Thank you.....

I wanted to thank each of you for all of your sweet wishes on my birthday.  I am so very lucky to have such thoughtful and fun friends visit me here in this space. 

It was a really wonderful day of relaxing and visiting with my twin and our boys.  A day of laughs and reminiscing over photos galore.

 I ended up finishing my fingerless gloves as a birthday present to myself.  (and now I see that I was off on the cuff length.....oh well.)

 And Eben gifted me with a really sweet handmade bracelet.

A beautiful antique ring holder from my father-in-law...it was my husband's Grams. and I will treasure it.

 Some really warm new socks for skiing from my Aunt.

And a really beautiful snow globe from my parents.  To go with my other one.

And the best one of all.....my parents surprised me with my own Minolta Dimage7i!!!!!


They knew how in love that I fell with his camera when he let me borrow it and they were able to find this one for me as a birthday gift. 

So, now I don't have to dread handing Dad back his camera (and the tug of war that would surely ensue), because now I have my own.  And I will most definitely relish every click of it's shutter and remember the wonderful Thirtieth birthday in which I received it.

Thirty years...

Today I share my Thirtieth year with my best friend.

The one who I wiggled and screamed and flailed with.

The one who holds my hand when I need it the most.

The one that I dressed up like our Daddy with.

She is who I have shared a trillion-plus giggles with.

 

And a bazillion-plus hugs with.

She is especially the one that I have shared the most wonderful parents on earth with.

She is my best friend and I can't wait to share the next 60 years together.

The river...

I could have worked on it for another month and still not be entirely pleased with it.

(The inspiration.)
 

After my third attempt though...... it's finished.

The progression was frustrating and inspiring all at the same time.

Those darn trees.

 

Well, with the right brushes and a natural sea sponge.

I practiced and practiced until the leaves took on the life that I wished for them, all along.

From blotted brush strokes and lines of sticks.

To layers upon layers of leaves and peek-a-boo branches.

From shapeless backgrounds that lacked reflections

To a distant forest at a river's edge.

From turquoise tinted waters and contrived little islands of jutting green.

To a more natural hue of blue and lay of the land.

On Christmas morning I trimmed, matted, and then wrapped it.

A bit later than intended, but it is now out of my hands and the reach of my brushes. 

Protected by it's frame.

A birthday present- turned Christmas present for my Pa and Gram.

Merry Christmas (in pictures)....

Christmas Eve Day...

 Making sugar cookies for Santa (with lots of sprinkles)

 

Wrapping gifts for loved ones.

 

 Setting out a buffet for Santa (with candles so that he is sure to find his way).

Tucking our giddy little one away in his bed.

Then we quietly placed each present under the tree and shut our own eyes for a few hours.

This morning was crisp and bright.

What a beautiful greeting to such a happy day.

 After the final Advent satchel was snatched from it's branch.

We headed out...hopping from house to house.... visiting with family.

 

The afternoon of sledding followed closely by naps.

To recharge so that more fun could be had.

The festivities were rounded out with a scrumptious dinner with the ones that we hold so dear.

Lots of laughs and love.

What more could I possibly need.

 I hope that you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.

Love, Julia

Plans for a day off and a quick reminder....

~I worked yesterday....so today is a a day of MEGA catching up.

~I am making my last batch of granola for gifting.

~Eben and I are going to the Thrift Store with my mom.... for some last minute scavenging.

~I finally finished one half of my pair of Fingerless mitts....you remember, the pair that I started WAY back in October.   .....Well, I am determined to finish the other one today.

D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-E-D.

~Then it is off to my Father-in-law's to wrap gifts and visit.

~And finally, we are returning home to cook dinner, snuggle, and tie up some loose ends after I put my boy to bed..

~Oh yea, and I might just drool a little more over the wood flooring. (I really don't think that I'm helping the whole drying out/curing thing.)

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Now, for the reminder.

The Creative Book Exchange still has openings, but the deadline is fast approaching.

Christmas Day is the last day to sign up.

Here is a link to the instructions and info
(in case that you have been thinking about joining.)

I can't wait to match up everyone and see the goodies that we have all made from the books that we are exchanging.

