things i ♥ about Christmas

there are just a couple of empty spots left in my Christmas journal......

i'm really glad i left some room for the gingerbread house!

and my all-time favorite thing:  santa!!

now the only thing left to do is put some finishing touches on the inside covers.

i decided to keep it simple and just paint some lines of watercolor.

then i could add some thoughts and doodles 

to the inside front cover.......

along with my list of materials onto the inside back cover.

and here's the final accordion journal.....
just in time for Christmas!


i hope you have a beautiful Christmas holiday,
and a very artful 2012!!

{i'll be spending some time with my family, 
so i'll be away from my blog for several weeks.
thank you SO much for your sweet encouragement
and support this year..... i'll see you in the new year!  woo hoo!!}

hiding places

Christmas stockings......
one of the absolute best places in the
entire world to tuck a sweet little surprise!


{from my things i ♥ about Christmas journal.
materials:  derwent watercolor and inktense pencils,
micron pens, 2B graphite pencil}

inspiration monday

i was inspired to do a little doodlin' in my Christmas journal this weekend......but one thing i noticed when i opened it was that it looks a little "heavy" over on the left side where i added the extra page for my favorite carols.  so, i decided to try to balance things out and i cut another piece of paper to add to the right-hand side of the journal......

and this time i'm going to add some of my favorite Christmas movies!

  normally i keep things a lot more streamlined and a little less busy, but i don't know if it's such a good idea to argue with inspiration, so i just went with it's calling!

 once i had my doodles finished, i sewed it into the fold of the journal.  i had to kind of make up this stitching pattern,  since i didn't want to cover up my lettering with waxed linen thread.....

and thankfully, it's holding everything together the way it should!

and now my journal is looking a lot more balanced to me!
just a few empty spaces left......i'm hoping to finish it by Christmas!


{supplies:  arches textwove paper, micron pens, derwent watercolor and
inktense pencils, 2B graphite pencil, uniball signo white gel pen}

weekend recipe

the main ingredients to ensure a happy weekend are simple:
your favorite mug filled with hot cocoa, and a batch of cookies.

but, if you want to have a really, really great weekend.....
add lots of chocolate chips to the cookies.

and for an outrageously spectacularly awesome weekend,
make sure your cookies (with lots of chocolate chips)
 are freshly baked and warm from the oven!!

woo hoo!

here's hoping your weekend is outrageously spectacular.....
in an awesome-fresh-from-the-oven kind of way!!

{illustration from my "things i ♥ about Christmas" journal created
using derwent inkense pencils, micron pens, 2B grahite pencil}

29 ways

                                
                               

here are 29 fabulous ways to stay creative.....

{and since i noticed it wasn't included, i would like to suggest

"eat chocolate.....lots and lots of chocolate"

as number 30}

:))

inspiration monday

my sweet bloggy friend chrissy gardner participated in the mini workshop "12 artsy ornaments of Christmas" (hosted by christy tomlinson), and i couldn't resist making her cute little paper cottage project!  chrissy used vintage book text to create her cottages, but since i don't have any vintage textbooks, i decided to use some prints of my journal pages.

and after i cut them apart using the patterns that chrissy provided,

and did a little assembly work.....

i had a sweet little artsy paper cottage of my own!!  i added a few other things like the heart punch in the door, and the "smoke" coming out of the chimney......

but why stop at making just one cottage, when you can make two.....

or three!!

(this little birdie on the roof is one of my favorites!)

but what i really love about these little cottages is when you tuck a battery-operated tea light candle inside,  it looks like there's lots of love and inspiration radiating from within.....
just the way a sweet little artsy paper cottage should be!

you can read more about chrissy's project
(she adds her houses to a strand of Christmas lights.....super cute!!)
and the "12 artsy ornaments of Christmas" here!

{materials used:  prints of my journal artwork, tacky glue, exacto knife, scissors,
micron pen, heart punch, polyester fiberfill, battery-operated tea light candle}

{pepper}mint condition

i hope you have a peppermint twisty,  super sweet confectiony,

 red-and-white-sugary-candy-getting-stuck-in-your-teeth weekend!!  enjoy!!

{illustration from my things i ♥ about Christmas journal.

supplies: micron pens, derwent watercolor pencils, graphite pencil}

garden gifts

in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, mother nature is quietly going about her business and gifting us here in north florida with simple pleasures.

this explosion of december pink and yellow is such a treat in my back-porch-garden.....

and it looks like there's lots more to come!

{camellia japonica}

inspiration monday

one of the many things i ♥ about Christmas is listening to all the wonderful hymns and carols!  i have too many favorites, though,  and there isn't enough room in my little journal to include them all......so,  i decided to just add another page!  i took a piece of the arches textwove paper that i used for the accordion journal,  and folded it randomly.

then, using my microns and koi watercolors,  i added a title to the front.

then i started to add some of my favorite Christmas music titles inside......

until i had filled up the page!

then i added my new page of carols to the accordion journal by matching up the folds and punching three holes down the middle using my needle.

i used a piece of white waxed linen thread to sew my carols-page in,

(i used the pamphlet stitch, shown here)

and then i tied the threads into a knot.

and now i have a little "journal within a journal" that's filled with all kinds of
fabulous Christmas music inspiration!

{materials used:  arches textwove paper, micron pens,  koi watercolors,
derwent watercolor pencils, waterbrush, graphite pencil, waxed linen thread, needle}

five ornies

                                             Source: pattyschaffer.typepad.com via Lori on Pinterest

my very talented bloggy friend patty schaffer has been working some of her creative magic again.  she designed five ornaments for the styrofoam company, and i think they'd make any tree look merry and bright!  this very sweet red-and-white button ornie is one of my favorites.....click here to see patty's other fabulous designs, along with a how-to video and full instructions on how you can create some for yourself this weekend!!