to Pinterest and find some free patterns for my Morkie's outfits.  I have started to make him a small and fun new wardrobe.  I also noticed that when I try to find something for him in the Retail stores, it is rare finding clothing for males.  If there is anything available in X-small, it is all picked through and what's left is not really appealing to me.  That being said, I decided to have fun when I get away from making flowers (still a passion), to make him some cute outfits to take pictures of him for your viewing pleasure.

Today Moki is posing in his brand new casual tux I have made out of scrapped jeans and scrapped fabric I was happy I had saved for all those years.  I have put them to good use at last.  I have to find time to make him a Santa outfit.  I have the pattern, I just need the time.  Here is the fun photo session he was thrilled to do for us.

 (ME) When I put on the Tux on him he was busy chewing on the bow.  I didn't notice that the bow had been pushed down from its original position.  So all of the bows on all pictures are a little lower than it should have been.

(Moki) I better have a treat coming for all this work.......

(Moki) Look folks!  I have a chin too!

 (ME) If I had to pick a favorite this one is.  He looks like he is smiling (above photo).  He loves to stick his tongue out it is so funny and cute as he knows he makes us laugh so he does it more.

 (Moki) I have good looks!

 

 (Moki) This is serious stuff, am I doing great Ma?

 

Yes Moki you did wonderfully, I can always count on you for your cooperation, hum, almost always! lol

 

Thanks for dropping in, I hope you enjoyed his cute photos and his handmade Tux.  I know photos are not always easily showing the true size of anything, but he is still wearing X-small and there is room to grow at that size.  So he is tiny.  So, he is full of joy to unwrap every day. 

 

Hugs, Nicole

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK! Just to show you our house Christmas Decorations for this year 2014

Hi bloggers and followers,

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful husband, Mark.  Hoping to make this day so much fun and memorable for years to come.

Just a quick skip and a jump to say Hi and share with you some photos I have taken of our Christmas decorations.  We are fortunate this year that the temperatures have allowed us to put it all up without needing any gloves.  It was nice that mother nature has considered an easy Christmas decoration year.  Thank you!

 It is nice to see the animated deer to the left

This year we have many neighbor who are decorating it looks so pretty out there.  It makes me go out and look if there are any new decorators night after nights!

 

Beautiful, simply beautiful!

Have a great week everyone and thanks for visiting

More to share soon

HUGS,

Nicole

Moki News

Hi bloggers and followers,

My Moki news of the week.  This past Wednesday he turned 5 months old.  Still qualifying as a puppy but I must say, his growth is significant.  He has reached 6 pounds according to his last Vet visit for his last shot of the year which was his Rabies shot.  So he will see less needles now that his puppy shots are behind him.  But his Neutering will be on Jan 20th.  I will have a hard time leaving him behind for a few hours.  I already know it.

We had to trim Moki long fur almost 2 weeks ago.  It wasn't an easy task.  Took 3 hours to first trim with scissors the fur had reached over 4 inches long and he was just looking like a cute mop, but he needed to trim for many reasons and we can see now that it was a good thing as he is not so heated so easily anymore.  After the long agitated time of trimming Moki we bathed him and trimmed some more.  I hope he gets to understand why we are doing this so next time he will know that no arm comes to trimming him unless he constantly moves like he was, it wasn't easy.  But he looks so skinny now lol.

So here are a few photos of him before the trim and after.  I have retouched his fur since these few pictures were taken.  I also had a chance to make 2 beds for him.  He loves the beds and is always found on one of them when he is chewing his rawhide sticks or sleep time.

The two before photos

 

Here I am, all trimmed up and feeling so much cooler

Now you get to see the bed I made for him, a no sew bed and there is no way I can touch it without getting attacked by Moki telling me, it is staying here and this is my bed lol.  This photo got me laughing as I only had a chance to take one photo of the bed without him in it.  The rest of the time it was as if he was saying, if you want a photo of this bed, you will take a shot of me in it lol.

 

This is skinny Moki, not wanting to look at the camera that much that day.  As I said a lot more touch ups happened since.  So these are the K9 news for this week.  I am sure I will have more to share soon!  Never a dull moment with him around.

 

Have a great week everyone!

