random reflections

Happy 5th Birthday, Caleb and Hannah Lise!

Today is Caleb's 5th birthday, and this morning his little sister was born! What are the chances of having a shared birthday?  Typically we'd be in Chicago to celebrate, but we'll be there tomorrow! Sarah ended up having a C-section since they couldn't get the baby turned around. Hannah was 7#, and everyone is doing well. I'm anxious to get there!

Because Caleb was so disappointed not to see the polar bears when we went to see the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights, I decided on a skating bear for his birthday card.

The polar bear and die are from My Favorite Things, "Polar Bear Pals." About the same time, I ordered the Tim Holtz stencil for the trees which worked out perfectly with the water colored bear and "pond." I used some Stickles Glitter Glue to create the snowy hills. You can't really see it, but the polar bear is attached to an Action Wobbles so that when you touch him, he bounces up and down a bit.

The inside greeting reads, " Have a BEARY good birthday," a pretty appropriate pun for a five year old. I hope he likes the skating bear. There will be a birthday celebration tomorrow night with Grandma and Grandpa, and a third celebration later on as Sarah and Adam have scheduled his "friends" party for mid-January when all four of his grandparents will be in town.

Belated Christmas Crafting Post

Due to circumstances beyond my control (a nasty cold and a lot less energy than usual) I'm posting a few Christmas crafts after the fact. First off three gift tags. Last year I purchased the Reverse Confetti Gift Card die set, and it makes one quick gift card holder. I made these for a dinner party we had mid-December. I gave calendars to all the ladies, and gift cards to the guys and one teenager.

The die cut snowflake is from Simon Says, and the wreath from Memory Box. I added some silver twine and some tiny tags with the recipients's names to the tags after I photographed them.

Each year I create a calendar from photos I've taken during the year. They seem to be appreciated, and if we're traveling with folks, they'll insist that some of the photos I take in that location end up in next year's calendar. This year the first photo was from Sarasota, FL at the Ringling Museum, and there were three photos from Nantucket (requested by Betsy's sister.) They get packaged in little bags I found at Michael's several years ago, and were decorated with a bit of Washi tape, and a sticker from Paper Source.

I also have a few cards to share---two get well cards for ladies from church who fell just before the holiday, one broke her hip and the other her pelvis! No way to start the holidays.

Both cards were speedy to make as the patterned paper from the Pink Fresh "Oh Joy" paper pack was the perfect background. I stamped the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's "Painted Petals" and added some pearls to the first card, and some rhinestone stars to the second. 

And finally, one last Christmas card.

The card base and Joy die were cut from silver metallic cardstock. The die is one of Papertrey's Wonderful Words sets, and the holly is also a die cut from Papertrey Ink. The lovely plaid has a metallic stripe that doesn't show up in the photograph and comes from MME "Comfort and Joy" paper pack.

We packed up Christmas tonight. I'd rather leave it all up for a few more days, but since we don't know how much longer we'll be here, we decide it was time. Now I've wrapped up the Christmas craft posts as well, although I certainly hope you'll see some Christmas Journal pages eventually. I think it will be the end of January, however, before that project is wrapped up. I've been babying the my cold this week so lots of reading has been done, but not much crafting.

SNAP: Christmas Decorations

I couldn't decide on photos for this final SNAP of the year, but ended up choosing one of our tree and three ornaments. The bottom two are the first two photos for Eileen's Winter Scavenger Hunt:  alternate: angel. I do have a few others to post, but need to get a bit more serious about scouting out the photos for the hunt.

If you celebrate, I hope your Christmas was wonderful. Ours was delightful despite a rash of colds and upper respiratory infections. I managed to escape the worst of it until the day after Christmas. I had high hopes of getting a lot done around here, but have spent the last two days reading, napping, and trying to shorten this cold before we need to leave for Chicago. I'm not relishing the idea of wearing a mask the whole time we're there to help out with the new baby!

Many, many thanks to Helena for hosting this wonderful meme all year. I've loved it, and am anxious to print them out in one form or another as I think they'll be a nice record of what I observed over the course of the year.

Christmas Cards

I have several posts I need to write to share some Christmas crafting. The crafting is done, but the writing of posts seems to fall at the bottom of the to-do list. But I'm now "officially done," two days earlier than usual, I might add. The cookies are baked, and the cookie plate is ready to be delivered this morning. The presents are wrapped, and most are under the tree. We'll celebrate Christmas tonight with Matt, Betsy, and the girls. They'll join us for the first hour or so of our Walker family Christmas gathering on Sunday, but dinner and the festivities are too late for the three little girls. Tomorrow is a super-quiet day. Tracy was given a very generous gift card to a lovely restaurant in a hotel at the 50th Retirement Party in September, so we're going to use that to treat ourselves to dinner, and then if we can stay awake (we always manage), we'll attend the 11:00 Christmas carols and readings service at our church. I'm looking forward to getting some scrapbooking done during the day.

