*New Year’s Giveaway*

2011 is right around the corner so I thought it would be nice to start the new year out with a giveaway…a small way of saying thank you for all of the generosity and kindness here in blogland…

you will be getting a copy of The Gleaner Zine Ish#11 Summer 2004…thirty-four pages with original pull outs and extras still attached…

a set of water based Sharpie Poster Paint markers which are super for art journaling…doodling or whatever your heart desires…

I will also include an assortment of collage goodies (more will be added to the pile above)…

all you need to do is leave a comment here before 5 January…

one name will be randomly chosen…the winner will be announced on Thursday 6 January (Happy Birthday Ian)…

all are welcome to join in…near or far…even if you’ve won something here before…no need to have a blog to play along…just be sure I have a way of contacting you…

thank you all for making 2010 such a great year for me here in the land of blog  oxo

“How you end things is more important than how you begin them.”   ~Alan Cohen

2010 Tea Tuesday Sampler

many thanks to Kimmie and all of the special T Tuesday bloggers…

and to each of you lovely visitors for stopping by and helping make Tuesday’s extra fun each week…

at first I worked on a 16 photo sampler…

just as I was deciding on photo #16…

with 15 photographs carefully chosen and in place…

something went haywire and I had to start all over again…

second time around I opted for a quick arrangement of the above nine pics…

there were lots of photos to choose from as I do believe I may have posted every week this year…

I certainly do enjoy having you all stop by…

my wish for each of you is a peaceful new year full of Love and Hope…

with plenty of time to enjoy the things that bring you joy and fulfillment…

may your cup always be half full…

“There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Season of Joy…

Christmas treats a plenty…

fa la la…

our son took this neat photo of the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree on Christmas Eve…he used his phone and had it set on the “negative” setting

Story People:

“Here’s the Story of the Day: Season of Joy She asked me when the season of joy was supposed to end & I said I didn’t really think there was an exact date, so we left the tree up till June that year. “  Happy Boxing Day … Day of Goodwill … to all you dear friends both near and far…oxo

The Christmas Story (2010)

as told by the children of St Paul’s Church, Auckland, New Zealand

with thanks to my dear friend Carol in Florida for sharing this … it is so precious and worth taking a little break to watch…

Blessings to All

Christmas Gift Suggestions…

“To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.” ~  Oren Arnold

Credits: Photography and Artwork by Patty Szymkowicz

Wishing you and yours

Peace…

Love and

Light always

~*May your Christmas be Merry and Bright*~

oxo

WS: Candles

I Love the story my mother (Mutti) tells about her childhood Christmas’ in Germany…going out in the snowy forest with her father to cut down a pine tree…bringing it home by sled…a sweet table top tree that would twinkle with the glow of real candles on Christmas Eve…

the challenge theme over at Wednesday Stamper this week is “candles”...

amazing how a scent…an object or word can spark memories and stories…

I made a hanging ornament out of a playing card…sanded lightly with the lining of a beautiful envelope glued on for the background…

the image of the child and tree is from a Christmas card I sent out many years ago…I had just two cards left…one was sent to a special friend…I like keeping one copy of the store bought cards I’ve sent over the years…

I used the Cherry Pie rubber stamp “Health, Peace, and sweet content be yours  ~  Shakespeare” …

the bits of greenery were found blowing around a parking lot on a blustery day…

the last detail was to write the date on the back…

I am always amazed at how quickly time passes…

having dates on things can come in handy down the road…

inside the original greeting card it said: 

“Wishing you Peace and Joy”

…my wish exactly for each of you today and always…

“Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” ~ Chinese Proverb

Christmas Tea

only four more sleeps until Christmas morning…

our family celebrates German Christmas on the 24th with a visit over the river to my Mom’s (Mutti’s) house with food and merriment…

we make our way home by way of the Capitol and White House Christmas trees in Washington D.C. listening to Christmas music all the way…

my tea today is delicious Earl Grey Supreme by Harney & Sons…the aroma is gorgeous…even the foil packet smells great…the silken sachet bags come in handy for wings and things…the little angel (3 in tall) is one of many that my talented mother used to make…no two were alike as they each seemed to have their own personalities…

