So In Love

I am totally in love with this new book! I just had to show it to you even though it's still in the works.

Several weeks ago I was unpacking a new paper shipment and these two papers happened to fall together on my work table. I had one of those "Ah-HA!" moments and made a mental note to myself to pair those papers together for a book cover.

What do you think I should call it? I was thinking of something like Chocolate Mint. Yum yum!
Any other thoughts? :)

Soft Sages

This lovely treasury is the perfect excuse to try out this widget thingy from craftcult.com. My guest books have been featured in some really nice treasuries and I've had a lot of fun discovering new shops featured along with me!



The book featured, Moss and Porcelain Guest Book, is a limited edition of just two books. I'm sad because I love this book, but this moss and gold paper is no longer available. Bummer :(

Silly Cat

I saw this cat displayed in a corner in a boutique clothing store. It was so outrageous I had to photograph it to show you! Perhaps I should use this cat as a launching point to do an art journal page.

Speaking of...ahem...art journaling...I have been remiss in keeping up with mine. I find little scraps of paper or see things almost everyday and I think, "Oh, that would be a great idea for a page." And that's as far as it goes. I wish I could commit to doing a page a day, or at the very least working in my art journal every day. I thought about making it a New Year's resolution, but I don't like making promises I can't keep, so I didn't.

My life is too busy and I've been giving some serious thought as to what to do about that. The wedding season seems to have started earlier than I expected this year, so making guest books is taking up a lot of my time. I've also been sharing my time with a friend who just had a baby, helping her out so she can get some much needed rest.

And there's my own baby...not such a baby any more...I'm trying to homeschool him in the afternoons after preschool. I say trying because I'm not very good at devoting enough time to planning activities to keep him inspired. I'm going to be homeschooling him full time next year and I'm scared to death! Scared he'll be bored, that I don't know what I'm doing and will screw up his education, and that I won't have enough time to fill orders. I may have to limit the guest book orders. Okay, just thinking out loud here. I'm done now. Thanks for listening (reading).

Wow, this post took on a life of it's own, going off in a direction I hadn't planned, all started by a silly cat!

How do you make time for play? I find I put it off until my work is done and then I'm either too tired or out of time. What do you do to prioritize your time?

The View From My Window

This was my view from my window last week. I spent a bit of time admiring the snow as it fell. Everything was so peaceful and quiet out there. It's kind of sad to see the street get marred with tire tracks and the pristine white yard littered with footprints.

But the tracks in the snow were well worth it, seeing how much fun the kids had. The furry kid (who is really our resident senior citizen) became a pup again at heart, bounding through the snow like a deer! He was outfitted for the snow, wearing his sweater...we just need some booties for him and he'll be set. (Yeah right, like he'd wear them!!)

Loving the snow (and getting pats, of course!)

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

This is what it looks like outside my studio window right now! A very unusual sight for us in the south. The snowflakes are still falling!

We've got six inches so far. Is there any snow where you are?

Twelve Days of Christmas Trees: Day 12

Here were are, at the last tree of my Twelve Days series! This tree is my own, with chartreuse green and gold accents, and the occasional kid ornament thrown in here and there.

We started a new tradition for my son. Each year he picks out an ornament at the store. When he's all grown up and has his own tree I'll give them to him. Of course, by that time he'll probably be embarrassed by them--they won't be "cool"!

I still hang some of my childhood ornaments on my tree, mixed in with my "grown-up" ornaments! There's one at the bottom of my tree--the pink styrofoam gingerbread girl.

I like birds. Can you tell? ;P

And there you have it. Twelve decorating ideas for Christmas trees. If you haven't decided on your own, you'd better get to it! Christmas is just a few days away!

Do you have any Christmas ornament traditions? Do you use favorites from your childhood, or new "grown-up" ones?