Dawn always has wonderful ideas for homeschooling, religion, organizing, nature studies…just about everything. When I saw her Clipboard Corner post I knew that I wanted to do the same thing, only a bit different. When I was researching Advent calendar links I found an adorable calendar created on a clipboard and that’s given me an idea to create a special holiday clipboard to help organize Christmas. Hopefully later today I’ll get a chance to sneak out and pick up the clipboard, paint, stickers, ribbons and paper to decorate my own…sort of like my digital one below. I’m really only crafty on the computer so we’ll see how it turns out but if it looks okay I’ll post a photo. *smile*

Some pretty printable holiday planning sheets can be found at:

Ann’s Amazing Holiday Planner (Christmas Printables)

Printable Holiday Planner Forms

Christmas Planning Checklists and Organizing Tips

Survive Christmas - Make a Christmas Game Plan

Christmas List Budget Worksheet

Holiday Organizing Made Easier

Christmas Planner

Microsoft’s Christmas Templates - for various Microsoft software

Whilst searching for a suitable image to use on Jeanne’s blog for her Christmas makeover I found a few really nice links for online ephemera. Ephemera was actually a new word for me and I had to go look it up to see exactly what it meant and how to pronounce it. *smile*

I love the old photos but my favorites are the vintage documents…the typefaces that were used, the handwriting, the information held in the documents, that’s fascinating to me. Ephemera links…if you have any favorites you’d like to share, please email me!

1800’s Ephemera

Flickr: Collage Images

Photo Clipart

Mother Goose Gems

Old Nursery Rhymes

The True Mother Goose Content Page

Leaves of Time

Vintage Resources

Lise’s Garden Victorian Images

Art-E-Zine - Links

Ephemera - Exploring the World of Old Paper

Etsy has quite a bit for sale.

I was talking with my sister yesterday and she mentioned how overwhelmed she was feeling…how she couldn’t wait for Christmas to be over. She went on to say that was probably how evil worked…taking something so pure and holy and sacred and due to today’s commercialization of the holiday, turned it in to something that was to now be dreaded and wished quickly over with.

Though the thought of baking hundreds of cookies (I’m the official cookie baker of the family), buying presents, decorating, writing out cards, getting family pictures taken and cleaning does exhaust me a bit, luckily it does not fill me with dread. I love Christmas, and yes, even the crowded malls and fighting for parking spaces. In fact, one of my favorite things to do is to go shopping just before Christmas with my Momma and walk, holding hands through the crowded mall with her, singing Christmas carols out loud. Sort of our version of caroling, only we do it in the warmth of the shopping center instead of the bitter cold outside. We sometimes get smiles and sometimes strange looks but then we’re a strange family. *smile*

Some blue links…

New Blue Christmas Palette

Choosing Christmas Colors

Avoiding the Christmas Budgeting Blues

Tips to Avoid Christmas Blues

Beating the Christmas Blues

Elvis - Blue Christmas - You Tube

Dean Martin - Christmas Blues - YouTube

May all your
days be merry
Your seasons full of cheer
But ’til it’s January
I’ll just go and disappear
Oh Santa may have brought you some stars for your shoes
But Santa only brought me the blues
Those brightly packaged tinsel covered Christmas blues

(All blue Christmas clipart today…had more but no room to put it in the posting!)

I must admit that I had not been exposed to The Nutcracker until after I was married and watched it (probably accidentally) on our local PBS television station. Momma was not interested in the ballet though I do remember Col and I, and later Honey, taking a tap and ballet class for one year. I know there are families that have the Christmas tradition of going each year to see it but since I was blessed with four sons and no daughters it’s not something that really interests any of my boys though, once, Connor asked me if there was anywhere he could take ballet lessons. When I inquired why, he told me that it would probably be a great place to meet girls. *smile*

Kabose’s The Nutcracker - Story and Music

FunLessonPlans.com’s Nutcracker Ballet Story and History Lesson

Great Performances Educational Resources - The Nutcracker

Interesting History of the Ballet from Tchaikovsky-Research.net

Christmas Traditions - The History of Clara from The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker’s Wish - A Poem

Nutcracker Coloring Pages - Here, Here and Here

The Nutcracker Game

Christmas Games - Find the Nutcracker

Nussknacker Haus - Official Home of the Nutcracker Lady

Old World Nutcrackers

And to find when (or if) it will be playing on your local PBS television station this year go HERE, type in your zip code and enter “Nutcracker” in the Search for box.

