Merry Christmas!

Can you believe there are only HOURS left till Christmas? I am supposed to be wrapping presents while the kiddos are out but I thought I'd take some computer time (again..while the kids are out and not hogging this machine) to post some things I promised earlier. Christmas decor.

Many of the photos I took came out so blurry or I just couldn't get the right angle. I do have some a few worth while shots though. I simply puttered out after all of this decorating. >>> *sigh*...here come the neighbors kids up the drive...ringing the bell. They come over EVERY day! I guess it's better to have them here than my kids down the street out of eyesight. <<<>

First I'd like to share this Be-U-tee-full sunrise (5:45am). Look at the blues and corals in here! It was VERY cold when I took this photo, but no snow like most of my Northern friends are getting.

OK. Here is a photo of my mantel with a silver theme. The lights are so bright in the photo so it's hard to see how much it sparkles.

These 3" votive look HUGE. Bad angle (I warned you). It's a red and gold theme.

Now, are you ready for this?! My neighbor has over 100 pieces of faux Department 56. I say faux because they are not truly department 56 but ceramic houses she purchased from Joann's years ago. For those who don't know department 56, they are the small ceramic villages and figurines you see at Hallmark and various other shops that show small scenes and characters from Charles Dickens and...several other themes, I just can't remember them. You can light them up and they are wonderful to look at.

My neighbor sets her houses on a hand-made layered tier most of the year, just like sitting on steps, but this year she went vertical and made table bases in decreasing sizes to stack on top one another, making her village a sort of Christmas tree. I can't explain, you'll have to look at the photos below to understand the time and effort she put into this! It's AMAZING!

Here it is from the other side.

Here's a close-up of one of the villages. Each village is placed in a specific spot so it all works together. She really takes a lot of time and effort to do this so it all is strategically placed. Most of what I learned from decorating has come from her. She is not a professional, only enjoys the art of crafting and making things. I'm going to send these images to some magazines and nominate her for...something! I love looking at it.

Below is a small scene from the left front. If you look in through this window from the back of the house you can see that she made a snowy scene by putting some polyfil around her window panes, so it has that wintery Christmas feel.

Blogger Challenge Week 26

Bloggers Challenge for week 26 was to create a moving card. This is a shaker card. There are tiny black micorbeads inside the circle but you can't see them becuase they've fallen to the bottom when I took the photo.

This ribbon could really use something on the left but I had a card-making block. Everything I tried took away from the focal point of the circle.

Bloggers Challenge 25

This weeks Bloggers Challenged was to create a Sympathy card. This is what I came up with. I like to put the sentiment on the inside.


I still owe you pictures for my holiday deocrations. They are dull in comparison to my neighbors decorations. I'll be posting them later tonight.

Clarification...

I need to clarify my item #5 "Tag" fact. It was supposed to start out as "Do you believe in alternate dimenisions". It was late, and I was trying to finish up my "Tag facts" and deleted part of my sentence. So, here it is again:

Do you believe in alternate dimensions? I do. Now, I bet that's a fact you didn't know about me. There could be one floating right here besides me, (or you) at this very moment. You probably think I'm crazy, but there have been MANY oddball things happen in this world, that to discount an alternate dimension as existing would not be fair. This oddball fact could stem some serious discussion..but it's getting late and I have 2 more facts to share...so let's move on.

Can you believe it is only 12 days before Christmas? Where has the month gone? Haven't done a lick of holiday shopping yet...i'm dreading the stores. Although, I do rather well when I shop under pressure.

OK..time to hit the sack. I DID finally finish up my Hoilday decorating. I'll be posting some photos tomorrow; just hope I get home from work at a reasonable hour.

GOSH it's warm outside!

Can you believe it is 71 degrees outside today and humid as can be. It sure is hard to get into the Holiday spirit when it feels like summer! I can't complain though. While I prefer it cold, I know many of you are dipping into the freezing weather. Keep warm and send some of those winter flurries this way!

Well, I've been tagged by little miss SUE! We all know these tags are made for sharing links with our fellow Blogging friends (you never know what you'll discover).

The name of the game is to share something about myself that you don't already know. Hum, anyone in the world can read a blog, so unless you know me personally, I'd say you probably know nothing about me, LOL, which in turn means I can share basicallly anything and it'll be news to you. OK..here goes.

• I am the QUEEN of typos. Those who receive my Rubbapalooza newsletter can attest to that! What's bad is now that I have a Blog, the WORLD will know of them as well.

