Here we are...

 ...full circle again as we move into the sparkle of Christmas spirit and anticipate the new year.

Have you finished all your Christmas baking yet?  Gingerbread done?

From Creston, BC, this brings hope that you and yours will glide through the holidays with ease.

May you rock the family gatherings with your own unique style,

and have easy sledding into the New Year celebrations.

May your own Christmas tree be as colourful as are you,

and may Santa arrive in your home with style and flair!

And may 2023 be just as brilliantly wacky as you can imagine - a 'dreams-come-true' year for you and yours.

All the best to you all, and thanks for sharing with year with me!

It's getting closer...

...and closer.  I'm wondering whether you're in that zen mode because you've got it all together and ready to go, or are you frenzied and wondering if it will ever be done?

The beauty of this time of year is that it doesn't really matter.  The baking will be finished, the big meal will come together regardless of how many are involved, and still there's time for play in the studio, even if it's a bit haphazard.

I realized that I'd not cut any snowflakes this year so that was definitely on my agenda - it's a 65 year tradition at this point.  None of this boring white stuff for me, though - these babies have got some colour to them.  😉

I'm still playing with my paint shirt, although the mending bits have not yet come into being.  Where are those elves when you need them???

The pile of tags was shrinking, so I got started on some more,

although getting sidetracked was definitely in order this week, so the pile did not grow by much.

Somebody put out a puzzle, and you know what kind of a trap that is...hours may have been lost there.

So while I do some more baking, cutting and puzzling, I'll let Santa say hello and goodbye as we roll towards the big day.

Happy last 10 days to Christmas for you - may all your tasks be creative, fun and done on time!

My memory is great...

 ...when it's turned on, although that's a hit and miss thing these days.  🤣  I realized that one of the Christmas traditions hadn't even been on my mental radar, so making tree ornaments for the grandkids was was pretty much a necessity given I was in the midst of wrapping their presents.

The ones I made for them have disappeared somewhere in the pile, but as you can see from the photo above, I just couldn't stop making these little (1 1/2" square) ornaments.  The origami envelopes were  so fun to make from 6" x 1 1/2" strips of paper scraps and I probably have a thousand more of those.  They could be as lucky as origami cranes, right?

I finished them with a wide variety of stickers,

and a range of embroidery thread ends.

Some are meant for children,

and just as many for the grown-ups.

I wonder now if my addictive nature will let me stop this nonsense, and get on to the Christmas baking.  After all, there are only seventeen days left until Christmas, and soooooooo many treats to sort.

Happy Christmas creating, whatever you're up to!

Yikes...

...the snow has hit.  That's not such a bad thing, though, as it means more time in the studio, right?  Since the Christmas cards are ready for the mail, I've had time to work on the perforated-paper mini books.

There's something that really appeals to me about those raggedy-edge papers (I alternated them vertically so that both the tops and bottoms would ruffle).

The range of colour from yellow-green to ultramarine, makes me happy, too.

And the alcohol-ink stained (and formerly white) wallpaper is truly mouthwatering.

I can see there will be a couple more of these created, given that I have some more perforated pages.

I can't guarantee that the colour range will remain the same, though.  With all this snow,

it feels like some heat may be required!

Here's to more studio play, because these need to be put into something, right?  They are too small (2 7/8" W x 2 5/8" H) for my fumbling fingers to create cases for, so I suspect envelopes will be the next thing on my list.    Happy creating to you, whatever you're making!  

While artists seldom retire...

 ...there comes a time when their paint shirts are not fit for polite company.  This past week, I had to let my old one go, it being so threadbare that it could no longer protect my clothing.  The 'new' shirt was one I started on just before Covid hit, so had not yet finished the job.

While I had already started to mend some of the holes,

from this photo you can see that substantial repair needs to be done yet.  

It seems that everywhere I look there's another area waiting for a patch.

And of course, what you see it not necessarily what you get, given my penchant for outlining, over-printing and other mixed media shenanigans.

It certainly is a much stronger look than the washed-a-thousand-times old paint shirt.  I'm not even sure I can upcycle this in any way.  Unless...well, that's for another go round, I'd say!

Happy creative week to all of you, and my your own paint shirts carry you to glory!  

In polite society...

 ...one doe not talk about toilets.  I've rarely been accused of being too polite, however, and that's how this journal spread evolved.

An idle mind wonders (and wanders) while the hands are busy at mundane tasks, so mine just had to estimate how many toilets I'd cleaned in my life.   The answer astounded me, even at a conservative evaluation.    Trying to guess the point of all that led me to wonder who was cleaning who 😉 and the spread nearly finished itself.  If only that were the case for toilets.  🤣

I did manage a bit of work on the mini perforated edge book(s), at least to the point of choosing the paper for the accordion and covers.  More to come this week, with luck.

The Christmas cards are coming apace, with long hours embellishing the stars.  Now they sparkle nearly as much as do the friends and family they're meant for.

May your week have been as full of fun, colour and sparkle and may your mind's wandering take you to new and amusing places.

It's true that...

 ...I'm 'supposed' to be working on Christmas cards, but I couldn't help throwing some paint on a journal this week.  I suspect there will be another yoga-themed spread happening on this oh-so-subdued background.  😎 

And of course once I got into the paint, I came across some saved bits of stark white paper from a different project.

I could hardly leave them sitting there so boringly neutral, could I?  I threw them into four tubs of water stained with Golden high flow paints and the next day they were halfway (faintly coloured), so I switched ends and put them into different colours.  When they came out sopping wet, they were somewhat less uninspiring, so I dropped some more high flow randomly onto the papers.

The result was great fun, and now I have some interesting papers to turn into a mini book.  I suspect the size of these sheets (they'll be about 2 1/4" x 2 1/2" when folded) will be just about the right size to hold a word or two.

High flow paints fascinate me with the way they move on wet surfaces.  I'm just loving the results.

Of course, I did manage some work on the Christmas cards, as well, and really hope to finish them this week, as I know the out-of-country ones need to head out soon.

I'm hoping your week was colourful as well, and that your world is also dripping with creative juices.