Thanksgiving Weekend and a Gun

I planned on getting a posting or two up earlier in the week but the days just flew by in a blur of catch-up work. The kids wound up staying through the weekend and we had such a wonderful time just being together.  We baked and ate and painted and played ~ it was wonderful.

One of the ways we passed our time was by admiring my oldest son's newest talent ~ tattooing.  I've always appreciated his innate artistic abilities.  From sculpting to costume making his imagination is inspiring and endless, but I honestly had no idea he would be that good with a tattoo gun.

He only just began tattooing a few weeks ago when we gifted him a tattoo gun and supplies for his 25th birthday.  Here is one of the first tattoos he did...

  ...yes, I did say one of the first.

I have to admit I've never thought of getting a tattoo myself ~ I'm not sure if it's my debutant up-bringing or my loathing of needles, but it's just never interested me.

 

I would however do just about anything for my sons and so with the repeating "Oh common mom" I found myself with a tiny lavender star permanently affixed to my hand.

To gain practice my son has even been tattooing himself.  Being someone who can cut my own hair I don't question the ability quite as much as some but still admire the skill it takes, especially knowing that these little things really do hurt.

He does a wonderful job with that as well but there are those few times when an extra set of hands can help a bit...

I think I'll stick to a paintbrush and a mouse but it was fun to try.

I have to admit that although our holiday activities are a bit unconventional at times, I'm happy we live outside of the standard family clichés...

and I simply can't wait to see what Christmas holds in store ~ *smile*

Best~

Cyber Monday Sale & Visitors

I know many of you look forward to the occasional sales here at Plumrose Lane and so I'm here to let you know about some big savings going on in my Etsy shop. With 30% off everything, now through Monday the 26th, it's one of the biggest sales I have all year!

I've just signed up for "Etsy on Sale" which means there's no pesky coupon code to fiddle with either ~ just click to purchase and save.

The kids are still visiting for Thanksgiving and we've been having so much fun! Working 6 - 7 days a week, I really look forward to these breaks and catching up with them.

I've got loads of photos to share, thanks to my talented daughter-in-law (the professional photographer) so I'll be working on that posting just as soon as the dust settles.  Here's a quick peak from an hour of art we shared yesterday ~

gotta love young artists...

I hope you're all enjoying a wonderful weekend yourselves!

Best~

Thanksgiving

Through out the year I have the immense pleasure of being gifted with the beautiful imagery of a Jacuqie Lawson card from caring friends.  I love them for a multitude of reasons ~ from being selected to receive one as a gift, to the beautiful animated imagery I aspire to create one day as a graphic artist.  They truly make the holidays bright!

 Jacquie Lawson image ~ copyright Jacquie Lawson

This Thanksgiving my oldest son and his wife are coming out to visit with three little ones in tow.  I remember those days and it's hard to believe I'm now on the visiting end of that circle of life.  It's a role I welcome with open arms though. I get go hug my children, meet my youngest granddaughter, see how much my grandson has grown, and bake cookies with my big-girl granddaughter.
 
I'm sure our days will be filled with lots of chatter, laughter, and not enough sleep ~ sounds like the perfect holiday weekend to me. So while the crowds are out in droves hitting the stores (or perhaps each other) we'll be celebrating the old fashioned way ~ with warmth, family, and love.

Here's wishing you all the same and so much more!

Best~

Holiday Samplings

With the holidays quickly approaching, now's a great time to spruce up your blog or shop with a Plumrose Lane seasonal theme.  Whether it's a warm and cozy look like Blissful Harvest or one with festive sparkles like Glistening ~ there's a holiday theme for everyone. 

The faeries and I have been busy updating these themes with new background codes in three sizes, enhanced versions of the original theme elements like those shown below from Golden Moments, and an updated selection of sidebar tags to include new titles like ~ Labels, My Pinterest, and Wish List.

Best of all there's a sale going on in my Etsy shop ~ now through Wednesday ~ so you can save big with 25% off everything!  Just enter coupon code: GobblerSale during checkout.

Enjoy~

Prayers & Healing Energy

It's not often that I need to reach out to my blog audience and ask for help for a friend, but my sweet friend and customer Linda of "Stealing Mom and Other Telling Tales" has just been diagnosed with Lung cancer. If you could please keep her in your prayers and send healing thoughts her way, I would really appreciate it.

