Christmas Booty~!
Christmas was a very quiet day, spent at home, with just me and Dino. We mostly watched videos and caught up on the one TV series we're currently interested in (Dexter). We had prime rib roast, asparagus and Denali Gold potatoes for dinner, as well as lots of snacky goodies throughout the day. Like a veggie tray with spinach dip, a fruit tray, some items from the Dutch bakery, and Scottish shortbread cookies (mmmm, pure butter....). Very bad for me, I know, but I kept it in moderation and checked my blood sugar several times to make sure I wasn't overdoing it.
I received some really wonderful, thoughtful, and nice things this year. I am very grateful to have such good friends ^_^
One thing I am not so grateful for this year is discovering that it is becoming more and more difficult for me to hold the camera steady thanks to shaking and weakness in my hands. Many of the pictures I took of craft projects and such I had to take several times in order to get a picture that wasn't fuzzy, and some I never managed to get right. Like the one of this year's Christmas tree. I took six, and this was the least blurry.
Oh well. This year I tried something new. Since we haven't been able to have tinsle icicles on the tree since we got Cindie (she eats them), I'm been experiementing with alternatives to get that icicle look to the tree. I saw packages of long silver spirals at a store early in the season and bought three of them, thinking that might work. And I really like the effect! So, I think those spiral icicles will be a permenant addiction to the tree from now on.
So, onto gifts!
shewolfe sent me a print of one of the lovely fractals she's been working on this past year! It's quite pretty indeed! I can't wait for when I finally have a house with enough wall space to be able to display her beautiful art. Thank you Shewolfe! She also sent me a charming handmade Christmas card (which I noticed was one of seidoo_ryuu's creations, so thank you to Seidoo_ryuu too! [and for the touching words in the card you sent as well]). :D :D
ladybugpurple sent me one of the books that's been on my Amazon wishlist for awhile now, and it's one I've been really really wanting! Create You Own Hand-printed Cloth, by Rayna Gillman. I'm so excited to read it and hopefully try out some of the techniques! She also sent a length of beautiful silk ribbon, in purple of course, for me to save for the Underwater Fantasy workshop next summer. Eeeee! Thank you Ladybugpurple! ^_^ I'm sorry I put the wrong last name on the package I sent you. I hope it gets to you okay.
Every year, laridian makes me an ornament for the tree, and this year was no exception. She sent me a beautiful monogramed cross-stitch and beaded piece which you can see on the picture of the tree above, but here is a better shot of it:
She also made me a biscornou! This is a nifty 8-sided pin cushion. The one Laridian made is in my favorite Delft blues and white, and I just love it!
How cool is that? It's so pretty that I'd like to get some lovely antique pins to display in it, rather than using it for everyday and risk getting it dirty or wrecked.
Laridian also made and sent me an adorable little lavender sachet, with a kitty on it! She was really too good and generous to me this year! <3 <3
Sorry that picture is a little whited out. But all that gold filiment work! Gah, that would have driven me nuts! Laridian is a far more patient cross-stitcher than I am, that's for sure! And that's not all! She also sent me some ribbons, embellishments, bits of fabric and buttons for the Underwater Fantasy piece! Thank you, Laridian! I love everything.
This year, of course, Dino got me the sewing machine. Which is awesome times infinity. But he also got me a handheld scanning wand (which will make scanning all my postcards sooooo much easier) and a couple of My Little Pony FiM t-shirts from We Love Fine. Which are naturally 20% cooler than any other clothes I have (*grin*). They both have Sweetie Belle on them, and she's one of my favorite characters. I'm wearing the best one in the picture below (I put it on immediately!)
The other one he got shows Sweetie Belle holding the fabric of the t-shirt itself and saying "Dumb Fabric!" which is a line from the show, but it's also perfect for me to wear when I'm sewing and otherwise cussing over whatever crafting project I'm fighting with at any given moment. :D :D My husband is awesome, because he knows me so well.
(For those of you who watch MLP:FiM [and I know there is at least one of you!], my favorite mane 6 characters are Rarity and Pinkie, my favorite secondaries are Sweetie Belle and Big Mac, and my favorite backgrounders are Derpy and Doctor Whooves [in fact, I love them together] I also like Lyra and Carrot Top/Golden Harvest. And Fallout: Equestria is one of the best fan fics [or any fiction] I have ever read. Yes, Fallout mixed with MLP. Seriously. The BEST. Okay, enough about ponies...)
So, all in all I had a very nice Christmas. It was a little bittersweet because we're fairly certain this will be our last Christmas with Benjamin, and I got teary about it more than once. But he and the other cats were spoiled silly with toys and treats, and we took a bunch of video of Benjamin. He was happy and content most of the day (until it was medicine time), so it was good.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmases. Unfortunately, Christmas this year fell exactly on my regular days off, so I was right back to work on Monday and all this week. The same will be true of New Years. We've been having our inventory clearance sale this week, so the store has been moderately busy. Especially with ladies coming in to spend the gift cards their men bought them. It's been rather tiring for me, especially driving in the snow, which seems like it just won't stop falling.