Here are the three variations of Christmas cards that I sent to most folks. There were a few others that I made for a variety of reasons, some got photographed, others did not. I'll share some of those in the next post. I saw this stamp set by Hero Arts on Jennifer McGuire's blog early in the fall, and ordered it right away. I don't usually choose a design that requires coloring and die-cutting, but since I got an early start it worked out fine.

The cards from Jo-Ann Fabrics were already embossed and very inexpensive with coupons, so that saved me a step. The stamp is called "Happy Holly Days," and included three different images so I could die cut and stamp three at a time. The red die cut is from Papertrey's "Photo Finishers," and the sentiment from their "Love Lives Here: Holiday" set.

All the images were colored with Copic markers and then coated with Spectrum Noir's clear glitter pen.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more Christmas craftiness. Off to visit some friends, and one last trip to the grocery store for eggs and lettuce. (Thought I was done, but not so much.)

SNAP: December Views From My Windows

A few weeks ago I posted a SNAP collection of photos taken from my windows. Here's this week's version with a decidedly different view.

The top two photos were taken out windows in the front of our house---basically looking north. The bottom two are looking out the back. I love that the reflection from our Christmas tree in the living room shows up in the photo on the bottom left. A few years ago, Tracy started putting a little lighted tree on our patio table. We can see it from our kitchen and dining room and I've always enjoyed it. Everything, as you can see, is covered with snow. The trees outside my studio are no longer covered with snow, but it will be awhile before the snow in the front yard disappears. Nonetheless, the weather forecast is for warmer temperatures and rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Since we have travel plans in the near future, I'll be glad for better weather but sorry to see rain, instead of snow, on Christmas. Guess it's a good trade-off. 

Sarah is expecting a baby any day now. Her original due date was January 11, but after last week's exam, the doctor unofficially moved her due date to Christmas Day. She's ready now, but I'm hoping that the baby does not come on Christmas Day. Everyone, as one of my friends noted, needs their own birthday. Typically, we'd leave here the day after Christmas to celebrate Christmas with Sarah and her family in Chicago, but this year we're waiting for the baby, and planning to spend some extra time helping out. It won't be before Christmas, as Christmas for Tracy's family, is always held here. There will be 17 of us this year, although Mason and Molly won't arrive from Oregon until after dinner. Aside from two more batches of cookies, and some wrapping, I'm as ready as I can be. If you celebrate Christmas, I hope your preparations are going well.

A Big Project and a Smaller One

A Big Project

As 2016 draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about my One Little Word for 2017 and what I might want to accomplish. I’ve also started looking back at the intentions I set for 2016 as well.

The biggest project I set for myself this year was to read the Bible cover to cover. Several years ago, my brother-in-law casually mentioned that he had read the Bible cover to cover twice. It made me realize that what I knew of the Bible pretty much came from Sunday School as a child, and the weekly Lectionary readings at church. The following June, I purchase the NRVS Daily Bible and put it on a shelf. It sat there for a year and a half.

This year I read it. Little did I know that it would prompt much additional reading and study as the text raised many questions. I ended up reading, by my count, five additional books and parts of many others as well as taking “Introduction to the Old Testament” at the University of Rochester, and reading the textbook for that class. It was worth the time. I have a new appreciation for The Bible and it’s place in history and influence on so much of classical literature. And it’s propelled me along on my personal faith journey. Today I finished, and I’m wondering which book to pick up next for my morning reading time. I have a long list from which to choose!

Since it’s related in theme, I thought I’d also share a Christmas gift I made for a friend. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read my blog, but in case, I waited to share it until she received it yesterday.

It's very similar in concept to the Valentine gift I gave her and my granddaughter last year. The little church is from Papertrey Ink's Petite Places line, and the path, trees, and lightpost are from the same line, "Walk in the Park." The glittery snow is from Art Glitter, "Faux Snow." The jar came from Michael's. Yesterday was a perfect day to give the gift although the snow here is anything but "faux." We've been hit with three bands of lake effect snow in the last few days, and although it's beautiful, it's been bitterly cold, and the roads have been treacherous at times. I never left the house on Thursday. By yesterday the roads were pretty clear, but this morning they are snow-covered again.

