This is what we awoke to this morning. Alas, by noon, it was raining and a generally dark and dreary day. More snow and high winds are predicted for tonight through early Friday, so it looks like winter is on its way.
Sinterklaas also arrived on our street on Saturday night. I took a photograph of his gifts to us for my Christmas Journal.
Since I'm not necessarily following along with the prompts (this being journal #4), I'm not numbering the pages either. Maybe I will when I'm done, so I don't quite know how to title my post. More Journal Your Christmas seems to cover it. Today I got two pages done, one totally digital. The second one has my "real list" in a pocket (neatly copied over) with the things I've done crossed out. I dated it so I'd know where I was at this point in the year if I was ever curious. The first layout shows the new decorations this year. I fell in love with these candles from Target and bought them as soon as I saw them. Good thing, I haven't seen them there in a while. Last Sunday, the red pillow went on sale and I scurried out to pick it up. The new wreath came from a local garden shop, and I just love it. I added the red berries. You can't see it in any of these photos, but our tree skirt is also red with white appliqued snowflakes.
This is one of the templates Shimelle sent us. There's a white border around all of it. I added a pale grey border so I'd know where to cut, but it doesn't seem to show up here.
Patterned paper (Basic Grey & KI Memories), puffy letter stickers (Cloud Nine Design), felt tree (Hero Arts), buttons (Paper Trey Ink), library pocket (Bazzil), star pulled off another sticker of unknown origin.)
It's been a busy couple of days. Lots of baking for church–a youth bake sale yesterday, and I'm the "cookie lady" for tomorrow night's Session meeting. I baked a good part of Saturday and again this morning. There are photos, but they'll probably end up in my Christmas Journal and get posted then. I did get a couple of projects done today including another 2-pager for the Christmas Journal.
Patterned paper (Memory Box), Velvet letter stickers (American Craft), tag and ribbon from stash, envelope from a Studio Calico kit, felt snowflakes (Hero Arts), pearls (Amuse and Hero Arts)
The packages are "gone," and Sarah and Adam will be "gone" for Christmas, so it seemed like an appropriate title. The envelope has the receipts for the packages. I thought I might be interested some day what it cost in 2009 to mail their gifts.
I have one more Christmas card to share. I needed a card for a stamping friend who had seen almost all of the cards I've made. This is almost an exact lift of a card by Steph on A Passion for Papertrey. I hadn't used these holiday papers yet which is kind of a surprise since I love Scarlet Jewel and Ripe Avocado together.
All Papertrey Ink except the gold cord (unknown) and the Cuttlebug embossing folder.
Yesterday Tracy and I headed out on a little road trip. The purpose was to go to Rooster Hill (a winery on Keuka Lake) to see if I could find a couple Christmas figures for my hanging kitchen shelves. I found some really cute ones there in August for the fall. I didn't find what I was looking for but came home with a really cute figurine of sheep and stars–two favorites. I'll post them with the Christmas decorations, although I think I can leave them out all year. We stopped at the Loomis Barn, a genealogy museum in Penn Yan, and finally in Phelps at the Flint Creek Brewery for dinner which turned out to be a great find.
Template by Jessica Sprague, Spiceberry paper by Memory Box, felt tree by Hero Arts, and pearls from my stash.
Today's prompt dealt with Christmas cards. We send a lot of them, both locally and out of town. I used to think it was excessive, but most people (so they say) appreciate the homemade cards and those out of town enjoy finding out what we've been up to during the last year. In turn, I look forward to getting cards and letters in the mail during the holiday season. Today's layout couldn't be much simpler. One advantage of the 6X6 album is there's not a lot of room for embellishment!
I substituted for my friend in her special needs classroom today, so didn't get to this prompt until after dinner. I did have a chance to read the prompt before I left, and as I drove to school I decided what story I wanted to tell. I combined the prompt about weather with our search for a Christmas tree. This year weather played a big part in our annual tradition of cutting down our tree.
This is a two-pager since I had a lot to say and wanted to use four different photos. It's perfectly straight IRL, but doesn't quite photograph that way.
We awoke to our first snow this morning; December 1st seems like an appropriate day for it. I am not a skier or a fan of cold weather, but this seems just right now that the house is decorated for Christmas. Our spirea are about the only bushes with leaves left on them, and they look very pretty with the snow.
Today is the first day of Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class. I made this page after reading her email, and have yet to read the prompt and ideas for Day 1. As I suspected, the 6X6 album size is going to be a challenge. Fitting journaling and a photo on the page is tricky, and I think there'll be more 2-page spread this year than usual, especially if I have multiple photos.
Once again, I seem to be ahead of the game. Many years ago, I was often done with Christmas shopping and wrapping by December 1st. Considering I worked full-time and had two busy kids at home, it was kind of amazing. But it enabled me to slow down in December and enjoy the holidays. Then over time, things slipped back to "normal." But this year I made a list and have been checking things off at a pretty good clip. It helps to be retired!
All in all, I'm ready for December. We live in an old house (circa 1930), and it's just perfect at Christmas. The last few nights, I've taken my laptop downstairs and worked in the living room so I can enjoy the tree and the rest of the decorations. After a wonderful November of sunny skies and pretty warm temperatures, it's been too dark and dreary the last couple of days to get good photos, but they're coming.
Last year, one of our porch trees was stolen. We had to buy two replacements so they would match and put the one left on our patio table. This weekend I found a bigger tree, decorated with berries, pinecones, and white lights for 50% off at Michaels. I can see it from our kitchen as well as the dining room, and I just love it. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen in December so I'll probably get more enjoyment from it than anyone else!