Thanks for stopping in

HUGS

 

My only Christmas card this year

Hi bloggers and followers,

Welcome back!  These days I can't say I am sitting long enough in my quiet times, (what is quiet time?) lol, I have lesser and lesser of it but I still try to sit and create, that is when my little Moki lets me have a little relaxing time. 

But, how can I refuse his affection when he has so much to give.  So I leave what I am doing to play with him for a while.  The house chores suffers as well, it affects all aspect of my already busy schedule.  So, this is one of the reasons why I hadn't had a chance to create anything Christmassy this time around.  I hope you like what you see.

This week I had the chance to sit down and gather up some elements to make this Christmas card that took a long while of thinking to put together.  BUT, with the help of my friend, it finally came to life after trying so many different options.  So this is the final result:

My Favorite Thing Lily die cut set, (This set, has many pieces, but if you are looking for the simplest Poinsettia flower and Lily to make, this die set is for you) Grapevine wreath 98191, Massa Leaf 1020 (Memory Box),  Grove Branch 98311 also by (Memory Box).  Oval punch, Merry Christmas stamp from my stash and this card was created.  I used some pre-glittered card stock, red, brown, Vanilla card stock to put this card together.

What you can't see too well is the yellow pan pastel color I have used in the middle of my lilies, it was such an easy poinsettia look to get, we just kept on saying WOW this flower is really looking natural and it is too.

 

A side view of this card

 

This card no matter how clear of a picture I wanted to take, doesn't come close to what it looks in person.  I was told twice thus far this week that it has a WOW factor. 

 

Have a great weekend everyone

A 75th Birthday card to share

Hi Bloggers and followers,

How is everyone doing?  I hope you are feeling ahead of your Christmas preparations. 

Today my share with you is a card that I made a few weeks ago, a friend of mine from California has yet gone into another fabulous milestone she just turned 75. WOW!!!!!!  So to celebrate I wanted to use some gold mirror paper to enhance her special card on her so special day!

So here it is:

Raising my glass of wine to you Jo Anne

The letters and numbers die cuts that were used on this card were by Memory Box.  The small intricate frame where the 75 is, is a die by Sue Wilson's called Vienna (Austrian Collection).

I hope you enjoyed today's share.  When I thought my schedule was going to lighten up some, I was wrong lol.  Now I can only wish the Holidays are going to come soon so I can get a normal routine established again.  More news on Moki this week.  Come back soon!

 

Have a great weekend.....next, I have another card to share.  The one and only Christmas card I seem to be able to make this year.  But I will make more next year.  Thanks to my friend that inspired me to make one on our crafting day this week.  Come back tomorrow it will be the next post.

 

Hugs and kisses

Moki in trapper's hat

Hi bloggers and followers,

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving day and all the trimmings.  We did, but the highlight of our day was finding this little hat for Moki at the store.  Mark found it, then he showed it to me, I had to have it.  I had to have it!!!!! Oh my gosh the look of him in this hat, not only it was something new to him to have something on his head, but when I went in front of the mirror with Moki he was liking it.  So we decided we would have enough time to take a few pictures of him in his new hat.  Enjoy, it made us laugh and have a great time, yet again!

If there is such a thing as a comedian dog, we have one on our hands.  He makes us laugh from morning to night and then some.  We also learned that flatulence with canines is no less than deadly.  He is no exception, he seems to like our reaction when we notice that it is him who is the culprit, ha ha ha.

 

Now all I need to find is a really cute red scarf.  Look at how much his fur has grown since we got him.  He turned 4 months on Nov 10th.  I tried to keep the photos in large format so feel free to click on them for a larger view of him

He is so very active as you know puppies to be, but he is also very aware of what's going on at all times.  He is very astute if we can call dogs that.  Really, what's not to like about him?  Answer below,

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

--

NOTHING!!!!!!!!!! hee hee

 

Have a happy Day and a fun weekend ahead.

Will share more cards as soon as I have some to share.

Thank you for visiting, it makes me smile to see that some are interested in my blog.  Thank you!

Love, Nikky

HAPPY THANKSGIVING fellow Americans, wherever you are!

