We are heading to California for the holidays. Our grand-daughters other grand-parents live in San Jose. It is time for her to spend some time and get to see and know the rest of her family. Since plane fare is so ridiculous, we are taking the train. It will take us approximately 24 hours to get there, but we can sit back and leave the driving to others. It is a quick trip, only 5 days. There is as much family in California for her as here in Washington. Hopefully this will be the first trips for her. Her grand-parents has made several trips up here to see her, including her great-grand-mother on one. Our Washington Christmas will be celebrated after we return. Santa will be leaving Selene's presents here as well as visiting her in San Jose.
Besides planning the holiday trip, we have been busy creating our own presents. One year when we were short on funds, we bought very few gifts and made the rest! It was so joyful to make a personal gift, embellishing it with items we knew the person liked. And the sight of seeing them use it during the year made our hearts warm and fuzzy.
I have 6 fellow nurses in the office I work at and a front office staff of 5. My Bind-It-All has been getting a workout! I created 4x4 journal for each. Their initials are attached to a slide mount that was colored with alcohol inks. Printer paper was just too thin for the actual pages, so we cut thin white cardstock to fill them. The covers were decorated with papers that the store had on clearance and were 5.$1.00. Can't beat that price!
My brother and sister-in-law always carry a notebook to jot things down in, so they are receiving journals as well. These are a little bigger, 5x7.
Between family, home, work and crafting, I have not taken time to come up for air. Hopefully things will calm down a little after the holidays.
The old age of Hollywood is one of my favorites. No blood, gore, sex, foul language. Just pure entertainment. I remember my mother telling me stories of she and her sisters spending the afternoon at the local "movie house" watching stars dance and sing their way across the silver screen. This inspired my recent creations.
My husband and I recently returned from a long needed vacation. We haven't gone anywhere, just the two of us, since we obtained custody of our grand-daughter Selene when she was just 21 days old. She is now three, and to be truthful, we needed a rest.
We took to the road in a rental car and headed towards Lake Tahoe. The scenery is beautiful but the weather was a little cold. Temperatures were in the low 40's during the day. I was not aware there were Paddle Boat tours on the lake and had no inclination to try one out in the cold.
This was one of the views from the bluff around the lake. 
One of the many lake views on our time spent at Lake Tahoe.
The sky was overcast as they were predicting snow. Not wanting to be caught up on the windy roads in an economy car with no traction, we decided to head back into Reno.
Using the Bind-It-All machine, making little mini albums, scrapbook albums, CD albums and notebooks together is a snap! This 4x4 mini notebook is adored with a slide mount and a picture of my mother at her First Communion in Boston, MA 1931.
My grandfather was a whaler out of Boston in the early 1900's. What a fitting tribute to him!
I was playing around with Black and White. Dark alcohol inks on white glossy cardstock and dry brushing Gesso. I was intriged with this image of Marilyn Monroe. Using pages torn out of a book that I had altered, the typed page added just enough contrast.
