Sunday, January 03, 2016

It's 2016


Hello and Happy New Year to everyone!!

Does anyone else find it hard to believe that the holiday
season is all but over for another year??    Where did it
all go?    Seriously?


Got a fair amount of baking done ... and eaten ...
unfortunately ... during the weeks leading up to 
Christmas and I really appreciated not having to 
juggle work and holiday preparations anymore.    I 
made up gift boxes of goodies to give our neighbours 
and I took trays of goodies to the parties that we were
invited to so it all got used.   Well, most of it anyways.
And left overs will be going to Phil's workplace for his 
co-workers to enjoy this week.  

Note:  didn't take pictures of everything I made.
The above picture is just a random sampling.


I love making bows and decorating the parcels
that I wrap for Christmas.   The sparklier, the better.
I mentioned this in my previous post but here are
a few pictures showing close up shots of some of
the bows.


You can tell that I'm a traditionalist when it comes to
the colours of Christmas.    I might use blue and silver
on occasion but really red and gold and green are my
favourites.


I had a strip of gold sparkly paper left over
which was too small to wrap anything with.
I had a strip of wired red ribbon with Christmas
trees on it which was too short to make a 
bow with.   I combined them, one on
top of the other and made an arrangement
out of bits and pieces on top of that.

Festive!


Rupert had a good Christmas, though we
were both exhausted from our various
seasonal obligations by the end.


Books!   Glorious Books!!!!

One of my favourite thing to receive for Christmas
is gift cards!   For the bookstore.    Oh yes!!!
Happy dance time!!!!

Thank you to my friends who know me so
well.    YA, fantasy and adult fiction.   Aren't
they the most beautiful things you've ever seen?


Speaking of which ....

And Rupert loves the box that they came in.    I used
his old Chapters box to pack and wrap a Christmas
gift in so I just had to make sure that I replaced it 
with a new box in at least the same size.   He was
actually in this box before I had a chance to get most
of the books out so I had to pull them out from under
him.


Gift card from the craft store.   Went to Michaels to 
redeem the card and got myself more Smash books to
fill.   These, sadly, are no longer being made and are
getting harder and harder to find.    

I made a Smash book album for a friend for Christmas
and I also made two scrap books full of pictures for 
another friend and I had a blast doing them.   So I am
eager to get started on scrapping/smashing for myself
now.    

I've been puttering in my craft room trying to find 
places for some of the craft supplies that I also got
for Christmas (stamps, punches, embellishments ....
yummy stuff like that) and rearranging things so
that they're easier to get at and to find.   I am one of
those people for whom out of sight is out of mind so
I need to have everything within easy reach and more
or less in sight.



Another gift that I've been loving.   The illustrated addition
of the first Harry Potter book!    It's so gorgeous!!!   I'm
actually reading it now .... well .... not right now, this 
minute ... but over the holidays and I am bowled over
by the gorgeous artwork.   And the story is as sweet 
and exciting and joyful as ever.


The entire gang on New Years Eve. 

We went to friends for dinner and just spent the 
evening sitting around, nibbling on goodies and
yakking and laughing.    It was 2:00 am when 
Phil and I got home and so New Years Day we
were not too lively.   But that's another tradition
for that day isn't it?   

No New Years resolutions for me but I would like
to spend lots of time this year being creative.  That
includes stitching,  scrapbooking,  drawing and so
on.    I firmly believe that being creative is very good
for one's soul and mental health.    

And perhaps blogging through the entire year too.

Cheers for now!

5 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

I have a friend that creates beautiful packages when wrapping her presents, but not as beautiful or as intricate as yours Judy! GORGEOUS!
and I must say, I didn't know about the illustrated Harry Potters...oh my. I am a lover of all things Laura Ingalls Wilder and I purchased her illustrated in color books a few years ago...(again - I have about three sets of them) and they were stunningly done. The drawing of Harry looks fabulous and I adore those books too...

I agree with the no resolutions and the creativity. It is good for one's soul!
Happy New Year!

Maggie said...

Judy, you won't believe what I just blogged about... the Harry Potter Illustrated book!! Isn't it fabulous??

I love your gift bows, I bet everyone is thrilled to received a gift from you, so beautifully wrapped:-) (I'm terrible at wrapping.

No resolutions here either, there is enough stress in life without causing more :-)

Have a great 2016.
xx

Andrea said...

Sounds like the perfect Holiday season. Your bow creations are just amazing. You and books, you will be building another room soon to accommodate! Rupert looks very happy in his new box. :) Looking forward to seeing all of your crafting creations too.

Brigitte said...

Your creativity is amazing, Judy, I love these bows on the gift wrapping. My DIL is also such a creative person, and whenever I get a gift from her I would like to leave it wrapped, as it looks so overly beautiful. I'm nothing when it comes to gift wrapping, lol.

Oh yes, you are right. For me, too, there is nothing better than a gift certificate for a book store. I always love to spend lots of time in book stores although we only have rather small ones here in our little town. But whenever I am in the big city my first visit is at one of the big book stores. There is nothing to say against a small book store, I love the intimacy there and the competence of the store keeper - she knows her clients very well and can always recommend a book to me. But browsing through the huge departments of the huge book stores isn't bad either.

I have the same plans for the new year - being creative, stitch, quilt, start my first real scrap book and write more letters and cards. I am so happy to be retired and to have all my time for these things. Wishing you a great creative 2016.

barbara said...

What a fun & energetic post, Judy! I had no idea there were illustrated Harry Potter books coming out - uh oh, I sense MORE bookshelves that need to be built in our house. ;) Love your Christmas bows. I, too, prefer green & red. Never tire of them, actually. And the baking!! I used to bake when Max was my little helper, but I've fallen out of the habit over the years. We did make a few varieties of cookies this year ... maybe I'll try a little harder next year. I love the picture of Rupert!! I have an especial weakness for orange kitties, and he is very handsome.

Best wishes to you all in the new year!!!