Hi Bloggers and followers,

Today's card is another simple card for this Thanksgiving 2014 I made for a many friends....I truly enjoyed making this one.  I had to repeat the process more than a dozen of times, but I had prepared for that many cards ahead of time.  So it was easy to put together in a chain reaction way.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Memory Box feather set, a soup bowl stamp from my stash, Happy Thanksgiving Sentiment by an older set by Stampin'Up.  I wanted to specifically use a touch of burlap paper this year so this is what I ended up doing

As I said it is a very simple card especially when you have more than a dozen to make of the same, simple is called for.  I miss making flower cards folks.  I hope to put together something with flowers soon.  I will have a Christmas card to share before Christmas but only when I know my great friends abroad will have received it.

 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone on November 27th that is for those who are not from the US

 

Thanks for visiting, see you soon!

Masculine card

Hi bloggers and followers,

Nice of you to visit. Thank you.  Today's card I am sharing with you is a masculine card.  I had ordered a large set of stamps by Joy Crafts, called "RETRO CARS".  A set of 13 acrylic stamps of many different Vintage cars (7) and 6 beautiful sentiments that matches the theme very well.  I am so happy I found this set since I will be able to make many more cards out of it and all of them will have their own character.

For now here is this card I made with a friend this passed week.  We enjoyed all of the stamps on the set and can see a lot of potential for future cards.

Here's today's card:

I used a plaid embossing folder, and inked up the edges with grey ink for more depth.  Then cut one piece of the largest of the set (Sue Wilson's Austrian Collection - Vienna 5 dies set.  CED2205) in black.   

 

I had prepared my stamped image by using of the ovals in the same set to layer on the center of the black cut out.  Before adding dimensional adhesive, I also inked up the outside edge of the oval.  Before ending I just added some Crystal Stickles to the center of the wheels for some additional interest.  Enough to stay very masculine and yet, elegant.

 Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed what you saw and if there are questions, feel at ease to ask, I will make sure I will answer to the best of my knowledge.

 

Have a great day!  Go ahead, be creative, it is so much fun.

Come back soon I have a Thanksgiving card to share next.

 

Hugs, Nicole

A carousel card I had so much fun to make

Hi bloggers and followers,

Glad you could stop by and have a look at my card I have made a while ago but it was work in progress (this is the card I had to restart because of teeth marks in it when I realized it had fallen on the floor while clearing up my work table).

This card was made (base die cut is by Marianne Creatables  CR 1236 it is a set of 6 dies in the top higher end of die prices.  I had purchased this one a few months ago as I knew I would use it for a Birthday Carousel card, but improvising this card was work in progress and fun as my main theme was GIRLIE in PINK.  You will agree that I kept with the topic at hand from start to finish. 

TIPS on how to make a themed card or shaped card.  First, inventory your die cuts and group what you have by something you could use for a theme in mind.  Once you have all of what you can use stick with that.  Pick papers to use for layers, decide what die cut you will use to display your sentiment on, make sure before you put it in place as well as all of the items you are going to add to your work, is what you want and final.  Never ever adhere anything to your base card or shape unless you are at the final stage and have decided what goes where first.  Always walk away from your work before you will finalize it.  Once glued together it is called too late.  Then you will have to be happy with the look of it.  (learned the hard way)

For example if I wanted to make a shaped project with an Autumn Theme.  I would look for all the leaves I have in form of die cuts or punches and even some templates I can fussy cut if it is not too many of the same fussy cut design.  Anything that associates with Fall.  Keep it simple, less is more.  It's fine to try to add more but to be sure it isn't too much, walk away and come back to it later you will know if you like the new added items or if you prefer to remove it.  Mad crafters always have a method, that's mine.  Here is the shaped Birthday theme I made recently:

Angela was so thrilled and had no idea what she was about to receive in that box.  Happy you enjoyed it, it was a delight to make it.  I love challenges like this, it drives me to smile and go outside of the comfortable box of mine.

 

I set the Angela tag on a narrow acetate piece of about 3 inches long.  This was sent in a box as I didn't want to bend anything.  Yes, for those of you who like cheaper shipping, you can make this for someone who you can hand it to and save on mailing but keep in mind this is very very light in weight. 

 

The roses, flowers, shopping bags, hat box, Present boxes, Eifel tower were all made with dies.  I just personalized every item to my liking before it would make it to the scene.  The little strawberry on the shopping bag was made out of handmade ceramic clay in a mold for a half strawberry embellishment. 

Thank you for visiting and I hope if you have questions about this work, feel free to ask in the comment section.  I will be more than happy to answer them for everyone.

 

Have a great day! 

The next two cards to share are much simpler.