Indulge Your Shelf

It's been a good year. I made a point to make time for more art in my life this year.   I hope you have great memories of the year that was.  Stay safe tonight; and, happy new year!

On Christmas afternoon, I printed out some of my favorite shots of our holiday season onto 4"x6" photo paper; I also printed forty or so smaller photos onto cardstock to cut up; then, I put them all into this Christmas ephemera journal that I had for sale in  my handmade Etsy shop .  Two had already sold, and this one remained so I snatched it up for myself! The front and back covers were an accounting book in bright red that I'd embellished. Inside, the journal was ready made with Christmas-themed ephemera pages -- like the Hallmark postcard, to which I added a birds nest and the word, Noel. A photo of our Christmas tree fit nicely on the back of the postcard.  Then I added some photos to the sheet music pages that followed; I used a vintage gift tag as a journaling spot. I journaled directly on the page elements, like the envelope (oops! 'just noticed it should say Littleton instead of Castle Rock!) , and sometimes I just wrote right on the page ...

Christmas at our house See's Santas family portrait, 2012 Conrad and Rebecca and the kids; wonderful friends! the turkey Matthew got, in Kansas; it was DELICIOUS! Maggie Snoopy Dennis' VERY SPECIAL gift: a painting of Maggie by Lisa Hildebrandt Dennis got me a tiara; I was ALMOST as excited as Amy Farrah Fowler was...! iPhone-controlled flying things the gift that brought out the kid in my teenager I hope yours was just as lovely!

We're waiting to see if we'll have a white Christmas this year.  Chances are very good. The sunrise on Friday, December 21 -- the day the world didn't end! Now that they've all been received I'll show you the pendants I made for some crafty friends for Christmas.   I wish the photos were better but I was hurrying to get them photographed at night so they could go out in the morning mail! They are tiny French candy tins with one of those wonderful vintage Christmas seals inside.  I added glitter and mercury glass beads, plus a bit of tinsel here and there.  And did I mention, glitter? I attached a silver bail to the back so it can be worn as a pendant or used as an ornament or hanging decoration.  Then, I backed them with velvet. I've been delighted with the compliments I've received whenever I wear the one I kept for myself.  They are surprisingly sturdy and don't leak glitter everywhere! I packed them up with some vintage paper: a lo...