I write a lot about my family (Michael, Momma and my sisters are my best friends) but very little about my friends. Unlike most women I do not have any childhood friends that I have kept throughout the years…my days spent taking care of children that had special needs (Sean, Cade and Connor were born with renal birth defects…in the twins’ case it was severe, and Quinn, born with Down syndrome) requiring surgeries, many doctor visits, tests, and therapies, plus two marriages all take their toll on any extra time that is needed to nurture friendships. Linda, Eileen, Lori Anne, Carmen, Kristin…I miss them, I wonder what they are doing now, I pray for them.

My friend, Jean, is smart (mouthed too) and funny. I met her just as my first marriage was failing and we immediately clicked, cementing a strong friendship that has survived almost twenty years. We try to see each other at least twice a year and we’re hoping to get together within the next week or two for a visit.

Joining our local homeschooling co-op was actually one of the best things that I did for my boys…and for me. With the co-op came like-minded women, whose days were full of children, learning and chores. These ladies are all near and dear in my heart. They are a wonderful support group and I know that if I or the boys needed anything that any one of them would be there to help.

Living so far away from Michael’s family, we’ve only gotten a chance to see each other a couple of times. Recently, I got the chance to get to know (and love) my sister-in-law, Pam, during her visit to our home a couple of months ago. We found that we really had a lot in common (besides loving Michael *smile*) and I can’t wait to visit with her and her husband (and finally meet the kids and grandkids) next month when we take a little visit up to Ohio during Michael’s winter semester break.

Though Michael calls my online friends “not real,” they are very real to me. When I didn’t have the time nor energy to keep up friendships, when I needed to just know that I wasn’t the only woman tackling life’s harder curves…they were there, offering similar stories and prayers. I’ve known Jeanne since the twins were just babies. She always has a kind and encouraging word for me and I just love her to death. Elvira, Shelley, all the ladies from my Catholic homeschooling loop, the women that I learned Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop and Poser with, my new friend Kim…all hold a very special place in my heart and I am blessed for their having touched my life.

Ullabenulla and Artsy Mama document their day antiquing together with lots of lovely photos and journaling…and sparked my little posting on friendship. *smile*

I guess there is something about the Holiday Season that coaxes you to reflect on where you’ve been, where you are and where you are going…

~~~ . ~~~

You Are My Friend

Author: Unknown

standing by
all the way
here to help you through your day
holding you up
when you are weak
helping you find
what you seek
catching your tears
when you cry
pulling you through
when the tide is high
just being there
through thick and thin
all just to say
YOU ARE MY FRIEND!!

Counting down until Christmas…

These blogs provide links for ideas on creating some great Advent Calendars…

Count your Blessings

WhipUp - Advent Calendar Tutorials

This is a beautiful religious calendar (PDF) created by the Rev. Merry Watters and Rev. Thomas Mousin.

An online Interactive World Advent Calendar.

Creative Advent Calendars on Flickr.

My favorite calendar was created by Teresa McFayden.

Advent Calendar
~Rowan Williams~

He will come like last fall’s leaf fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to the bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.

He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.

He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.

He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.

~~~ . ~~~

I saw my first little dark-eyed junco yesterday at my bird feeders!

The twins and Quinn and I will be working on Christmas lapbooks for the next couple of weeks. Last year I picked up the Christmas Symbols and Christmas Cheer lapbooks from HOAC. I just need to go through them, sort out what needs to be printed on colored cardstock and get the printer rolling. Also, yesterday at Michael’s, I found a gingerbread Nativity kit from Wilton. The lapbooks have a “create a Nativity” page and in place of the papercraft we’re going to be making a gingerbread one instead.

For more ideas…

An Integrated Literature Unit for Advent and Christmas

O Night Divine

All About Jesus Christmas

St. Nicholas Center. org

Free Printable Nativity

Free Nativity Lapbook (PDF)

All About Jesus - Special Bible Study for December

Christmas Copywork

The Christmas Story Told by Great Art

CVC Christmas 2006

The Teacher’s Room - Christmas for PreK

Relax! Have fun this holiday season…make Christmas cookies, candies and fudge with your children, read some great Christmas stories…take time to just enjoy Christmas with your family.

The problem with shopping online is that while you’re shopping it’s REALLY hard to remember that you’re not shopping for yourself. I’ve found so many things that I want. *smile*

Arian is a designer/illustrator who, of course, keeps a blog and I’m in love with her Christmas cards…especially this one and this one.

