The Celebrating is about to begin!

Today I am putting up a drawing that I did last year along with the inspirational decoration. I had fun trying to get a photograph too! The sun was beginning to fade that day and the shadow is not as dark as I would have liked. Taking a picture on another day could have been an option but obviously I haven't. But that is okay, it certainly gets the point across. It was fun to draw! Bottom line is that I love to make art whenever I can even if it is only a doodle!

Yes, the celebration is about to begin!!! Although it is a wonderful time of the year it is also a stressful time especially when there are too many other changes in our already busy lives. However, we have no choice but to accept what is and get on with it! So, it is 15:27 hrs and my coffee cup is glued to my lip after only "just" getting up! There is no way that my feet can even begin to hit the floor running yet! Shockingly I received a call and I have just said no thank you to overtime for tonight! My mind can't fathom working another nightshift and I know that it wouldn't be sugarplums that I would be dreaming of once I got myself to bed again.

I"m getting excited!

I am oh so looking forward to Christmas! I have to admit it that I love presents! I love the anticipation of it all the most. I love getting together with family - the eating, the drinking and the telling of "stories". Often these stories don't come out until such occasions.

I love making my family squirm when I make them wear their hats from the Christmas crackers except my daughter who refuses to be cajoled. Of course, I will try again this year (you bet!!).

"Tis the season to be listening to Bob Dylan's Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart!

Not sure how this zentangle inspired Christmas doodle will look like on this blog due to it's nature (black and white) but here it is regardless.

Re-invented Christmas Wrapping

I'm all about recycling if I can! I was surfing on the net and found a website completely by accident that showed how to make Christmas bows using magazine pages. I'm amazed how many magazines are thrown out - at lease they are recycled these days. The bows are easy to make and just need a glue stick from the dollar store and you all set. Although this is likely considered "crafty", I think there is a bit of "artistic" flare in the way that I photographed the subject matter. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to get the image to be interesting and visually pleasing to the eye. Of course, all art is in the "eye of the beholder" so it may be that I think this is good when no one else does. Bottom line is, I'm going to please myself since this is my blog!!!

This is a nice pile of bows if I do say so myself. I like how well the bow goes with the red copy paper wrapper that we normally throw out at work. I think the effect is quite festive. It does fill me with satisfaction when a recycling project turns out well!

Wasn't so sure about the white copy paper as a wrapping paper (yes out of the recycling bin!). I think that it is too much white here but under the tree it should look just fine.

Well, I still need an army of elves to come and help with cleaning up my house (which I need to get going on any minute now). I got the tree up yesterday and that makes everything good! There is no Christmas without a tree; a place to put all of the presents that I have already wrapped. I need to finish that up as well!

Cute bottles

Not much on the art front once again as December has snuck up quickly! I always think that I am prepared when in fact I am not. I will be scrambling like crazy in the next few weeks so that I might even be close to "ready".

I have taken a minutes out from Christmas "wrapping" to take a couple of snaps of some tiny bottles of food colouring. I don't ever recall these little bottles being quite so cute before. I just like the way that they look due to their simplicity, the simplicity of their conical shape and the vibrant colour.