Hello Friday

     Hi everyone. Happy Friday. It's been a mix of very cold days and just plain cold days at my house. And it seems most days we've been having wind. Of course they say next week we're in for some bitter cold days. What a month January has been so far. No January thaw yet. 😐

    It's time for Nicole's Friday Face Off and also for Gillena's Friday Lunch Break. I've still been cleaning out my art space so I haven't had much art time, but with all the cold, it's been a good time to do it. I am happy to be just about  done with a successful clean, reorganize and purge.👍 Of course, I should move onto my clothes closet which still has some work clothes in it (and I retired 4+ years ago) and even my books could use a good going through. 

   For faces today I once again have some pages from a holiday journal I made and finished right before New Years. Sorry to be sharing Christmas in mid-January, but hopefully by next week I'll have something new to share. And I really like this Christmas journal that  I made. 

    There's lots of faces today, as well as some dots so I'll also be joining Mia's Dots challenge at Art Journal Journey.

    To make these pages I used various papers, rubber stamps, water color paints, inks, markers, die cuts, TH people, stickers, ribbon, lace, washi tape, some Studio Light punch outs as well as some 49 and Market punch outs. 

     That's all for me today. Wishing everyone a great weekend ahead. 

Friday Again

    Hi everyone.  Happy Friday. I hope everyone has had a good week.The weather and their related events has been crazy in so many places this past week. At my house it's been cold (averages 15 degrees F/-9 degrees C) however it's been very windy so the feel like temperature has been even colder, often below zero degrees F. I've had several things on my calendar this week, but I've also spent a good amount of time hunkered down next to our woodstove. 😏 I bet it is going to be so quiet once the wind stops blowing as it constantly has been and is so loud.

    Since it's Friday I'll be linking up to Gillena's Friday Lunch Break and also to Nicole's Friday Face Off.  I thought I'd share a few pages from a Christmas journal that I made and finished up right before the New Year. For the past week I've actually been cleaning my art space, and I haven't made any new art, but it will be nice to work in a cleaner space 👍, which I should HOPEFULLY be able to do sometime next week. I do have one page in today's post with "dots" that I'll also be linking up to Mia's dot challenge at Art Journal Journey.

These skater ladies and snowmen make a great winter page, and you can see all the dots for berries I added to the wreath.  Plus there's 5 faces.

 And in this next page there are lots of faces too. I just noticed there are red "dot" berries near the mask also.

And finally a couple of dove faces. 

That's all for me this post. I've got a couple of appointments this morning so  I'll probably visit  most of you this evening. Have a great start to your weekend.

T Stands for Happy Holidays

Happy holidays my friends.  Are you ready for Christmas if you celebrate?

I've been busy the last couple of days. But it was fun busy. I finished some New Years cards which I will get out in the mail Thursday. All the gifts are wrapped. Errands have been completed (amists the crowds) so if it isn't ready now, it isn't something that needs to be done.
There were also cookies to bake.

 (And a note to Jeanie if you read this post. This is batch 2 of your Drum Kickers recipe, since I think they are my husband's new favorites.)

Here's my T Day reference. I was enjoying this Diet Coke while I made a mess in my kitchen this past Sunday. And I had lots of fun making yummy treats.
It's no fun if you don't make a mess, right?

And I finished my gingerbread house that I showed you last post.
This is the kit.

And here's how I finished it.

 Most of the decorations came with the kit, but I used some pasta to decorate the roof as well as a few pieces of candy I had. I've made gingerbread houses in the past, but since it has been a few years, I  forgot how much time they take to make, especially when you are fussy about it like I am.

. And although I would have liked to do some more piping, it was a lot of fun to make. And other than the hard pasta you could eat it, but I am not planning on it being eaten.

And today (Monday the 23rd) was so gorgeous I decided the dogs and I needed a beach walk and a little outside time. I had had to drive down to coast for a doctor's appointment anyhow, so why waste the opportunity for the chance to enjoy spring like temperatures? (Especially since they are only supposed to be around for 1 day.)

