Happy Holidays!

Update:  OKAY!  Went to see what was up with no comments and realized the post hadn't posted or linked as I thought it would.  Sorry about the lateness of the holiday wishes!

Just wanted to take a few minutes to post a holiday message to friends and family that are near and far.   Hope everyone has had a happy holiday and is looking forward to the new year.  Christmas has become such a secular holiday and everyone participates in their own ways as do we here at the Doswell house.  We have (in alphabetical order!)  Atheists, Agnostics, Baptists, Catholics, Humanists, Jew, Protestants and whatever else you would like to throw into the mix so we celebrate what I call Snowman Day here!  It starts at Thanksgiving and it goes till I get tired of all the decorations and take down the tree (and a few years ago it went on till February!) It is a time of year where we all celebrate our lives, family, and friends without malice or hatred towards any person, race, culture etc.  We loves one another...:-)

So from our house to yours...

Happy Snowman Day!

Looking forward to seeing and visiting with everyone in the new year!  To my friends at WOYWW I hope everyone has a great holiday and I am looking forward to seeing those desks in the new year.  To find out what WOYWW is click on the link on the right side bar! 

WOYWW

Another busy week has just flown by and I am wondering if it is ever going to slow down again!  Welcome WOYWW friends hope that you are having a great week also.  If you would like to know what WOYWW is and what it is all about you can click on the link on the far right or you can click here to visit Julia at Stamping Ground who will tell you all about it!

My desk this week is an absolute mess and I am ashamed to show it but that is a continual condition lately.  I still haven't moved rooms so everything is a clutter and it takes forever to find anything.  I think I will forgo showing a pic and just show you what I made as a gift. 

I had a lot of fun at a Christmas party and a Secret Santa/Sister swap at my local scrap book store on Sunday.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share but a group of us got together and spent several hours just visiting, eating, and enjoying one anothers company.  I had a blast and think everyone who attended did also!
I made my secret sister a box made from a tutorial I saw on the Grapic-45 blog that Clare Charvill created for the 12 Days of Christmas Day 5.   There is a video tutorial that makes it all seem so easy peasy and it was...mostly!  I really enjoyed making the box cause it is something I hadn't done before so it was a challenge of sorts.  Go check out Clare's blog and see the other fun things she has made.

Graphic 45 12 Days of Christmas paper, stickers and chipboard pieces

The box holds a pillar candle that I altered with some of the Graphic 45 12 Days of Christmas Stickers.  I made the box topper from a wreathe and small tree from the Tim Holtz alterations trees that I sprayed with Dylusions ink and made 'balls' with Stickles glitter glue.





My daughter Heather and I made a whirlwind trip to Dallas today to do some Christmas shopping and to pickup some things we can't find around here and Oklahoma City.  We left Norman about 0800 and made it back home about 2130 after traveling a total of about 6 hours and visiting IKEA, Container store and several other stores.  WOW!  I am one tired puppy and I am off to bed after I show you a few pictures of some of the lights we saw at a Festival of Lights in Ardmore on the way home!

over 20' tall display of lights

 I loved this next display because it was animated and had a cowboy lassoing the straw of a drink and dripping soda into Santa's mouth!

Santa scores some soda!

 Reindeer riding a whale while the blow spout spouts water!

 and lots of stationary do nothing but look awesome lights.   Most of the light displays were between 10-20 feet tall.

20' tall letters

Santa's workshope

Arch across the road

Snowy village

Anyway that is it for me!  Hope you have a great week and if I don't talk to you before next week have a Merry Christmas!

ooooopppppssss....WOYWW

Nope I didn't fall off the face of the earth, no I wasn't gobbled up by a Purple Haired People Eater,  and I wasn't abducted by aliens and had thousands of unmentionable tests done on me...I have no excuse!  I really don't know what happened I just seemed to fall out of the crafting and blogging scene for awhile here.  Healthwise I haven't been feeling well but I have had worse bouts of feeling unwell.  I went to the Doctor this week and she is running a bunch of tests so maybe they will find out what is up with me again.  I was also started on another type of medication for my ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia called Lyrica.  Suppose to help with the headaches and muscle pains I have been having...maybe give me a little more energy to do more.

I wanted to get back into sharing with WOYWW and I have been doing a few crafty things but haven't taken the time to photograph them or my desk this week! I do have a picture of some tags I made recently for a class I am going to be teaching this Thursday at Scrap That.   I really have a lot of fun crafting but seems like a lot of things keep getting in the way! 

If you would like to know more about WOYWW check out Julia's blog Stamping Ground for more information.

so excited!

Heather and I took a cruise from Barcelona Spain to New Orleans on Carnivals latest fun ship the Sunshine.  I have always wondered what a transatlantic cruise would be like and thanks to Michael and Heather generosity I now know.   16 days about a ship with only 4 stops was an adventure to say the least.  We stopped in Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Spain, Las Palmas in the Canary Islands and Grand Turk in the Caribbean...the Caicos or Turk islands.  




