Christmas Art

This month I have been working on some 

mix media Christmas art!  

I love Christy Tomlinson's artwork.  

She is messy and creative!  

 It's all about making a textured background with Mod Podge, paper, paint, rubons and stamps.  Then we created different subjects, like trees, animals, snowmen and my favorite baby Jesus. Then you highlights, paint and doodle to add detail to the piece.

My snowman is made with washi tape.   I made boxes so it looked like he was made with presents.  

I just used cardboard for the "canvas".  You can use cereal boxes, wood scraps or whatever you have laying around.  

I still have a few more projects to work on.  I just wanted to share these with all of you!  Thanks for stopping by!

COOKIE DAY!

 Every year in December we have a family day. The kids have called it Cookie Day since we started it about 6 years ago.  It is usually the Saturday after I finish my Christmas cookie baking. 

Do you notice the scrapbook pages on the cabinets?  A few years back I started taping up all our past Christmas pages.   Everyone enjoys looking back at all the fun times.  I like seeing how the kids have grown and all the cute things they have done.

We played board games and then had a roaring game of Christmas Pictionary.  I made a box full of Carols and Christmas themed words to draw.  We divided the gals and the men and then went at it.  Some of the words were to easy, so I made them blindfold words.  It made it a bit more challenging that way. The men won by three Hershey kisses! 

 Then it was time for the group photo! Sometimes it is hard to get these guys to organize! 

That's not the right way guys!!!!!

  OK, that is much better.  I must tell you what made this much easier this year.  It is my new remote control for my Nikon camera.  All you have to do is set your camera to remote and you can push that button anywhere in the room.  It will focus and snap!  So cool!

 This has become an awesome family tradition.  We have added two new faces to our crew this year.  We welcomed Matthew's wife Sarah and Christopher's girlfriend Kara to the bunch.  It was a fabulous day of food and fun!  

What traditions do you have with your family?  

I would love to hear about them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed day!

Lighted Boat Parade

Earlier this month we went to Alexandria, Virginia for their annual boat boat parade.  I had never been to a boat parade before.

Boats from around the local harbors on the Potomac River, dress up their boats with lights and decorations. 

I really like the reflections the lights made on the water.  

Pretty BLUE!

This sailboat was a fun one.  I liked the lights and its seventies theme.  

This little snowman was being pulled by a sailboat, CUTE!

These guys were a bit nuts.  They had a Hawaiian theme and the people were dressed in hula skirts and bathing suits.  Brrrrrrrrrr

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Free E-Reader Books

Today I was checking out my freebie sites and came across free ebooks for the Kindle.  I was thinking boy I wish I had a Kindle so I could get all these free books.  But at the end of the post she tells us that we can download the Kindle for PC for FREE.  She also has a website 

that shares all the links to free ebooks.  So now I have the "Kindle" on my laptop and a bunch of books to read!  

Go check it out!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Zoo Lights

Recently we took a little trip into DC. 

 I have wanted to go see the 

Zoo Lights at the National Zoo.

 We had a nice evening walking around the zoo.  We went a bit early in hopes to see some animals but most of them were inside.  

 This tree was real pretty.  It was covered in tiny blue lights and stood out among the trees.

 If you are every in the DC area during the holidays.  Make sure to check out this FREE event.

Christmas Cards

This year I made my Christmas cards.  I found a couple ideas on Pinterest.  Again, I only used papers I already had around the craft room.  I have to use all this stuff up, so I can have an excuse to buy more. ;)

 I really liked making this card.  I got to use my Cuttlebug, Cricut and MS scoring board.  It has so much texture.  

I found this word art on Pinterest.  I cut it into a tree and layered it onto an embossed piece of cardstock. I then added a star, bling and a bit of ribbon to finish it off.  

 OK, these were my favorite to make.  I am taking a mix media/painting class and these were 

one of the techniques.  I made watercolor cards.  

Each one is a little bit different.  So cute!

While at the November crop, I saw a lady making these nativity cards.  So I borrowed her Cricut cartridge and cut some out to make at home.  I like this one because it represents the true meaning of Christmas.

Luke 2: 2-20

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviorhas been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Craft Day

 Today we gathered for a craft day.  Sarah came from WV and Sarah K's friend, Nikki joined us for a craft marathon.  I have been collecting ornament ideas on Pinterest all year.  So I thought it would be fun to gather up the supplies and make them ALL.

Tiny tree hot glued inside + snow

For all of the ornaments we used the clear glass ones you would find at Michaels.  We just did different effects to each one. 

 This one to the right has acrylic paint dripped inside! The red and green glittery ones are so simple.  All you have to do is coat the inside with Pledge (blue top) floor cleaner and then pore in the glitter.  

 For the bead one we wrapped wire around a stick and added colorful beads.  Then we stuffed them inside the ball.

I think these are just the cutest!  Here is the link that explains how to make them.  CUPCAKES

Next we headed upstairs to make 

some pillows covers.  

They are real simple appliqued trees.   Just cut out your trees onto fusible inner facing and iron them onto fabric.  The girls wanted to add buttons too.  Not a problem, I think we have plenty of them in the craft room.

 I made two for my foyer bench pillows.  I think I may keep them around for the winter season.

JOY

I have been busy creating a bunch of Christmas crafts.  I have had these letters for a few years and I want a wreath for the O.  I saw this wreath HERE It was super easy to making using my Martha Stewart score board.  

Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great JOY for all the people.

SMASHBOOK!

I have been working in my "Things I Love"  Smashbook.  I made this page for all the stamps I have collected from the postcard swaps I have joined.

I 

 I have stamps from Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and around the United States.  This will be an ongoing page, as I add stamps to it. 

 I had shown you this page before, but I added another picture to the page.  I like that I can come back and add things to the page.  I have discovered the ENO hammock and I LOVE them so I had to include it on my hammock page.

This page isn't done yet but I 

wanted to share the start of it.  

Another favorite thing of mine, is SNOW.   

 I have added some doodles to this page inside the little frames.  I enjoy doodling, so I thought it would be nice to have it in this book.

Autumn is another LOVE of mine. 

I love the colors, 

waking through the crisp leaves, 

and the cooler temps.

                                    

I have added a Smashbook tab at the top of my blog. 

I will be keeping the pages in there, 

so you can see them anytime.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!