Christmas in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado 2012.

Hello friends!

Wow, can you believe it's all over? Only one more holiday to go and then it's the new year. Where did the time go? It seems like things ZOOMED past this year. I thought I would check in and post just a few pics from our trip to Red Feather Lakes, Colorado where Ricky's parents are currently living. Ricky is determined to bunk up in their barn apartment when they get one built this coming year. After checking out the photos I'm sure you will see why ;)

The map for Red Feather Lakes.

View just outside of the house on the way into town. The photos don't even do it justice!

The entrance to Rick and Malina's new house. Here is the family room and you can see the kitchen in the background. Ricky is hanging out on the chair with Claire at his side :D

Francesca "Frankie" keeps a look out on her bench ;)

If you walk in the door and go upstairs it takes you to the loft.

The loft.

View from the loft to the family room.

The dining room. Malina made us a yummy yogurt and fruit plate with grits, a poached egg, coffee and orange juice. Yum! 

The view from the dining room table. Now couldn't you get used to eating breakfast and looking at that view?

The kitchen.

View from the kitchen window. Little "snow balls" collected on the branches and you can see that long icicle hanging down.

The hallway.

The bathroom.

The "mud room" where there will eventually be  a sink and tile floor so the dogs can come in without tracking the outdoors in. Excuse our piles of clothes and blankets ;P

Rick and Malina's room.

The tree on Christmas Eve from the window. They didn't end up getting a tree this year so they just decorated the one out front. I think it worked out perfectly!

Ricky's Nana drinking her tea. She is a rockin' 84 year old woman! 

Here is Amelia. Sweet baby is 10!

Christmas day we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of gf quiche and gf buttermilk biscuits along with mimosa's and fruit salad :D

Ricky the mountain man. He was excited not to shave for a few days while we were away. lol.

After breakfast I got wrapped up in my beautiful scarf from Nellie and some borrowed boots from Malina. 

The dogs got on their snow boots and joined us.

We began our hike out the dining room door in the back yard. Wow, just look at this! 

Here is the view from one of the hill tops on our hike. Surrounded by beauty and nature! 

Christmas night we got in our family Christmas Story pajama's and relaxed. Here is Ricky's mom and dad hanging out in the chair.

Ricky made us some incredible fondue! 

Our fruit, veggies and cheese for dipping.

Our delicious spread of olives, dips, cheese,  sweet potato fries cooked on the wood burning stove, some of Ricky's honey mustard, this amazing red pepper dip, gf crackers, and bagle chips.

This red pepper, and walnut dip the neighbors made was just incredible!

The last day of our trip. I enjoyed my morning cup of coffee on the chair in front of the wood burning stove soaking up the view before returning to the city.

I hope you enjoyed a most Merry and relaxing holiday!

xo Genea

Finishing the end of Wooly Wire- Tutorial

Hello friends! 

While working with Wooly Wire I wanted to make a quick tutorial on how to end the wire. Here are some photos showing the steps ;)

ENDING WOOLY WIRE TUTORIAL

Wonderful Wooly Wire! 

SUPPLIES

Wooly Wire

Cutting Plyers

Round Nosed Plyers

Bent Chain Nosed Plyers

Fray Check

Here is the card that comes with your Wooly Wire. So this tutorial is my interpretation of how to end the Wooly Wire according to the last instructions.

A FEW TIPS ON WIRE-WRAPPING WITH WOOLY WIRE

Here are a few tips for making your wire-wraps with Wooly Wire.

As you begin to wrap your Wooly Wire(WW for short) you can wire wrap it just like you would wire wrap any wire. The nice thing about ww is that unlike "naked" wire it won't get snagged and cause a kink in the wire. When you do your wire wraps for ww I have found that if you need to thread your wire through something like a link of chain you see here you want to thread it in a circular motion. This motion will help you easily maneuver your wire where you want it to go for your wraps. So begin with a nice loose circular loop like this as you begin to wire wrap.

As you get closer to doing your wrap your circle will get smaller and tighter until you can pull it snug into a wire wrap. 

If you would like to make a nice circular "cork screw" looking wrap around chain or other materials you can easily bend the wire around your finger and shape it until the desired look is achieved.

Here is an example of the "Cork Screw" type wrap about which I am talking.

Ending your Wooly Wire

Now onto the ends and finishing your end of Wooly Wire.

When you come to the end you will want to take your cutting plyers and snip yourself a little bit of a "tail." Longer than the tail you would cut if you were just wire-wrapping wire.

Next you will take your fray check and add a dot to the end of the wire.

Here you can see the wet dab of fray check on the end.

Hold your piece with one and and with the other take the piece of fray checked ww and twist it "with the grain" of the fibers. You will know which way is "with the grain" because the fibers will get tighter as you twist. If you are not twisting in the right direction the fibers will puff instead.

Next grab your round nosed plyers. Grab the end of the ww and turn into a loop. This will "lock" in the fibers and secure the wire.

Now grab your bent chain nosed plyers and pinch that little loop you made to further secure the wire.

Next using your chain nosed plyers "tuck" the wire wrap into itself to finish up the wrap like you would for a normal wire-wrap. 

Add another dab of fray check to the finished wire-wrapped end.

You will have a little fuzzy from the end of the fiber wire. You can take your finger and now gently rub the fibers into the direction of the ended wire-wrap. You can let this try and then come back and add another drop of fray check and rub the end against the wrap if you still have some fuzzys that stick out. 

I hang my earrings or leave my necklace flat to let the fray check dry several hours or over night. Once it is dry you will see the fiber has blended into the rest of the wrap and the fiber is still soft, but secure :D

I hope this quick tutorial has helped you learn how to end your Wooly Wire!

Enjoy!

xo Genea