Merry Christmas

Every year our local zoo decks out in lights for a few weeks. We decided to take our grandson to see it tonight. It had been foggy all day and so I naively thought there wouldn't be many people there. Boy, was I wrong. We got there just as the lights were lit and already there were so many people it was hard to walk around. We bought tickets to take the train around the compound before we realized that the line was 1 1/2 hours long. It got longer so I guess we were fortunate.

It was really pretty and worth the wait. I had my hands full entertaining the grandbaby so the pictures were snapped very quickly and not the best but you get the idea. They were selling hot cocoa with lots of whipped cream that looked particularly yummy and everyone was in a festive mood. I just loved being there watching whole families of grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents and kids enjoying the experience with wonder and delight.

It was so cold though. I came prepared with three layers of clothes in addition to a warm coat, gloves and hat but the baby only had a coat so we went straight to the gift shop and bought him the cutest monkey hat and gloves and a blinking elephant necklace. I love being a grandparent. Can't wait until Christmas morning.

I am hoping to peek in some in the next few days but until then I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all feel blessed by the love of family and friends and most importantly by the love of a Savior who came so many years ago to give us hope.

God bless,

Teri Leigh

Holiday Baking

I have been baking my little heart out. So far I have made: Peanut Blossoms with dark and chocolate carmel kisses, Hello Dolly bars, Butterscotch brownies, Rice Crispie treats with a twist, and Cranberry Almond bars. Today I will be making sugar cookies and if I get enough time I will make Russian Teacakes and Peanut Butter balls. My family is very happy but doesn't know what to think. I never bake because I'm the one who will eat it all. I nibble away until it is all gone. That is definitely not a good thing. I put aside a plate with a sampling for Christmas and they can have all they want of the rest until then. Oh, and I must remember to make fudge. Lots to do today so I had better get going. Happy Holidays!

Silent Night

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright.

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight.

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,

Christ the Savior is born! Christ the Savior is born.

Silent night, holy night!

Son of God love's pure light.

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth.

This was my mom's favorite Christmas song. She would sing it at church every Christmas.

Now that she is no longer here; I think of her every time I hear it.

That bond between mother and child is not like anything else.

Now when my family have finished decorating the Christmas tree,

we turn off all the lights, except those on the tree, and sing Silent Night.

The Beck's in Indonesia

There is a young family from my church who has moved to Indonesia to do mission work. Ryan was the youth pastor at the campus we attended and I worked alongside him when I was the Women's Ministry leader there. Him and his wife and two kids have signed up for the long haul and yet 5 months into it they are so homesick with it being Christmas and all. I know they would appreciate some prayers and a visit or two to their new website. The pictures he has posted are stunning of Indonesia.


Here's a snippet of an email he sent:

We hit the 5 month mark of being here. It feels as if this has been a really long vacation and now it is time to go home. It would be so good to be home with you this time of year, but with your prayers and God’s strength we press on. We each recently had our first of 3 formal language evaluations. It is cool to share that we both are where we ought to be and are progressing well.
Still though it's humbling! In trying to compliment and tell a middle aged woman that she was still (muda)=young, I instead said she was (murah)=cheap. Embarrassed after realizing my mistake I then tried to correct myself and say the right word but still got the word wrong calling her (mudah)=easy. I essentially called her cheap and easy! (muda, mudah, murah)...they really shouldn't let me talk.

You can check out their website here. I'm sure a few words of encouragement would go a long way to build their spirits up, even from strangers.

Christmas tree memories

I was thinking that this month I would do a few pages in my journal devoted to memories of Christmas growing up. This page is about the tree we had. I think it is important to write down stories and memories, especially the good times.

My grandmother was a story teller and boy did she have a lot of stories to tell. We video taped her right before she died telling some of those stories. I can't even imagine how many memories were lost by not writing them down. She was an artist too and if there had been such a thing as art journaling then I'm sure she would have been amazing at it.