I really think we've got some wonderful girls in this exchange already.

There's Imene, Mary, Tracee,Annie, Stephinie, Breanna, Heather, Camille, Heather, Lily, Adrie, Martha, Vanessa, Lindsey, Valarie, Laura,


See.
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OK, that's all that I have for today....Continue on with your day of merriment.

A new heirloom...

Over the years the Christmas stocking has been not only a holder for all things fabulous come Chrismas morning....but it has also been a handy prop for our annual Christmas cards.

(Please excuse the quality of the following shots,I took pictures of pictures)

We stuffed our sweet little babe in it when he was 2 months old.

Then he wore it as a hat at 14 months.

And once Eben turned two and he could no longer wear his original stocking, his grandfather bought him The Ultimate.

The be-all and end-all of stocking.

Honestly, it is H-U-G-E....he literally hopped around in it like he was a participant in a potato sack contest while I tried to capture a shot for the 2006 Christmas card.

But for the past 2 years, it has become an absolute nightmare to fill.  I ended up buying out the toy isle at the dollar store just to fill it half way.

I was almost relieved when it got a tear in the hook from all the weight of it's fillings.  Needing a replacement, I was unable to find one that I liked.  On Monday, I decided to make my boy his own hand made stocking.

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I had some stacks of felt from which I cut a tree and trunk.

I used some really soft corduroy for the actual stocking part.  Along with some of my Gram's 1950's rick rack and some ribbon to embellish it with.  I stitched them into place with a simple straight stitch.

 I stitch-witched the felt tree and truck onto the corduroy before that I stitched the two halves of the stocking together.

And then I seamed the top and added a ribbon for hanging it by.

My sequine stash is enormous... even though I've only used them a handful of times in my crafting.

So, to use up a bit of them, I added ornaments to the tree.  Using super-duty-super-glue. 

You know the kind, don't you?

And now it hangs off of Eben's bedroom door where it will wait for Santa to fill with just a few goodies (not an entire tree's worth of gifts unlike the past 2 years.)

One that he can use year after year and bring to his own house when he grows and leaves our nest.  A simple heirloom to share with his own family.....made by his Mama with love.

Renovations and the making of an heirloom....

 Well, the flooring is here!!!!  It is knotty and white and wide and dreamy.  Everything that I hoped it would be.

Fran stacked it by the chimney with care, just like a stocking.

It has to dry out and cure to an 8% humidity by the wood stove for a few weeks.  Then Fran and some friends of his will be installing it.
 
It's nice to be married to someone so handy.

In other...It's-only-the-busiest-time-of-year-Julia-why-don't-you-think-of-another-project-to-stress-you-out news.....

I've decided to do some painting.

You see, our living room still has the white primer covered sheet rock walls that we never bothered to paint when we built the house.... because I happen to love white walls and heck, I was 7 months pregnant when we moved in and I really was in no shape to be inhaling fumes off of a paint roller.

But it is time.  We can only stare are crayon squiggled walls for so long.

We decided that while we were tearing up our living quarters, we might as well shine up the walls while we are at it. 

We didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

So, Fran and I sat down leafing through a stack of paint color pamphlets with our new friends.  The whole gang was there....Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams, Glidden, Valspar, and even Ralph Lauren (who knew that he had a paint line?!?!?)

The color that Fran wanted was one called "Bunker Hill Green"..... or as I like to call it..."Hunting Camp Green" 

It was way too dark.

The color that I liked is called "Bath Salts".  Heavenly.

But Fran decided that it was "too gray AND too white AND too blue AND not enough green."

Other than that....he really loved it.

We ended up coming to an agreement somewhere in the middle.  It's called "Foliage" and we bought a quart of it to try out.  We painted our hallway leading to the guest bathroom and Eben's bedroom. 

I really think I like it.


This renovation is really proving to be an exercise in compromise. 

In a good way.

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I leave you with a teaser of what my sewing machine and I did today.

See, I wasn't kidding when I said that my sewing room explodes when I have a project underway.

All that I will tell you is that there were sequins involved and some super glue and a few swear words mixed in for good measure when my fingers clung to each other.

The finished project will be dry by tomorrow and I will show you then.

Hugs to you all.