Christmas and secret Santa

I mentioned in an earlier post about being a part of a secret Santa exchange on LE (lampwork etc) and I thought I would give a bit of an update. I have received a few more packages with frit and shards; some shorts; some warm fuzzy socks, candy; graphite marvers (!) and I also *won* a digital camera!! I have been thrilled with all I have received and was able to send out 4 gifts myself this week. I seem to still be behind on Christmas shopping and wrapping and....ok pretty much everything. I purchased some more gifts for my dad today so I think I'm finished with him. I seem to be having a lot of trouble with my hubby though this year. I have a few things picked up but I still need to get some other things, I just can't decide what.
Also I just found out today, through the grapevine sort of, that I did get the night shift position I applied for sometime back. The woman in that position now will be retiring soon so I don't know when I will take over but it won't be for at least a month I don't think. Hope that all works out well...
I made a batch of Eggnog fudge the other day...I don't usually cook and had never attempted fudge before but it turned out ok. VERY sweet and it was a bit hard so I think I would alter the recipe some the next time, but it was good for something festive and different. Well, don't have much else to write about today, hope to get some new beads posted soon, but just can't seem to get motivated to do much of anything right now...maybe AFTER Christmas! :)

Curiosity

A few days ago my hubby and I began putting up our Christmas decorations. For years now I have been painting little village houses to put out during Christmas, they take me hours and I am lucky to get one done per year, we have 3 put out. Anyway, I had some extra batting from the quilts I have been making and I thought I would put that under the village to look like snow. Our village is in our dining room/living room sitting atop a buffet given to us by my in-laws and I laid the extra batting on our table and it hasn't quite made it back downstairs to my craft studio yet. My husband is working nights right now so he is gone to work before I get home and tonight when I came home from work, I found a very funny picture when I opened the door. Bobo had made his way up on top of the table, "fluffed" the batting and was napping in the middle of it on top of the table! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it, but he was down before I got the chance. I laughed and went on. Finished up the second quilt I was working on and came downstairs to check my e-mail and such and got a very pleasant surprise from Debra Jennings, her Starburst Nebula tutorial was in my box as a "secret" Santa gift as a result of the amazing thread over on LE. As I was posting my thank you for the gift I kept hearing a noise behind me and I knew Bobo was in here with me, but when I turned around, this is what I saw.





See if you can spot the very curious doxie in these pics amongst all the scrap material, candle scents and other unfinished projects and supplies! :)

Candles and other smelly things

I actually got one thing checked off my list tonight! I used to make candles to sell before I started lampworking and I still have a lot of the stuff and every year I still get requests for them. It takes me quite a while to make them anymore because I lost one of my designated wax melting pans during the move and all I have left is this smaller one. I managed to get about 14 or so done tonight and that is more than likely all I will make this year (before Christmas anyway). I also managed to pour a few tarts but I may make a few more of those, just depends on how much time I have when I get other things done. When I was digging for supplies for the candles I also found some of the salts I used to use to make bath salts so I whipped up a batch of that too so it can be "curing" before I package it to put in gift baskets or whatever....this is what happens to me, as I start working on things that are on my list, I think of other things that I didn't add, or forgot to add or whatever and this is why I end up being up all night the night before (we actually usually do our Christmas on the 24th at around midnight) finishing projects that are to be used for gifts!





Also, thanks for the words of encouragement yesterday, it really means a lot to me! :)

Busy time of year..

Well, I am 95% finished with the quilt I have been working on so I'm excited about that, but I realized today, Christmas is really creeping up on me and I have several other projects I have yet to complete! I need to make a batch of candles and some tarts, I have a few pieces of jewelry left to make, some beads that need cleaned, photographed and listed, cookies to make, house to clean, presents to buy, presents to wrap....does it ever end?! I really do love Christmas, mainly getting together with family and friends, but I always push myself so hard to have everything perfect that by the time it actually gets here I'm overwhelmed to say the least. There will be things on my list that don't get done, and it WILL be OK... :) This year we are having people over to our house though, and that is a first for us because this is the first time we have had a home big enough to accommodate people so that adds a little extra stress, but also a sense of pride because we have worked so hard to get to this point in our lives and it will be nice to share that with our families.
OK, enough typing, I have work to do! :)

Something NEW!!

I know I haven't posted in forever, and there are several reasons really, but I will spare you the details of most of it. As I think most of us, this Christmas is going to be tight for me and it is difficult for me to not be able to do the things I normally do for my family. Several years ago, I got the brilliant idea to make a quilt for my mother in law for Christmas....and, well because I am a *bit* of a procrastinator and I don't really sew well, and my sewing machine broke...it never got done. Did I mention I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and that if something doesn't turn out the way I think it should in the beginning I will often not finish it? Anyway, after we bought our new house and I had more room again, I bought a small sewing machine. A few weeks ago, I happened across someone talking about rag quilts and thought "I can do that"....see why I haven't posted in a while?! :) I thought it looked much easier than a "traditional" quilt in that, in my mind, it didn't have to be as perfect because you are going to clip all the excess so that the seams will "rag". I still had some of the fabric from the quilt I was going to make years ago and managed to find some others that matched it pretty well to be able to blend with it. The thing I didn't realize is that with a rag quilt, it's going to take you twice as much fabric if the front matches the back like mine does. I told my hubby about my plan and he basically rolled his eyes and didn't say anymore until I asked for his help with a "pattern". I showed him the blocks that I had done and explained that I wanted a decent sized quilt but not too big. We layed out the blocks I had and subtracted the amount for the seams...and then he told me I needed forty some more blocks! Anyway, it took me just under a week, but I DID finish it! :) (Hubby was truly amazed!) Here are a few pics of what it looked like before all the blocks were stitched together, and after it was all finished. This one has a total of 120 blocks (with the same fabric on the back, so 240 pieces of fabric). Not sure I still think this is an easier way to make a quilt, but I like the look of them and they do go together much quicker (for me anyway). Now I'm working on my second one that will be for my hubby, he knows he is getting one but doesn't know what it looks like so I can't say too much yet in case he actually reads this! :)