• I fall asleep when reading even for 5 minutes! I've never been one for long stories. The only books that peak my interest are Visually Stimulating books (i.e, Home and Gardening, Somerset Studio, etc.). Maybe it's due to the fact I like instant gratification. Maybe this is why I gave up on needlepoint and crochet LONG ago!
  
  
• I'm a trash to treasure girl. My husband would disagree...he'd say I'm a JUNK girl. If there is something that catches my eye and I think it's useable, I pick it up..regardless of where it is. My closets in fact are overflowing with my 'useful' findings, LOL. One night we took a family walk and I spotted this AMAZING old Remington typewriter the neighbors were throwing out. Yes, I know! This beauty was out by the curb just calling to me "bring me home".

• 
  Now, if you are into Altered Art, then you KNOW what a gem this was to find! It was rusty and used; and even had the old typewriter ribbon still in it. Apparently my husband didnt' think it was as valuable, so he threw it BACK out to the trash and OFF came my head! I'll leave last comment to your own imagination. OK...one of those man vs woman showdowns. If I threw out the crusty old golf bag sitting in the shed for 7 years now I'd never hear the end of it!
• Hum, I think I'm supposed to do 7 of these things 'things about myself''. Oddly I can't think of anything...it's becausse I'm under pressure. Maybe I should ask what you'd like to know? We'll count this one as #4 and call it "The Gap".
• <<<>I do. Now, I bet that's a fact you didn't know about me. There could be one floating right here besides me, (or you) at this very moment. You probably think I'm crazy, but there have been MANY oddball things happen in this world, that to discount an alternate dimension as existing would not be fair. This oddball fact could stem some serious discussion..but it's getting late and I have 2 more facts to share...so let's move on.
• OK, who's looking for typos, LOL? Here's another nothing fact about me: I don't read the newspaper or watch the news. Is that a worthy fact? I tend to look away from all the terrible things that are happening in the world. My co-worker calls it "Melanie's land of denial", while I simply call it "Melanie's happy dimension". With a family of 5, a full time job and my 'extra cirricula' activites, who has the time to deal with all the trama going on in the world? If there is something of REAL importance then it will trickle down to me somehow. My husband is good at keeping me informed of things I "should" know going on about the world.

OK..I am wiped out and need to hit the sack. Luckily for my victums (I mean, fellow Taggers), they will only need to post as many fun facts as I did.

Now to spread the LOVE! It's time to TAG some fellow Bloggers. Make sure you check out their blogs; they are some FABULOU-SO stampers!

• Dawn


• Katie


• Lynn


• Maren


• Heidi


• Chris

You know what to do girls! Spread the LOVE.

Blogger Challenge Week 24

Here's my Blogger Challenge for week 24. The challenge was to create a card with a watercolor technique. The image here was colored in using Watercolor Wonder crayons and then blended with an aqua brush. Crystal effects on the dots and lots of sponging.

This card should have been posted last night. Time seems shorter during the holidays with shopping, parties and the decorating. Speaking of...I just finished the last touches on the living room after 2 weeks! Of course, everytime I walk by something I tweak it....drives my husband ba-zerk!

Sisterhood 3 of Blogging Stampers

Well, it was an eventful weekend. Still working on decorating for the holidays (which will probably take me till next week). I'll be sharing some of my creative displays soon. I only wish I could work on them an entire day and get it done, but I need to make time for family and holiday shopping as well.


Speaking of holiday shopping...has anyone had to stand in a line for more than an hour for something? I left the house 1/2 hour early to head to Best Buy to purchase a Wii for the kids and found out 'while' I stood in line that they were out. Ever notice there is always one HOT holiday item that everyone seems to want? Well, I have no intentions of traveling to the far ends of the earth to find one of these...they will be available everywhere once the Holiday is over.



Now, onto the big news. I subscribed to a great new group called "The Sisterhood of Blogging Stampers". It's basically a group of stampers that support one another by sharing artwork through their blogs. I'm really looking forward to getting to know the group. It's always nice meeting others who enjoy the same hobbies as I do.


It felt like Spring here today (well...more like the beginning of Summer). I went outside yesterday to clean the kitchen wire rack and saw these beauties in full bloom. Of course, they have been in bloom for over a week now; I just slooooooooooooowed down enough to get a photo of them.

These mums are from last years Halloween display in the front yard. I threw them in the side yard until I could find them an official home. Looks like they decided for me.




These photos are gonna be what brightens my day when the temps eventually dip into the 30's.





Look at the little cucumber beetle! Doesn't he know it's December? He should be in hiding until Spring.