Whew!

It's been a busy couple of weeks, getting all the final holiday preparations done, and then, of course, getting through the holidays. I had a lovely time, despite the craziness. I did finally finish my shopping, wrapping and everything else - though just barely in time. I was thrilled to do a great deal of my shopping with some of the fabulous indie businesses I network with, so I didn't end up at the mall quite as often as in past years, which is a great relief. I also made some gifts myself (um, crazy, I know, given how little time I had).. I love to give handmade gifts, and my friends and family really appreciate it. Many of the gifts I made were a preview of some new products I'll be launching in the new year. (Sorry, not ready to show the world, just yet.)


I spent the holidays at my brother's house. My aunt Linda and uncle Pete hosted our Christmas Eve celebration. The whole family was there, and we celebrated with great food, a little wine and our traditional Secret Santa. (And to my Secret Santa, if you're reading, thank you very much. I love my gift, but I wish you'd reveal yourself to me!) Christmas dinner was at my brother and sister-in-law's house. We ate, drank and were very merry, all day long. Our dinner was wonderful (John and Dawn are great cooks) and we had a fun and relaxing day together.

Now I'm taking some time to relax a bit, and working on getting myself organized, in my studio, and beyond.

Hope you are enjoying the holidays, and wishing you a Happy New Year!

Speaking of deer....

Thought you'd enjoy a peek at a custom Christmas card I designed for my best friend. She has a sweet little lab, Bailey, and we dressed her up in "antlers" - like the Grinch's pup - tied on with a red ribbon.


Today I'm finally finishing up my cards, so I can get them in the mail before the holiday.... I can't believe it's just over a week away.


I'm also planning to put up my tree - it's the perfect day for it, since there's a nor'easter keeping me inside today. I love having snow in December - it's so much easier to get into the holiday spirit!


I still have some Christmas shopping to do, and am anxiously waiting for a few packages that I ordered from some fabulous indie businesses to arrive. Unfortunately, I think I'll have to make one trip to the mall this coming week, but up until now, I've managed to avoid it. And then there's wrapping, and cooking, and - YIKES - I've got a lot to do, better get back at it and away from the computer!

Swapping....

Earlier this week I finished my ornaments for the holiday ornament swap... of course, I had to use my fav penguin block - because, well, everyone loves penguins! I hand printed them on mini artist canvas, and added twill tape for hanging. They've been wrapped and boxed and are on their way to the rest of my swap group.

I've received two lovely ornaments already, and am looking forward to the rest of the goodies from my fellow swappers. I'll post a pic for you when they're all here and on the tree.

In the mean time, you can check out the holiday ornament swap flickr group and see all the wonderful ornaments. I'm in such awe of all the creativity!

Oh, deer!

Whew! 250 reindeer postcards completed and shipped. I'm finally (pretty much) caught up, and can now get started on my own Christmas cards...

Thankful...

I'm off to spend my favorite holiday with my family in Connecticut. We have Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin Patty's house every year with most of the gang - it's a wonderful day full of tradition, not to mention fabulous Thanksgiving foods. One of my family's Thanksgiving traditions is picking our Secret Santa names. We've been doing Secret Santa with all the cousins, aunts, uncles for about 20 years now, and it's always a great time! I love the excitement of opening the envelope with the name of my giftee, and then starting to plan the perfect gift.

On Friday, we have the (now) traditional second Thanksgiving at my brother John's house, usually featuring 2 turkeys (1 roasted, 1 deep fried) and all the trimmings, and my sister-in-law Dawn's homemade ice cream with the pie for dessert. We usually see my sister-in-law's family on Friday, as well as some friends, and a few cousins or aunts and uncles - who can resist a repeat of a perfect dinner!

And then there's the leftovers.....

I'm so thankful for these lovely traditions and for my family and friends...and this year there is an extra little something to be thankful for - my cousin Kristen and her husband Craig have a new baby girl, Lily Katherine (welcome sweet baby girl!).

Hope you all have as wonderful a holiday as I know I will!

Indie Fixx Shop!

Blogger extraordinaire and indie shopping guru Jen Wallace of Indie Fixx fame has recently opened a new online shop, featuring wonderful products from indie designers. You'll find fab jewelry, bags, artwork, b&b goodies, oh, and some lovely journals from me!

Holiday Ornament Swap!

I'm very excited to be participating in a holiday ornament swap, organized by Nicole of Freshly Blended and Kathleen of Cake and Pie. This is their second annual swap (I missed the first one) and they have over 600 participants worldwide! Today I received my swap group (there are 10 to a group) and had a lovely time checking out the blogs and websites of the talented peeps I'll be swapping with. Now to decide what I'm going to make (I have a few ideas...) and to anxiously wait for goodies to arrive from the others in my group!