I found these glass teddy bear maple syrups with knitted hats impossible to resist…

kumquats are a seasonal treat that I really look forward to eating over the holidays…

you can make quick and easy pomanders out of the fresh fruit by pressing whole cloves into them…

sometimes it helps to poke a hole first with a sturdy toothpick…

sprinkle the studded fruit with a bit of cinnamon and let them dry on a wire rack for several weeks…

you can tell they are dry when they get very lightweight…

stored in a plastic bag they last from season to season…

wishing you all a T Tuesday that is merry and bright…

to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere…Happy Winter Solstice…

thanks as always for stopping by …

for more holiday cheer you can visit Kimmie’s sidebar here…all are most welcome to join in…

fa la la

paper garlands…

perfect lap work while watching Hercules Poirot on PBS…

playing with some old French book pages…

that I folded and cut…

pinched and threaded onto sturdy thread…

voila…

guirlande en papier autour de l’Arbre de Noël

this is the second year we’ve had a tabletop tree…I really like it

…for some amazing paper inspiration…visit Dymphie to see her wonderful paper branches … Jen has made some super colorful paper wreaths out of recycled paper too

fa la la

feeling the twinkle…

…and not any too soon…

next Friday is Christmas eve…oh my…

I am enjoying my new twinkly turquoise tree that I did not know I needed…it just jumped off the shelf at me…

after our doll head Christmas saga last year…

I thought it best to have my own little altered tree this year…

it is 3 feet tall (91.44 cm)…

we have another traditional tabletop tree with a twinkling star on top…

trying to keep things simple this year…

credits:

Photo #1: Doll head ordered on line…it is a petite addition to my other two special doll heads…she has the prettiest eyelashes…you can tell by the tip of her nose that she was well Loved…I’d like to think she is honored to be the angel on top of my altered tree instead of being discarded…red Christmas plates on either side of my favorite St Nicholas plate from my dear friend Lennie

Photo #2: shell ornie from a tin chock full of treasures that Pat shared with me when she moved to the country

Photo #4: precious Russian doll ornament that my boys surprised me with one Christmas

Photo #5: Queen Bee Linda’s wonderful tart pan ornie for our jingle junkle ornament swap

Photo #6: my Mom’s precious ice skater bear (4.5 in tall) that she made from scratch…the arms and legs are jointed…she sewed each tiny bead on by hand…she even made the ice skates!

Photo #7: one of my moo cards…the bling eye is a necklace from the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore…they have THE greatest gift shop…I did not make the snowman dome…but have been playing with bleached tiny trees…also thanks to inspiration by Linda

Photo #8: Linda’s puffy stars (still want to give those a whirl) in an old plastic party favor basket that I picked up at a junk/antique shop

fa la la

 

WS: Snowflakes

recently there has been some lovely snowflake inspiration here and here…

this week’s Wednesday Stamper theme was the perfect chance for me to play with a snowflake or two…

my challenge was adding a rubber stamp to the mix…which is what makes the Wednesday Stamper challenges unique…

I used a JudiKins music background stamp along with some Flower Soft I bought some time ago…

did you know that hand sanitizer is great for removing sticky labels from things…had to use that trick to get the label off the top of the Flower Soft jar for my photo above…

my snowflake began with a shimmery plastic snowflake (5 x 6 inches) from a dollar store…quick and easy…

just had to show you my new swan ornament from World Market…I was surprised and delighted to see them…it fits perfectly on my turquoise foil tree…

mid December tea

sharing a pretty Winter Song for T today…

after you click on the song screen you have to click again on “Watch on YouTube”  to hear the song

…life can be such an emotional roller coaster ride the next few months…up and down and back again…no matter what I do…I keep thinking…hoping that will change…

for now I am enjoying a delicious cup of Pu erh Tea…thank you dear  Carole …

in my new glass cup with its own strainer insert…the lid acts as a saucer for the strainer…

just like the one I enjoyed lovely tea in when we had a memorable meal at a great little Thai restaurant in Santa Rosa back in October…

we were surprised to see the same style cup here at a local market…

happy T Tuesday to you…

won’t you join us for tea or whatever you would like it to be…over on Kimmie’s sidebar…fa la la

a wonderful day

everyone deserves a wonderful day…

more than every now and then…

a big thank you to Shane of Roses, Lace and Brocante in New Zealand for telling me that my fabric postcard is in the Winter issue of Stampington & Company’s Sew Somerset magazine…

it’s a pretty cover …

she got the magazine in New Zealand long before I found a copy of it here in the states…

it was a bit of a wild goose chase trying to find a copy of the magazine before we went away for my birthday weekend…

the last thing we did on our way back home was to stop at a local bookstore…still no Sew Somerset on the rack…I spotted a clerk and asked about it… he said some magazines had come in that he had not gotten to…he disappeared into the storeroom and appeared later with copies…Yippee…

