Thanksgiving Continues!

Here is another reason I'm especially thankful this season--this little darling came to visit us for several days! Lily is 15 months old now--how time flies! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal in Lake Tahoe at my sister's and have had lots and lots of fun with family back at our house. Will post more photos soon! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Amongst all I have to be thankful for, I am so very thankful for my blogging friends~may you and your families have a blessed, safe, and very, very, Happy Thanksgiving!

TMTA - "Blue Bird"

This is a little ATC I made for TMTA this week--the combined color and theme is Blue Bird!

THANKSGIVING WEEK

I have so very much to be thankful for and I was going to find some photos of family and all to post today but got so busy with housework. My mom is arriving here tomorrow for a short visit, and then I will drive her to the mountains to my sister's, where we always have Thanksgiving. My middle sister has been hosting Thanksgiving for many years; she is a lovely, lovely person, and a gourmet cook who loves to celebrate this holiday at her home. My youngest sister always makes the trip with her hubby and family every year from Idaho, yet this year they will stay in Boise to celebrate, as my nephew is on the BSU football team, and they have a game the day after Thanksgiving! I just went outside and got my mail, and this beautiful magnet was waiting for me, along with the sweetest note from my youngest sister, who is another very, very lovely person--saying, "To my wonderful sister, Jann, I will miss you terribly on Thanksgiving! Love you lots." This touched my heart so much, and, well, needless to say, I have to wait until my eyes stop leaking before I can call her! Isn't that just the nicest thing? So, today, especially, at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, I am grateful for my two terrific sisters, who are just the absolute best sisters anyone could hope for!

Sunday Evening Sunset

This afternoon, as my DH and I were running errands, I was really blue . . . I was just missing Idaho so much, and my family there and grousing about how crowded and ugly our town is, here . . . as I continued to hold my very own pity party, (attended by only 3 people, by the way--me, myself and I), and as my tears were falling into my lap, my dear husband said, "Well, if we weren't in California, we wouldn't be so close to the family we have here, and you would be missing them. Our family is the best thing we have here, and it's nice they are close by. Plus, the weather is better in the winter!" When we got home, the beauty of tonight's evening sky was all around us, and I couldn't stay sad when was standing outside basking in the mild and calm air. Even the weeds (those lavender flowers) in the field were beautiful! So I grabbed my camera and thought I'd share some of my pictures! Click on them for a better look! Good night, sleep tight everyone!

Sunday Funnies - "Dancing the Lindy Hop"

Before there was "Dancing With The Stars" there was . . .
The Lindy Hop's Dean Collins and Jewel McGowen

Christmas Tag

This week the theme was "Pink, Brown, and Burgundy" over at Kard Krazy, and so I made a little Christmas tag. To see all the marvelous tags, click on this!

Bird Dog

Here's a photo of my little guy, Baxter. He thinks he's a Super Hero, and is somehow under the impression that the birds that come to our feeders need to be barked at and chased. Fortunately, he is a house-dog/couch potato, and isn't allowed to go outside and harass the birds. He'd sure love to, though! Here are a few more bird pictures, too. The first is of a juvenile Cooper's Hawk who stopped to take a bath, and then a little female House Sparrow who did the same. Then there's the Canada Goose and her goslings I saw on a "nature walk" this past summer. Have a great Thursday!

GOTHIC ARCHES -"Stars"

Goodness--finally, I was able to get this photo downloaded--Blogger was having some problems earlier--The theme over at Gothic Arches this week is STARS. I love looking up at the stars; the night sky has always seemed so magical to me! This theme gave me the perfect excuse to use the "sparkly stuff" which I so love: glitter, a favorite star stamp (in the background), crystal Swarovski embellishments, and those shiny dots by Stampendous. Click on the photo to see the details better! Stop by and see all the magical star arches here!

Sunday Funnies - "Norma Jeane"

Wonderful photos, many of which I'd never seen, of the very beautiful Marilyn Monroe--enjoy your Sunday!

Birds on Thursday?

I have been posting bird photos the past few Thursdays--don't know how that got started--and I have lots of beautiful photos of other things I'd love to share when I find time--but here are a couple of pictures I took at the end of the summer. My daughters and sometimes my husband will often walk with me on a nature trail in our town, and we always see many different kinds of birds. These are photos of Great Egrets, birds that are very common here in the Sacramento area. Have a great Thursday!

GOTHIC ARCHES -"Tickets"

I finally squeezed in some time to make my arch--the theme at Gothic Arches this week is Tickets. The image of the children is from Tuscan Rose, and the ticket images are from Heidi at Shabbychicpapirskatter.

VETERANS DAY

Our gratitude to all of the men and women who serve in our military cannot be measured; thank you, fighting men and women of all of our armed forces. You serve, you protect, you preserve our freedom. God bless you all!

A Christmas Giveaway!

Tami, of South Street Shabby, is having a 75th post giveaway, a very lovely and generous one! Please stop in and visit her blog and say hello by clicking on her name, and you can read about the giveaway here! Happy Monday, everyone!

TGIF - "Alice in Wonderland"

The challenge for TGIF this week is to make an ATC, and the theme is Alice in Wonderland. I have a very old edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, with illustrations by John Tenniel, the original artist; the image I used on my ATC is a copy. I wish the red glitter showed up more, but it's there, nonetheless! The story of Alice has always held a special magic for me; it's always lovely to escape to a fantasy world through reading, isn't it?

Happy Thursday - A Few Backyard Visitors!

If Thursday is here, then can Friday (TGIF!) be far behind? Here are a few of my "friends" that visit on a daily basis: a female Anna's Hummie, a Yellow-billed Magpie-- (in all the world, the Yellow-billed Magpie is found only in California), and a little House Finch. Click on the photos for a closer look!

TMTA - "Brown"

The challenge at TMTA this week is to create an ATC using only the color brown. Here's my attempt--hard to use just one color, but a great, fun challenge! By the way, the little word, "elle" came from a very old, 1840's era French novel. I have collected antique books for many, many years, and have always been very reluctant to alter any of them because most of them are in good condition. However, the pages of this one are starting to crumble, and the story is soooooo boring, I thought I'd be able to salvage some of it if I used it in my artwork. (I use that term "artwork" loosely; I still don't consider myself good enough to be called an artist--maybe I should say I want to use the pages of the book in my crafting.) The image is of a Gibson Girl that was provided by Suzee Que on Flickr. You can see all the entries here.

GOTHIC ARCHES-"Lord Frederick Leighton"

The subject of the Gothic Arches challenge this week is the artwork of Lord Frederick Leighton, an English painter and sculptor, who lived during the 19th century. I chose to use an image of one of his paintings, titled "Light of the Harem." My background paper for the arch was an insert from an old Somerset Studio magazine; I used gold embossing powder to emboss the edges of the image and the stamped swirls. I added some glitter, and a little "bling" with embellishments called "Center Kisses" by Prima Marketing. The flowers were originally clear, but I tinted them with Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Ink by Ranger Industries. I edged the arch with a gold leaf pen. Sorry I can't get a better photo this morning--I've tried! It looks better in person . . . Stop by Gothic Arches to see all the lovely entries this week!