The beach wasn't totally empty but I think most people were at the stores running errands or finishing their shopping.
These 2 get so excited on the beach that they can be hard to control (oh there are seagulls they could chase and swimming would be fun too), but they were good. I think they were ready to enjoy the day with a walk also.
And after the beach I took a little drive over to Nubble Light.

And right next door was this  Christmas tree made of old fashion lobster traps.

It was decorated with lobster buoys and these shiny fish.

It's really clever. 

And finally  a holiday page that I think is just right for this T Day.

Going to wrap this up so I can go watch Die Hard. ( Thanks Elizabeth for the reminder about this film in your recent movie post.) 

And be sure to stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to see what the ladies of the T Gang are up to.

Wishing you all a Happy Hanukkah and/or a Merry Christmas. Or Kwanza if that is your holiday.
May your day be filled with joy and peace.

The Inner Cover

I woke up this morning to fresh snow.  We got around 3-4 inches. 

 And after the hubby came in from doing the clean up we had about 20 visitors.

It was funny because the hubby was packing up the trash to take it to the local dump/recycling center and I had just said that the Thanksgiving turkey carcass better go. (The pot  for soup  making has been sitting on the kitchen counter filled with my good intentions, but when I get home after a day of work the ambition has never been there for cooking down the bones. ) 

Anyhow, right after I mentioned the taking the turkey carcass to the dump I notice through the window these gobblers. No doubt looking for some easy pickings for food.  It's got to be hard for them in the winter as they are basically ground feeders but as their numbers seem to keep going up they must survive ok. 

Saturday was a dark day with snow from about noon on.

My Saturday evening party plans got changed because it was too far of a drive in the snow, all the way to Exeter, over an hour away from home. But a snowy afternoon meant a good time to bake some holiday cookies, take a little snooze and watch some episodes of the new season of the Crown. 

And I have another Let's Celebrate page for Sheila's challenge at Art Journal Journey.

It's the inside cover page from holiday journal.

I used some printed tissue paper over a bit of this printed holiday paper. Then I added some assorted items from my stash including a definition from a dictionary, a felt Santa and a silly little reindeer button with the back snipped off.

It is December and it is definitely a month to celebrate for many.

Happy new week , and I appreciate you stopping by to visit.

Holiday Journaling

I don't want it to be Sunday night, but it is. It was a good weekend, but as usual, I never have time to do everything I'd like to. However, lest you think I am just complaining, it was a relaxing couple of days, and other than shoveling the 8 inches of snow that came down Saturday, I got a few fun and holiday things done. 

And I found art time too! :)

Here's a couple of recent pages I made in my holiday journal.

 Just some play with some stamped and old photo images, brightened up with some various forms of sparkles, along with some paint play.

And definitely a little snow theme too. I guess its on my brain because

between the snow and some bitter cold weather, winter has arrived.

The dogs seem to like it though.

 Not sure I have quite the same enthusiasm they do.

Stay warm my friends.

And hope you enjoy the start of the new week.

December Has Arrived

Ho-Ho-Ho.  December has arrived-which is shocking me because it was just July and we were enjoying the warm sunny summer weather.

Now its time to think about  holidays and pretty soon we'll be thinking about a new year.

Holy cow!

So today I have a little bit more from my Christmas journal. A vintage Santa I printed and cut out along with these fun little reindeer buttons that I snipped the backs off so they could be glued on the page.

And I have this  Christmas Santa collection.  It started when my mother-in-law would give me one each year for Christmas, and then my husband and daughter started giving me one. I've got quite the collection at this point.

And how about this crafty wreath my daughter made this fall. Its made with clothes pins to clip your Christmas cards to.  I like it. :)

Happy new month!

Tis the Season Has Arrived

OK, November is just about out of here. Wow, where did it go?

I've been doing a bit of decorating on these dark nights because that holiday spirit has hit me. Taking it slow and having fun with it.

I've also been working in the Christmas journal I made.

 A stamp collage. I don't remember where I got all of these vintage stamps and stickers but I was glad to find them when I was going through my holiday stash.

 This sock monkey was a postcard that came in box with a couple of holiday gifts I bought online. I colored him, cut him out and added him to my page. On the card was the  sock monkey fact and I thought would be fun to add to my page. I remember when I  was pregnant with my daughter all those years ago one of my coworkers made me a red heeled sock monkey for the baby.