I am finding these days that I just can't remember things very well. It has nothing to do with age, just too much to remember in everyday life that crowds out the important stuff. They say when you get really old all you remember is stuff from your growing up years so maybe it will all come back to me. In the meantime I will write a memory down as it comes and see how many I get. These pages in my journal will have less to do with art and more about the journaling.

The last week has been so cold here that I just can't get warm. It finally warmed up today and feel like I can actually function. BRR! The only problem is that now we get the rain forever and ever and ever. We would have snow if the two would meet in the middle. I guess I will keep hoping for another week.

Healing Expressions give-a-way

Just a quick note: Lani over at Healing Expressions is having a give-a way. Take a moment and check out what she has to offer. Enter the give-a-way and you may find some last minute gifts to purchase too.

Decorating the tree

We decorated our tree last night and had so much fun. There was a little bit of a rough start just figuring out what box the decorations where in. Apparently I have too many Christmas boxes and the storage room light was not working and all the flashlights had no batteries. So typical for our household. We did manage to find the right one with a itty bitty flashlight I had in my purse. Because the tree is smaller than usual we only put on about half the ornaments but everyone got to put their favorites on. It is always the ones they either made or represent something special in their lives. Sounds like a hallmark commercial.

I have two favorites. The Blob, that I made in the third grade. Many jokes have been made about this ornament over the years but it has it's own place on the tree; on the bottom in the back and tucked behind a branch.

The other ornament that brings back many memories is one that I have had as long as I can remember. My two sisters had similar ones in pink and green but mine was blue and I have hung it on the tree every year. It is a girl singing, probably in the church choir. As a little girl I sang all the time so that is probably why I was given this one.

My grandson found the nativity set very interesting. I have a beautiful ceramic one that my mother hand painted but this is a plastic one that I bought when my kids where little so they could play with it. He looked at all the pieces and then put them to bed under the tablecloth. We had to leave them there until he went to bed or he got very upset.

My two jokesters kept things very lively. My daughter was wearing one of the ornaments she made around her neck for a little bling. It did eventually make it to the tree though. My other two kids were a bit camera shy so I will have to snap a few of them later.

My grandson really got into the decorating thing. He was so good handling the ornaments too and hung quite a few on his own along the bottom of the tree. We put on Christmas music and danced and he kept the Santa hat on the whole time. Sweet memories were made for sure.

We have this really old ornament box that has faded over the years but it keeps the ornaments in pretty good shape. We need to get a new one one of the these days. My husband's job is to hand the ornaments to everyone and make sure they all have hangers on them.

And finally, we have the tradition of making our first bowl of chex mix while we decorate the tree. It gets passed around and enjoyed by all. It is kind of funny to me that quite a few of our traditions have been started without a thought to them being a tradition in the years to come. We just did something and then repeated it the next year and then the kids thought it was a tradition that we did every year. Now, if we miss doing something, they are upset. When we are all done decorating we turn off all the lights, except the tree lights and sing Silent Night.

Now we are ready to put some packages under the tree. I guess I had better get wrapping.

Tuesday happenings

It seems that we are always so far behind the motivated Christmas tree, house decorating crowd. We decided to get a live tree again this year and it got delivered yesterday. Right now it sits on my front porch waiting to be brought in and decorated. It stands about 4 ft tall and is quite cute, if you ask me. My kids want a huge tree but when it comes to planting it outside after the holidays, you don't want something big to handle. I think it will be very nice once it is decorated. We will decorate it on the weekend when the whole family can be here. We also picked up a wreath to hang on the door while we were picking out our tree. I grew up with lots of decorations but for me simplicity is the answer to a relaxing holiday. We have lights on the house and a wreath on the door and three lighted trees in the yard. I'm good to go :)

Another journal page finished. I have been feeling so tired lately that in the evenings I haven't been working on pages like I usually do. I have been getting some reading in though as I sit in the doctors office with my boys. One got his wisdom teeth pulled and the other just found out he has asthma. Nothing too serious but good to get taken care of.

Right now I am reading Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs, book three in the Friday Night Knitting Club series. It is so chilly today, I would love to crawl under the covers and read all day.

Pink Glove Dance

A local hospital put together a video for breast cancer awareness and it is so fun to watch.

