Thursday, December 09, 2010

Christmas cards & holiday crafts



my lovely friend Kisa volunteered to take our family portrait this year for our christmas cards. besides taking absolutely gorgeous photos, she saved me the trouble of having to hop back and forth like a crazy person between the camera and the family huddle like i do every year! (thank you mama!)


there were many lovely ones to choose from, but i chose the above photo for our card this year. i like the way we are all gathered and the colors were really warm and cozy. and because our cat cesar decided to join us! AND it is also the only photo where we are all looking up at the camera and smiling and not blinking or making a weird face. (that's just inevitable, there's always those photos where everyone is smiling except ONE person (ahem, zach!) or looking away (sureya!), or biting their nails (maya!) or trying to hide her beautiful smile (brielle!) or talking during the photo so you end up with an akward open mouth (uh, babe!), or you're making a quizzical face at the camera because you're trying to ask the photographer a question (he he, me!) although, i have to admit, i had to photoshop the above photo to get everyone to kind of be looking at the camera and smiling. (i hope no one notices!) ;)



today the girls and i started on some holiday crafts. i saw this lovely idea over at gennine's blog for making your own printed wrapping paper, so we decided to try it today. maya had a wonderful time printing with apples and celery stalks and then free form painting her own designs. even sureya got in on the messy fun and painted a little bit. (mostly she painted her hands and her belly, but she did get some paint on the paper!)



i'm trying to take photos each day this month and actually journal a little every day (i'm inspired by ali edwards' december daily and one of my favorite blogger/artists hope of paper relics). i would love to do some journaling each day, too! and something arrived in the mail for me this morning that would be perfect for this daily project!


i entered a giveaway over at saturday morning vintage (one of my favorite blogs and shops!) a while back and i received my lovely lovely prize in the mail today (thank you xenia!)! it combines the three words from my winning entry: dennision, sewing and ledger. i think this will make a perfect journal for my daily december journaling, don't you?



i hope you are all having a lovely december so far! i can't believe the holidays are fast approaching. i almost wish december were twice as long! it really is my favorite time of year.

6 comments:

  1. Oh these are wonderful!!!!
    What a beautiful family you have!

    Thanks for sharing:)))

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  2. Love, love, love those family pics! Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

    xoxo
    Ellen

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  3. Yummy goodies, and the painting looks like tons of fun! I hope you are all enjoying this special time of togetherness. I like both the photos, and can't tell HOW you might have photoshopped anything, but I am hoping you will give me a lesson very very soon. I love Raul's haircut and your observations about how everyone consistently reacts to the camera! Says a LOT about personalities, I think! Love love love!
    Me

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  4. I remember you Nicole...very much so...from my workshop at Journalfest. What a beautiful family you are, each and everyone of you....great pictures, photoshoped he? Couldn't tell AT ALL...Hey I have a Maya too...Hope you enjoy some very festive days...XOXOrly

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  5. Just wanted to pop by and wish you and your family a beautiful New Year! I hope all is going well!
    Hugs for 2011 dear blog~friend:)

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  6. Missing your posts! Hope you are well. xx

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