It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas

We are in December and I'm already feeling the pressure of trying to accomplish it all. Do you do that during the holidays? I have tried very hard to work on things all through the year but I have had so many days of not feeling energetic that I haven't gotten as much done as I would like. However, I have been able to make a few things and I want to show you some of them. 

I purchased these first ornaments at Michael's. I wanted to have ornaments with our names on them, as I do every year. I thought these were quite cute for pre-made ornaments. The first one is for my hubby

I wrote my husband's name and then painted the little greenery and berries to liven it up a bit.

This second one is for my son.  I thought this puppy was SO cute and I knew he would like it as it has the same coloring as his dog, Cookie.

Again, I added the little greenery and the berries so it wouldn't look so blank.

Finally, here is my ornament. I really like this angel and thought she was very cute.

I added the little extra greenery to mine, too.  These ornaments are made of polymer clay so when I was done painting everything, I sprayed them with a glossy polyurethane. I'm quite pleased with them!

I painted this next ornament myself. I think it's just TOO cute!

I haven't decided if I will add some of my special wire that my son made as a hanger or a cute ribbon as a hanger. Probably the wire as I think it's so extra special. I just love this little camper!

Finally, I'm working on this ceramic Sea Santa. I'm going with soft pastels for him as I want it to be like the colors of shells.

I'm using acrylic paints and then highlighting with pearl paints. I just love this Santa and how unique he is. I have made many ceramic Santa's through the years and love seeing them all together each year. I have even more to paint! So fun!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my few creations. I'm really hoping to get more things done but am trying not to put too much pressure on myself either. How are you doing with all your Christmas preparations?

Blessings - Julie 

Counting Our Blessings - Linkup!

Hello friends! I feel so bad that I haven't been consistent with my weekly Counting Our Blessings Linkup. I have been so very busy working on things in my house. After 4 years of being in recovery mode from illness and surgeries made things get put on the back burner and now I'm working on getting everything back in order. It's a big job, let me tell you! I'm also still recovering from my last surgery and trying to get used to the strange feeling of the mesh over my hernia. I also still have days of pain so with all this, I have to just do what I can and rest when I need to.

Let's get started!

78.  I am so very thankful that I do have more energy and am able to work on my home again. Purging, organizing, moving stuff around. Because I can't lift more than 10 pounds, I am also very, very thankful for my husband and son who step up and help whenever I need it! I wouldn't get half of this done without them!

79.  I finished my Fall wreath! I am so pleased with it!

I have it above my stove. You can see the cute shelf my son made me and all my Pioneer Woman stuff. I'm a huge fan of hers and have so many of her things. My ceramic cactus is something I made years and years ago and I keep it lit all the time.

Here's a more closeup picture of the wreath. I'm so happy with it and it was great fun painting it!

80.  I am also trying to cross stitch more but I'm not stitching as much as I would like! I was hoping to have a lot more of my ornaments stitched up by Christmas so will need to get with it and do my nightly stitching again! I am almost done with my Gingerbread boy ornament and here he is.

I'm really just down to the back stitching and the beading. I love the beading part but not the back stitching part so much. I don't hate back stitching it's just not a favorite of mine. 😉 It has to be done, though!

81.  I also received the cutest gift from a book company that I work with. It's a t-shirt and a cute journal. I love what it says - Prose before Bros.

Many thanks to BookSpark for sending me this! I absolutely love it and it was such a fun surprise!

Now it's your turn to share your blessings!  Please share on the linkup below.


Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - LinkUp!

Counting our blessings - one by one. Such a good thing for our minds and souls! Join me as we focus on our blessings!

72.  Our son finished off our deck this last week. We also changed the color, which I like so much better than the light color I had before. Such a lot of hard work was done by my son but my hubby and I helped as much as we could, too. We painted each board all the way around before he put them down. Lots of work but so worth the final result! This is the area of deck we've had for a couple years. I ended up not liking this color as much as I thought I would.

Here's my son working hard on the new deck addition. All those boards had to be painted on all sides before he put them down. He carried each of those boards by hand, by himself - 20 feet long!

Progress....

Finished!

 I absolutely adore this color and am so glad that I decided to go darker. It's so beautiful and we are going to enjoy sitting out there with our coffee, tea and just be in nature. I'm so blessed by my son for doing all this work!

73.  I've been working on my little gingerbread man ornament. I love how his little personality is coming through now. I can't wait to get started on the beading!

