pamgarrison

remains of the day journal in progress

I am  having so much fun taking Mary Ann Moss' Remains of the Day online class. I'm stealing time here and there and loving the inspiration over the holidays. Mary Ann doesn't know it, but she even kept me company while I did the holiday dishes. I brought the laptop into the kitchen, started one of her videos and happily listened and watched her create while I puttered in the sink. It was so much more enjoyable doing dishes and talking (or listening) about creating. Above are some of my inside pages in progress. Here is the front cover:

and the back cover:

 

the spine:

 

and the inside of the cover. That's a little muslin pocket to hold goodies:

Having completed my cover, I've moved on to the inside pages. I'll show you more of that the next post, but here's a teaser:

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve everyone!

a few special moments caught

My first ever photo with a little bit of bokeh magic in it.

The spectacular spectacle of decorated houses seen while walking around Balboa Island (not bad for an iphone in the dark, and yes, that is a moving reindeer merry-go-round on the roof top!)

Hand made giftwrap by my young neices. I'll save these for sure!

The sweet tags my son made for the gifts he gave his sister...without any prompting whatsoever.

that one antique ornament is just so precious overlooking the happenings on Christmas morning.

Catching my daughter working on her new gift from her brother. The two of us love puzzles. This is the third one this holiday season. My gathering of supplies for the online class I'm taking from Mary Ann Moss (more to come on that in next post), set on top of our Christmas day game of Risk, a gift for my son. We played for about 2 hours before I started trying to lose so that I could wander off and rummage through scraps. When they caught on to my scheme, they showed me mercy and agreed to take a break. It's patiently waiting our return...

Hope you've been enjoying your holiday time, no matter what you celebrate or where you are! I love that it seems the whole world has slowed down a bit.xox

wishing you and yours

And Happiest of Holidays to you and yours.   May 2010 be a wonderful year!

last week's activities

Old ornaments that are new to us this year. Wonder if I'll ever be able to resist their siren song..
We had some guests this weekend, so last week I spent some time painting and collaging something to go over the fireplace. It's really big, about 30x30". Those are photocopies of our family silhouettes. It's a work in progress, but far enough along to use on the giant blank wall.

 

And then I went to work on Holiday cards...late I know. I ask you, do your children put you through this when you ask them to take a picture for Christmas cards?!? It was not as fun as it looks in hindsight. Oh to be young and silly and fun...

pictures as pages

Remember this journal that I showed you earlier? Well, after reading Ali's blog, and admiring this post where she shared some other people's Christmas journals, it got  a little make-over. Ali's participants shared so many great pages where they printed out there own photos vs. gluing them on a background page. And when I realized that we finally have a printer that is decent and would print a picture, I couldn't wait to take some of the photos that I've taken around the house lately and incorporate them as their own pages in my current working journal. They will make perfect backgrounds to write on.
 

 

 I love Ali's December Daily project and am determined to do it next year. Such a wonderful way to document the season and make it last for years to come. You can bet I'll be including some of our own ornament/decoration shots as pages. Can't get more personal backgrounds than that!

 

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pretty

1. Untitled, 2. crunch some numbers, 3. Hot-air balloons, 4. Balloons, 5. birdcage no.4, 6. you are my sunshine, 7. @home vintage general, 8. vanessa valencia office 19, 9. paint., 10. pumpkins, 11. Untitled, 12. lots and lots of burlap, 13. Colores, 14. Untitled, 15. X, 16. DSC_0037, 17. some 'whatnot tree' glee..., 18. Ishbel blocking, 19. poinsetta ornament, 20. sweet potato, homemade yogurt and hazelnut cakes, 21. vol 25, 22. Untitled, 23. Vintage chocolate., 24. Untitled, 25. snowflakes, 26. peter and xander, 27. Rain, 28. boppy cover, 29. Dorie, 30. office chair redo

problem solving

Surely inspired by dottie angel, I made a snowflake curtain to cover the window behind our tree. It creates a lovely backdrop and I feel oh-so-clever for putting it all together. We have a wall of windows in our living room that are still in need of window coverings. (I just can't figure out what to do in that room, but that's a problem for another day.) The windows let in beautiful light for most of the day, and therein lies the problem for our Christmas tree. It can't take such direct heat and light. See what I mean?

