Happy 2013!

Happy sparkly, full-of-promise, blank canvas, brand spankin' New Year!!!



Magickal Graphics
It's a time of newness in this sparkly new era that we entered on December 21st. The entire year stretches out ahead of us, full of promise and excitement.

What do YOU plan on doing this year?

I'm not talking resolutions.

Nope.

What are you doing? Where are you going to go? What are you going to learn?

Take up a new hobby?
Do a photography exploration in a little town you've never been to before?
Finally learn that thing you've always been meaning to learn but never got around to?
Adventure by yourself, taking in new sights and having your own mini day vacation in the city or in the country? Dine alone and be fabulous all by yourself, or with friends?
Do that thing you've always been afraid of trying?
Read lots of books?
Write a book?

You can do anything this year! I believe in you!


Now it's time to play catch-up for my December Photo-a-Day challenge! We left off at the 20th, so here's the 21st to the 31st.



21 - Wrapped



22 - Warmth



23 - Bokeh



24 - 'Twas the Night



25 - Unwrapped



26 - Toy

My new Kobo Touch! The back is lilac :)


27 - Favourite Thing

Obviously!


28 - Gratitude


29 - Texture

I know, I know... third photo of my Kobo Touch! This is the fluffy, super-soft case I crocheted for it.


30 - Resolution

Yes, I call them Revolutions. I wrote down quite a few in my new journal!


31 - Celebrate

All ready to go out!

Aaaanddd I just looked at the image for this challenge, and I realised I forgot a day! I was supposed to take a picture on January 1st. Ah well, I got all of December, and that's what matters!

December Photo a Day!

Consolidating the last few days into one post again :)



Day 16 - Hands at Work

Finishing up Trevor's Iron Man handwarmers :)


Day 17 - Comforting

Beginning to work on a junk journal and a smash book. Like most creative things, this is a very comforting act to me.


Day 18 - It's Cold Outside



Day 19 - Light




Day 20 - Furry Faces


Tomorrow is Yule. Winter Solstice. The longest night of the year, and the sun returns. What is your Solstice wish?

I'll be back tomorrow to officially wish you all a merry Yule and to tell you my wish :)

Photo-a-Day Catch Up

I'm behind in posting, but I have been taking my daily picture.

First off, though, I would like to extend my deepest condolences, grief, and prayers to the victims and the affected of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. There is so much agony, fear, and devastation in a lot of lives right now, and I think all of us could take a moment or two to send waves of light their way, or prayers if you follow any particular deity's path.

I saw pictures of those beautiful people and those beautiful little children, all of them happy and smiling, the children no doubt excited for the holidays. I honestly cannot imagine the horror that the victims' families are feeling right now. I cannot imagine the nightmares that the surviving children are experiencing.

Light has been extinguished from this world.

Please hug your children (or nieces and nephews, or grandchildren, or young siblings, or cousins) tightly tonight. Please be thankful for them, every single day. Tell your family members and friends that you love them, always.


Here are the Photo-a-Day pictures that I'm catching up on in this post.


Day 11 - On the Shelf

Just one shelf in my ever-growing collection of books. This shelf concentrates on all things crafty, herbal, metaphysical, and spiritual.


Day 12 - Sweet

Hot cocoa that we bought for the potluck and never cracked open, so we've been slowly chipping away at it. It's very comforting to drink it in front of the Christmas lights.



Day 13 - 'Tis the Season

I do love my Crappy Tire! Speaking of them, I went there today and snagged three ornaments that were on clearance for 83 cents each. Well, it turned out they were even cheaper than that, so I paid a little over a dollar for all three of them! I got a fuzzy, felt green ball with coloured polka dots on it, and two glittery butterflies in pink and lavender.



Day 14 - B&W

Beautiful cards sent to me from two of my "heart sisters", Noelle and Catherine.


Day 15 - Something Yum

Having a very delicious treat (spiked with Kahlua!) after getting home from the cinema last night.

Today, Trevor and I officially finished our Christmas shopping. We were unable to send a box down to my family in Virginia, but we'll be working on that as soon as possible. It was pouring rain down out of a warm silver sky, which was still an improvement from last night after we finished seeing The Hobbit. It was below freezing then, very windy, and everything was covered in a very thin layer of ice when it was time for us to go home. Ack!

Can one learn to ice skate while wearing sneakers?

Solstice is coming. I definitely feel it now.

Photo a Day - Day 10

Day 10 - Stripes

What better stripes for this festive photo project than a pack of pretty candy canes?



I got to order some books tonight! Wahoo!! I've had these on my Book Depository and Amazon wishlist for a while now, so I'm really excited to get them. The Book Depository offers free shipping worldwide, and stuff takes about three weeks to get to my house since they're coming from the UK.

Here's what I bought!







And because this novel looks really fun...


Hooray for books! :) I'm getting a Kobo Touch for Christmas, but there's nothing quite like having a physical book to hold in your hands and smell its inviting pages. One of my life goals (which I will post about in the next couple of weeks) is to read all the books in my personal library. Now that's a challenge!

In really exciting news, I made my first commission today as a Goddess Ambassador!! A friend bought the 2013 Creating Your Incredible Year workbook & calender, and I'm so excited for her! I hope it makes her year as magical and sparkly as the workbook made my 2012.



Buy both the Business and Life editions and save 10%!

Photo a Day - Catching up!

I've got to catch up for two days of my photo project! Trevor and I had our second-annual holiday party yesterday, and it was an even bigger hit than last year and everyone had a ton of fun. I love parties with our friends, and when they're during the holidays and everything's even more festive? That really makes for a memorable night.

With so many folks in our apartment, though, I feel emotionally drained. Tonight I'm going to smudge the house and get my new quartz point set in a central location to clear the energies in here.

As I am very tired still, I will leave you with a catch up on the photo a day project!



Day 8 - Shopping

Hubby was checking out my Amazon wishlist :)


Day 9 - Decorated







Are any of you doing a photo project -- or any other fun creative project -- this month? Have you done one recently? Share with me! :)

December Photo a Day - 7

Day 7 - The View from Here

We live in a basement apartment. I'm holding the camera up over my head for this pic!

Photo a Day - 6

December Photo a Day - Day 6 - Burst of Red





Yesterday I forgot to show off the physical things I've received from Livejournal's Holiday-Wishes community so far!


Lots o' fabric from wood-dragon
Butterfly journal from flamelight
Unlined floral journal from poeticknowledge
Quartz point (needed one SO BAD) from thefannishwaldo
Not pictured: awesome artwork from browngirl

Part of my list was to ask folks to register to become organ donors and to volunteer or donate to local animal rescues :) I've been granting lots of other people's wishes and have been gaining new friends in the process! Nothing beats friends, after all! :)

Photo a Day and Christmas in My House!

December Photo a Day - Day 5 - Someone You Love

My dear hubby, relaxing with a cold. Poor guy! But I'm taking good care of him :)




It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas throughout our apartment!





















Tell me how your home is decorated for the holidays! When do you usually decorate? What colour tree do you have, if you put one up? Do you go all out or do you prefer low-key elegant?