Okay, that's enough rambling! Gotta go wolf down some lunch before I break trail to work! Thank you again to everyone who sent me such wonderful things!
I received some really wonderful, thoughtful, and nice things this year. I am very grateful to have such good friends ^_^
One thing I am not so grateful for this year is discovering that it is becoming more and more difficult for me to hold the camera steady thanks to shaking and weakness in my hands. Many of the pictures I took of craft projects and such I had to take several times in order to get a picture that wasn't fuzzy, and some I never managed to get right. Like the one of this year's Christmas tree. I took six, and this was the least blurry.
Oh well. This year I tried something new. Since we haven't been able to have tinsle icicles on the tree since we got Cindie (she eats them), I'm been experiementing with alternatives to get that icicle look to the tree. I saw packages of long silver spirals at a store early in the season and bought three of them, thinking that might work. And I really like the effect! So, I think those spiral icicles will be a permenant addiction to the tree from now on.
So, onto gifts!
shewolfe sent me a print of one of the lovely fractals she's been working on this past year! It's quite pretty indeed! I can't wait for when I finally have a house with enough wall space to be able to display her beautiful art. Thank you Shewolfe! She also sent me a charming handmade Christmas card (which I noticed was one of seidoo_ryuu's creations, so thank you to Seidoo_ryuu too! [and for the touching words in the card you sent as well]). :D :D
ladybugpurple sent me one of the books that's been on my Amazon wishlist for awhile now, and it's one I've been really really wanting! Create You Own Hand-printed Cloth, by Rayna Gillman. I'm so excited to read it and hopefully try out some of the techniques! She also sent a length of beautiful silk ribbon, in purple of course, for me to save for the Underwater Fantasy workshop next summer. Eeeee! Thank you Ladybugpurple! ^_^ I'm sorry I put the wrong last name on the package I sent you. I hope it gets to you okay.
Every year, laridian makes me an ornament for the tree, and this year was no exception. She sent me a beautiful monogramed cross-stitch and beaded piece which you can see on the picture of the tree above, but here is a better shot of it:
She also made me a biscornou! This is a nifty 8-sided pin cushion. The one Laridian made is in my favorite Delft blues and white, and I just love it!
How cool is that? It's so pretty that I'd like to get some lovely antique pins to display in it, rather than using it for everyday and risk getting it dirty or wrecked.
Laridian also made and sent me an adorable little lavender sachet, with a kitty on it! She was really too good and generous to me this year! <3 <3
Sorry that picture is a little whited out. But all that gold filiment work! Gah, that would have driven me nuts! Laridian is a far more patient cross-stitcher than I am, that's for sure! And that's not all! She also sent me some ribbons, embellishments, bits of fabric and buttons for the Underwater Fantasy piece! Thank you, Laridian! I love everything.
This year, of course, Dino got me the sewing machine. Which is awesome times infinity. But he also got me a handheld scanning wand (which will make scanning all my postcards sooooo much easier) and a couple of My Little Pony FiM t-shirts from We Love Fine. Which are naturally 20% cooler than any other clothes I have (*grin*). They both have Sweetie Belle on them, and she's one of my favorite characters. I'm wearing the best one in the picture below (I put it on immediately!)
The other one he got shows Sweetie Belle holding the fabric of the t-shirt itself and saying "Dumb Fabric!" which is a line from the show, but it's also perfect for me to wear when I'm sewing and otherwise cussing over whatever crafting project I'm fighting with at any given moment. :D :D My husband is awesome, because he knows me so well.
(For those of you who watch MLP:FiM [and I know there is at least one of you!], my favorite mane 6 characters are Rarity and Pinkie, my favorite secondaries are Sweetie Belle and Big Mac, and my favorite backgrounders are Derpy and Doctor Whooves [in fact, I love them together] I also like Lyra and Carrot Top/Golden Harvest. And Fallout: Equestria is one of the best fan fics [or any fiction] I have ever read. Yes, Fallout mixed with MLP. Seriously. The BEST. Okay, enough about ponies...)
So, all in all I had a very nice Christmas. It was a little bittersweet because we're fairly certain this will be our last Christmas with Benjamin, and I got teary about it more than once. But he and the other cats were spoiled silly with toys and treats, and we took a bunch of video of Benjamin. He was happy and content most of the day (until it was medicine time), so it was good.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmases. Unfortunately, Christmas this year fell exactly on my regular days off, so I was right back to work on Monday and all this week. The same will be true of New Years. We've been having our inventory clearance sale this week, so the store has been moderately busy. Especially with ladies coming in to spend the gift cards their men bought them. It's been rather tiring for me, especially driving in the snow, which seems like it just won't stop falling.
Okay, that's enough rambling! Gotta go wolf down some lunch before I break trail to work! Thank you again to everyone who sent me such wonderful things!