Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Wishing you all...



...a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving Day. I hope you enjoy your time with family and friends and reminisce and make life long memories. May your day be richly blessed and let us not forget those who are less fortunate.

"There is no substitute for plain, everyday goodness." -Maltbie D. Babcock

Happy Thanksgiving Friends,
Cathy

Monday, November 24, 2008

One Down...

...and many more to go!!!



Oh my goodness - I'm like - super slow this year. I'm one of those people who likes to decorate mid-November 'cause I just love Christmas and I want to enjoy it for as long as I can. Well, I'm just getting started and I think I better get busy!!!

This one is just a simple lil' tree - all in black and white, silver and lime. Some of my favorites colors. Tonight I'll do the bright red and green one - I think. So how is everyone else's decorating coming along? I'd love to see so I can be inspired by all my friends out there.

Hope you all have a splendid start to the week. Many blessings to you.

Cathy Cobblestone

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Wishing you....

... a wonderful and happy weekend.



Sorry, I've missed posting a lot this week - ya know, Santa's lil' elf is really BUSY - trying to get all those special packages ready. Paintin' and creatin'- so many ideas and so lil' time but I'll do better next week.

I bet many of you will be decorating this weekend and preparing for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Let us all remember, just how blessed we are.

Have a happy day!
Cathy Cobblestone

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

No PEEKING...

No, just kidding. I thought I'd share with you a few pictures from my small shop. Remember, I say small - but with a LOT of heart. I'll be introducing you to a couple of the artists of the goodies shown in the slide show in the coming days. I just love having them as a part of the shop.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who came out to visit during our Christmas in the Country this last weekend. I wish you all could have been there!!! The weather was far from delightful but the smiles made it all worth while.

I think I'll start decorating the house now that I've survived the weekend. Hope everyone is getting filled with the Christmas spirit - I AM!!!!

Many blessings to you all!
Cathy Cobblestone

Christmas Time At Cobblestone Farms

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

My Window Box is filled with....



well.... just about everything I could get my hands on. This is a window box at the shop - I filled the base with some artificial greenery to kind of hold everything in place - nestled in my leftover ornamental cabbage - added an old garden rake - tucked in some nandina berries, some ornamental grass plumes, - and oh yeh, I also placed a twiggy pocket in the front of it.



I just love the natural stuff - it's pretty and FREEEEEEE - YIPPEE!



Oh and don't you jus' love that black and white check ribbon. Got that from my sweet friends at Brenda's Flowers. I think I'll have to go back for more.

Oh I must confess, I'd been cheating a bit with my pictures - my header is actually from last year - but now that I'm getting things going I'll be sharing with you some pictures that are current.

And I'm really gonna miss you guys - but I have to be gone for a couple of days - we are getting ready for our 10th annual Christmas in the Country this Saturday. They say it may even snow a bit - now that would be soooo exciting - as long as everyone could still get here of course. But I love the snow - it is so peaceful.

So my friends - have a splendid end of the week and weekend. I'll post some pics next week. As always, thanks for stopping by and many blessings to you.

Cathy Cobblestone

Monday, November 10, 2008

Snowmen....

...salt dough ornaments!!!



Remember the recipe -
2c. all purpose flour
1c. salt
mix dry ingredients
add 1c. warm water



Roll and shape into a ball - flatten - shape a piece for the nose - wet the two pieces in order for them to adhere. Insert wire and bake at 325 degrees for an hour and a half.

Then the fun part - paint them anyway you wish!



These snowmen heads have been lightly glazed with antiquing medium as well as painted with "twinkles" a transparent glitter paint.



Then clear coated and tied with ribbon - HOW CUTE! You can make them in all sizes - lil' bitty ones would be so cute painted up pink for a little girls room. Tie up the tree with pink and green ribbon and you would have a one of a kind.



These are a few I made for "Baby's first Christmas" - simply roll (I mean in your hands) out a separate ball and attach to your flat piece. Paint the background pink or blue - leave a spot at the top to personalize with a name and year.



The green ones jus' say Merry Christmas - so they would work for anyone. This is a great project for those who have a lot of people to buy for (i.e. co-workers, teachers, classmates). They are easy, cute and fun to make especially with your children. I'll try and make more later - you can make sheep, footballs (look right in the sidebar) - jus' about anything you can imagine. Of course, you can use cookie cutters - but I like them jus' a lil' imperfect. Just shape in your hands and I promise you - you can't mess them up. Have lots of fun and happy creating! If you have any questions - just e-mail me - I'll be happy to help anyway I can.

Blessings to you all - have a great week!
Cathy Cobblestone

Friday, November 7, 2008

Forget-me-not Day


Well, that is what today(Saturday) is - Forget-me-not Day. It is another one of those "days" that I'm not really for sure what it means - but I'd say it is to remember someone special. So I'm choosing all of you to remember today - because you all have made blogging to me such a fun and most importantly, heart-warming experience. Thank you for the time you take to read my lil' snipits and comment on my simple lil' ideas. It gives me great joy to hear from you - so thank you. And on this day -and always - I shall not forget you. So drop someone special a line today and let them know - you remembered them.

Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. - Corrie Ten Boom

Blessings to you all - and have a wonderful weekend.
Cathy Cobblestone

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Don't put away...

...those summer flowers just yet... because -



sometimes they just add a "lighter" touch to Christmas decorating. In this picture you can see that I kept my willow twigs and some cute lil' yellow flowers I had from summer and tucked them into some buckets I painted a festive red.




This is a close-up of the dried hydrangeas my sweet mamaw saved for me. I simply spray painted them red and they make such a bold statement and I just love using natural things. Another great thing to use is the plumes off of ornamental grasses. Like right now - my grasses have large feathery plumes - I'm gonna cut them, get out the spray paint, and tuck them in the trees, mantles, wreaths, buckets or whatever strikes me. It's pretty and FREE! Plus, you can paint them any color you wish to match your taste or simply leave them natural. Just a tip - lightly spray them with clear paint to keep them from shedding so bad if you wish to not give them a color.




This lil' display is jus' something simple that I put behind my counter at the shop. Some greenery, buckets, flowers, candy canes, some left over ribbon and some vintage ornaments - easy and just a tad different.

Everybody get out your spray paint - and get spraying!!!
Have a great day and happy creating.
Cathy Cobblestone

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Oh the Colors...



of our pretty Sugar Maple trees. We have three huge trees in the front yard and I simply love them. They do make a mess this time of year as the leaves begin to fall but it is all worth it to see them like this. Yellows, golds and oranges - just beautiful.

Today has been a special day - because it's been absolutely beautiful outside and we got to enjoy some quite time at home - so peaceful.

"It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones." - Jean Webster

Enjoy your start to the week - may it be a blessed one.
Cathy Cobblestone