There's still quite a bit of stitching to be done before the beading though, so gotta keep stitching! 😊

74.  I'm so glad Fall is on it's way. It's still been really hot here but I'm thinking about pumpkins, leaves changing colors and cooler weather! I am working on this piece that will go above my stove when it's done. It's a ceramic piece that I've had for awhile and I thought it was time to get it done! Here's the start of the painting.

I started out by painting the whole thing with an autumn brown, then dry brushed white over the whole thing. Now, I'll add the colors on top of that. I think this is going to look adorable when I'm all done. I'm so glad I have the opportunity to make things for my home. I find it a blessing.

I changed the font on my blog to something easier to read and bolder. These old eyes were having trouble reading my blog! What do you think? Do you like it - is it easier for you to read? Let me know!

Share your own blessings on the linky below!


Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - LinkUp!

Don't you love Tuesdays when we stop to count our blessings? We all need to stop and think about the wonderful things that happen instead of dwelling on the negative. So let's get started!

69.  I finished my snowman ornaments! I'm over-all really pleased with how they came out. 😊

Now I just need to put them together with wire and put a hanger on them - which leads me to my next blessing.

70.  My son made me the most beautiful twisted wire! I haven't had a chance to take a picture yet, but it's just amazing and it's going to really make these ornaments look beautiful! He's such a talented man and so giving in doing these things for me! He blesses me in so many ways!

71. I am feeling better but still tired. I have some nights where I have insomnia, but I am so very thankful for all that God has done for me.

Now it's time for you to share your blessings.  Please share on the linky below or share in the comments.

Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - Linkup!

I know it's a little late in the day for our linkup but it's never too late to Count Our Blessings!

61.  I finally finished my birdhouse! I love it and my son did such a beautiful job making it and I enjoyed painting it so much! Here are my pictures of it.

Now, this bird house was meant to go outside, but I just can't do it! lol I'm going to keep it inside and find a wonderful place for it where I can enjoy it every day. My son, being so sweet, is going to make me another birdhouse for outside and I won't go so crazy decorating it. Plus, I'll make sure I use outdoor paint and varnish. That was one of the issues with this one - I knew the sun here would eventually ruin it and that was one of the reasons I want to keep it indoors.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my bird house!

Please share your own blessings on the linky below or in the comments!



Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - LinkUp!

This is the first Counting Our Blessings for 2018! I have high hopes for this year and am excited to start counting my blessings. I hope you are, too.

1. The first thing I am always thankful for is my family. 2017 wasn't exactly easy for us and we went through so much. Some of which we are still going through with this latest surgery I had. My family has stood beside me, helping me and encouraging me. I am so thankful and so blessed!

2.  I have been blessed with wonderful in home nurses. I have one in particular that has gone above and beyond to help me. She was the one that tried everything and anything to help with the ostomy bag when it wouldn't stay on. She has come to my home late at night to replace a bag that has fallen off or leaked. She has given of herself and helped me so much. I am so thankful for her. As a token of my appreciation, I made her this for Christmas.

3.  I actually made quite a few of these pins to give to my other nurse and a few special friends. I got the idea from a fellow painter who encouraged us to show random acts of kindness to those that have touched our lives. I had so much fun painting these!

4.  I also made a few of these ornaments. Can you stand the cuteness?

I didn't make too many of these but did share with some of my most favorite people. :)

5.  Of course, my blessings wouldn't be complete without these two! The baby girls got all prettied up for Christmas. They didn't keep those bows in too long but it was fun while it lasted!

Don't you feel like Mitzi is saying, "Talk to the paw!" LOL She's such a cutie and I adore her. These babies just bless me beyond measure.

Now it's your turn! Please share on the linky below. You can share your blessings, something that you think would bless others, something you've made, a recipe...anything that blesses!


Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - LinkUp

It's time to count our blessings!!

48.  My son found this beautiful painting for me at a used sale and I absolutely love it!

I have another rose painting similar to this one but the roses are bright colored. They will look so nice together! Such a blessing!

49.  I'm working on a praise and prayer journal. I'm having such fun with it plus it's getting me deeper into the Word. I love being able to be creative in my devotional time. Here's the cover of my journal

Then there's I have this beauty on the inside cover

Finally, the first page of my journal.

I am enjoying this so much!

50.  Finally, here's an update on my Queen Elizabeth cross stitch piece. I absolutely love this piece! It's so fun stitching on this and I love seeing the progress.

I wish my blue fabric showed up better in the pictures, but alas, it seems to mute the color.

What are your blessings for this week? Please share on the linkup below or in the comments!


Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - LinkUp!!

I hope your week has been full of blessings! If your week has been difficult, I hope that you had some small blessings along the way.

22. Hubby and I went to JoAnn's as I wanted to look at the cross stitch magazines. I'm so thankful that I can still find my magazines somewhere as it's getting harder and harder to find them. Anyway, I thought I would look at the fabric for quilting and found this

I have been collecting the Peanuts fabric for years with the plans to make a quilt. I love this piece and how very patriotic it is. It's going to be a great addition to all my other fun prints.

23. My son surprised me the other day with this beauty!

He made it for me as a surprise! The top is on a hinge so that I can clean out the house. Isn't it beautiful? I've started painting it a lovely pale egg blue and I'll share a picture when I finish it. I was so touched that me did this for me! He knows how much I love the birds and watching them. Such a huge blessing!

24. I finally finished this little painting. I've been working on it for months. I paint then I sit it aside - over and over. However, I finally finished it and I'm so happy with it!

25. I've had a Keurig machine for over 10 years. It has been a faithful friend to me but for the past few months, it's been acting up quite horribly. It was not acting properly and I was wasting k-cups (not a good thing at the prices they cost, even in bulk!). Hubby kept telling me to get a new one but I resisted. I missed it so much, though, so I researched the different models to find out which one was best and got this one.

Oh, my goodness! It's amazing! First of all, it doesn't make all the "landing of a jet plane" noises that my old one made from day one. It's so very quiet! It makes several sizes of coffee, so I can choose what is best for my mug. It will also make a pot of coffee (I haven't done this yet) and it's such a treasure. Plus, don't you love the red? Such a blessing to have this wonderful machine!

26. Of course, my little Mitzi blesses me each and every moment of each day!

Now it's your turn to share your blessings!! If you like my link up, please share about it on your blog. You can grab my button off my "Grab My Button" page at the top of this page. Also, if you haven't yet, would you please become a Follower for my page? I am so grateful!


Blessings - Julie

Being Creative

I've been trying to keep busy doing things. It makes me happy and gives me a better lookout on life! I'm so fortunate that I can just take a few steps to my craft room and work when I'm able. I'm not sleeping well so it's such a blessing to be able to go to my craft room and create late at night when I can't sleep.

I love painting on little canvases and this is a little piece I'm working on right now. I've been working on this for probably 6 weeks but I only work on it when I feel inspired or I know exactly what the colors should be. I'm really happy with it so far and having so much fun with it!

I have the "Believe" penciled in and will do that last when I'm sure of it's placement.

I'm also working on my ceramics for Christmas. I've had this little tub of snowmen for awhile and wasn't sure what colors I wanted. I used to paint with colors I thought others would like. I've completely stopped that and paint to please myself. I'm really happy with my choice! They are happy colors!

When I first started painting, for some reason I thought they had coats on and painted them like they did. Then I realized that I was painting their snowy arms and backs! lol So, out came the white paint to repair what I flubbed. Thank goodness, mistakes like that are easily fixed. I'm having such fun with this piece!

I hope you're finding time to be creative, too, and spending time doing what you enjoy!

Blessings - Julie

Counting Our Blessings - LinkUp!

Hello, dear friends! I know it's been awhile since I've been here with a personal post, but it's just been difficult for me as I'm still dealing with insomnia. Oh, my...not getting enough sleep can really make things difficult in ones life. I'm trying to do what my husband says and just do what I can and not worry about things. It's difficult at times, though. Praying, praying, praying for some relief from this!

I'm trying to create when I can so I'm going to share some of the projects I've worked on over the past few weeks. Again, I'm so thankful that I have my craft room in the house as it's made a huge difference for me!

100.  I found this cute paper mache pumpkin at Joanne's on sale for half off and just knew it would be adorable when painted. Here's a picture of the finished piece.

I just adore this and am so happy with how it turned out.

101.  I also started this cute pumpkin doily! I wanted something for fall and don't have anything made for the season so decided it was time to make something. I found those wonderful crochet hooks with the handles so I can now crochet with thread again. I'm enjoying it so much!!

Can you see those cute little pumpkins in the round? This is just the center of the doily and it will be much bigger. The next part of the doily is the light peach again so those pumpkins will stand out quite nicely! So fun to be crocheting these again and such a blessing!

I hope you've had a lot of blessings in your life! Please share in the linkup or in the comment section! I love hearing about all your blessings.

An InLinkz Link-up

Blessings - Julie