Follow the link below and watch it today.

The Pink Glove Dance

I especially love the older janitor with the broom.

Who is your favorite?

A Michelle Allen give-a-way

My friend Michelle is having a great give-a-way over on her blog.

You should check it out here.

Getting Caught Up

I worked on the last few pages in my November journal and sewed it into the big journal. I actually got quite a bit done yesterday, which was exciting and fun too.

I am finding more and more that I am OK with leaving a page unfinished for later. Some days are more creative than others and I come back and add little something here and there until it is finished. I just need to finish it up before I move onto a new month because once it is sewn into my big journal it is harder to work in.

I drew this page in pencil of some of the main characters in the New Moon movie. I think I will leave it as a sketch. That's OK too. I don't have to color every page. Hmm, I may change my mind on that too. I am tempted to get those yellow eyes colored in. If you saw the movie you know what I am talking about. I hate those decisions that just sit there and irritate me. Probably means I won't be able to let it go until it is finished, which means color.

Well, the journal is getting fuller and fuller. What a thrill it is to hold it in my hand and let it fall open to page after page of color and memories, feelings and lessons learned all there on the page. I think I should have made the spine a smidgen bigger so the December signature would fit a bit better. I'll worry about that in a month. If I need to I will tie it all up with a big ribbon. We'll see.Here is my December signature. Pristine and waiting for creativity to burst forth on the pages.

OK, I have waited since the first Cricut came out for it to be affordable. Of course I was a scrapbooker way back then but there are many other uses for this wonderful die cut machine. I am making Christmas tags right now. I have also cut out letters to use in my journal. Isn't it pretty and it is so easy to use too. It is addicting though. When I first sat down to figure it out, a couple of hours just flew by without me even knowing. I was just cutting and pasting away. The Xyron Create a Sticker maker works really well with this machine.

Lastly, I just had to show you the cutest picture I snapped yesterday. I sure do love this little guy so much. He is quite the ham. We are all very excited because up till now he has not allowed anything to be put on his head and just recently he has started putting his uncle's hat on his head. Little boys and baseball hats just go together.

I'm alive

Just popping in to say that I am still here. I have been so busy with life that I haven't posted anything in a few days. I am finishing up my November journal today so I hope to have pictures soon. And, I got a new toy that I will be sharing about.

I had a great Thanksgiving. All my kids came with my in-laws and my niece and her husband. The food was good too. I was a bit nervous when I woke up to put the turkey in the oven and the refrigerator had frozen it, YIKES! Not something you want to find when you are on a time table. I worked a little magic and it all came out beautiful and yummy and on-time. I was so caught up in getting everything taken care of I forgot to take pictures. I get so frustrated when I do that. We need another photographer in the family that isn't the hostess and the cook. Amanda, if you are reading this, I am crowning you the new family photographer. Be prepared with camera in hand. Anyhoo, it was lovely and I am very thankful for my family even though they make me want to pull my hair out most of the time :)

I'm off to create. YEAH!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am so looking forward to pumpkin pie. I put the pumpkin pie in the oven tonight and forgot about it. Fortunately my husband smelled it just in time and it looks so amazing. Whew! The table is set and decorated, the house is clean (well almost), the dog is fluffed with a bow in her hair and the refrigerator is full of food just ready to be cooked and eaten. Mmmm. I hope I can sleep tonight. There will be 10 of us tomorrow and I hope for a nice intimate time of sharing, eating and making memories with my family. Realistically, you get 10 family members together and who knows what will happen but we will make memories, yes we will.

There is so much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Be Thankful - Day 2

What five things am I thankful for today?

1. A massage to work out the last of sore mussels.

(She worked on me pretty hard so hopefully I'm good now)

2. Creative time with my niece

(we made Teesha Moore's Amazing 16 page journal)

3. Dinner as a family.

(since the kids have grown older we find it harder and harder to have everyone home at the same time and hungry)

4. A call from my daughter, just because.

(she enjoyed the New Moon movie so much she called to tell me when the next one was coming out and that we are going to the midnight showing this time )

5. Trimmed hydrangeas and escalonias.

( They had gotten so big I couldn't see out my front door.)

