I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I have just marked all Christmas pillows, ornaments and stockings, a whopping 50% off on my website!!
I am already planning for the new year - so many creations are brewing around in my head. Check back soon for updates.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful December, enjoying the "hustle and bustle" of the Holiday season. I am currently offering a 15% discount on your total order at my website www.cottagegatedesigns.com.
Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping!!

In honor of the MMP Blog Cookie exchange, I had to share our cookie tradition in our family. There is nothing special about the recipe, just a simple time worn Rolled Sugar Cookie from the old Betty Crocker cookbook. My sister and I made these cookies with my mom when we were little, and I have made them with my children since they could reach the counter. The key to these cookies is to chill the dough for several hours, and then the rolling and cutting can begin, in between nibbling on the dough because it is hands down, truly the best cookie dough to eat. The other key to these cookies is barely cooking them - we cook them about 6 minutes, so once they cool out of the oven they are nice and soft.
Then the frosting begins, a simple powdered sugar frosting with milk and a touch of vanilla. We mix up colors and I let the kids do whatever they want. They like to swirl all the colors sometimes, and some years they use sprinkles. They are so good we usually gobble them all up in a matter of days. So simple, yet so delectable. I think this year we will make a triple recipe so they will last longer!
I have almost completed my Christmas decorating....I do so enjoy getting it all out each year and setting up all the things I have collected over the years. I think I get more nostalgic each year, as my kids get older and things change.
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~ Some of my Christmas Treasures ~My special "Twas the Night Before Christmas" dishes set up in my old china hutch - a gift from my husband.

The start of my vintage Santa collection, and my grandma's old "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book, from when she was a girl.

The Make Mine Pink Christmas Extravaganza has begun!!
Come shopping at The Cottage Gate and receive a whopping 20% off your entire order - just enter coupon code MMPC20. And that's not all! Any order over $25.00 receives one of my handcrafted Christmas ornaments FREE!
And don't forget to stop by the other MMP boutiques for more lovely items and special promotions this week only!

Well, I have been hard at work on my Christmas creations. These are a couple of my newest designs. For a while now I have been wanting to dabble in altered art fabric collage and the coming of Christmas was my inspiration, with all the wonderful antique Victorian postcard images that I use.
For the pink Christmas pillow, I used lots of vintage odds and ends - jewelry pieces, laces, Victorian ruffled sleeve remnant, pale green satin ribbon, buttons, rhinestones, hanky,beads.....The pillow has 2 vignettes - a Victorian Santa with "Merry Christmas" below and the Victorian angel holding a bell transfer appliqued to a pink rose fabric, accented with lace, tiny button and rhinestone and decoratively stitched around edge. It was then slipped into a vintage hanky pocket and has the quote "Every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings" from the classic Its a Wonderful Life. Lots of detail and HOURS of work on this unique Christmas pillow.


The next pillow has the most wonderful old World Santa - I just love his face, and I could just see him leaning down and whispering "Do you Believe?" so that was the quote I used for center of the vintage doily next to him. I also used a vintage jewelry piece with a beautiful old clasp for accent. Various buttons, lace and decorative stitching too. This is a pocket pillow and I have slipped two handmade ornaments with 2 more postcard images of little girls imagining Santa - I just love the magic of these!! They have been decoratively stitched and antique silk ribbon bows are for hanging.

I so enjoyed the creative process of these 2 pieces - I hope you enjoy them as well. Now what to do next.....I'm thinking of Victorian angels (I've got a great quote!!) or Fairies or both!
A little about my textile art.....
My vintage fabric collages combine my love of vintage textiles and my love of words. Words are powerful and a beautiful phrase can evoke such emotion. My collage designs are built around the wise words of an old poet or author, which I handstitch in a simple lettering. I use vintage fabrics, laces, buttons, etc...all handstitched in a unique way to mirror the words - there is always a little mystery with the finished product, but if you look closely you will see the simple beauty of the words reflected in the design. I collect old vintage frames throughout the year to frame each collage in. Below is a sampling of some of my pieces....