For the first time ever, Sarah and Adam won't be here for Christmas. I am grateful that it took 29 years before it happened, but I know I am really going to miss them at Christmas. Tonight I got all the gifts wrapped, and one box packed and ready to mail tomorrow. These are the gift card holders I made this afternoon to put in their stockings (one for Matt, too). The cardstock is Scarlet Jewel (Papertrey), the ribbon from Paper Source and all the rest is Making Memories Mistletoe collection. The gift card holder was one Kristina Werner posted on 2Peas last year. I've made lots and lots of them since I first downloaded the pattern. It's quick and easy.
For over twenty years we've gone out the weekend after Thanksgiving to cut down our Christmas tree. We always scope out the weather report and try to go on the better of the three days. This year it looked like Friday was the best day. Early in the morning the sun was shining, and it looked very promising. By the time we left, it was cloudy but no rain was expected for another two hours or so according to Weather.com. No such luck. By the time we arrived at Wilbert's, it was raining, cold, and windy.
Wilbert's was a new tree farm for us, and we were encouraged by the huge size of it. There are six stations where you can pay and quite a nice map of the property. Another nice feature is the cart they provide for carrying the tree in from the field.
The bad news was the trees were short (we need at least a 7 foot tree) and many of them were simply ugly. Lots of them were totally brown on the bottom. We trudged through two huge fields before we finally gave up–cold, wet, and discouraged.
There was no way I wanted to go home without a tree. We weren't too far from an old standby, Schoff's Tree Farm. Two years ago, the selection there was slim, and after 15 years or so, Tracy decided we needed to find a new place. But we decided to try again, and we really lucked out. First of all, the weather cleared.
Secondly, Schoff's had just opened a new field of trees and within minutes, we had found a tree the right size and shape.
While Tracy and Matt were tying the tree on the car . . .
I looked around for some photo ops, and found a couple right in front of the van.
On the way home, we stopped at Grossman's Nursery so I could pick up some poinsettias. I loved the door handles here as well.
I've spent most of the day getting the house decorated. It took a couple of trips to the store to find some candles and a tray for the coffee table display. Tracy is putting the lights on the tree tonight. By tomorrow the house should be ready for Christmas. Now to wrapping gifts and getting Christmas cards out.
We had quite the tree search today, but photos from that and Thanksgiving will have to wait a day or two until I have time to get them ready for the blog. On the way home from cutting down the tree, we stopped at Grossman's so I could get some poinsettias. They had beautiful ones, and I also found a new wreath for over the fireplace. Once we were home, I was anxious to start decorating, so photo editing went by the wayside. This card is for the CPS 143 challenge. I needed a card for my BIL's upcoming big birthday so used this sketch.
Cardstock (Rustic White & Enchanted Evening Papertrey Ink), Patterned papers (Basic Grey Granola), stickers (unknown & American Craft), twine (Papertrey Ink), ink (Chamoile Vintage Touch Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities.
We'll soon be off to my sister-in-law's for Thanksgiving dinner. Tracy and I were at the gym early this morning in order to work off a few calories before we hit the table. I'm the pie lady for this event. My BIL was gifted an apple pie for today, so this year I only needed to make two: chocolate pecan and pumpkin.
Have a wonderful holiday!
I've always wanted to participate in the monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, but somehow always put it off to the last minute. This month I got my project done in plenty of time. This month's Blog Hop Challenge was to create a quick & inexpensive wrap or tag that can be the perfect solution for "grab & go" gifts. I've saved all the plastic boxes that my stamps from Papertrey come in thinking they'd make a good package for gifts. Indeed they do! A whole box of Tazo tea fit neatly inside. A simple ribbon and tag complete the gift.
This steaming cup from the 2008 Holiday Tag Collection was the perfect accompaniment. I used Perfect Pearls and some glitter to emphasize the steam. A quick run through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder, a holly punch, and three gems complete the tag. Scarlet Jewel cardstock was used with the scalloped punch.
This year's journal design really started with two 6X6 paper pads I purchased a month or so ago: "Spiceberry" by Memory Box and "Snow and Cedar" by Poppy Stamps. I also have a partial pack of Basic Grey "Waisal". So I decided on a 6X6 album. The only place I could find a 6X6 album locally was Hobby Lobby. I would have preferred a 3-ring album, but they only carried post albums. The red was way too bright as the color scheme for this year is more cranberry and olive than the traditional red and green, so I bought a black album. I had a few ideas about decorating the front, but ended up with something more traditional and formal than usual, and totally unexpected. When I went through my stash of Christmas goodies, I found some felt sticker embellishments that I think are Little Yellow Bicycle. The ribbon I bought this week at AC Moore and the number stickers are Making Memories as is the stick pin. After looking at it for a few hours, I've decided I'm pretty happy with it, even though it is so different than what I envisioned.
Here's a close-up of some of the papers. I also have more of the felt stickers which I'll use as they seem appropriate.
It was so beautiful here today. We have had just amazing weather for November. I met a friend for lunch and a stamping date. When I left her house, I decided to see how much Christmas shopping I could get done since it was such a nice day. Thus, no Christmas Journal preparation as I chaired our Youth Ministry Committee meeting tonight. But I did get quite a few Christmas cards made while I was stamping with my friend. Over half of what I need was done this fall for various challenges. Sometimes if I liked the design a lot, I would make a couple extra. But now is the time for mass production.
Stamp (Papertrey Ink), cardstock (Papertrey New Leaf and Pure Poppy), ribbon (Midori)
And yes, I did get a lot of Christmas shopping done. I need to make one return (I knew that was a possibility), but aside from a couple of internet orders, I think I am done. It's a lot easier buying for adult children.