Now I am off to clean the house, bake pies, run the dog to the groomers, grocery store errand and pick up my son from work.

Have a thankfully beautiful day!

Be Thankful

I wanted to share what I read this morning in my quiet time.

Always be joyful

Keep on praying

No matter what happens,

always be thankful

for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

What good timing this is since it is Thanksgiving week and also because I have just gone through a few days of feeling sorry for myself. A good reminder that there are always things to be thankful for no matter what your circumstances. I remember a few years back, Oprah suggested to everyone to keep a thankfulness journal. Everyday, you write down five things that you are thankful for. I think since it is Thanksgiving week that I will do that. Get my focus back on what is good and brings joy to my life.

One thing that I am thankful for is all of you who come and visit my blog and leave such encouraging comments. I appreciate you so much and hope that you have a wonderful week filled with blessings and thankful moments.

Love and hugs to you all!

2. Sunshine

3. a good book

4. Coffee in the morning

5. Good times with family

A really bad no good day!

I pulled a muscle in my back on Thursday and so I haven't been able to do much. I think it would have gone away in a couple of days but I made the mistake of going out for a quick errand and then doing a load of laundry. Now my back is so bad I found it hard to breathe. Today, I think I will just lay around and watch movies and read. I have already missed out on some really fun stuff because I couldn't move and so I want to get better so I can get back to life. I decided, while I was doing this page that I really don't like Copic markers very much. They bleed through my pages unless I have a lot of acrylic on the page. I didn't with this one and it messed up the page below. My Pitt brush tip pens are much better.

Thursday, before the back problems started I went to meet some friends at Starbucks but no one came. I had woke with a really bad headache and really wanted to stay home myself but faithful is my middle name and so I went anyway. I worked in my journal for about an 1 1/2 hours , drank some coffee and then went home. It turned out to be one of those days you wished that you had stayed in bed and pulled the covers over your head. As I was trying to get in my front door, and carrying too many bags of heavy stuff, that I tweaked my back. Only after the fact, did I think it would be a good idea to make a second trip. Now I am suffering the consequences of my foolish decision. UGH!

I was playing round with my watercolors the other day. I kinda like the effect. It is like looking at clouds and seeing shapes. I see a whole landscape behind the girl and so I decided to leave it plain. The quote is from a TV show I was watching and when I heard it I grabbed my journal and wrote it down. It says, "I am kind of nostalgic for when things weren't quite so interesting."

This was another page where I was playing around with watercolors. The concentrated watercolors that I have can get very intense and I love it. I always thought watercolors where only pastel.
The Christmas peak the other day is getting out of control. I find myself thinking and looking forward to the holidays with much anticipation. I am even listening to Christmas music already. YIKES!

November Journal pages

I have been promising journal pages and so I thought I had better get going and take some pictures. My new camera is not as easy to use, so I find myself resisting the process. So I downloaded some new music and now I am sitting at my computer rockin out and

editing photos and blogging.

Anyone a David Cook fan? His new album is pretty good. Definitely his unique style.

I did these pages while I was at the beach last week.

I showed you these pages when they had no color on them. I mostly like to sit down in one sitting and finish a page but this one I have been adding a little here and there. It still is not done but pretty close.

I got together with a friend and worked on a couple of pages. I have been wanting to try cutting a shape out of one of my pages and so I went to work. I have debated with myself over doing some journaling on the daisy pedals. I like it the way it is but they are just sitting there calling to be journaled on and I can barely hold back. I don't want to overdo it though. Any thoughts?

This is the backside of the daisy. The little elf is compliments of my friend Michelle. She gave me a black and white copy of one of her designs and I colored it to match my page. I am going against my own personal rules of experiencing one holiday before moving onto the next. I used to not even look at magazines for Christmas before Thanksgiving was over. I think I got so excited this year I joined the push of commercials, stores and everyone else to take a peak ahead. Please don't hold it against me :)

Sunday night

I am realizing that the days are flying by and so much seems to be getting left undone. My days are filled with disjointed conversations with my kids and grandbaby. Not a bad thing but at the end of a day I feel unsettled that I can't point to a project or chore that made it's way from start to finish. I have a feeling it may be this way through the holidays when everyone is inside because of the weather and wanting to create that homey feeling in their hearts.

