Holy cow! When did December sneak in the door??? What happened to November???
Ok, if I’m really honest here, I know exactly what happened. I’ve actually spent most of 2017 in Christmas mode.
Bringing Joy…christmasjoy.ca
As a part of the 2017 JOY Christmas Home Tour planning committee, I’ve spent most of 2017 planning, interviewing, writing, and just all round preparing for this tour of eight homes kindly provided to us by local homeowners. We then line up decorators, florists, designers and foodies with each home and by the tour date in mid-November, the homes are amazing creations of Christmas delight. I write the tour booklet which features each of the homes and all the businesses that are involved. The entire project is massive, but the volunteer committee of women does it all for the benefit of Hope House, a local community organization dedicated to poverty alleviation in Guelph. Last year, we raised $83,000 for Hope House. We set a goal of $100,000 this year, really challenging ourselves. And we blasted through that goal; with the help of all our sponsors, and business partners, we sold out again and we have raised $105,000!! We are thrilled beyond belief!!
And Cleaning…and Organizing
Somewhere in the midst of all that, I had to sort out the portion of my basement that houses the furnace…and acts as storage. (Ok, my husband will tell you my entire house is storage for me, but that’s another story…) That led me to deciding my office needed a deep clean and that meant I’d had enough of the state of my craft studio next door. Everything stopped dead in there. I had to reorganize big time. So that meant finding better ways to use all the boxes, and bins and tins and other items I had on hand for storage. I pulled everything out so I could see what I had. The entire basement was a disaster!
But, this is also where I store my 50 bins of Christmas decorations…I kid you not. In two different locations. A storage closet in my office. And under the stairs in the furnace area. So everything had to be organized before I could start decorating. Nothing like setting challenges for myself at a very busy time of year.
Oh and it’s exam time...
And add into all of THAT, I also proctor exams at University of Guelph at this time of year. That means I assist and oversee students writing exams through the university’s accessibility department.
So…I haven’t been able to do much creating in my craft studio lately, because you kind of need a table to do that, and I couldn’t see mine. Or much of any other surface. But, I have accomplished the task I set out to do. My craft studio has gone from this:
To this:
Please tell me you can see a difference!!
Now onto Christmas decorating!!
My Christmas decorating is almost completed. Just the Christmas village to set up and the tree to decorate — it’s up, just not decorated! Maybe tonight. It’s amazing how my husband keeps missing the elves burning the midnight oil, decorating our home as he sleeps. Each morning he wakes up and discovers another room has been done! Funny how that happens!
So maybe, very soon, I can get into my really organized craft studio and tackle what I want to be doing, being creative.
My very first easel card
Oh…but before I go, I thought I would share my very first easel card that I did. It was a little challenging to figure out how to make the card work…setting it up to stand properly. I had to do it a couple of times. But I’m happy with the result. I used Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps Dear Santa. Love her stamps!!
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