New girl in the shop

It feels so good to make something new. I've had this one in mind for weeks, but just couldn't seem to fit it in to by schedule.
I decided to MAKE the time yesterday and today and now the latest "she believed" girl is over in my etsy shop.
Aaron's surgery went well and he's already boycotting the sling and trying to get us to let him take the car out. He goes back to the doctor on Jan. 5 (his 17th birthday) and we'll see if he's cleared to drive then. He got his license last Monday and had the surgery on Tuesday so he hasn't been able to drive on his own yet.
Christmas was good. No "big" gifts like last year, but everyone seemed to be happy. We've been watching movies and visiting with family. Saw The Clarks on Friday and they were great, as always.

Today Mike, Eli, and I got to go to a Penguins practice which was fun.
Mike is going back to work for two days starting tomorrow. I have to take my nephew to get his wisdom teeth out in the morning.
We don't really have any New Year's plans so maybe we'll get to relax a bit then.
Heaven knows when I'll get around to de-decorating!

Oops...she seems to have sold while I was typing this.
I'll try to add some prints to the shop tomorrow.

If - Clandestine

Just an old image for IF.

I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of things with everybody home from work and school.
I hope to get some new paintings started this weekend. We'll see. :)
Hope everyone had a magical Christmas .

He's Coming!

I know. I show Buddy every year, but I still heart him so much! :)
I thought I had better stop in and wish everyone a Merry Christmas today before I get even more caught up in all the last minute Christmas activities.
Mike's out doing his shopping. The kids had a 2 hour delay today because of the wind and frigid temperatures, but now I have the house to myself for the next few hours.

I'm going to make the boys some ornaments since I couldn't find any that I loved, then one last trip to the post office. I hope to get in a bit of wrapping and then off to Eli's hockey game.
We can't really plan tomorrow yet as we won't know what time Aaron's surgery is until today after 3:00. I'm hopin' it's early since we still have to shop for Christmas eve dinner.

Did I mention that we are all going to see The Clarks on Friday? Does the fun ever stop? :)


So, in case I don't get to sit back down here,
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

All dressed up.

I showed you a picture of my little Joshy boy all dressed up (well semi dressed up) last week.
Aaron went to his Christmas dance on Saturday sportin' his brand new suit.
Eli skipped his dance this year, but here he is all dressed up in a different way.
You really never see these two smiling for photos, so you are witnessing history here. :)

Here we are only 1 week until Christmas and we have to fit in two more hockey games for Eli and two more shows for Aaron. Oh yeah, and shoulder surgery. That leaves us one free day. Mike still has to do his shopping and we have to get dinner plans started for Christmas Eve which happens at our house.
Why am I sitting here!!!
Gotta run!

I had thought I might list this SAnta over at etsy today, but now reading back over this I don't think I have the time.
If any of my blog visitors want him just let me know and I can send him via priority mail asap.
$60 free shipping.
I know he looks cute right where he is, but I spent a little more than I should have when I went out shopping on Tuesday. :(

Still NOt Done?

Duda Daze 2009 Frog Calendar by DudaDaze

Zazzle will guarantee order by 12/24 if you order now and use the promo code TWODAYZAZZLE.

Also, I will be sending out any prints ordered by Friday noon using USPS priority mail at no extra charge. That should get them there by Christmas Eve. I can't guarantee, but if the post office does its job then they should get there. :)

I finished up most of my shopping yesterday while I had my mom's car. The van should be done by the end of the week and I can go get those last minute items.
Aaron is home with a headache. He can't take anything (except Tylenol which never works for us) because of his surgery next week. Poor kid.


Also, I'm happy to have been included in Julie's Twelve Days of Christmas.
My Spontaneous Dancing Girl was included with other wonderful items in the Nine Ladies DAncing post.

New print in my etsy shop

I was inspired Friday night by a children's book that I ordered to try my hand at a Santa painting. I like him so much that I just may keep the original for myself.
If you like him too there are prints available in my Etsy Shop.
Buy a pretty frame and then change the prints out all through the year!

Unbelievably, I think we finished up all the shopping for the kids this weekend. Even with tree getting, getting Aaron ready for his Christmas dance, and now getting ready for Aaron's Shadow Lounge Show tonight. I'm impressed with us.

I'm going to borrow my mom's car tomorrow to shop for Mike and to take Aaron for his pre-surgery blood work. Then after that I'll maybe be able to relax a bit a spend time trimming the tree and wrapping the presents.

A very mini update

Mini in that it's not many items. And mini in that they are shmaaaaall.
These things have been sitting here half-done for a week or so and I'm finally making the time to share.



I'm not one for wasting. I save even the smallest scrap of paper. So when I was getting down to my last bit of sculpey last week I decided to cut these little house shapes from it. There was still a bit left so I then cut the littler heart shapes and put them together to make these tiny little dangles. I think they'd be cute on a miniature tree or even on top of a present. Heck, they're really light so if your lobes can take it you might even want to convert them to earrings and a necklace.

I'm selling them in sets of three and I only have two sets for now, but I hope to make many more after Christmas.
I've also added a few more Paint Swatch Pattys to the shop. Imperfect but precious. :)



In family news, shopping is closer but still far from done. Took Aaron to another Dr. on Wednesday. He's is going to have surgery on December 23 to tighten up his shoulder. He won't be able to play guitar for a month or wrestle for 6. So after his show on the 20th he's gonna have to just chill for awhile. He's going to take his driver's test on MOnday, but won't be able to drive after his surgery either. HOpefully he'll be able to get back to wrestling in his senior year though.

