Its been a rough couple of days since Christmas and I havent felt like being sociable. I'm still pretty angry but its all part of life and I will work through everything eventually. Families (especially in-laws) can be very hurtful and I know I'm not the only one experiencing this type of problem. Just not sure what the best response is since you hurt others by what you do. Anyways, this is the vase that I made for the family "make it" gift. Its a mosaic riverstone over a glass vase so its completely useable. Its not very nice, but its holding together and I tried. If I ever try something like this again I need to use smaller stones as the glue didnt hold the large ones on and created a nightmare. Mom did seem to like it.

I am excited about my families decision to do away with our traditional gift exchange next year and adopt a needy family to buy for instead. We can get together to buy all the gifts and prepare the meal so we get the added benefit of special time together while helping others.

This is my moms other present. It is a wooden box that contains a flask. I drew the different glasses with the intentions of added a "so many choices..." at the top, but didnt feel there was sufficient room, so just left it. It was funny cuz when she opened it, she kept saying how much she loved the box and how cool it was, but she honestly didn't realize I had painted the picture. The family got a real laugh out of that.

I hope that everyone had a nice holiday and that you continue to stay safe as we approach the new year.

Oh my was our trip to the grocery store a mess of people. I sure am glad that we shouldn't have to run and get anything else until after the holidays. Tomorrow will be our Christmas cantata at church (after being weather delayed from last week). I'm really excited because I think the choir sounds even better than usual this year. It will be a beautiful, wonderful, inspiring evening.

Yesterday I had a hair appointment and got my highlights touched up. She trimmed it up and also added some red lowlights. It looks really pretty. Its so fun to have a short stylish do after so many years long, and of basically ponytailing it everyday.

The planter is what I made to give my Gramma for Christmas. Its a copper planter that has a calla lilly bulb you can force in it. I made a polymer clay tree and put all the kids, their spouses, grandkids and their spouses and great-grandkids names on the leaves. There is plenty of room to add names in case I have forgotten any from the other side of grandkids and also to allow for the new additions sure to come to the family. Its not the nicest thing I've ever made, but I think she'll like it. The second picture is a close up of some of the leaves.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas/Holiday season. I plan on doing my best to take pleasure in each and every moment. I was refecting today on how lucky I am. If that stroke had been more severe, this year could have been much different in a horrible way. I am still here and I am healthy and doing everything I can to prevent a repeat incident. Life really is short and you can't possibly know when your end is near. Embrace each and every moment. Merry Christmas.

I did a bunch of errands this morning and afterwards spent some time just wandering around the craft store. Every year my family draws 2 names. 1 name we do a traditional gift exchange. The other name we must make the person something. Its really neat to get a handmade gift made especially for you. Some of the things that have been made will definetly turn into family heirlooms. Anyways, this year I have someone who I thought would be easy, but the more I thought about it the more I knew I wanted to make something completely different than anything I've ever given them before. My wanderings inspired me to choose something I've thought of trying for a few months. I can't say much more or post a pic til after Christmas, but I started it today and its going well, but slow.

I've made it a point while being out the past 2 days to be extra happy on the outside-even if I'm not completely feeling it through and through. Its kinda funny to watch peoples reactions when you smile at them and act in a polite manner at this time of year. Unfortunatly its a rarity for them to experience. I find it sad that the season of Christmas that should be so filled with love is so overdone that it just causes so much unnecessary stress.

Todays art is a sketch I drew and painted with acrylics. I shrunk it down (along with the snowman art from a few days ago) copied it, and am using it for my present tags.

Merry Christmas.

I donated blood this afternoon. I try to do this near the holidays as well as a few other times a year. This is my first sucessfull attempt (fail the iron test a lot) since my little TIA. It felt good to be able to do this again. I did have a very grumpy man doing the withdrawl. I could actually feel myself getting agitated just because of his attitude. Thankfully I was able to get out of there before he changed my attitude.
I have my last afternoon of teaching til the new year starting any minute now. It'll be a long afternoon/evening, but I'm excited about it as well. The kids are just so hyper at this time of year its hard to get them to focus on piano for a half hour.
My nephew, DH and I made a snowman last night. It really was terrible snowman snow, but we improvised with a shovel and made a pile and then tried to make it look close to a snowman. He's a bit pitiful. I might post a pic of him tomorrow.

We got a nice snowstorm yesterday. My trip into church and back was very slow but I remained safe. The neatest thing happened between services. There were only a few of us there and pastor cooked us breakfast. We had yummy eggs and sausage. It was such a nice, impromptu act of kindness. Our cantata performance has been rescheduled for next Sunday night. It mucks up my plans a bit, but what can you do.

