A Thomas Kinkade Christmas

I recently visited Lily at  http://christmas-believe.blogspot.com/, and her post about her favorite Christmas Mugs, I noticed a jigsaw puzzle in the background that looked like a Thomas Kinkade puzzle.

My Thomas Kinkade book.

 I asked her if indeed it was a Kinkade puzzle, I love his artwork, and she got back to me and said that it was and that she too loves his work.

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Christmas at Graceland

I won't tell you the rest of what she said, because she may post about it herself, but we both share a love for his artwork.

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Christmas Memories, 1994

 I first heard of him at my friend Ginnie's house. She too is a big fan of his work.

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Village Christmas, 1997

 She has a couple of his smaller framed pictures, books, and some other things that friends bought for her.

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Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride, 1996

I was fascinated at how he is able to capture the warm glow of light in his artwork.

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St. Nicholas Circle, 1993

 His paintings are beautiful and always takes me back to another time when life was more simpler.

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Christmas at the Courthouse, 1990

 It's like I could just stare into the picture and want to be there.

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Victorian Christmas, 1993

 Couldn't you imagine yourself there?

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Victorian Christmas, 1992

 I chose to share his Christmas artwork since my blog is of a Christmas nature, but he has many, many other beautiful paintings of spring, summer, fall, and the lovely English/Irish countryside, etc.

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Hometown Christmas Memories

You can visit his online gallery of all his artworks Here.

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Christmas Eve, 1991

 I googled all of these images, but they are all in my book at the top of this post,

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Christmas Cottage

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Blessings Christmas

except for this one above. I love this picture!!

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Home for the Holidays, 1991

I hope you enjoyed his artwork as much as I do. He really has quite a gift to be able to draw his viewers into another place in time!I am linking this post to Natasha's Pinning and Singing on the Weekend Party.

Christmas Humor

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Maxine.....you have to love her....   ;-)

The Real Santa?

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I love this image of Santa Claus! He's perfect! I'm linking this post to http://yuletideseasonings.blogspot.com/ for her and if any of you have a favorite image of Santa or any favorite Santa related items, join her for Sundays With Santa. HO HO HO!

Christmas At QVC

Well, only three months left until the big day is here again! I'll be watching QVC's countdown to Christmas on Sunday, September 25th once more! If you would like to see what Christmas programs will be on, you can find the program guide Here.

Here's a few items they will have available that I liked.

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This is a 8" Candle Impressions Winter Embossed Battery Operated Candle w/Timer. I own several of the Candle Impressions and I love them! They last for quite a while before you need to change the batteries and come on and turn off  faithfully every evening!

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Below is the Dickens Family Carolers by Valerie Parr Hill. Valerie is a decorating expert! LOVE her home decor products!

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The next item below is a fantastic buy! A 75-piece Holiday Theme Wrap Bag & Bow Set w/Enclosure Cards on Clearance for $19.78 plus S&H.

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You can find this Here.

If you decide to watch....HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

Handmade Cricut Christmas Cards

Well, I've been busy working on my Christmas cards with my new cricut machine.

 There's soooo much to learn! I'm enjoying making these cards, but sometimes it's just a little frustrating trying to figure out how to use the different features.

 Card making can also become a big expense to get started.

 I took these to a craft store that we frequent to show the ladies there and to get their opinion, they think I should bring some up to the store to sell, but I'm definitely not there yet!!

 Maybe next year after I have lots and lots of practice and really know what I'm doing, maybe then.

This last snowflake card was my first one, but I changed the blue button that was in the center of the snowflake, and put a sparkle gem in the center. I like that better, I just didn't have the gems when I made the card.

So, this is what I've done and hope to get many more done and to become creatively inspired as I go! Have a nice week everyone!

Building a Gingerbread House

 I don't know if I could eat up a gingerbread house after all of the work that goes into making one, they are just so darn cute! But I do recall in one of my earlier posts about the cute little gingerbread boys and girls my friend gave me, how I gobbled those up with a cup of coffee...mmmm...so good! Has anyone out there actually made a gingerbread house?

UPDATE: I had a video from the History channel here on making gingerbread houses with necco candies, but it was no longer working, so I went to You Tube and found this very interesting video from http://www.youtube.com/user/reinwaldsbakery. The free gingerbread recipe is over 100 yrs. old and can be found HERE. Enjoy! You will need to pause the music player in the left side bar.

Shaker Woods, Christmas in the Woods

Some of you in the Ohio, Pa. and West Virgina areas may be familiar with Christmas in the Woods at Shaker Woods Festival in Columbiana, Ohio. We have visited there in the past and it's such a fun place to shop for handmade crafts and to indulge in delicious foods.

This year's dates to visit are on October 8th, 9th and October 15th, 16th. We may go this year since we haven't been there in a while. The grounds are beautiful and the smell of food cooking is heavenly! My husband would go just for the food!

The last time we were there, there was a crispness in the air and that cup of hot coffee, hot chocolate or hot apple cider is divine! Entertainment will be provided by B.E. Taylor. If you missed my previous post on B.E.  Taylor, you can find it here.

The craftspeople make their crafts as you watch. So many things to choose from and you can get your Christmas shopping done in one place. If you want some information you can visit their website. http://www.christmasinthewoodsohio.com/index.shtml

All pictures here are from their website. http://www.christmasinthewoodsohio.com/gallery/index.php?x=browse&pagenum=1

You can view many more there. Have a wonderful week!

B.E. Taylor Silent Night

This is a beautiful version of Silent Night. B.E. Taylor has made it his own. He's from our area, Aliquippa, Pa. It began in 1994, with this single which was widely accepted by all. He and his band do a Christmas tour annually  to 40,000 fans which sells out two nights at the Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh and and two nights at the Capitol Music  Hall in Wheeling. I always hear his Christmas songs playing on the radio when the holidays are just around the corner. You can read more about B.E. Taylor on his website.

http://www.betaylor.com/

Hope you enjoy this version of Silent Night as much as I do! Don't forget to pause the player on the left.

                                          http://songsandhymns.org/hymns/sheetmusic/silent-night

                                        http://www.pennstateclips.com/2010/12/silent-night.html

Comment Translation and Gingerbread Cookies

Good morning all. I wanted to tell you...and some of you may already know this...but I did not, that a follower of my blog left me a comment on one of my posts which I was thrilled about because I love reading comments, but it was in her own language and I could not read it. Darn I thought, there has to be some way of understanding what she wrote! So I searched and found a link in which you copy the comment that was left and paste it into this Google translate box and click on translate and voila, you can now read the comment! Wonderful I thought! Now there are many other ways of translating things like downloading an app, but this was easy enough for me and now I'm thrilled that I can read other comments left in a different language easily. If you have ever had this happen to you, here is the link http://translate.google.com/

As I'm sitting here having my coffee, a friend of mine sent me home yesterday with some gingerbread cookies she had made for an outdoor wedding reception. She has made them in the colors of the wedding party. My husband ate one and I'm having one with my coffee, but I have to say that they are to cute to eat, but are so delicious!! The smile on the cookie at the right was smeared from the cover that was on top of it.  I felt guilty biting off an arm and then a leg...and finally the head...(scream)....

I'm sorry, but she was very tasty! Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone! And Ginnie, thanks for the cookies!!