Christmas in July

Rosehips in winter Christmas card set

It's only July, the middle of the year, but at Etsy we're already thinking of Christmas and therefore have a Christmas in July sale. My shop is participating and I want to show you a few of the items I'm offering in this sale. About half of my items are 15% off through July 31, 2012.

There are handmade Christmas cards, of course, both made of paper (below) and photo cards like the one on top.

Glitter trees Christmas card set

I love to make journals from regular composition books that you can buy in the office supply stores or at Target. They're fun to alter and make something "new" out of them. A journal always makes a good gift for people who enjoy writing.

Sanddollar journal

My mixed media paintings are also included in the sale. This one, "The Mermaid's Dream" is on a 8x10 canvas and one of my earlier works.

The Mermaid's Dream

Handmade all occasion cards always come in handy, and it's good to have some cards on hand when you need them. This is a all year round set that includes birthday cards, thank you cards and greetings for Mother's Day and much much more. This is a set of ten handmade cards.

All occasion cards

Last but not least, ornaments - for your Christmas tree or to decorate the house.  Angels and birds are available right now. They come in sets of three or six and are all paper made. The little angel below is like the angels I made for my daughter throughout the years - she got a new one every advent season and could hang them in her window. She has quite a collection by now.

Angel Christmas ornament

I'm listing new items all the time - I am really busy at the moment making Halloween and Christmas items, mainly cards and tags. Quite glad that the creative juices are flowing!

I'd be happy if you stopped by my store and checked it out. Perhaps you can let me know what you think. And tell your friends!!

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A Beautiful Morning

The morning is my favorite time of the day. Today I had an especially good one.

Our local Jazzercise, where I have been exercising regularly for three years, has finally introduced a 6:00am class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting today. I had never thought that I would actually enjoy getting sweaty by 6:15 in the morning - but I did! It was a great class, and I felt wonderful afterwards, full of energy, ready to face the day.

Back home I took a quick shower and then drove Kaefer to school. Coming home after that was so nice - the entire day (well, until 3:00pm when it is time to pick up Kaefer again) lay before me with absolutely NO appointments. Bliss. Shortly before eight, I was in my studio (aka the dining room), painting. I'm currently creating journals, getting a lot of inspiration from Jeanne Oliver's class "Creatively Made".

But it was a walk into my yard that really got me - the sun was out, it was such a bright and beautiful morning, and wherever I looked there were drops of dew. I had to grab my camera and take a few pictures.

Isn't this a yummy texture? (the armrest of my Adirondack chair)

Mr Lincoln, a present from my neighbor Mary

These are glass balls I have in one of my plant containers

My patio table - isn't that gorgeous?

I love how the sun sparkles in these little drops - no, this is not dirt!

The morning light is so warm and makes such crisps shadows

My favorite garden stake

And here is one of the journals I have been working on. It is an altered composition book with ruled pages inside. I used molding paste and acrylic ink for the birds.

Now available in my Etsy store.

So - what is your favorite time of the day?

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More Journals

Currently I'm creating a bunch of journals, small ones and bigger ones. The basis is always a composition book. I usually start with some papers and from there I see where it will take me.

Here are two mini journals that I just made. The different papers come from the same daisy d's paper pack (that I bought several years ago).

I like this small size for a journal because you can take it pretty much everywhere. It even fits in the back pockets of your jeans. Or in your purse - it's smaller than an iPhone.

I'm linking this to Art Every Day Month for day 8.

Art Every Day Month (AEDM)

Well, it's already the sixth day of November, but I have decided it's still okay to join Art Every Day Month (AEDM). I have absolutely no idea whether I will be able to post some art here every day, but at least I will try.

Today I can show you a journal that I made out of a regular composition book. During back-to-school, composition books are always on sale and I stock up on them at that time. They're just ideal to get altered into a journal or notebook.

I like the little bird - it's a template I created some time ago and that I use over and over again. The paper is from a paper pack by Daisy D's, and on the back and the inside are coordinating papers of this same pack. You might have already guessed it - the journal is in my Etsy shop now.