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Wednesday, January 23, 2019

I Love Winter

I know it's crazy, but I love winter. It can't top springtime, but is a close second. I love the fact that it gets dark early and you can't work outside. I love to shovel and the exhaustion I feel after. You burn a lot of calories shoveling. I love winter foods, like soups and casseroles.

It's hard when you are hot all the time. In the summer, I feel like I can hardly ever be outside. And then there are all the bugs that for some reason love me more than anyone else. So on a nice camp out when it's maybe 60 or 70 degrees, I have on long sleeves and knee high socks. I sit there fanning myself while others wear shorts and tank tops.

So, I'll enjoy the cold a few more months, and await the first budding of the trees signaling springtime.

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Texas/Chicago Christmas 2018

 CHRISTMAS 2018
The gifts I made this year were some of my favorites. I tried something new that I love! Polymer Clay. When I saw some of the pennant jewelry you could make, I became obsessed.

I had to have everything. The pasta machine to prep the clay, the mica powders, shapes to cut with, glue that can bake and still work and of course the clay itself. At around $5 per 2oz square, it can all add up. But so often I use my accumulative bounty of craft supplies, it was time to spend some money.



Finding just the right guy gift (I do have 4 sons now) was difficult. I came up with this key/coin holder. I start with a glass candle holder base and then making a square shaped cane cut pieces to resemble faux tortoiseshell to cover it. Of course you learn as you go along, and I would do them different the second time around, but I loved the way this looked.



The pennant gift was super fun. I would start with a shape cut from black clay, then put on elements prior to baking. Of course presentation is everything, so I had to make a tag to put them on. Everyone who received one loved them. I will definitely do this again.








The final gift was a tag with dress stand and dress. I love the way you can take a scrap of material, add beads, scrapbook paper and ribbon to make something pretty. Putting one of these on top of a wrapped package would be an added bonus.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We were fortunate enough to fly from Chicago to Texas the week before the 25th, then fly back to Chicago Christmas Eve and wake up Christmas Day just the two of us with nothing to do but enjoy the hotel’s amenities. We swam, used the work out room and the hot tub. Then, drove from Chicago to our nice quiet home. We filled the rest of the week with family fun, but this will be a Christmas to remember as the Texas/Chicago Christmas.