Monday, December 20, 2010

T’was the weekend before Christmas…

So it was a busy weekend before Christmas at the Queen’s palace.

It was Day 7 of the Canadian Chickie Christmas Swap and our Mother Hen, Hostess Extraordinaire, Dawn was the gift maker.

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Brown paper packages recycling sewing patterns ! Ingenious !

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Gorgeous attention to detail…

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Sweet swap key…

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and this beautiful, beautiful Hang Up, made just for me !!!

I love the quote – it so reflects how I feel about Winter too !

Thank you, Dawn. I have hung my Hang Up right in front of my computer so I can enjoy gazing at it every day !

Now, it wasn’t only about opening gifts. It was about making them too.

The Rock Fairy was almost as busy as Santa…

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She doesn’t do the whole sleigh/reindeer delivery thing but has to rely on getting things to the post office and allowing the wonderful USPS Elves to get the gifts to the rock lovers on time !

Keeping up with orders and having enough rocks to decorate for the whole winter meant one last trip here :

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to North Beach in Hampton Beach, NH before the snow comes and covers her supplier !

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It was cold but not too bad. Only about 34 degrees F and not too windy ! A perfect December Rock Picking day for the Rock Fairy and her hunky Man.

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These nutters seemed to think it was also a perfect day for surfing ! Me, not so much !

We also did a little hall decking…

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Here is the tree. I went with colored lights this year. I usually always do white lights and most of my ornaments are traditional green, white and red or natural fiber tones.

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I think I like the white lights better but I remember that our trees when I was a kid were always lit up on color so I thought I would try it.

It ended up looking very old fashioned to me, but pretty…

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These fun little bubbling ornaments that shine blue look right at home!

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The gorgeous stained glass star on the top that David and I made looks beautiful on any tree !

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as does the gorgeous white doggie sitting the the twinkle light glow…

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Today, Monday, is Day 8 of the swap and Heather’s beautifully wrapped gift was up.

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The wonderful collaged book mark on the front gives a hint to the beauty inside…

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This beautiful collaged writing journal ready to fill with doodles and words in the New Year !

Thanks so much for this lovely gifty, Heather ! You did such a beautiful job !

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So it is Monday, 5 days before Christmas Eve.

The week will be filled with baking, wrapping, last minute errands and a 7 hour trip way up North to share Christmas morning with my side of the family.

I am feeling like I have it under control, like I have set expectations low enough that I can get to everything, and that it will be filled with sweet moments of joy and gratitude along the way.

One thing though !

I miss my ART !!!

I am so looking forward to January and February where all I have scheduled is creative time for myself !!! Arty hibernation, here I come…

My beautiful Muse and my abundance of toys await me…

In the mean time, I have visions of silliness dancing in my head…

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I just signed up for this fabulously silly class with Carla Sonheim that starts January 5th.

A gift for myself ! Merry Christmas to me !

Maybe I will see you there, Beautiful Silly Ones !

Happy Holiday Making !

9 comments:

carmen said...

you are into so many adventures! i think that is creative too
have a wonderful time!
here i am enjoying your gifts from your swap, super cool! (i feel like giving it a try to that match box and definitively gotta check that class with Carla sonheim)
keep enjoying every single minute of this December because that's the secret for the next new year;-)
keep living creative and joyful
muchos hugs!!!

beth said...

are you kidding me....they were surfing ????.....NUTS is right !!!

and i like that saying "in winter my heart lives in spring"
ME TOO !!!! and in the sun and the sand and the ocean but that's a whole other story :)

anyhow....i'm glad your rocks were still there.....and still no snow for you guys is blowing me away....i live in the wrong state !

xoxoxoxoxo

Anonymous said...

Love the rock abundance, love the tree, and those gifts from your pals, wow and whoopi! Silliness does abound. Sounds like a great class you should really enjoy. Have a wonderful Christmas with the family. Enjoy. xox Corrine

Rita Vindedzis said...

That's a LOT of rocks!! I received one of your sweet little "you shine" stars from our friend Sherry. It hangs in my studio where I can see it everyday. Hope your Christmas is spent with the ones you love and your travel is safe. All the best for 2011 Kim. A Jan and Feb filled with art sounds like bliss.

Olivia said...

You are one busy queen! Everything looks lovely and I'm wishing you some Serious Art Hibernation in 2011!

I think it's so sweet that your husband goes with you to the beach to get rocks. You are a blessed queen, my dear.

Wishing you a great class, more swap fun, and wonderful memories with your husband, xoO

Kate Robertson said...

What a lovely post, fully of love rocks, the beach and wonderful art from your exchange. So glad to see all the prep going on. I used to do colored lights but switched to white a couple of years ago. I do love my tree.

Wishing you calm in all the upcoming prep and some art time too.

Hugs,

Kate

Lynn Cohen said...

Fun to see all you are into and creating! Love the colored rocks,,,something new in that realm. Tags of old fashioned look speak to an inner me for sure.

Dawn said...

Hey Kim, I just love your Christmas-y rocks ~ so pretty ~ bet they're really popular with everyone. Your Christmas tree is gorgeous too.
Love,
Dawn

PS I'm glad you liked my Day 7 gifties.

Meri said...

You rock........literally and figuratively! I love the hang up too. It's the best kind of hang up to have. You'll have a lot of fun in Carla's class, I think, and I'll stay tuned for the posts.