d.Sharp Journal

Me - 0 / Christmas - 1

I meant to post this yesterday and didn't have a chance, so I hope it's not too late to wish you a Merry Christmas! This year the holiday felt kind of hectic. Some years I have Christmas firmly by the glittered balls, but this year Christmas was in charge. A bit too busy, some rush orders for customers, and never enough time. That's okay, because now that it is upon me and I am in the middle of it, it is a lot of fun - especially to celebrate it with the boys. I am so fortunate and grateful to have good friends and family to share with and I hope the same for you.

I am going to take some time offline until the New Year - a chance to organize and regroup - and I look forward to coming back here. 

Until then, have a wonderful Christmas day and wishing you a Happy New Year!

Best,

Denise

Beaded beauties

I pulled a few of our beaded glass Christmas ornaments to photograph for reference. The sky here has been pretty grey,{Portland,grey?} so these are not the best. We started collecting these years ago when we could find them really cheap and I even tried my hand at making a few with bits of old garlands and war-era beaded icicles. 

I have seen a lot of different variations on the star, a few we found on the left and a chubby star and beaded snowflake that I made.

These are some of my favorites - I  like the faceted beads and the tight-strung diamond shapes.

 

Some rickety houses, made in Japan, a windmill {new}, and an airplane in need of attention.

 

We have a handful of different spider webs, these are usually Czech. The caged ornaments are so humble and funky - one is a foil wrapped cube and another a cellophane spiky thing that has seen too many seasons, but I can't get rid of them.

 

A bicycle I made years ago that has always bugged me - the body is too long - until a friend suggested I make it into a tandem. The giraffe is new, couldn't find the alligator from the same company.

What's your favorite ornament on your tree?

Christmas, swiftly upon us.

More fun paper projects: click here for instructions!

scissors at the ready!

Working on some Christmas crafts I hope to post soon! Until then, wanted to share some of my paper holiday projects you may have missed last season over at Design*Sponge.

Click here for instructions and templates for these 3 White Christmas paper projects -

 

I can do this with one hand tied behind my back.

Well, didn't end up doing the sale. I had outpatient surgery on my wrist the day before and had not counted on being encumbered. Why, I don't know. There are apparently a lot of things I can't do with only one hand, go figure.

But, I can shop - I had a chance to go to the Crafty Wonderland sale on Sunday, it was wall to wall local talent. Next weekend, Barb Jensen is having a studio sale on Saturday, 10 to 5. Contact her for address and info.

Ink and Peat {love!} is having a holiday sale on Friday, info below.

in the meantime

I wish that I could tell you that since my last post I have been busy joyfully preparing for the holidays or traveling to some exotic location or even getting a lot of work done around here.  Instead, I spent that time not feeling well, drinking fluids and trying to convince myself that I was not getting sick.

Also, spent more time than usual watching the tube. {Off topic, but have you seen those public service announcements encouraging men to make pap smear appointments for their wives/girlfriends for Hanukkah? Weird.}

Feeling much better and am preparing for a small holiday sale at Em Space with my friend Rory. This Saturday from 2 to 7 - hope to see you!

winners! {sorry for the delay, wonky connection this morning}

Thank you all for participating! It was so nice to read about all of the wonderful people out there that are dearly appreciated. I used Random.org again to pick the three numbers.

The winning numbers are :

No.3 - Thealexandersut.blogspot.com

"My sister could use some extra loveliness to combat the chaos she deals with daily (3 kiddies under 4)!"

No.14 - Laura Brown

"An old friend from high school, now living in Kansas City.  She is always inspiring to me and I am so grateful for our long term friendship!"

No.7 - mommymae

"My best friend that i don't see anymore since i moved to the desert myself."

Congratulations - please email me with the address and note you would like included! I have a few people I am thinking about and want to send them boxes as well - I am not as good as I would like to be when it comes to demonstrating how much I care. Always a work in progress, aren't we?

Thanks again to all for participating! Apologies if you had any trouble commenting - I  wasn't aware of any problems until the last day or so of the giveaway, but I hope that will be resolved soon.

madlibbing

Our trip and visit to California was very _____________{adjective}. However, on the drive, our ____________ {adjective}, ______________{adjective}  children were at times _____________ {adverb}_________________ {adjective}.  We ___________ {verb} with them, and stopped at _____________ {plural noun}, and we had the ________________ {noun} to play _______________ {plural noun}. But, general boredom and _______________ {verb} prevailed. Now I know how much _______________ {noun} I put my parents through on road trips.