Art and Ghosts has a beautiful little autumn print that I would love to have. Though I love just about all styles of art, clean simple lines always draw me.

The French Garden House has an adorable little shop filled with beautiful vintage-type things. Australian artist, CathyPenton, makes these gorgeous little charms. Though it’s been sold, and not to me, this little angel (in the second and third photos) tugs at my heart strings.

I love pretty glass ornaments (vintage and new) and one of Debbie Thibault’s beautiful little glass creations would be a perfect addition to my Christmas tree.

Well, I can dream, can’t I? *smile*

~~~ . ~~~

I’m starting to upload the little graphics - clipart that I create in PNG format so they have transparent backgrounds and can be used on different blog background/colors. I’m doing this so anyone wanting to use them to highlight blog posts (Well, not the one above, unless your name is Dani. *smile*) or emails can do so. So if you see a little graphic that you like and want to use …please go ahead! Just right click and save. My little Christmas present to you.

or your fingers get tired of typing in website urls! I’ve started my Christmas shopping and like last year, I’m trying to do most of it online. It’s just so much easier, though, because we homeschool there is the problem of curious eyes. My twins are very inquisitive and like to read address labels as packages arrive at the house. *smile*

~~~ . ~~~

My Momma has already changed over her autumn decor to Christmas. I’m going to keep my autumn things up for the moment…savoring the last bite of autumn’s chill. Because the weather has been so mild we still have plenty of gorgeous leaves left on our trees.

~~~ . ~~~

I’ve been browsing Ebay…searching for Christmas Keys (I think they’ll look pretty on the tree) and antique Christmas Pins. I became inspired to create my own “digital” pins and when I’m finished I’ll offer them for download. So far I have a tree, snowflake, holly leaf and wreath. Shown at a fraction of their size.

~~~ . ~~~

Our Thanksgiving was lovely and I hope yours was too! We had a delicious meal at my sister, Honey’s house. Everyone was there…I treasure all of our family get-togethers.

~~~ . ~~~

Barbara over at MommyLife.net is writing about her conversion to Catholicism. One of my favorite bloggers (she has 12 children, four with Down syndrome), her posts are always helpful, interesting and a pleasure to read but the comments on her WIBAWIB (where I’ve been and where I’m bound) have been particularly good. The Catholic moms that are commenting know their catechism and the clearness of their writings are surely Holy Spirit inspired.

Welcome, Barbara!

~~~ . ~~~

I have a tablet laptop but found that my pen wasn’t pressure sensitive (a must for making pretties in Photoshop). I told Michael and my dear sweet husband solved my problem by instructing me to do a search for Wacom. Under Driver Downloads, locate Tablet PC, download and install. Worked like a charm. Thanks, sweetie! xxxooo

~~~ . ~~~

The Homeschool E-Store is offering its 2nd Annual Black Friday giveway. It ends tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. CST. Twenty-one ebooks are available for FREE.

And now, it’s way past my bedtime and I’m off to bed…night, night. God bless.

I’m always on the lookout for good free graphics/resources links. I thought I’d share a few of my favorites.

Obsidian Dawn - Photoshop brushes that you can use in commercial projects…very nice selection.

Martha Stewart - Ms. Stewart offers seasonal clipart…very pretty seasonal clipart. You don’t have to use it as demonstrated in the video clips. Just use the search engine at the top of the page to search for Thanksgiving or Christmas clipart. It does look like the addition of adding the clipart and templates are fairly new this year and last. I didn’t find anything for the older crafts. Keeping my eye out to see what she offers for the new Christmas crafts this year. PDF files load like graphic files in Photoshop (not sure about Paint Shop Pro or Gimp) and can be used too.

DigitalFreebies.com offers up scrapbooking digital elements, a new set every Friday.

David Nagel at Digital Media Designer creates fantastic brushes for Photoshop, plus other elements for other programs as well. I use his brushes to add foliage and clouds to my digital art. At the bottom of the page is a link for the Download Archives…go there to collect all the goodies.

~~~ . ~~~

Thanksgiving/Autumn clipart stamps in PNG format (transparent) made from Dover clipart (the first 4) and my own digital artwork. Just right click to save.

Click on the wreath to listen to a pretty Thanksgiving midi file.

Click on thumbnail to view PNG, right click to save.  Transparent background.  One small, one large.