I got my craft on

I have made a couple of cards. But I didn't want to post pictures of them until the recipients had received them for the very small chance that they read my blog and I didn't want to spoil it for them.

Card #1
For Lindsay and her mom for running and cheering me on at the 5k.

outside

inside

Card #2
For Jessica and her family for the loss of her grandmother.

 outside

inside

I wasn't going to post pictures of the insides since I wrote personal messages, but decided it wouldn't do any harm to share them.

I have taken to using the internet and a certain card making catalog for simple style ideas. I do the best I can with what I have (which is more than enough, I just don't have the fancy thing that imprints patterns on paper but I can cut out almost any shape).

I have also taken over the dining room. Maybe when the guest room is finished I can move my scrapbook stuff to that desk. For now all of it is conveniently located at the dining room table.

I can see the tv from there.

I can listen to music.

I can stop by the kitchen for a bite to eat.

I am trying to keep it cleaned up when I'm not working on something.

I've given it a lot of thought and have decided that a sideboard/buffet would be a valuable piece of furniture. Until we go shopping to buy one of those (and I convince Bill that we should have one to hide my scrapbook stuff or finish the guest room pronto) I'll just make do with my piles set off to the side. (The table is a great work surface because there's so much surface space, I really don't want to move to a desk, I like the dining room.)

2013 decorations before and after

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I had to re-appropriate the tree decorations. First, are the before.

 The tree before the leaning...

 The mantle and stockings (Santa brought Bill a new personalized Star Trek stocking).

 The nutcracker suite.

 These are the after pictures. Starting with additional ornaments on the mantle (they're probably difficult to see, they're tucked in the garland).

 More ornaments hanging from the light fixture.

 Ornaments nestled in a decorative bowl (birthday cards and gifts are the extra stuff around it).

 The garland on the hutch was bare, now planes and crocheted ornaments adorn it.

 And ornaments are hung with care, wherever a hanger can be supported, including the drawer pulls.

 Look carefully, cars are hanging from the top shelf!

 Yes, Juliette is alive. She loves to sprawl across the vent. The Muppet ornaments were moved to the bookcase.

 This is the doorway into the dining room. The ribbon is hung when the decorations are put out, then the cards are added as they come in the mail. This is the first year both ribbons (see photo below) were filled to the max. This did not change with the tree situation, I just didn't add them before.

 This is the doorway into the side entry and kitchen. More cards stapled on ribbon!

 The stair case (and a better shot of a few of the cards).

Me, playing with my camera and a close-up of the bells on the garland on the stairs. The choice of ornaments varies from year to year. Some years I hang the Noah's ark collection (and other Biblical themed ornaments) on the stair garland. Sometimes with the bells, sometimes without. Some years I hang the Santa collection. This year I stuck with bells only.