Linda recently wrote, "My plan is to fight to be a survivor.  If I forget, - please remind me!" You can read her recent post "My Diagnosis Wasn't a Hang Nail" for more info and visit her blog by clicking her blog title above or here's the direct link for those of you using mobile devices: http://www.stealingmom.com/

Best~

New Tutorial ~ Installing the Picture Window Template

In between custom orders I've been feverishly working to update my tutorials list and prefab blog themes.  The tutorials have been terribly outdated and I miss being able to help empower other bloggers.  My prefab themes need new background sizes and codes as well as new additions to the list of sidebar tags.  It's a daunting task but I've been chipping away at it little by little.

Today I'm super happy to announce that I've finally finished writing a new tutorial titled: How to: Setup the Picture Window Template. This new tutorial enables bloggers to install and modify the Picture Window template so that most Designer Blog Themes can be beautifully displayed without built-in template features interferring with the look of the Designer's theme.

The Picture Window template replaces the old Minima template and works beautifully ~ yes, I'm even using it on my own blog, and updating opens up a world of additional features in Blogger's Template Designer that were previously unavailable with the older templates.

You can find this new tutorial by clicking the title link above, visiting the Tutorials page of my blog, or if you're a mobile user, here's the direct link: http://plumroselane-tutorials.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-setup-picture-window-template.html

And for those of you still struggling with understanding the basics of templates vs. themes, I've updated my questions and answers sheet titled: Answering Basic Design Questions for Blogger Blogs. You can click that title or this direct link: http://plumroselane-tutorials.blogspot.com/2011/10/understanding-basic-blog-design-issues.html

Enjoy~

Holiday Treats

Working freelance means I'm always on a budget and watching what I spend. This lifestyle can be tough around the holidays so I put a little extra effort into homemade gifts for friends and family. This year I've decided to tackle the wonderful world of cookies.  We've had this book, Celebrating Cookies, laying around for ages so I decided to crack it open and give some recipes a try. 

I like planning ahead whenever possible so I've been a bit of a baking fiend over the past week trying out a selection of goodies from Snickerdoodles to Chewy Orange Brownies.  It helps keep the kitchen toasty too which is an added bonus now that the nights are getting colder.
 

One family favorite so far are the "Heart Cookies" reminiscent of the scrumptious Italian cookies I used to buy in Brooklyn bakeries. They're filled with raspberry jam and have a distinctive almond taste... sooo delicious!  To make things festive I used seasonal cookie cutters and dusted them with powered sugar.


The cook book that's been nothing more than an extra dusting spot in past years is now getting loads of attention and I'm pleased my efforts have been such a success.  It's nice to know I'll have something extra special to hand out this year.  Now I just need to figure out how to avoid ganing 100 pounds between now and December 25th. Oy!

Best~

New Customor Shout-Outs

Seems like only yesterday I was posting a new customer shout out and sure enough it nearly was ~ just goes to show how busy I've been lately and that's always a good thing.  Not only do I get to be creative but I also have the pleasure of making a few more visual dreams come true, whoot!  So here's a sampling of some of my latest completed projects...

The Olde Farmhouse 

This theme was centered around Joy's love of country elements and high contrast colors.  Working in elements like a personalized crock, rooster, and charming home added a welcoming feel to the set.

 For the banner I began by creating an original country scene to work as a fitting backdrop for the charming shelf, valance and window ensemble.  Joy then selected a simpler background as to not detract from the main focal points.
 

Kimi's Jewelry & Gifts 

This theme involved pink, pink and more pink! Kimi's love of all things glittering, flittering, and pink really brought life to the gorgeous collection of roses and other shimmering accents in her original theme.

We carried this ensemble over into a large selection of additional digital creations, from Facebook and Twitter images to shop sets and business cards.

Flip Flops & Pop Tarts - Seasonal
 
Doing up a seasonal change is one of my personal favs and for this changeover Dawn selected to begin with one of my original shop sets, Tattered Christmas.  Building upon this weathered seasonal theme I created a selection of top navigation tags, along with a banner, background and seasonal signature image.

It's always such a pleasure posting these shouts-outs and I hope you've enjoyed this newest selection of eye candy.  I hope you'll take a moment to visit all of these wonderful bloggers and say "Hi" ~ making new friends in blogland is certainly one of the greatest gifts of all!

Best,

New Sponsor Intro

I'm delighted to announce a new sponsor here at Plumrose Lane...

The Mermaid Treasures

The Mermaid Treasures is located at: www.themermaidstreasures.com and offers a lovely selection of handmade items and supplies from colorful jewelry creations and frilly tutus to crafty supplies to dive in and play with.  All of their items are wholesale priced (except for custom orders) so you get the savings right up front.
So stop by and pay The Mermaid Treasures a visit, I'm sure you'll enjoy what you find!

Best,