goodbye 2008

I pray you are having a wonderful new year's eve.

I will be back soon~

my gift to you

While uploading some of my Christmas gift pictures, I thought I'd have a little picnik fun. I'd like to share it with you! Begin by uploading a picture. Hit the create tab, then click on effects, then scroll down to black & white. Once you click on the black & white tab (your entire picture wil turn black & white), another little window will pop up. You will see effect and original tabs in the box. Click on original, as this is the way you will bring the original color back into the picture, object or objects. You can change the brush size, if you have alot of painting to do. Or, keep it small if you have tiny areas you want to add the original color back onto. Setting the brush hardness also helps to spead up re-coloring large areas. Do not leave it on 0% or you won't be able to change a thing~

"jennifer's dance"

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Or, there is another way. Once you hit the black and white tab, check the reverse box. Then, click the original tab and you can take away the color, making whatever you paint black and white. It is fun, and can become quite addictive. This is what I did with Lisa' s charm below as an example~

I checked the reverse box, and painted part of the charm, one of the angel wings, and some of the background in the picture behind it, to make it black and white. I changed the size of the brush as I went~as to not go over the lines.

These charms, used to make necklaces, were made with alot of love. This is the reason I give. This is my "love filled" gift to you.

Merry Christmas!

the calm before the cold

My jade plant has been trying to bloom for the last couple of weeks. I remember when I first began seeing the blooms appear. I didn't even know Jade plants bloomed, as I had never, ever seen it! But, just this afternoon, the first few blooms began to show a sign of a flower!
Right now it is 65 degrees, but it has been in the high 70's all day! Tomorrow the highs will be in the 40's! We are expecting a really cold blast of Artic air after midnight. The weather can be so strange, living 83 miles from the Gulf Coast. One minute we are burning up, and the next we are freezing.
I do want some cold weather for Christmas. Just not freezing rain, Lord.

snow is falling

Last week we had snow in Houston, Texas. It fell in downtown Houston, and north and east of the city. I work downtown, and live West. I missed it completely. I got off work, and then it snowed! I would have loved to see it. The last time I saw it, was Christmas Eve 2004~it was magical! Our children built a small snowman on top of my Expedition. The next year I used a picture of it in our Christmas cards. We don't get snow this far south very often, so when it falls here it is monumental! It was such a big deal that a book was published called The South Texas Christmas Miracle 2004. And, then, More Snow ~ The South Texas Christmas Miracle was published. Both are beautiful coffee-table books, full of the most gorgeous snow scenes in Texas! I now see they are considering publishing a 5th Anniversay Edition in 2009. As you can see, we are really excited by snow!
Since, I missed it, I added it to my blog...thanks to Daryl, and her post on how to get it!
While online, I also pulled up this website~How to get snow in Texas. How much fun is that? Can you imagine paying for it? As much as I love it, I won't pay for it. But, I do love snow. Can you tell?

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I bought the above little bird, made by JoAnne the fabulous artist in Bellville, who filled Nothing Ordinary Antiques & Oddities with the most beautiful flock of birds! He is now perched in my Christmas tree.

breath it in

While working on Christmas gifts this morning, I printed and slipped these into the front opening of family gift cards. What a clever idea for our bank to include a blank card and envelope to put the gift card inside.

This picture, taken two weeks ago at Nothing Ordinary made me smile.

I pray you are having a smile filled day. One full of family, laughter, peace, joy and love.

its a wrap

Sara has finished my blog! It was so much fun. She is wonderful to work with, and has great talent. Besides her design business you must look at her beautiful photos~

Thanks Sara! It was a joy. And, I am very pleased.

This photo was taken last week at Nothing Ordinary Antiques & Oddities. Aren't these birds beautiful? An artist at the shop, Joanne, makes these and many, many more varities. They are all over the store....just waiting for your tree, or your favorite space on the wall. They are gorgeous.

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If you judge people, you have no time to love them. Mother Teresa

making progress!

bling

This week's assignment for Shades of Inspiration, was bling! Oh, this was fun, and it wasn't hard to design a piece using some great vintage rhinestone finds. The focal piece is an art deco rhinestone shoe clip, found at Nothing Ordinary Antiques & Oddities last Sunday. I added wonderful vintage rhinestone teardrops. They dangle playfully from Czech fire-polished glass beads, swarovski crystals rondells, and faceted lemon quartz. Wow, I love these old rhinestones. They really catch alot of light!

I will leave this and several other pieces at Nothing Ordinary, in anticipation of Nancy's 3rd Annual Customer Appreciation Holiday Party, which will be held this Friday, December 5th, from 5-9 pm. I really love this antique shop. It is packed full of beautiful antiques and lots of Christmas goodies. Tomorrow I will take lots of photos (for a project) and maybe shop (just a little). Then, I am off to San Antonio to see my dh. It is her birthday. We will have so much fun together. I am so excited!