MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE;)))

BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL....

HUGS, 

JULIEROSE

LA BLAGEUSE

{celebrating-euse}

 

"BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!", et al

This is at NOON !!!!

Earlier it was 12 degrees with a wind chill of 2!!

⛇⛄

☃☃☃☃

We got about 1.5" of snow overnight...;)))

It has stayed on our lawns but the roadways

are clear--just wet...

soooo,

Tom and I thought we'd go to the supermarket

this morning to beat the rush--uh....

Nooooooooo...👺👹👽

NOPE!!!

Not even any parking spaces--

did we see--

so we turned around and came home...

😒😖

I will go out E A R L Y just when

the store opens up tomorrow to

pick up the last minute items...

******************************

As a treat for our disappointing trip

I fried up big, rolled-up 

Flour Tortillas stuffed with

pickled red peppers, onions and

fried onions 

topped with

Mexican cheeses

 and sour cream

 for our brunch!!

Y-----UU----UUUUM!!

;)))))))))))))))))

I have been a cooking fool lately--

I also put together a beef stew for

our dinner tonight

in our Slow Cooker...

 *******************************

Taaa--Daaaa!!

We now have a schedule for 

Christmas family visits:

Candice & Co are coming

after 1 pm [When Cassidy

gets off work] on 

Christmas Eve;

and

Jeff & Co will come

the day AFTER Christmas

to open gifts...

And so...

.I will be cooking 

TWO TIMES

2x, twice

S I G H ...

Well, Christmas Day 

Tom is making his spaghetti for the two

of us, so I have a day off...

Don't get me wrong, I L💖VE

having them all here, but I do

get tired a lot more easily

these days in my 80's!!!!

SO......

This will be my mantra:

↧↧↧↧

I saw this on kathysquilts

and thought, YES,

this is the way to go...

Hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(prepping-euse)

 

EARLY MORNING SKIES, et al

 

Gazing out our easterly tv room windows this morning

we were treated to these sights.....↕↕↕↕

Tomorrow the 

Winter Solstice heralds 

the bringing back of the light....

So Welcome after these darker days...

************************

Inside and cozy-ed up...

My grandson, Connor,

and

my granddaughter,

 Cassidy,

enjoying my daughter's 

new fireplace

in her new home...

and......

👀can you see? can you see?👀

;)))))))))))))))

Libby is  as close to the fire as

she can get on the hearth...

{click}

*****************************

I am wrapping presents this morning--

one of my favorite holiday activities --

I like using wrapping paper instead

of bags--

This year I went with foil papers--love

the shiny sparkle...;)))

This brings back memories of my childhood...

Christmas is such a nostalgic time...

wrapping with love is so much fun...

warms the 💗

& & & & &  &

My old amaryllis is struggling to

send out some green shoots,

But I am hopeful and trying to

be patient.

My new pink amaryllis I 

got this year is growing a treat!!

I can't wait to see it bloom....

I love all its stages of growth...

Every day just a little bit bigger...

plants and gardens give you

so much hope.....

Which we all are in need of right now...

💝💝💝💝

I hope your hearts are light this year;

and for those of you friends who

have lost someone near and dear

this past year-- or even longer ago--

I wish you peace and a heart-

warming holiday--

whatever tradition you celebrate.

💖💖💖💖💖

hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(FA-LA-LA-LA-LAHHH-euse)

SCRAPPINESS=HAPPINESS SATURDAY

 

Using up my scrappy bag of purples,

blues and dusty pinks...

Just some fun sewing...

this week...

then....

Greens, purples and blues emerged....

And

Leftovers from leftovers '))))

👀↕↕↕👀

From these Ojos that I've just put up

willy-nilly so far and still have on their

telephone paper backs that 

I sew these on:

Blues, purples, pinks and a bit

of turquoise

And...Flamingo orts;))))

  

My bag still has some cut-offs in it--

mostly blues and pinks...

they will be

sewn with another 

color scrap bag.  

I would really like to finish all my

scrappy bags off--HAH!! 

["If wishes were horses..." and

all that jazz, right???]

**********************

Lately,

I had found myself in a H U G E 

blue funk and didn't want to

even look at fabric or even

think of sewing any projects---

l

And

Then

"Mr. Cold" hit me...

I was laid even lower....

any of my "get up and go" 

had now

definitely 

"Got up and went"

Far far away......

So;;;;;

How was I to find my way back?????

I decided that I was just so sick of looking

at these scrap baggies that I would grab

one and just sew;

no pattern, no rules, no 1/4" seams even==

No Nothing!! Just sewing without any

plan at all...

Sew now--so now hahaha--😆😂😄

I still don't really feel like doing a pattern

or anything planned out, 

but I am enjoying just sewing along 

like this. 

Has this ever happened to you????

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(just-sewing-euse) 

2025 JUNQUE JOURNAL, et al

 

Above is my 2023-2024 

Pita cracker box 

Junque Journal glue book

which I have shown before. 