No lessons again today due to the snow so I'm heading out to do some shopping. My walk this morning was quite a workout. Trudging through the snow worked up more of a sweat than my 3 mile run on Saturday. Its really beautiful out and I'm glad we were able to get out and embrace the day.

The art for today is what I worked on this weekend. I drew it out Friday or Saturday. I intended to draw something different but my brain took me in a new direction. I really enjoy when that happens. I painted it yesterday. I had a bit of trouble deciding on colors for the swirlies. Actually repainted from my original colors but I think it turned out nice.

Have a safe and warm day.

Wow am I wound up today. I feel like I'm in hyperspeed. I was out with my sis and niece today and I think I actually had more energy than the 4 year old! I can't remember that ever being the case before. I finally was able to get out for a walk this morning after being off for 3 days due to weather. That definetly helps my mood. It was fairly warm today to at about 32 degrees and no wind or rain and lots of sun.

I worked on my Christmas cards this afternoon. I did not make my own. I bought Shoebox funny ones like we always send out. I love the sense of humor in those cards.

The pic is of my polymer clay faux opal technique I started playing with yesterday. I kinda used the process outlined in Polymer Clay Cafe magazine but didn't have one of the materials they called for so I tried a substitution and really like how they turned out. The black ones were done yesterday and the white ones this morning. I actually meant to do something different with the ones this morning but I totally blew through and forgot a step. I still really like how they turned out. The pic doesnt really show the depth or the sparkle all that well. I'm going to make them into earrings and pendants. I embedded sterling silver loops into everything before I baked them so they're ready to go.

My tub is installed! It looks great. Now we need to get the cement board up and start working on tiling the surround. I'm so anxious for this to be over and just relax for a really nice soak. I'm also trying to decide how I want to decorate the room. It has always been fish since we moved in 10 1/2 years ago. I'm ready for a change but haven't picked anything for sure yet.

I'm off to church here in a bit. I love advent services. Its also our last rehearsal before our cantata performance on Sunday night. They choir is doing really well, but last week was a bit rough adjusting to singing from down front and getting used to those acoustics. Tonight should go well. I'm hoping they're serving a good soup in our meal before service starts. Something chunky and creamy. Yum.

Another day with all my lessons cancelled. There's a chance of a bit more tonight, but then it'll be out of here. I made ornaments for my choir members. I didnt personalize these. I used a texture stamp cookie cutters and pearlx powders. These went very smooth. I did have to laugh because most people I know are spending time baking cookies and treats for the holidays. My oven has been on for 2 days almost constant and I havent made anything edible. I am working on another cool clay project I'll hopefully post tomorrow. So far its looking like its turning out. Hooray!

So my tub wasnt delivered today. I got a call to say they were loading up and on their way and then about 10 minutes later I recieved another call saying the tub was delivered in the wrong color (I need bone and they sent white.) I used to work from the plumbing shop doing the install and they were very apologetic and all. The warehouse didnt have a bone in stock so they were pulling all kinds of strings to take care of me. I talked to them this afternoon and the tub will be installed tomorrow. I'm ok with this whole thing but I'm not looking forward to my hubby coming home. Its kinda weird that little things can throw me into such a tizzy but something like this I can pretty much take in stride today. (I'm not PMSing anymore which surely helps) Sometimes I cant even understand myself.

Thank you to everyone who is stopping by. I am loving the Glitter Power Sisters. All of you are so talented and inspiring. I hope that you are all having a spectacular holiday season with plenty of time to embrace what each of you holds dear.

We had a bit of an ice storm here Sunday and into today. All the schools closed which means my lessons get cancelled too. My mom was borrowing my truck so I had no temptation to go anywhere. I worked on the Christmas ornaments I'll be giving to all my students. They're polymer clay. I made a piano keyboard cane to use on part of the music note. I used some leather crafting tools to make impressions in the clay in a few designs. I wrote each students name and the year on their ornament. Then the fun-I pulled out my pearlx powders and made everything shimmer. I love those powders. The pics are bad because of the glare, but I hope the idea comes thru.

I'm in a much better frame of mind today. I'm still fighting off the depression that is looming, but at least I'm trying. I've got lots of ideas brewing in my head that I'd like to work out in my art. Some ideas for gifts and others just to try and see what happens. To be honest the unexpected free time I had today really helped me not get that overwhelmed feeling I was bordering on for homemade gifts.

Our new bathtub will be installed tomorrow. I wont be able to use it til Christmas eve but I'm still super excited to be rid of the old yucky one. No amount of scrubbing could get it clean and it had a low spot where water collected and never drained properly.

I thought I was helping. Doing a little bit to ease anothers load. I just didnt do it right. Feelings of incompetence and frustration fill me but the overriding emotion is sadness and I feel the depression enveloping me once again.

