Archive | December, 2008

a holiday in pictures

We had a really wonderful holiday this year.  After weeks of snow it is now all the consistency of a slushy.  We got our last good snowfall Christmas morning, what timing!  Here are some of my favorite pictures, and no I didn’t get a polaroid camera, but quite possible something better.  I have been eagerly anticipating the windows version of this program to turn your digital photos into ‘polaroids,’ and it is now available.  Oh the hours I will now spend playing with this…

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art, creating, everyday

all is calm

Well, we made it downtown yesterday via the max train and were treated to nearly empty stores and Santa all to ourselves.  Seriously, we were it.  It was almost funny to see how long we could make the poor guy come up with things to talk with the kids about.   The snow is expected to keep falling and the kids are loving it.  An igloo adorns our front yard and we went sledding down dead mans hill late last night.  The snow has slowed our pace and I am looking forward to more slow days and games of gin at night!  Happy Holidays!

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everyday

winter wonderland

We have an unusual amount of snow outside keeping us at home.  We are venturing out this morning to go downtown to visit Santa (wish us luck!).  We spent the better part of the day yesterday sledding and gave me the chance to finish up some holiday decorating.  Here are a few peeks around.

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a vintage ebay purchase I painted white

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our entry way chalkboard adorned with holiday words (inspiration via somewhere, but it is now lost on me, if you know who posted similar, please let me know so I can give credit!)

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a bit of an untraditional but no less lovely choice for our centerpiece

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out the window…

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and inside…

decor, everyday

SALE!

I am happy to announce I am offering 20% off all orders placed by Christmas, this includes my etsy shop as well as portraits.  Just type ‘discount’ in the message to seller or comments section at checkout and I will refund your 20% via paypal.  Also please note, I will ship prints asap,  but I can’t guarantee delivery by Christmas.

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art, etsy

holiday cards, check

My last big thing can now be checked off!  I made these mini calendar cards, now just need to get them sent off.  I’m really happy with how they turned out.

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creating, everyday

brown paper packages

This year I decided to stream line my gift wrapping.  I bought two papers, two ribbons.  All of my wrapping will be done in some combination of these (with the exception of Santa gifts, we don’t want a repeat of the ‘you’re santa aren’t you, that’s your bakers twin’ gate of 2007)…

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everyday

brrr!

The last of my holiday orders went out this morning and I am settling in for the snow and ice (eek!).  The kids are out of school probably the whole week, and I am finally sitting down to plan our holiday cards.  

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I went and got a nice stack of movies for the kids and magazines for me and am especially loving this mantel with cut paper artwork by Helen Musselwhite Bailey via Living etc.

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everyday, inspiration

an apple for the teachers

I book marked this a bit ago knowing it would be the perfect teacher gift.  The kids and I made a couple yesterday and it’s a really fun and easy project.  You can find step by step directions at Cheeky Magpie.  We used a little green paper leaf instead of the ribbon.  Of course in the rush this morning to get off I forgot to take pictures.

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creating, everyday

snow day!

Who has a bigger smile on their face, the kids or the dog?

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everyday

eyes to the sky

We may see a little snow around here this weekend!  The kids are beyond excited.  We get just enough snow here each year to look forward to it with great anticipation.  Usually it amounts to a few days of flurries, and maybe if we’re lucky, enough to sled down dead mans hill.

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 Happy weekend!

everyday

spirit

We have done a little decorating around here for the holidays, but I am waiting until I finish up all my orders before I really tackle it.  My favorite spot so far this year is the mantle.  I put these cute little toad stools under glass and wound this really lovely ribbon (from Martha Stewart at Michaels) with some lights.

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decor, everyday

tangled up

Thank you to Brittany over at Tangled and True for her sweet mention of my wallpaper panel art yesterday! 

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ok, back to work!

press

one step closer

A quick little post today as I am busy, busy, busy getting all my work done.  If you’re waiting on a painting, no fear, I am hoping to get scans out this week of the pieces I am working on.

 On a side note, just got these today…

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super cute, practical and now I can pretend I am off to go riding when I put them on, ‘sigh’….

creating, everyday

all that glitters

We are off to get our tree tonight!  I’m keeping it rather simple this year but I think we will be making good use of this sparkly stuff

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Happy weekend!

everyday

so, so sad but

true…

the following is a true story of how I maintain my afternoon energy level:

see the empty grande strbx cup

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empty no more

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yes, I buy a latte, drink and refill at home.  The good news, I like the one I make better!

everyday

window dressing

My mom always said she wanted to be a window display designer when she was growing up.  I never quite got that, til now…

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Totally get it.  I want to be a window to be a window designer now, TOO!

anthropologie windows (via black eiffel)

inspiration

almost done

I usually try to have all my holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving, after poring over internet sites and searching through local stores to find the perfect presents for the kids.  Well, that didn’t happen this year.  The kids are older and in Ian’s case he knows exactly what he wants (think star wars) and in Holly’s case has no idea (surprise me! she says).  So I did in one day this year what I usually spread over months of planning.  Inspired by all those fun gift guides out there I put together some of my favorite finds.

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1.  doll kit the black apple  2.  music box kido  3.  ikimono camera fred flare   4.  mustache kit  amazon 5.   djeco art books oompa  6.  smencils  stubby pencil studio  7.  paper doll wool and water

everyday, stuff to have