 I think Heather is awesome subject to photograph and look at these 2 photos of her side by side...

24 hours and no sleep!

The first one was at the airport in Oklahoma City waiting for our tickets and the second photo was after we had pretty much been up 24 hours and been in airports and on airplanes the whole time.  I am sure I didn't looks as good and she was still full of energy!  We didn't stay in Barcelona any time we flew in then caught a bus to the docks to get the ship.  Next time.  Barcelona is a beautiful city and I have been there before but unfortunately Heather hasn't.


Our first port of call was in Palma de Mallorca where we walked around town a bit, looked at the cathedral and had coffee with some friends.

A nice passerby took a picture of Heather and I together

Steps up behind the palace leading to the cathedral

looking out to the docks from the cathedral

Friends Alan and Fabris  

I heard that Malaga, Spain was a beautiful city but unfortunately I had fallen ill with a sinus and respiratory infection that kept me from getting out of my bed.  I don't remember having an upper respiratory tract infection like this in a long time I am so thankful I wasn't forced to get out of bed because I wouldn't have made it!  I saw the inside of the ship's infirmary to purchase decongestants but luckily didn't see the doctor.  I heard that they set a record for numbers of patients seen because of this virus!

In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Canary Islands was an interesting town to visit.  Unfortunately I was still under the weather and didn't go anywhere but to a pharmacy and grocers before having some paella with Heather and heading back to the ship. 

Our boat is the one with the blue smoke stack

Heather posing for me!

Yummy Paella!

The next 6 days were "at sea days" and I was ever so grateful.  I began getting over the crud and poor Heather and 1/2 the ship came down with it.  Laying in bed at night I could hear people moving about and coughing in the halls...lovely stuff we brought back to the states with us!

During our sea days we spent a lot of time on deck sitting and reading, walking about the ship,

our favorite spot!

My favorite view!

Front of the ship from above the lido deck

The adults only deck

Back of the ship see the funny looking brown pods?  Most uncomfortable place to sit ever!

 We had 6 time changes during the crossing and luckily the weather change from cool to much warmer was easier to handle.   Our last stop was in the Caicos or Turk islands at the Island of Gran Turk.  Smallish size and from the top of the boat you could see water surrounding the island on all sides

Water water everywhere!

I was a hot day and I thought I was melting...

I think Heather was getting embarrassed when I ordered my 3rd margarita at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville....They don't skimp on the Tequila either!

made a purchase of 2L tequila while on the island...too cheap to pass up! No I didn't have any difficulties getting back on the boat! 

We had 3 more days at sea in the Caribbean before we made it to New Orleans and home. 

Happy Campers...we had a blast!

WOYWW #228

WOW!  Just WOW!  I remembered today was Wednesday and I am going to post something...Not a lot but something anyway!  I couldn't believe it when I saw that the last time I had posted to WOYWW was in August!  I could make excuses about how busy I have been and how much traveling I have been doing but I think I will just let it go with an...."I'm baaaack!"

My desk this week...

Not much creativity around here...the mojo took a hike and I haven't had a whole lot of inspiration to do any crafting recently....well that is wrong!  There is a lot of inspiration but not much motivation to do much of anything.  My latest craft endeavor was at Heathers painting class last night where I painted a big harvest moon, tree, and bats to celebrate the season!

I decided not to put anything like Happy Halloween or similar on it so I could keep it up all year if I decided to.  I am happy with the way it turned out! 

Haven't been feeling really well of late and when I do I am playing catch up to get stuff caught up again.  I spent a night in the hospital last month because of some chest pain but after megabucks of tests I still don't know what caused it but I am hoping it never comes back.  I have a doctor's appointment with a specialist on December 3 so here is hoping she will find out what is going on with me. 

If you are wondering what all this is about crafting and desks etc go visit Julia at Stamping Ground and come play with us! 

Happy Labor Day and a share of Graphic 45 Bohemian Bazaar and Steampunk Spells layouts!

Went to Terri's store yesterday and got to help her get a few things ready for her store's first birthday party this next Saturday.  WOW! it is going to be a lot of fun and the store is sporting some new views too.  If you haven't signed up for the party then you better hop to it and call 405-310-3400 to sign up as space is limited and you won't want to miss this party!

 After working us half to death +];-)  she gave us run of the store and told us to go forth and make some layouts...so I did!  I made two layouts...YES! I do scrapbook on occasion... The first layout is using the Graphic 45 paper line Bohemian Bazaar (3 different pages) and Bazzill (2 colors)card stock... Nothing in this except the papers and little bit of fussy cutting and using a floral stamp with Versamark to make the background mats.  Fun.

 

 I love this paper line because it is so bright and beautiful it is right in your face from the moment you focus on it.  Loads of color, texture and flowers...reminds me a bit of the 1960's and the revolution of the youth of the day...me included.  The bright clothes an attitudes that changed the world...mine anyway!  I have sent some pictures over to Walgreen's to have printed and I will pick them up tomorrow and add them to the layout!

