Christmas gifts

okay, so first off--if you've been following my blog, you know that it's been AGES since i posted last. secondly, you know that i haven't been really commenting on many of your LOVELY creations. that being said, i'll try to make up for it a little today, and just know that i'll do my darnedest to encourage you in your beautiful creations :D

i made Christmas gifts for my extended family this Christmas. it was actually based off of something that Dawn McVey had posted a while ago and that i had discovered and really liked. i started creating these things around Thanksgiving, but of course, i didn't get them finished until right before the packages needed to be sent.

i like to call them "framed art." the best part about these is that they can come in any shape, size, or color that you could ever want, and i've already had a request to make one for a wedding present in the wedding colors. how smart is that? i might have to be brave and start listing these on Etsy... what do you think?

okay, so on to the frames. sorry for the bad lighting (and the above frame still has protective plastic around the corners... ick!)--these were taken literally seconds before they were carefully cocooned in bubble wrap and tissue paper for shipment.

i have a few favorties... this big one below is one of them :D (all big ones are 8x10 frames, little ones are 5x7)

^^that bow was just PERFECT! (i couldn't believe it :D)

here's one where i replicated the colors and lace for some mini frames (5x7)... that black lace is just too flirty and cute!

the coral ribbon really brings out the stripe in one of the square pieces.

ooh, and this next one just has "Ginny" written all over it--fun colors, etc :D

i loved how the papers i picked had some foil on them, flocking, or glitter, and it made parts of the art just a little more "special."

this shows a stack of them...

this is a variation of the first piece i made... for an uncle... so the navy background was good for that.

and a mini one (5x7) here in the "fun" colors. i actually designed the remaining little frames differently--they ended up being the same scalloped square shape as the big ones, just on a smaller scale.

oh my gosh... this next ribbon bow is divine. i am in love with the ribbon here... my fav bow by FAR!

this was for an uncle... so i tried to keep it masculine. greens, tans, navy, etc... did i succeed?

anyway, thanks for hanging in there! i have a shopping trip with my aunt, grandma, mom and sister to go on today... oh how i love shopping! :D

thanks for stopping by, and also for your lovely comments.

yes, Virginia

there is a Santa Claus. [famous line from Miracle on 34th St. you know this, yes?]

so i don't know how many of you knew about the deal that Macy's was putting on for "National Believe Day" on Friday, but they had this promotion. anyone named Virginia could go in to Macy's and get a free $10 gift card. yeah, simple, right? well, only if your name is Virginia.

and mine is! :D

GASP > i know some of you may be surprised to know that although i go by Ginny here on the blog (which is an honest-to-goodness nickname) my real name is Virginia. well... it is. it's a nice name--somewhat rare, and very unique. so i decided to get the gift card--i mean, who could it hurt?

so there's a good story for the day, right? can't get much better than that ;D i bought something already with the free money, but i can't share, because there's a chance that the person might be reading this blog post, and i don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone :D

also up on the agenda are some more banners. i really need to enter some cards for challenges, but still have my craft space covered with things for this project... we'll see if i can fit it in sometime.

i'm sorry about how out of order these pictures are... Blogger doesn't want to cooperate with me for some reason... again, i'm going with the pink, green scheme for these Christmas banners.

here i am... not looking my best, but still, it's me.

lots of goodies loaded up over here.

and oh.my.goodness... i have to tell you about how thrilled i am that i got to go to a concert tonight! i went with Paulina, her sisters, and my brothers to the TobyMac "Winter Wonder Slam Concert!"



i got to see this awesome performer... if you haven't heard about him before, he's one of the most popular Christian artists out there, and i absolutely love his sound--hip-hop/ rock/ r&b/ rap mix--> hard to describe, but just plain awesome.

he's getting older (as far as the concert circuit and for doing what he does on stage), but i am still totally in awe of his energy tonight. my ears are totally blasted out! :D

and to make things even better... he came down to the floor seats (which btw, i had AWESOME 6th row seats thanks to Paulina, best concert buddy EVA!) and he sang this close to us...and THEN... OHMYWORD... still can't believe it... he WALKED DOWN MY ROW. he got up on the chairs along the aisle that my brothers were standing on, and at this point i am basically hyperventillating... and he comes down, he's walking along the chairs, he's passing me while he sings, and i touched his arm as he went by.

(okay, side note: i know i totally sound like a groupie here, but seriously, i LOVE TobyMac... like a TON. and this had to have been the greatest concert experience EVER. ohmyword. so call me groupie, or whatever, but it ROCKED!!!)

and i could not believe that it had happened... still amazed. i came home with the brothers, and i know that i'll be a little hard of hearing for a while yet, and that my eyes will still be hazy from the fog machine, and that i'll remember this always.

thanks for checking in--hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

i LOVE you Christmas!

hi again! i've been sadly absent from the blog, but here i am--back with some yummies all over again :D (this post will be sort of short though--so enjoy lots of pictures and not much "talk"!)

this time i'm featuring a new banner i made for Christmas. now, i know it spells "LOVE" and it may look pink, green, and white to you, but it's Christmas themed.


i am already done with another banner that says "JOY" and will be working on a "PEACE" banner shortly. so, you get the idea...

i really am creating for Christmas--love, joy, peace. and aren't these fun? embellishment heaven, i'd say. i have a whole big pile of fun things on my desk--all pink and green :D

this banner gave me an opportunity to emboss on vellum for the first time--so pretty, i think. definitely will be doing this more often...

and here's the finished product:

anyway, thanks for stopping by after my too long absence. hope you enjoy! i'll be back soon, hopefully (*crosses fingers*)

XOXO

have a great Friday!

30 days + 50,000 words = NaNoWriMo

so i'm done.



i WON National Novel Writing Month by writing 50,000 words in the month of November. let me tell you, it wasn't easy... but like i explained to my students, "I'm really competitive--it'll get done."

you should have seen me do a happy dance when it was all over... such a big deal, and so glad it's done... now i know i won't know what to do with myself for a while.

i've actually been done for a while (aka Nov. 30th @ 8pm PST), but i think that i've been enjoying the extra time after work to do nothing rather than post to the blog... so, i'm sorry for that long absence. i'll be getting some new cards and other things up on the blog asap.

i am thinking of doing the December Daily scrapbook, and i've taken a few pictures here and there (actually, i think i've taken at least one picture a day, but i haven't done journaling or gotten the book together). the picture of me above is when i printed out my winner's certificate, and was quite happy about my accomplishment, and i think i'll be using that one as the Dec. 1st picture... now to journal about that happiness ;)

my mom and sister were so sweet too--my sister Cecelia was actually doing NaNoWriMo with me, but couldn't keep up because of some new job assignments, etc.

they brought me the prettiest bouquet of flowers TO SCHOOL on Tuesday during one of my classes... my kids were like, WOW! that's so cool! and they've been sitting on my desk smelling oh so good at school, and i just brought them home yesterday. seriously sweet of them.

anyway, like i said, i'll be back to post a card or two soon, and possibly some of the yummy things i picked up at a craft fair i got to go to--featuring my favorite crafty sisters, Paulina, Carolyn, and Krista. fun fun fun!

hope you enjoy your weekend!