around our house... Christmas decor this year...

Most years our house looks the same at Christmas. We pull out the same decorations and put them up, over and over. This year, however, I was not in "the mood" to use all of our normal decorations, and we had company coming pretty quickly after we usually set things up, so we decorated a bit differently and I am pretty happy with the sparkle through the house!

First, our tree.

A couple of years ago, Steven and I splurged on this amazing tree. It has white AND colored LED lights. They are controlled separately and you can make the tree do pretty amazing light things. On top of that, the tree rotates. WIN! So the only issue. :) You knew there was one, right? I haven't been able to figure out how to get a lit topper on the tree. Our usual lit toppers won't work because their cords get tangled up or don't reach where the plug comes up through the tree. When we take it down this year, I am going to try to make a concerted effort to figure out a way to fix this. Until then, I took the photo without the top of the tree!  

Next up, my pink tree. I haven't taken a photo of the entire pink tree yet, but here's what I have taken. I LOVE my pink tree. 

I have a special set of ornaments and garlands that go on the pink tree. White, pink, crystal, silver and gold.  Nothing else. I adore how this tree glows. I really do. Maybe I'll do another post about it. :)

Last but not least, for today, our mantle. Yes, it kind of does glow. The lights are a set of very strange, heavily wired lights that we bought at Costco a few years back. This year, Steven added a stuffed Santa that I have never seen before, and we added our favorite fireplace screen and the stockings that I made us 4 years ago. I love our mantle!

Probably enough for today. It is getting late and I have a few other things to take care of but I wanted to share some Christmas cheer! 

Just because I don't post doesn't mean I'm not creating!

Work has had me really busy. I mean, REALLY busy. Busy enough so that I have been working on pages in my art journal just to keep my sanity. Busy enough so that I got today off as a "comp day" instead of a vacation. Now that's busy, right?

Anyhow, I've had a lot of fun working on background pages in the journal, and I've also got a couple of pages that might even be done. I'm not sure if they are done, but I think they are. :)

Here's one of my favorite pages so far. I did this on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago. I don't know if it's actually done, but I do know that when I look at it, I feel a sense of peace and tranquility. I love it.

One of the techniques we learned at the art journal workshop was using pages from books, as well as tissue paper. I combined both of them on this page, along with a few pieces of scrapbooking stuff. The white book parts are from the Art Institutes catalog. Several years ago, I dreamed about going there, but eventually gave up because it's about $40,000 a year, way out of my budget. Anyhow, now I'm discovering my own style, and having a blast, and not spending any money at all. Gotta love it!

I'll try to keep posting them as the days go forward. I just took a bunch of pictures of what's done so I have plenty.

Finally, my "word for the year" this year is BLISS, and I'm checking in, mid year, to be sure I'm still following my bliss. I am, although it has taken a different direction than I thought it would at the start of 2010. I've renewed some special friendships, made some new friends, explored my inner hitman (by playing Mafia Wars), and done more art than in previous years. Yea. I'm living it. I'm also truly engaged at work, learning things that I never thought I could, and actually enjoying them. A-mazing. For example, next week, I'll be creating a graphic for a C-level exec's messages. Nice, huh? It's a small thing, but the graphic classes have panned out and I have new skills. I'm also the "button maker" for our team. Gotta love a good button! LOL I'm actually becoming "friendly" with the corporate graphic artist, and he's willing to take my designs and polish them up a bit to finalize them. I'm beyond excited about all of this.

Since I had today off, I made a "Raspberry-Lime Poke Cake." Mmmmmm! Steven's grilling kabobs for dinner, and we'll have cake once we finish. Can't wait.

-Follow your bliss... let it lead, and see where it takes you. <3