Yesterday my middle son moved back home. That seems to be a story I am hearing more and more from my friends who have grown children. Transitions have been hard on my family and now we are in another one. I really am leaning into God and prayer to make this one easier than previous ones. I have more peace than I have had so that is good. We went to church and heard Margaret Feinberg speak. She has a few books out but she was speaking on her newest book, Scouting the Divine where she talks about wine, sheep and honey. All these subjects are all through the scriptures and she explains some things that made the passages come alive. I bought her book and had her sign it and got to talk to her for a few minutes. She is very sweet.

Today I did move some things around in my art studio and start the organizing process. Now if I can just do more organizing than messing it up, I might get ahead. The other thing I did was to take my youngest son to see the movie 2012. What a whirlwind, breath holding, nail biting movie that was. At points in the movie I had both hands over my mouth in fear of what I was seeing. OK, I'm a bit of a baby but it was scary to see the natural disasters happening right in front of your face. OH, so good. I want to take my husband and see it again. Then I came home to my daughter baking a pumpkin cake and the house smelling so yummy. What a fun day today was.

Seaside Oregon

I spent a couple of days down at the beach. I was expecting stormy weather and it ended up being gorgeous. I opened the patio door to hear the ocean and seagulls squawk and sat by the fireplace. It was a great time. No major emergencies at home so I was able to relax and dream a bit about some art goals and projects I want to do.

I got a couple of journal pages done which I will share tomorrow. Nothing too exciting. I am counting the days and anticipating when I get to sew my last signature in my new journal. I have a feeling that the next 1 1/2 months is going to go by quickly.

Smile

One of my paintings was used in a SMILE collection on Etsy. I was so shocked and amazed and thrilled to be apart of the grouping. Check it out here.

The Week

Not much to show for my week. My grandbaby was sick and couldn't go to daycare so I watched him. We had lots of snuggle time and watching Elmo. I learned something in the process, hours of Elmo gives me a headache. If you try and substitute with Sesame Street or anything else all you hear is Elmo, Elmo, Elmo until you turn it back. Since he was sick I obliged.

I only got a couple of art journal pages started. Mostly because I was so tired and not feeling very creative and the rest of the time busy. I will add color to the pages this weekend, hopefully. That may be a dream and have to wait until Monday since we are moving my husband's office. In fact I had better get going on out there right now. Have a great weekend everyone.

Etsy has arrived on this blog

Well, I did it. I opened my Etsy shop. It was a heart pounding, long time coming event that I am glad is over. I will continue to add to the shop but I don't think it will be as scary as the first time. Whew! Fell free to follow the link on my sidebar and check out what I have in there. Here are some journal pages too. The October signature has moved to the big journal and I am working on Novembers.

I love the new stamps I got and I'm sure they will show up on other pages this next month.

I like this page so much I might just try and paint it on a canvas. Have to think on that one.

This page was left over from my trip to Canada.

The Winner is.....

The winner of my first give-a way is Connie over at She Dreams Big.
Whoo Hoo, Congratulations! I think you will be very surprised at the amount of stuff in this package and I hope you will be able to use it to create beautiful and fun art.

I have to say that I was very excited to have three brand new ladies sign-up for the give-a-way. Because there were only three of you, I would like to send the other two of you a little something too just for signing up. If each of you will email me your mailing info I will get your packages out this week.

Lots of bloggy love,
Teri Leigh

2009 Journal assembled

I have been trying out a new system for my journal. I make a signature each month and carry it with me. The first page is always my goals for the month and a list of things I need do or buy. The rest of the journal I make notes in it, I write stuff I want to remember or things about my day or sometimes I paste things that I pick up onto the page. When I am home I go back and add color to the page with my watercolors and doodling of course. It has been a good system for me so far. Then when I am done with the month I bind the signature into the journal. I just started this system this summer so I only have four months worth but I wanted to show you my progress.