Here's a better look at the scene inside the globe. My friend was happy to have a more seasonal version of the candy jar, and expects to put some greenery and a battery-operated votive candle in it when the candy is gone. Think I'll try that, too, if I get one made for myself.

SNAP 50: Gingerbread Houses

Last week we made our second annual trip to the Eastman Museum for the arrival of Santa Claus and to look at the gingerbread house display. The gingerbread houses are made by various groups, and there is a silent auction to raise funds for restoration projects at the museum. The George Eastman House was all decked out as usual. Skylar was old enough this year to really enjoy a rather lengthy scavenger hunt where you hunt for items in many of the gingerbread house displays. It took several of us to help her finish it! Not as easy as one might think.

These are four of my favorites, although there were many, many more that were worthy of a photograph. Off to link up with Helena and other SNAP enthusiasts. But before I go, a photo of Grandpa and Skylar watching Santa come down the main staircase in the Eastman House.

Card Challenges

I have a couple cards for current challenges to share. My last Christmas cards went in the mail today. Most of them were a variation on a theme, and I'll share those later, but I needed a few more, and decided to look through some die cuts I had created earlier and see if I could use some of them for the new cards. The first card is for a new-to-me challenge, The Heart Desires. Their inspiration board includes so many wonderful images, it's hard to know where to start. 

For this card, I chose the upper right-hand image for the non-traditional colors.

I had already stamped and colored the wreath from Papertrey Ink's "Rustic Branches." I'm not sure where the sentiment came from. To create the card I pulled out some of Papertrey's Shimmer cardstock in pink and ivory. The card came together very quickly. Here's a closer look at the sparkly gems.

The second card is for the Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says. They have another wonderful inspiration photo titled "Ice Inspiration." 

In my stash was a stamped and die cut snowflake. I chose the blue from the inspiration photo for my shimmer cardstock and mounted the snowflake on a Simon Says Stitched Circle cut from Silver Shimmer cardstock. A blue gem finished it off.

 

Today is the first day in a long, long time that I haven't left the house (except to walk to the mailbox.) It's been a pleasure to have time to read and create!

SNAP: A Visit to Kittelberger's

Last year, my friend, Maureen, introduced me to Kittelberger's. I knew the name as a wonderful florist, but had no idea that it was also a large and beautiful gift shop. They opened a small restaurant just around the corner a year or so ago, and yesterday we made our second annual Christmas visit to Kittelberger's. We had a lovely lunch, and then walked around the corner to the store. I purchased two small gifts, an ornament, and a scarf for myself. Last year, I started to take some photos but got so interested in the merchandise, I came home with only one or two photos of the floral department. Yesterday I did a bit better.

One of the nice things about Kittelberger's is the way they design their displays. Many are color coordinated, and some are theme oriented. The photo on the bottom left shows a display devoted to things with cardinals and a few other birds. I was surprised to see the starburst from the light in the photo on the upper right when I uploaded it. Sometimes I try to get this effect (with rare success); yesterday it was effortless.

Thanks, as always, to Helena. I will miss these weekly memes next year. I'm going to have to come up with some reason to get that camera focused for a reason every week.

Five in Five on the 5th

I planned this post in my mind early this morning before it was light, and I got so busy during the day I almost forgot to take the photos before it got dark this afternoon. (Yes, afternoon. There is so much less daylight in December, and I keep forgetting.) Earlier today I posted a photo of the shopping cart filled with flowers at The Garden Factory on Saturday. I thought it would be fun to see where they ended up in our yard, and in our house. Actually there are six photos, but I'll stick to the rules and just post five of them. 

While I was waiting in line with Matt at The Garden Factory I spied these amazing urns filled with greens---far too large for our yard. Matt quickly noticed that there were smaller ones on a stand just to the left. After I left them, I discovered that they were very reasonable, and one quickly hopped into my cart. When Matt redid our landscaping this fall, he left this wonderful stone which looks great alone, but also holds a good sized pot.

We've had a couple of old sleds hanging in our garage for years, but it's only been the last year or two that I've added some greens to one of them and put them on the (very small) front porch. I added the ribbon at home, and didn't even notice when I was (quickly) taking the photo how much the wind was blowing.

Every year we have a bright red poinsettia in our living room. 

And often a multi-colored one in the dining room.

It wouldn't be Christmas without a cyclamen. Actually I bought two, a bright red one that's in the dining room, and this gorgeous pink and white one for my desk upstairs. When my father was alive, he always sent me a cyclamen at Christmas time.

Linking up with Sandi at Itchifingers for her Five in Five (5 photos in 5 minutes) with thanks for hosting this monthly meme.