Freedom Hill is Relocating!

I've not been super active on this blog, nor on my Freedom Hill Solutions blog. That's about to change, but I wanted to let you know that Freedom Hill Creations is relocating!

It's still going to be Freedom Hill - and our new home is actually on a hill, which really helps solidify the name.

We are moving from Maryland, right outside the DC beltway, to Charlotte, NC. We are super excited to start this new chapter in our lives and looking forward to getting settled and busy with a new business opportunity. More on that later in another blog post.

I've been filming the packing and moving prep and you can catch up on that here if you're interested.

The house is 90% packed up and we are moving next weekend - pulling out on the morning of March 31, 2019.

I have not been inside our new house. We are renting a house across the street from a lake and my husband was down there a few weeks ago and got to tour the house. A local agent gave us a video tour and my hubby also did a video tour of the house. But, all I have to go by are the pictures online and those video tours.

This is not scary to me; I'm super excited to move into a house I've never stepped foot in before!

As soon as we get there, I'll be making videos of our move and my home decorating projects. My first project will be turning a formal dining room into my home office. The kitchen has a large dining area and I see no need for two dining rooms, so this is a perfect solution. I've been scouring Pinterest for ideas and found that many people are turning their formal dining rooms into home offices and the transformations are remarkable. I can't wait to do my own. Click here to see my main inspiration for my new office.

Here are a few pictures of our new home:

I LOVE the curb appeal!

This formal dining room will become my home office.

I love a grand entrance!

The living room is two stories! 

Again, that grand entrance but from the top of the stairs. I think a two story entrance is a fine thing. 

I'm especially excited to decorate this entry way because

our current house does not have an entry way to speak of.

The kitchen appears to be almost an afterthought tucked into a corner, but my hubby said 

the pictures don't do it justice.

I really don't care, though, as long as I can cook for my family.

There is a pantry, so that's a plus.

Here's the dining room attached to the kitchen. It's plenty big enough for large family dinners

and some farmhouse decor.

This might just be my favorite part of this house.....a screened-in porch!

This porch is right off the kitchen dining area and will be the perfect spot to end  - or start - my day!

Finally, there's a deck off the screened-in porch.

Our current grill goes with the house we're selling, so we'll be getting a new grill

to use out there on that deck.

Can you tell I'm excited? I didn't even show you a picture of the master bathroom and closet, but just wait till you see it. It's fabulous! Stay tuned for more as we get moved and settled in this fabulous new home!

Once I get my home office set up, my Etsy shop will reopen. 

Thanks for coming along!

Get creative, stay creative.

~Tricia

Moving/Packing Progress... Minimalism? Me?

Freedom Hill is for SALE!

Life Update - MOVING - AGAIN!

Makin' Some Happy Cards

If you're like me, you often find that you need a card or two on hand at all times. With this in mind, every once in a while, I sit down in my studio and make cards like a crazy woman. Here's a look at my latest batch. For each card, I used images from Close To My Heart's Artfully Sent and Artbooking Cricut Cartridges, along with some thin cut dies from Michael's.

I love the look of this one with what I call window grids. 

It's like peeking out the window and seeing the edge of beautiful shrubbery:

This one (below) says COUNTRY to me all over the place. 

Imagine some gorgeous greenery in a grouping of Mason jars!

I have already sent this one to someone.

This one makes me think of Blake Shelton's song, Honey Bee, every time I see it!

This one has all the feels of fall! 

The patterned paper is from Close to My Heart and is my all-time favorite.

This one (below) is simple but very elegant looking.

You can send this one to a beautiful friend just to say, "Hi!"

This last picture is a grouping of the rest I made that day. 

I already sent one of these to someone!

I make them blank on the inside so I can stamp an appropriate greeting when I want to send a card. 

What have you made lately?

Happy Paper Crafting!

~Tricia

Sibling Crossword Display

This week as I was browsing through Pinterest, I came across a few word displays made with Scrabble pieces and I thought they were very cute. I saw one naming siblings that particularly caught my eye, so I thought I'd do my own version.

I don't know why I never thought of this before, but perhaps raising 8 kids is enough to do. Now that they are grown - my youngest is 20 - I have more time to make things like this.

And, after all, they are still my kids, even though they are grown and some are married with kids of their own. Nothing will ever change the fact that they are siblings and I wanted to celebrate that.

I started with a piece of leftover tile from our daughter's recently remodeled bathroom:

Even though we did most of her bathroom last fall, my Canadian just this week had the opportunity to finish the floor. I think it looks great and a few pieces of tile were left over. I actually retrieved my piece from the garbage!

I used letter tiles from a game I have two of, Syzygy. We rarely play the game and prefer Scrabble, so I didn't mind using letters from one of the games. 

I did have to borrow some Ms from the second game.

I worked the letters on plain paper for a while until I got the best layout:

Once I had the best layout, I used washi-tape to tape the letters together on the back, making it easier to move around as "one" piece. 

Then I glued the taped-together framework to the tile using a liquid glue.

I added a few paper embellishments using patterned paper, giving it balance and a pop of color.

I also added "Johnson Siblings" in the biggest empty corner to define who the names represent.

I put the number 8 in the other corner for obvious reasons!

I love how it turned out and know it will be a keepsake for years to come!

My kids are everything to me.

Happy crafting!

~Tricia

Let's Make PIZZA! My Homemade Pizza Recipe DIY Pizza