Happy Friday everyone. My house is Christmasied up. I love it. Unfortunately, I keep wanting to add more but I'm not sure where to put anything else. Can you see my error on the tree? I went out yesterday specifically to buy more garland for the tree. I got it, came home and put it on the tree and THEN realized its not the same. Bummer huh. So, I guess I'm going back to the store today. Miss Winnie looks kinda pissed at the tree doesn't she. Funny, its Fozzy who really doesnt like it.

I got new boots yesterday and wore them on my walk this morning. They are super warm and cozy. Really comfy for a real walk too. Its funny how excited I am about them really. They're pretty cute too!

I really need to get some Christmas shopping done. I didnt find anything while I was out yesterday. I actually got pretty freaked out at the mall yesterday. I was walking past the center of the mall and could hear people yelling. As I got closer I could see security pulling people away from each other and the yelling continued. After what happened in Nebraska the day before it really disturbed me. I pretty much ran to the store to get out of there. What is the world coming to when you cant even Christmas shop without being fearful? It makes me very sad. I just cant comprehend what gets into peoples minds and to be honest I dont want to understand it. I yearn to live in a more tolerant, compassionate world.

One of my younger piano students got a rock tumbler and this is one of the first rocks she finished. She wants to give it to one of her school teachers so her mom asked if I could make it into a pendant. I used 22g sterling square wire. I like how it turned out. I cant wait to see how the student likes it.

I need to do some errands this morning. I'm hoping the crouds and traffic arent to bad on a Thursday morning. I'm such a "people person"-nah, I'm not even close. I'd be happy if I could avoid everyone and just exist in my own little art-filled world. That certainly isnt going to happen this close to Christmas. At least I'm able to try to do this on a weekday and not Saturday morning when everyone is out.

Its cold here this morning. At the end of our walk it was 10 degrees. Theres still a dusting of snow and patches of ice, but it was a beautiful walk. My walking buddy and I laughed most of our 4 mile route. Its always good to start the day in that manner. We're supposed to get 1-2" of snow tonight. I should probably look for better boots when I'm out today. The ones I wore today are only shoes really with a bit of fur trim to make them a bit warmer, but they're to short for much more snow. Maybe I'll make that my goal-To find nice boots today or at least narrow it down better. Have a wonderful day.

We got our Christmas tree decorated last night. I have to go get another thing of garland but its really beautiful already. I've been busy the past few days. Christmas in Ida was great as usual. It snowed on the parade and was really pretty with the lights. We had a great time. Sunday we went to our nephews band concert and then went to a Messiah concert later that evening. I really enjoyed the Messiah. This is the 2nd year I've gone to this groups concert of it and I think this year was better than last. Very beautiful and a wonderful way to get me in the Christmas mood. Monday night I went to a bar with a friend and listened to a jazz group from a nearby college. They were good and the evening was relaxing and nice.

My teaching was horribly hard yesterday. I have most of my younger students on Tuesdays. I really wasnt thinking when I put the schedule together. They are all so hopped up on Christmas stuff that it was nearly impossible for me to finish a sentence without them tangeting off into some activity that they're going to be doing soon, or anything else besides piano. I dont know how I'll get through that for the next 2 weeks.

I think this might be my last fairie for awhile. I gave my sis a copy of her fairie and my niece said "where's mine". Well, this is hers although she's not getting it til Christmas. This time I tried using only watercolors. I'm not very good in this medium, but I think it turned out ok. Its not my favorite. Her dress is wrong but I'm not sure how to make it better.

Tonight is our first Wednesday night Advent service of the year. I love these services as they truly allow me to slow down and meditate on the incomprehensible act of God sending us his son knowing he would be a sacrafice. Christmas truly is love.

Just keep swimming... I loved parts of the movie "Finding Nemo" I think my favorite character was the hippie like turtle. I sketched my turtle when I was stuck in the pit of the musical I worked on. I actually used the quote of "just keep swimming" on that page. Yes, I know that the fish Dori actually said that, but I was hanging on by a thin thread and needed to keep swimming. The rest of the fish were sketched within the next few days. I actually did all of the sketching without a visual. I drew from memory. I was pretty happy with them. I copied them, painted a watercolor background, markered the fish and cut them out, cut out leaved and glued them all to the background. I of course added glitter bubbles to. I'm not real thrilled with the positioning, but I glued the first fish down in the wrong spot.

Christmas in Ida is today. Its a huge festival for our small town. We have a light parade and lots of craft booths and have a blast. We walk to my aunt and uncles house to watch since the parade route doesn't go past our house. We have a big potluck and then watch the parade. I look forward to tonight all year. I hope each of you has a special activity that really defines the holiday season.