I was very excited to see my postcard…larger than life in The Gallery section on page 130…thanks again dear Shane…

thanks also to Alicia at Altered Bits for the lovely lady from one of her collage sheets…

the very talented Theresa mARTin has a gorgeous article on her “Fisherman’s Daughter” creation…pages 16-20…I am always inspired by her creativity and kindness…and she is a magpie as well…just found out Theresa also has TWO articles in Vol 3 of  Somerset Apprentice Magazine !

as always I need to thank the sweet and talented Estivalia in Chile for making my link on the sidebar happen…Love that pink and blue cover other there!

wishing each of you lots of wonderful days…

“It is astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen” ~ Frances Burnett

*Light a Candle*12 December*7pm in your time zone*

this Sunday is Worldwide Candle Lighting day to honor and remember all children who have gone too soon…by lighting a candle for an hour at 7pm in your time zone you will help create a wave of light that will travel the globe in quiet remembrance…

we remember our precious Alex

and so many others

each and every day…

our blue eyed boy …

forever young…

wish I had a river…..

 

Dress Up – December * fa la la

Margaret’s very popular monthly Dress Up challenge is drawing to a close…twelve months with so many people sharing their fabulous and original dress creations…

December is a month of celebrations…so I thought an ankle length party dress would be nice…

I began with a scraped paint book page…added some chiffon trim on elastic at the neck and waist and THEN decided some stitching would be nice…not much planning…just playing…

I scored a wonderful old vintage navy blue hat with a velvet ribbon and gorgeous flowers in various sizes…

some posies from that were the perfect touch for Mindy’s party dress…

here we have January through June…

with July through December…

when I began the Dress Up challenge…I had the trunk…but Mindy…as I named her…the paper doll did not surface until October…the real magic was that the dress template I used fit her perfectly…imagine that…

Mindy’s trunk is overflowing…

many thanks to Margaret and all those that played along and made it so much fun each and every month of 2010 …

I see I will need to add a little liner to the inside top of Mindy’s trunk … it looks a bit bare and wanting in these photos…always fun what you notice on the big screen…fa la la

more December Postcard Freebies

as promised last week…here are a few more holiday postcards I am offering to you as FREE DOWNLOADS…you can click to make them larger…

the 1910 bird card above had the names on the back scratched out to protect the innocent perhaps LOL…

sweet touch of glitter on the card above sent to Glenbeulah, Wisconsin…

from Belgique…Bonne Annee 1950 Sante…

a Swedish angel postcard from 1920…

this card fresh and clean on the back…never mailed…

I do wonder sometimes how the mail carriers read some of the writing… all I can make out is Grand Forks, North Dakota…

there you have my holiday wishes for each of you…if you have occasion to create anything with any of the postcards…I would Love to see what you make…fa la la… trying to feel the twinkle

thimble bells …

thimble bells…

thimble all the way…

the last swap of the season for me with my Queen Bee friends…

we challenged ourselves to use some junk or treasure and turn it into an ornament…

I was inspired by thimbles and little bells that I have had around for awhile…

I took apart a bird, bead and tinsel garland I bought some years ago…Mr Magpie drilled holes in the center of the thimbles as my attempt at doing it went cockeyed…I am more of a gluer than a driller I think…

the tiny round bells work perfectly inside the thimbles…they make a sweet tinkling sound…which brings to mind one of my favorite lines in Chris Van Allsburg’s book “The Polar Express…

Hero boy says:

“At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I’ve grown old the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”

it’s really fun hanging out with so many people here in blogland that believe and care about the spirit and heart of things

… Brightest of Blessings to All … oxo

I am participating in this month’s Junkle Bells on Jill Ruth & Co here