The second layout is also Graphic 45 papers called Steampunk Spells (2 sheets), Bazzill card stock, Steampunk Spells die cut card stock embellishments.   I decided to make larger mats for larger pictures cause I like big pictures!  Trying to do something different I used some orange tulle net on the left side and crunched it up with glue, added some vine ribbon, and pop dotted some embellishments from the Steampunk Spells die cuts on top.  I also used the embellishments to make the banner across the top and the gears on the bottom are cut from a Cricut cartridge called Accents and Bazzill card stock.  

I love this paper line also because it is so bright and fun.  I am a big grunge and Steampunk fan and this puts the brightness in to the mix.   I also have some pictures being printed so will come back in the next day or so and change out the pictures so you can see them with photo's!

Hope your Labor Day holiday is going well and you are being safe on this last holiday of the summer!  I am glad I am not still working cause I hated working ED on Labor Day because people seem to lose sensibility and take risks on their ski's and swimming at the lake because it might be the last time the get out there this year.   

Don't forget to call the store and save your seat for the big Birthday Bash on September 7!

Recycling an old paint bucket!

Decided to recycle an old paint bucket to use as part of my fall decorations and maybe in a class at the store this fall...

I love the Farm House paper line! This is a group of papers they came out with last fall and I thought I could use them to cover the paint bucket and to make decorations for my dining room table this fall.  Everything used in creating this bucket is recycled except for 4 sheets of paper from the Sugar Hill line from Farm House Papers.  Actually less then four...one to cover the bucket, two to make flower pics/thankful cards, and a half one to make flowers.  I also used light weight cereal box between the two sheets of paper on the flower pics/thankful cards. (That thing peeking out on the upper right!)  All of the leaves were bits and pieces of colored card stock I pulled out of my card stock recycle bin and cut out the shapes with the Tattered Leaves die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix.  I embossed them with various embossing folders after distressing around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

little out of focus because I couldn't get the top and bottom to work together to take a picture!!  There are more pictures and details in the photos below.

The paper comes with 6 cards to a sheet and like Terri said I think it would be fun to have this as a fall table decoration then at Thanksgiving hand out a card to each person and have them write what they are thankful for that year.  You could then use them in scrapping the photos of that dinner!

Front of bucket.

Side of bucket

Back of bucket.  I tried a little glitter on the first flower I made and I really didn't like the way it turned out so I didn't put it on any of the others. 

opposite side of bucket

More detail

Back of bucket

On display at the store for customers to see what you can do with a bunch of trash and a little imagination!

It was a really easy and inexpensive project to do because of the recycling most of the stuff used!  Hope you like it!

New Calendar Pages!

I am finished with the 12"x12" Graphic 45 Place in Time easel calendar...finally!  Not bad really considering I didn't start working on it till the end of January and I am done by the end of August!    I just finished the November and December pages last Friday at a crop and I told Terri I felt like all the calendars were starting to look alike even though I was trying to make each one unique and different.  I was going to show just the two that I finished but I think I am going to share the whole year...starting with the last finished and going backwards!!






December...
December is all about snow, Santa and Holiday fun!  I love the plum pudding picture and all the holly!   December was always a time of family gatherings and sharing.  I miss not having my oh so large family around anymore. 

November...
The incorporation of the Thanksgiving holiday and pilgrims into harvest time with the Graphic 45 papers makes me smile.  A traditional American holiday!

 October...
Ghosts, goblins and all sorts of scary things happen in October...I love the crisp air and the ability to have windows open to allow the fresh air into the house!  

September...
The start of fall and back to school time!  Leaves are turning and nights are cooler...I love all the color changes that are happening!

August...
Last days of summer, crops are coming in in the garden and it is a time for fun and play!

July...
Summer holiday and play days!  The 4th of July fireworks and picnics flooded my memories while working on this page!  My birthday is in this month and a day at the seashore would be my choice for sure!  July can be a gruesomely hot time in Oklahoma!

June....
school is out and the whole summer looms before us...  Lots of weddings and the flowers are in full bloom!  Soft sounds of summer!

May...
awesome time of year with all the flowers blooms,  graduations and celebrations of life.  I enjoy all the family get together to celebrate life, death, graduations and hopes for the future.  Being Oklahoma there is always hopes of thunderstorms and "events" to anticipate!

April...
April showers bring May flowers!    Lots of fun things to do outside cause the weather is getting warmer and children look forward to the coming summer holidays!















March...
everything is greening up...still a little cool but so many fun things are happening around us.  I love gardening so this month is the first month I can finally get outside and do some gardening! 

February...
Valentines day is such a fun time of year...I heard that there are whole farms dedicated to raising all the flowers and roses that are sold at this time of year...Not to mention that candy sales are higher now then any time of year!









January...
All the holiday hoopla is over and I consider January a time of rest although I don't understand why!  Both my children were born in January!






So that is my calendar for the year.  I made it a perpetual calendar with mats so I could remove the old months calendar and put the new one on each year.  I figured if I put this much work into it it had to be for more then just one use!