Oh Christmas Tree.....

We finally put up our tree Sunday night. It's a lovely wee tree, a sister tree to Charlie Brown's  :)

This year we added purple & gold lights, and this is also the first year we had our son decorate it alone. He did a fine job too ! I added the vintage party hat ( we had about 30 of these wonderful vintage hats from when my dad worked at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. I stubbornly held onto them but finally gave them away through a Freecycle site --happy knowing someone else will actually use them. This silver hat with the pom poms is my most fav., it makes me think of the mime Pierrot )

If I don't post again before the joyous holiday, then may you all have a most wonderful laughter filled day full of love. A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all !

Christmas in the House

 

A few shots of some of the treasures ( mostly my parents vintage treats ) I put out each year. Actually, I didn't put out everything like I usually do. Left in the box this year is my little village scene, instead I've made a scene with just Christmas trees, flocked reindeer & a few Santas. To the left of it is the tv with two Santa heads I found at Michaels, my one and only really big Partylite treasure is the skating snowman tealight holder with music box, the snowman actually skates when the music is playing.

There's our coffee table display with my fav. chubby snowman & funny greeting card from a dear friend ( Janis, you gave me this card over 10 yrs. ago ! ).

The fireplace is waiting for an electric insert ( previous owners haven't used it for over 25 yrs. and we don't relish using wood ) so it shows off more treasures --a couple of Christmas sock bears I made over 15 yrs. ago ( using my dear dads old socks ), a tree our son made when he was in kindergarten, thrift shop found jewel tree picture, moms kitschy animated Santa and a few other items from when I was little.

The next image shows a mixed media painting I made 'just because'. A porcelain bird sits on top & gold sprayed plastic branches hold tiny decoupaged images of angels & Santas. Copper tubing is home to 'Joy' and 2 sweet stockings.

The big bear was a prize my husband & I won at the Vic. General Hospital back in the early 90's. Very huggable !

Above the fireplace display hangs one of the trio of musical bells next to my bungy Santa --and the egg dude I brought from Ottawa happily rests inside the vintage wreath that still gets packed in its original box.

The musical angel is one of two ( also in original boxes ) standing in front of an old German advent calendar.

Two of my fav. garage sale finds are these lovely pictures. Everytime I look at them I feel instant peace.

Even the kitchen got a touch of Christmas this year. My newest items are the two small red trees purchased from a fab. shop called Cameron Rose in Sidney B.C. ( they're known for selling Christmas Krinkle treasures ! )

So there you go for now. As said, I didn't put everything out this year, wanted to keep the decor less cluttered. What's missing are a couple of small nativity scenes, trio of musical bells, a few small & large houses. I did take out my most. fav. music box of my parents, it's on the dining table, will post a pic. later when we have the tree up. We're getting a real one sometime next week !

Now off to make some cherry cake balls ! ( I wanted to make the red velvet cake kind but there was no RV cake mix to be found. So I went with cherry chip mix & added red coloring for a lovely pink mix, yum ! Baking photos to come too woohoo ! )

Creamed Soda and Collages....

Yay it is finally Spring ! Today was quite sunny, so I poked my head outside and let the rays fall across my delighted face.

I had bought a bottle of Cream Soda for our son and his friend, meant to give it to them 2 days ago but had left it in the car trunk ! I remembered today :)
Now pop is not one of my fav. drinks, I'm more of a chocolate milk gal. But if I do want 'sugar water' then it's usually Cream Soda. It has that wonderful rich pinky-red coloring and reminds me of carnivals.

Here are a couple pics. you can use. One was shot while looking into the glass. The bubble blobs are from me trying to add cherry candy flavoring, just to see what would happen. Well the flavoring didn't mix in, but it smelled oh so wonderful and looked quite pretty floating on top.
The next image was taken simply because of the sun shining through the glass, love that color !

Woohoo, here are two of my computer created collages I've made into shrinky dink pendants. They're now in my Etsy shop along with 3 other collages. I'm having so much fun making these and can't wait for Monday to come so I can get more printed and baked.
Each collage uses images from my computer collection along with other items I've scanned into the computer --vintage papers, photos, 3-dimensional bits and pieces and more. Some collages also have my own photos.
They are all carefully created and meant to be dreamlike, whimsical or just plain weird lol !
I'm still wondering about the ballchain that comes with the pendant. Maybe I'll offer either a ballchain or a black satin slide knot necklace ( for those who have a chain of their own, are allergic to certain metals or just aren't into ballchains/cords ).

I hope you like my new pendants :) Thanks for stopping in ♥

Happy Valentines Day !

Shouting out a "Happy Valentines Day !" to all with joyful thoughts and love ♥

Our day has been quite quiet but with a surprise at the door this morning. 4 lovely red roses sent from my birth father Terry, his wife Donna and my 2 half-sisters Sunshine and Angela, plus a cute teddy bear and a pretty box with a bag of delicious chocolate truffles. THANK-YOU ! ♥
My dear husband Jacques gave me some gorgeous peachy-pink roses and a decadent strawberry chocolate cheesecake oh my !
Him and I usually don't go all out on V.Day, maybe homemade sushi or a simple restaurant without the need to get all dolled up. That's the way I like it and Jacques is quite happy with that lol ! The flowers were totally unexpected...and it was nice I'll admit.
Okay so this is going to sound mushy, but Jacques is my Valentine everyday ♥

For dinner tonight I'm going to surprise them with Chinese food from a fab. restaurant not far from us. We'll do the lazy thing and enjoy it in front of the tv woohoo !

Wishing you all a beautiful day....♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Ramblings from a beating heart on a quiet cold night

I used to write poetry, many, many years ago when I was footloose and fancy free. Long before marriage and a child, long before I had any thoughts of becoming an adult and having to follow adult rules.

My poetry followed no rules, I didn't care if no one liked it, I just wrote from my heart and it felt good to me.

So it's very quiet right now and I've thoughts going round my head...

I'm just going to write from my heart, little bits and bobs that may, or may not, end abrubtly.
Whatever feelings you may get from it, do let me know

A tangled heart beating, pulsing, pounding, pumping. Deep breaths, a rising chest, sweaty hands with nowhere to lay.
Her eyes, search, intent, pools of mystery. Silent anguish, quiet, whisper, locked away forever, no one will know.
But time will change it all, it always does.
Her heart will slow, shallow breaths, sweaty hands turning cold. Yet she will still have the memories, locked away forever, keeping her heart alive.

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Mine eyes have seen beauty. They are deep pools, crystal clear water on a Fall day. Rocks just under the water, beautiful browns, oranges, yellows and greens all flowing into each other. My hands want to caress, my soul wants to reach out, my lips to touch and linger. But the water is too cold, the rocks too slippery. So I must accept this and simply enjoy the beauty from behind mine own eyes.

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Another 'soon to be seen on Etsy' goody...

Another busy week. Getting school gear ready, family visiting from Montreal, etc...just not enough time ALONE to get some art made. Bros. and sis. in-law leave on Monday and then school begins Tues. I will have a couple of hours to work on Wednesday and then, hopefully, back to a regular art routine.

Here's a pic. of one new creation I call the 'Love is the Key' bracelet. A few minutes here and there and I was able to get this started. It's almost done, just a few more goodies to attach and then solder some jump rings and we're ready to list on Etsy.

I've also got several Science magazines my father had collected back in the 1950s and 60s and may use some of the images as pendants ( or may make copies )

Lots of ideas, just need the time to do them ! ---so off I go from here and back to the studio ( husband took bros. and sis. in-law fishing and our son is at a friends until 5, better get cracking ! )