So I grabbed a really old and destroyed tablecloth that I was saving to make big lapkins out of. Um, not sure what happened here, but it looks like it's been through a lot. There's a large tear as well as the burn.

 

Since doilies are having such a moment in the craft world, I too have caught the fever and been gathering a few. The rest are from JoAnn's Fabrics and were $1.00-$3.00. With those and a few upholstery tacks, it looks like we'll have our own version of a white Christmas.

Now for the yucky part: off to put the lights on. Not sure how or when that became my job, it didn't start out that way. But I want to have the tree ready for a family trimming  tonight, and that makes it worth it!

{Ed: Hey! Check it out, maybe it wasn't only dottie angel in the back of my brain, but Martha. After seeing Alicia's post on her darling doily packages, I clicked her inspired by link and there was a snowflake curtain! Although, of course, Martha being Martha, and Martha's people being Martha's people, it is perfect and beautiful. I like it better on a sheer fabric even, although, for my sun exposure purposes I wouldn't have been able to go that way. Everyone loves doilies, don't they? Martha has more ideas here}

jenny's new adventure

Last night a few of us got together to hear all about and celebrate Jenny Doh's leap into a brand new adventure. It's a big change, as she's been at the helm of so many Somerset publications for 6 years, but a leap she had to take to follow her heart and make a big difference in the lives of many. (I know, I know, she will be sorely missed, but she promises to transition and train her replacement so all readers will be just fine.) Her new adventure is called Crescendoh, who's subtitle says it all: creative passion, authentic community, focused compassion. I have had many lengthy discussions with Jenny about her yearning to combine her masters degree in and passion for social work with her passion for art and artists and the stories that combine the two. I am excited to participate when things get rolling. It's going to be so rewarding to see the lives that Art-Saves (the motto of Crescendoh). Hope you'll check it out and help me cheer her on. Above is a little present I gave her to celebrate her newly planted seed. And here we are on our walk back to the car last night with Amy.

 

I found this window display sign fitting for her news and the season both:

 

We couldn't help but admire the endlessly creative and inspiring Anthropologie window either:

 

Congratulations Jenny, your future looks very shiny and bright, just like the last alley we walked down while saying our goodbyes:

 

Best wishes for much success in the future!

mail art love

Wouldn't you be giddy if you opened your mailbox and saw this waiting for you? I sure was. And this is just the back of the envelope, here's the front:

I don't think I've ever seen a more exciting and unique piece of mail. Thanks go to this super talented whip smart wonder for re-inspiring me to play play play, even on envelopes going in the mail!  She's got a uber cool online class going on right now too. The teaser video alone has my fingers itching to go. Ever since Teesha's online journaling videos, I'm addicted to them. Mary Ann's are just the medicine I need. Off to enjoy more inspiration, with gratitude.

december comes in with a flurry every year

Every year, my daughter's December 1st birthday sneaks up on me. Just as Thanksgiving ends, the bustle of the holidays begins and catches me by surprise. I laugh at myself, because her birthday is December 1 every year; you'd think I'd figure out how to be ready. There's always next year...

Last night we had a family dinner party to celebrate with family friends. She's a junior now and it breaks my heart. So big. So independent. Such a lovely young lady. I am a lucky mama, for sure!

Now to start those invitations for her celebration with friends. This year she's having a small dinner at home with her girlfriends. I'm feeling off balance already and I just finished last night's clean up! It's part of the fun though, isn't it?

 

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season, weather it feels like a flurry or the calm after a snowstorm; because ready or not, it's upon us! xo

another advent calendar

Amy is the guest artist on Teresa's Holiday ezine and she was in need of a guinea pig to work out some of her ideas. Always happy to be an art guinea pig! Always love stitching on paper too. Not usually a big user of red, but loving it the way Amy's project mixed it with cream and black for this holiday. See Amy's blog for more hint photos.

the countdown begins

A few years ago, Amy and I bought these advent boxes with plans to alter them. After being a work in progress for a loooonng time, I have finally finished up mine and am putting it into use today! It started out as an advent calendar box from Target, similar to this one. Every year they seem to sell some version of the same. I then covered it with paper and labels and scraps. Pretty simple really, not sure why it took me so long. 

 

Now for the really fun part: finding/making/putting treats inside to be discovered day by day. 'Tis the season!