Joyous Wishes and a Merry Christmas to You All !

 

The photo above is a shot of our Christmas poinsettia bush.  Last year our church had a number of potted poinsettias left over from their Christmas decorations and they offered these plants to their church members.  When the small pot was brought home it contained a wilted little poinsettia bush that looked to be on its last and final days so we planted it outside, gave it some water and hoped for the best.  This Christmas it has astounded us with its amazing growth and the amount and size of its poinsettia blossoms. (Yes I know that the red petals are not petals at all but are modified leaves and that the actual blossoms are the tiny little yellow flowers adorning the center of these brilliant red bracts - still, flower or modified leaves,  they are spectacular.)

 

To all my lovely blogging buddies, I know I've been lax about blogging this past year and I pray that in 2014 I can do better.  I do appreciate you all and think you're truly wonderful.  I wish each and every one a Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays - Joyous Season - or the seasonal greetings you prefer.  Best wishes to you all - each and every one -  Anna Maria of A Beader's Blog

Getting Projects off the Back Burner

I haven't been blogging much lately nor have I been on line much either.  For my own lack-luster blogging performance I offer no apologies, however I do apologize for my lapse in visiting the wonderful blogs of so many of my favorite bloggers.

The last few weeks I've focused upon trying to complete several projects that have been gathering dust, along with neglect, on my work table.  The Kitty Cat earrings pictured were one of many such projects.

My youngest daughter, Wendi, loves cats and has her own BFFF (best feline friend forever).  Her cat, Mimi, knows who is boss around Wendi's home and that boss is Mimi.   So when I saw these adorable kitty cat bead caps I thought of Wendi and had to purchase them.   I already had the lovely faceted amethyst beads for their bodies and a strand of size 4 mm round amethyst beads, which I used

to embellish my handmade hook earrings.   I must admit that the large, faceted beads are synthetic amethyst that has been created in a lab, it has all of the properties of real amethyst but cost a lot less - real amethyst of this size and quality would have cost me a few hundred dollars!

 

 

These are going in a drawer until Christmas.  Hope she will like them, though maybe Mimi might get a bit jealous as she thinks Wendi should be a one cat woman.



Joy to All and Blogger Headaches

I made this appliqued and embroidered felt door decoration back in the early 80's.  My little "Welcome Bear" had been boxed up for too long and I decided it was time for him to make an appearance.

Old ornament above is very simple but I loved how it looked when placed in front of a Christmas tree light bulb. No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, the photo below is a little out of focus. :(

The Holiday Season and Blogger Headaches

I thought I had this season figured out, blogwise anyway.  I would do a few posts at a time and have them scheduled for publication on certain dates and then if comments  came in, I could quickly check my personal email address to moderate and visit their blogs in return.  Simple yes ?  Well for some unknown reason, after several years of receiving email notifications of comments needing moderation, Blogspot has stopped sending me these notifications.  Bummer ... now I must stop whatever I'm doing and check on my Blogspot dashboard frequently to see if there are any wonderful comments to acknowledge.

Today as I prepared this particular posting I notice that I'm having problems with the uploading of my photos.  I click on the ones I want to post and then when I return to the photo pop-up window all of my choices have been erased.  This is  supposed to the Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa season not April Fools !  :(
If anyone has suggestions on how to get my email notifications back please feel free to give them to me.  I've tried clearing out my cache, unchecking the "remember me" option box and then logging out, shutting my PC off and re-booting, I checked over my settings but couldn't find that anything had changed.  I also checked the blogger "help" section (but that was a couple of days ago so I might try"help" again to see if anything new has been discussed). 

Photo above ... another dated Christmas decoration, this one is from Hallmark.  The Bear's beary happy Christmas, with Mama Bear holding a cookie sheet of fresh baked cookies, Papa Bear hanging up the Christmas stocking on the fireplace mantel, little Missy Bear reading her book while little Junior Bear plays on the floor with his little toy boat.

Hope you are all enjoying a marvelous and happy Holiday ... and remember to leave some cookies for Santa. :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas ...

This year, for the first time in many years,  I actually sprinkled some Christmas decorations around my house instead of just slapping up our tiny 38" fiber optic, plastic tree and calling it "done".  In so doing I must admit my blog was put on a back burner and left to simmer without much stirring.  However I accomplished a number of items on my "Christmas to do List", one of which was to install an address list and labeling program on my PC.  Naturally being techno-challenged I had to call on my hubby several dozen times and it took us both about 3 days to install it and figure out how to use it.  Then it took me another 3 days to type in my complete address list.  I could have addressed the envelopes by hand a lot quicker but it is finally done and next year should be a snap to run off address labels ... I hope !


Many years ago, when my girls where oh so very young and still believed in that wonderful, jolly old elf that rides through the sky on his  sleigh driven by magic reindeer, I began making fabulous beaded ornaments.  I would purchase the intricate kits from The Cracker Box . 
These lovely handmade ornaments were made at least 30 years ago and though they used to bless us with their beauty every Christmas, they have been stashed away for over 6 years now.  As I unwrapped them I decided they were going on display this year and even though our tiny (less than 4 foot tall) tree could not support them, I would find some way to showcase them. :)

Among a drape of faux garland they took center stage with my beloved photos of family.

Satin covered balls bedecked in crystals, sequins and silvery dress maker's pins  ... lots and lots of pins !

The one that took the longest to make was the Holiday Bell, it is completely covered in pearly white sequins, each held in place by a dress maker's pin ...  hundreds of pins !   If you'd like to check out Cracker Box  you can click on their links in this post or copy and paste their URL :  http://www.crackerboxkits.com/default.aspx?Cat_ID=1

The Rush of the Season is Winding Down

Now the rush of the season has died down, holiday lights are being removed from roof tops and the eaves of houses. Christmas trees, stripped of their ornaments and twinkling strands of multi colored lights, have been rejected and are tossed outside to await that special day when they will be collected and turned into mounds of rich sweet scented pine mulch. Meanwhile the year continues to wind its way to the very end, counting down the hours and the minutes until the New Year.

For us December has always been especially hectic as we have my birthday and our anniversary to celebrate along with all the typical hoopla that this month is famous for...the shopping, the wrapping, cards, letters, decorating, parties, dinners. A very hectic time indeed for most of us.

This year my dearest hubby bought me a lovely orchid plant for my birthday. I had seen it in the florist section and commented on how lovely it was but then thought nothing more about it. Later John went out and bought it, brought it home and surprised me with it. I just hope that I will be able to keep it alive and thriving as it is truly spectacular. If anyone has any suggestions or advice on its care and feeding please feel free to comment as I will certainly appreciate any help I can get to keep this beautiful plant alive and healthy.

Photos below...My Birthday Orchid !