Eli's got a game in Wheeling tonight, but I think Josh and I are going to miss it. Eli invited his girlfriend (?) and with no van we simply don't all fit.
And speaking of that, the transmission on the van needs to be rebuilt at the cost of almost $2000. We are still deciding whether or not to put that much more money into it. We do still have 6 months of payments to go on it. We need to decide soon though, because being stuck here all day with no car stinks. I NEED TO SHOP!

For now I've got to get ready and walk down to the POst Office. There's a bit of snow on the ground, so wish me luck. :)

The last few days...

...have been full of ups and downs.


Joshua Clyde went to his first Christmas dance. I had been asking him since mid-November, "JOsh, are you going to the dance? Don't come home and tell me the night before the dance that you want to go." So that, of course, is just what he did.
Luckily he fit into his brothers dress clothes. At first he wanted to wear jeans and a shirt and tie. His argument being that semi-formal meant dress clothes on the top half, casual clothes on the bottom. But in the end he enjoyed being dressed up. No tie, though, because Mike was not home from work yet and I don't know how to tie one. :(
He had so much fun! When he came out of the school his shirt was all unbuttoned and he was talking so fast. Apparently he did the Thriller dance and is also quite good at the Twist. Who knew?

On the down side, we were about to head out in search of the perfect tree and our van died right there in front of the house.
It made a horrible sound and suddenly all gears became drive. NO reverse, no neutral...all drive. So, we're probably looking at a huge expense there, not to mention no way for me to do my Christmas shopping until Mike gets home from work at 7:00 pm each night. And really not even then, because we have to have dinner and usually there is a hockey game or practice to get to. Mike is taking tomorrow off, so hopefully we'll get everything done then. Ha!

So now everything is a state of half-done-ed-ness. No tree yet, so decorating is half done. Shopping is half done.
But I'm confident that all will turn out fine in the end. It always does. :)
Here's a few photos of what is done.
Here's my new doll stroller with some of my childhood dolls. They've seen better days, but I like them just as they are.


This is the old piano Aaron bought with his birthday money last year.

These photos don't really look very Christmas-y do they? Just a few of my favorite holiday items added to what's there year round.

An old sleigh filled with pine cones and a birds nest.

Some Santas.

A poinsettia tucked in Grandma's pitcher

And who can resist shaking a snow globe?


Some red bows scattered here and there.

I kinda wanted to keep things simple and non-cluttered this year. I hope to pick up some loose greenery and a few candles to throw in here and there and call it done. Well, plus the tree. So I guess those weren't really picture of things that are done after all. :)

I was saving the best "up" thing for last. Eli got his first high school hockey career goal last night. He doesn't really get much playing time being the new guy and all this year. He got 3 short shifts last night and played pretty well in them all. But what a bonus when he scored in the very last seconds of the game. We were already up 6-4...but still. Yay!

Better get going since I have to walk to the post office and grocery store until the van is fixed (or junked).
I think I'm going to go throw "Frog Fairies in Winter" into my Etsy shop. I have some more "Paint Swatch Pattys" to add as well but, of course, they are half done. Look for them this evening. Maybe.

IF - Similar

These frog fairies are similar to each other and similar to most of my past frogs and frog fairies.
Different, though, in that they are newly painted for the theme rather that pulled from my stash of old images.

I'll be listing them somewhere later today. I'll let you know when I decide where. :)

She's moved.

Just wanted to let anyone who was watching this painting on etsy know that she is now residing on ebay. Auction ends sometime tomorrow.

OUr house is all aclutter with "Boxes of Christmas". We spent yesterday making room in the living room for our tree that we will go out and cut today. Keep your fingers crossed that we can find a very tall skinny one, cause that's all that's going to fit.
I have a painting to finish today and lots of prints to package up for tomorrow's mail. So that's all for now!
Hope you are all enjoying the weekend!

Sleep tight, SAnta

Heading on over to the old Etsy Shop to list this now.
I "heart" it very much. :)

I couldn't resist...

...opening up a little Lollishop?
I can add one item at a time, so it doesn't violate my new "simplify" policy, right?
Which is what I did for now. Just one item.


You can find her here, at "The Sunshine Shop".
She is a "Thoroughly Modern Millie" as you can see by her coordinating hat and handbag.
She's heading out for a day of shopping in the big city.

And speaking of shopping, I still have oodles to do. I'm going to have to be very disciplined this month if I want to get everything done that needs to be done. The calendar is quite full. Aaron has gone and booked 3 solo shows, 1 Flyght show, and has a Christmas dance next week. Add to that Eli's hockey games and practices, cleaning, decorating, shopping, daily trips to the post office... or should I say !!! It didn't help that I spent most of the last 2 days reading Twilight. But now I'm done and can get on with my life. :)

We did pick up a few things at our local antique shops this weekend.

We were desperately in need of a new coffee table. This one is a cedar chest that's been painted the palest of blues. And also I thought the little doll stroller would look so cute next to the Christmas tree.

Well that's it. I think that if I put some Christmas music on it might throw me in to cleaning/decorating mode. If you don't hear from me in a while you'll know why. I'll try and keep you posted if I slip in a new art.