A few of you asked to see 

more of my process and the book..

I have added tabs to all the pages,

some fabric and some paper...

As you can see here:↓↓↓

It has gotten really CHUNKY!!!

↶↶↶↶

I only have about 5 pages left to

the end of the year...

But  by using my journaling cards I

will be able to work until

January.

Here is where I am today--

you can see the pockets with the

journaling cards in them:

It is so chunky that I had to hold it

open with my Father's 

old glass paperweight...

*******************

And......

So, I have put together

what will become  

Volume 2 of my Pita Box

Junque Journals.

[I like using these boxes as it gives me an

excuse to get these from Trader Joe's and

eat up all the yummy crackers--haha]

It has four "signatures"* --

in this one instead of the 5 in my first

to keep it from getting so "fluffy"!!

:)))))

[*FYI: groups of pages 

sewn into the spine...]

👀↧↧👀

You can see them here sewn

into the spine....

I've distressed all the pages--

which are scraps, and coffee dyed

computer papers, and a 

bit of everything really;)))

[hence "junque" journal title]

I am getting ready to work on the pages here....

The front cover inside Title Page

ready to be decorated

and 

here is the first page that I

have begun to work on:

You can see that this is just a scrap

of paper that I partially coffee dyed and

stencilled with dots....

The lady has become my "signature" stamp 

that I will feature throughout...

Here is my "messy" work table with some things

in progress...

Above my work table are shelves holding

a lot of the supplies that I use most...

And 

that old lunch pail on the top right

was modge-podged by my Mom--

and I truly cherish it...

holding all my glues...

So you see

the acorn doesn't fall 

far from the

tree, 

does it:)))

I am working on learning a bit of

Mixed Media in this old book...

working with stamps, sprays,

 stencils,  and 

some watercolors...

I will remove these pages and most likely 

use them in my Junque Journal 

next year...

Hugs, Julierose,

La Blageuse

(junque[journaling-euse)

SMALL CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS, et al

 

Here's my "little" Christmas 

montage right by my recliner

in our tv room...

This gorgeous lavender plant

was gifted to me at 

Thanksgiving by my

DIL, Lindsay,

pictured on the left 

below with my daughter on the right.

[!!ITS SCENT IS WONDERFUL!!]

My beautiful "girls"...;))))

💓💖💕

Every day, I drink my 

Yorkshire Gold Tea

[my favorite of all]

in this lovely Pfaltzgraff 

Christmas cup

during December:

So pretty!!! ;)))))

And

Look what I found at the

grocery store this morning:

↧↧↧↧

Aren't these adorable cookie plates???

[or in my case they will hold

the  fudge I make

each year...😋😍]

{Plus, they were a "Two-fer"}

**************************

:)))L O O K E E -- L O O K E E :)))

My Amaryllis is looking hopeful....

more green showing....

fingers crossed....👏👍

I am not doing much of anything in 

crafting these busy days.

But....

 I feel so much better

today--hoping my cold 

has 

finally

ended.

*********************

Just a bit of news from 

Our House on the Hill..

hugs, Julierose

La Blageuse

("Jingle bells, jingle bells...

da da daaaah da-da!!"-euse)

WINTER HAS ARRIVED, et al

 

My version of a Jan Patek pattern from last year...

this is hanging on my dining room wall to

herald the coming of Christmas

and

with this really cold North wind and

actual (be still my 💓) snow flurries

yesterday!!!:))))

I had a lot of fun making this one--

especially that little flying Angel..

**********************

We lit our little Maple Sugar scented

candle and placed it on my

little Christmas Ojos mat

and watched the sun go down at 

4:20 yesterday with early

darkening skies and wind lashed

trees...

***********************

I spy some little bits of greenery on the base--

just maybe (fingers crossed) my amaryllis

will bloom?????

*************************

I call this "Christmas Strawberries"

I began making these a while back

after seeing Melisa's  quilt

(click)

So....

I drafted my own pattern 

(shamelessly copying hers--

she ok'ed it hahaha).

**Note the skewed strawberry cap on

the topmost one--should I undo it??

Or just let it go its own way???

Her full sized quilt is such a beauty,

I couldn't resist trying a few blocks...

**************************

A sure sign of winter is my 

December Daily Journal [above]

making its debut

that I

work in every year....

Here are a few pages to be 

journaled on....

They are all made from magazine images, my own

stamped images, and various scrappy leftovers

which include any junk mail and scraps--

Only my "Rudebecka" Reindeer is made

from fabric and one of my dies...

I add lots of sparkley stuff for fun....

(you can click on images to enlarge)

********************

Both Tom and I are under the

weather with head colds..

so we are mostly napping and

taking it easy...

Until next time..

hugs, Julierose,

La blageuse

(sniffling-and-sneezing-euse!!)