And a little collaged page on the right with some other items like a map tag, a Santa sticker, the polar bears off a diet coke bottle, some snow paper, a stamped Santa sleigh and some mitten die cuts. 

I've been digging through my little box of scraps (those pieces too good to throw away) to find all these bits. :)

With hubby recuperating so nicely, I am hoping I have a little more time in December than I did in November.  But then again I know how December can get. :) A lot of fun and a little bit crazy.

Thanks for stopping by to visit.

Holiday Journal Book Making

 Hi everyone. I must say I've been in a low key mood today. Back to work after several days, and many of us (including many of my students) were moaning and groaning about the embarrassing election results here in the US. But the hubby came home today from the hospital! Yahoo! I am taking tomorrow off so someone is home with him, so that gives me a 4 day weekend. I am very excited to have some home time- and maybe I will even get into the studio.

Or at least I can hope!

So a few weeks ago I showed you a new arty book I picked up.

In this book I learned a new book making process which I wanted to try. So I made myself a holiday journal. (I did this all before the hubby's heart surgery.)

I'll warn you, this my first attempt at the technique, and I'm rather messy to start, so bear with me. The beauty of making something is that it has little flaws. They just give the finished project some personalized character. :)

I cut the covers off an old library book I picked up on the "please take for free" table.  I covered the covers with some holiday fabric. Then I used some book binding tape to make the spine.

To make the book signatures, I folded some water color paper in half  and made the little signatures using 2 pieces of this folded paper. Then I took each of these and ran the fold through my sewing machine. to connect them.

Then I stacked the signatures  and using a needle and thread, I hand stitched up and down through the outside of my machine stitching to connect all my signatures.

It was a bit of a challenge finding the best thread to do this with. I started with waxed binding thread, which was too thick, and then I moved to regular sewing thread, which was too thin and kept breaking. So finally I used some machine embroidery thread which worked great! After they were stitched, a cut a piece of gauze, and using white book binding glue, I glued it on the edge. You can see that above.

After it dried I used some red line tape, as you can also see above, to attached the outside of  each side of the pages to the cover.

 Like a professionally bound book, it leaves space between the spine and pages.

 I started working with a little cover decoration. There's more to it, but I've yet to take a photo of that, so you'll have to wait for another day to see the finished result.

 I wish I had taken more photos are I made the journal instead of waiting to the end, but next time. I really like making my book this way, so I will do this process again.

Not much else new here.

Thanks for visiting.

Santa Photo

Ho-Ho-Ho!  Here's a recent holiday collage that I am linking to Art Journal Journey. Thanks to Valerie for hosting this month!
I have to laugh because the little boy (on a TH found relative card) looks a little shell shocked with Santa. Makes me wonder if his Mom was coaxing him to make the visit. We have no photos of my daughter with Santa because she was always afraid of him, as are so many kids. It is kind of a scary thing to go sit on a strangers lap...I suppose for some it is rather a strange tradition that has come about because department stores want another way to bring in shoppers...
I also apologize for the dark bottom right corner. The color also a bit more orange than the red it actually is.  I leave for work in the dark and come home in the dark so taking photos under work lights is always rather a sketchy thing.
This collage is made on a stenciled and painted over page. I left the edges white on purpose to show a bit of the colors of the leaf stencil (but I did doodle in a red border). I then added the photo, some old bank slips from a check book, tape, snowflake stamps, wooden snowflakes painted white, and my bottle cap creations made from bottle caps, red bead and then one of those white wooden snowflakes.  Not sure I actually like them, but I don't dislike them either.
So not much new here with me. We have some clouds, and the weather continues to be warm. They are saying another weekend with temperatures in the 50's. (At least to start) YAHOO! Though it doesn't feel very Christmas like I will take it. Hoping I can  get some art time this evening after work; I've been feeling a little short of time lately-everywhere-too much to do, and the daylight being so short, I slow down earlier than in the summer. Hopefully a little play time tonight will help balance that out.
Hope yours is going well!
And as always, I appreciate you stopping by,