I am considering putting some beads on the hanging strings but I don't know yet. I painted the cover with acrylic paint on canvas and then stretched the canvas over chipboard. On the inside I pasted torn pieces of old book pages and did a color wash over that. It is a very sturdy cover. I have two holes set aside for November and December. I can't wait to have it all done. I am really liking how it is coming out.
For next year, I am debating about doing two volumes with six months worth in each book. I could do a whole year but it might be very large and look a bit odd. What do you think? Should I do one or two?

Elmo came to visit

I just had to share my little Elmo with you. He wasn't feeling so good so we couldn't get a smile out of him but cute just the same. We took him to the mall to trick or treat but the cold he is coming down with cut the trip short. Maybe next year he will enjoy it more. Happy Boo day!

50 Things

Well, I finally finished my list of the 50 things I want to do before I turn 50. It took me awhile. Some of the things are simple and some are big. My friend Michelle was doing a list and blogged about it and so I decided to give it a try. I decided to give myself a little more time so I have till August 2011 to finish my list. I will keep you all updated on how it goes. I already want to cross some things off so I think this is going to motivate me. Should be fun trying anyway.
1. Open Etsy shop
2. Submit journal to magazine
3. Start exercising 3Xweek
4. Take a Photoshop class
5. Declutter house
6. Keep journal for Cameron
7. Go garage saleing
8. Play golf
9. Give something away
10. Send a card for no reason
11. Save money
12. Get a massage
13. Ride a bicycle
14. Attend 30 year class reunion
15. Ride the OHSU tram
16. Tour the Portland Art museum
17. Design a stamp
18. Read through the Bible
19. Maintain weight
20. Read 20 books
21. Take a balloon ride
22. Travel to Ireland
23. Get Janerie on-line
24. Take a photography class
25. Organize my art studio
26. Learn French
27. Write a letter
28. Do something for charity
29. Invest in friendships
30. Have family dinners
31. Go see Oprah
32. Work through “100 ways to simplify your life”
33. Take a walk through Lewisville Park
34. Knit an afgan
35. Vacation in Canada
36. Find a heart shaped rock
37. Catalog all digiatal downloads
38. Do a give-a-way on my blog
39. Take Cameron to Disneyland
40. Play tennis
41. Re-design kitchen
42. Teach art journaling to a newbie
43. Play tourist in Portland
44. Take an art class
45. Do something fun with my kids
46. Try new art journal technique
47. Lead an art journal biblestudy
48. Journal about everything on this list
49. Finish this list and post it on my blog
50. Go back to Paris

Be Satisfied and a Give-a-way

Be Satisfied with what you have.

Number two on this list can be challenging for anyone who likes so many different things. Hmmm, I was just having a conversation the other day about this very thing. We have been talking about moving and I was looking at all my books and art supplies and thinking, I have way too much stuff. I am trying to go through my house and de-clutter it. This is going to take a while since I must have been a packrat in a former life. When you think about boxing up all the things you own, you suddenly realize that you can live with a whole lot less than you thought you needed.

Along those same lines; if you are trying to rid out then the last thing you want to be doing is buying more stuff. I think I do pretty well in almost areas except for art supplies. There is always something new and cool to add to my stash. I have thought that I would force myself to use up what I have before buying more and you can help me do this. It would take me a long time to use up all the paper and ribbon and embellishments I have stored away. But, I could share what I have with you. That way you could benefit from my de-clutter project. Anyone want to win a bundle of stuff?

Here are some ways to get your name in the drawing:

• Leave a comment here


• sign-up to follow-me on my sidebar


• advertise the give-a way on your blog

Just let me know what you did and I will put your name in the drawing. You will have until Sunday night, November 1st, 8:00 PST and I will notify the winner on Monday.

This is my first give-a way and I am so excited.

Lots of paper, tags, envelopes, stickers, old book pages, numbers, letters, ribbons, and a lot more. I am even throwing in The Creative Journal. Good luck!