From the studio of De Anna Welch

blog change

 iv'e decided to change my blog home.

 sorry i couldn't get the direct link to work. hope you

will take a minute and copy this into your browser.  

http://deannawelch.blogspot.com

thank you!

love is sweet

i'll share our class party this year.

two years ago we did a chocolate fountain

and the kids were still talking about it so we decided to

do it one more time!

we use about 3/4 ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate 

and 1/4 nestle milk chocolate.

its sooo yummy!

lots of fruit as well as pretzels,

marshmallows, rice krispie treats...

angel food cake, vanilla waffers, 

cream puffs and brownies.

the drinks were a concoction of

cranberry juice, cherry juice and ginger ale.

i froze cranberry juice in heart shapes

for the ice and floated frozen 

cranberries in it as well.

this is a rather bad shot but the only one i 

have of the goodie bags.

i made cones and filled them with candy and 

things.  we hung them off the kids desks.

sweet pea with her valentine box.

not to bad for the end of the party!

only a little chocolate on the mouth and shirts.

"the girls"

they had a great time!

lending an ear and enjoying some tea!

we visited our friend kathleen  

to lend some friend support.  

she recently lost her sister and needed 

a pick me up.  she was sweet enought to fix us

tea and some yummy snacks.

she even used her moms china and silver.

isn't it beautiful?

it was so nice to sit and visit.

we also had the opportunity to see her new

home.  it was sooo much fun!

she moved to a much smaller place and 

had to pack away much of her loved belongings,

so she decided to make the whole house

her studio! 

here is the family room. 

see her library of magazines and books.

since her kids are grown she chose to 

forgo the dinning room table and put her

sewing room right here in the front of the house.

i loved this!

the spare bedroom holds the 

rest of her supplies.

we've requested she start sharing on her

blog about how she organizes.

is she the organizing queen or what?

fleur-de -li necklace

for my second wire wrapping project

i decided to make this necklace for a birthday gift!

here is how i made it...

draw a sketch, wrap three individual pieces,

like this.

using a third hand to hold the split together,

solder the ends.

so it looks like this.

i found its much easier to 

deal with the pieces individually first.

sorry the pictures are so bad.

they were taken in the basement studio and the 

lighting is wierd.

it will look like this.

careful!  too much heat and the

joints on the individual pieces will come

apart and you have the opportunity to

start all over!

then i used a darkening patina and

just loved how it turned out!

she did too!

angel canvases

i was so pleased to walk into Esscentuals and

see my angel canvases up right inside the door!

these had been featured in the Somerset Studio mags.

yep, those are a couple of my wreaths too!

meg had a beautiful angel motif going on in the front windows.

i belive this will be changing to more

of a valentine theme next week with some

of my new work so i'll keep you posted!

loving colorado

this is such a wonderful place to live!

here are a few things in the last couple of weeks

that made my heart stop.

sunrise.

going to an early hockey game

we were blessed with this.

and i just happened to be in the kitchen the 

other day when i saw a fox walking towards the house.

so i ran to grab a camera and the sweet thing stopped

to get a drink on the back porch!

i had to take the photo through the window

so the screen makes it look a little fuzzy.

then she was done and off down the street!

oh how i love foxes and

i love this town!

pictures of Bella

i have'nt posted pictures of bella in a while.

thought i'd show you some funny pictures of her lately.

this one cracks me up.  

please ignore my hubbies open mouth!

he's chomping on gum while i was trying to take pictures.

when we get on the highway she

loves to climb up on our shoulders.

i think she loves to be at a level she can look out and

see whats going on.

the only part of this that annoys me

is when she wants to spend her time looking at kids.

seriously.... i have to hold her there or

she gets behind my neck and sits looking at the kids.

comfortable for her but not for me!

with her cotton coat she needs to be brushed out daily.

she loves being pampered!

the door to the backyard is the only 

access she has to see outside.

she loves to bark at the people taking their daily walk

so i'm thankful thats the only place she can look out!

snuggling and sleeping with gigi.

our favorite thing about her is how much 

she loves to cuddle.

look how cute i am!!

you really want to come and play with me don't you?

this is one of the ways she hooks us.

what do you think of my hawk?

gigi and her friend brooks where teasing bells

at a hockey tournament.

yes.  she travels in  my purse when we go out.

i made her a sleeping bag that fits in my purse so she's comfy

and warm.  she also has a matching jacket

and blanket!  hey, those hockey rinks

can be really cold!

and yes, she'll fall asleep in my purse and start to slide indside!

she is loved!

wire wrapping

lately iv'e been interested in learning 

more about wire wrapping.

it's so much fun to do and lets me form really fun designs.

this is a chain i was working on while

on winter vaction.

we love to go to our family condo in Dillon Co. 

for a week following christmas and i like to take something 

creative along to work on.

so much fun!

 

family traditions

in my husbands family it has been a tradtion 

that his mom makes rolls every holiday.

so last year she kindly gave me the recipe and i've been

working on it.  wow, i had no idea bread could be so tricky!

anyway after several tries i think i have it down this year!

ill share the recipe-

ButtterHorn Rolls

1/2 C. crisco oil

1/2 C. sugar

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1 C. warm milk

        Add: 1/4 C. warm water, 2 T. dry yeast, 1 tsp. sugar

(mix and let stand to raise)

Gradually mix in 5 1/2 C. flour. knead dough until elastic.  

Let raise for 1 hour.  Punch down, let raise again.

Separate into 5 sections and roll out.

Cut into 12 triangles (like a pie).

Let raise for 20 min.

Bake for 15 min in a 325 degree oven.

Brush with melted butter.

i love the smell of yeast and how it grows all fluffy!

some tricks i learned..

turn the oven on the lowest setting and place the bowl

on the edge of the counter with the door cracked open.

this keeps it warm and helps it to rise.

i also rub a little oil on top of the dough and place a towel

over it to keep it from drying out.

since this is a time consuming project

i learned to just make a day out of it!

i'll do four double batches which gives us about 

23 dozen rolls!

it takes all day but they freeze beautifully and are

better after about 10 days.

we like to bag them a dozen at a time.

this last batch i tried making them whole wheat.

since i double the batch i used

5 C. whole wheat and 4 C. bread flour.

it worked out great!

give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you!

Have a great day!!!!!

garden journal

starting our garden this summer

made me start thinking about how i wanted

 to journal the growth and changes that will happen. 

i decided to make my own journal.

it's a large size with water color paper that will allow

me to do all sorts of things.

paint, draw, put in flower lables, add dryed flowers,

photos, and of course thoughts.

the cover is thick chipboard with wrinkled tissue.

then i painted it and added a strip of scrapbook paper.

some stamps, charcoal, stickles and glitter finished it. 

 vintage velvet and silk flowers...yum

 binded with three large rings allow for expantion.

covering them in ribbon made it look pretty.