Kool Kitty Musings

Believe in the Magic

So I dusted off my prompts from Shimelle, and got to work on the Day 12 prompt.

Tales of Christmas past.

Oh and yes, I know it's only October, but judging by last year's pace, I need all the help I can get with a head start!

Only a smidge of KI on this one!

Namely those alpha transparency sheets and the "I believe in Santa Claus..." strip is also from that release.

And how could this entry be complete without a quote from the big guy himself. ;o)

Squint and ye shall read! I have to say though, reminiscing about all those things we used to do in the run-up to Christmas as kids at primary school has really got me nostalgic. LOL

Can't believe these were the only Father Christmas images I had in the stockpile, but the challenge was also to use something really old in the stash, so I dusted them off (aaaaah David Walker stuff - love it) and the MM page pebbles are on bits of KI paper. I have so many of those to use up, that I think this journal will be a good home for them.

After going through all my Christmas stash today, I am not soooo convinced I actually need the KI Winter, Christmas and Traditional Christmas kit tins for the sake of my Christmas Journal... but I sure do want them! LOL

Hopefully time for another entry tomorrow! :o)

Manifesto completed!

Remember the Christmas Journal I started back in December 2006??

You know the one where I was supposed to keep up with doing one entry a day... hm... well that didn't quite go according to schedule, so I am still working away at the journal (like today) but first I needed to get my cover page finished!

Well, it was just a matter of taking my advent calendar apart and punching out all 24 little images from behind the windows... awww...

Worked out quite well in the end - they were just the right size!

Day 11 - Trim the tree

So here we are, a bit of a different look this time round as I have unearthed the remaining Winter papers from Rhonna Farrer that I just loved! Wish she had more papers like this out as they are great backgrounds, not detracting from photos.

Anyway, yes, so the topic was the Christmas tree, and the pic is of my a mirrorball apple ornament on my silver tree - it just epitomises the bling of my silver tree... but it's not gaudy honestly! :oP

Journaling reads:

The first tree to get decorated in the house is without fail the silver tree in my Scrap Hovel. I've had it about 4 or so years now and the decorations it is laden with grow as the years go on… It's a small addiction it has to be said! But it’s anything but gaudy!

It is a most gorgeous tree by day and night. Lit up with my angel lights and it's own white and blue shimmering stars, decorated with various iridescent, pink, mint green, silver, lilac and frosty white/silver baubles, wire decorations, ribbons and beads - It has everything!

I had a bit of an accident with my stickles - for some reason they were sputtering out huge lumps of glitter rather than the usual soft look... oh bum... so a bit of AC ribbon came in quickly to hide the worst!

For once I had the perfect fonts in white in my rub-ons box - Heidi Swapp (some of the few letters that weren't mauled in the pack - shame as I love this font), American Crafts doo-dad from the white Jack UC set for "the" and American Crafts lulu font for "tree".

The addiction to cutting out little trees continues... hehe

Bit of bling and glam - there are dabs of glitter on the background baubles, but also the MM snowflake sticker is very bling!

And here's an example of how to cover up a boo-boo! Stamping gone wrong, so just cover it up!

Right well the gym beckons soon and I need to go sort a few things out as well as remove a feline from my gym bag - do not ask...

Day 10 - All wrapped up

So here we are back in Journal Land.

And yet again, a KI outing this time the last of my 2004 papers! :o( I loved their original Holiday Collection. {sigh}

Anyway as Shimelle said, day 10 was supposed to be quick - and it was rather!

Journaling reads:

Tissue paper is just my favourite invention when it comes to Christmas wrapping. It just looks so decadent and delicate. This year's colours are silver, aqua, hot pink, and white teamed with red, lime green, and light blue organza ribbon.

I always wrap gifts the way I'd love to receive them.

I just like them to look extra special for whoever receives them so that they can have the fun of unwrapping them!

Alas no sequins or cellophane this year in the shops - maybe next year…

And the close-ups:

Looks a bit cold in the photos, but it's very bright in real life!

KI alpha stickers galore!

The gifts in this year's colours!

And since I'm doing this after Christmas Day, I recycled some ribbon from my ADS Skin Synergy gift bag - well it matched! hehe

Right, well I have the gym tonight - one on one personal trainer session - so will try and get another entry done now. :oD

Day 9 - Traditions

So it's kind of apt that I did prompt 9 today... well actually just finished it off now...

Since my tradition in this prompt is all about celebrating a Polish Christmas Eve... and boy was there a lot of journaling, so much so it's in a teeny font inside too!

And the journaling - prepare for a long one!

The nice thing about mixing two cultures in one household is that you can essentially pick and choose how you want to celebrate and what traditions you are going to observe. We celebrate things that are both traditionally Polish and traditionally English, and some that are both!

What is traditionally Polish is that everything is geared up to Christmas Eve - Wigilia.

In the run-up we go out and search for traditional Polish foods, especially rye bread (yum!), various herring dishes (not for me!), Polish pickles, pierniczki (failing that other honey-spiced treats like German Pfeffernusse), makowiec (poppy seed cake) and the odd random item. A Polish Christmas Eve traditionally runs to 12 fish or vegetable-based dishes - but this is a bit too much for us to handle, plus it'd require about a week in the kitchen! So we limit ourselves to just a few dishes with something sweet to end on. There is no meat or alcohol to be consumed on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is whole other matter entirely!

While everything is being prepared on Christmas Eve, the children of the family watch from the window to spot the first star in the sky, as that's when dinner can begin. Also the table is laid with one extra place setting to remember those who cannot be present and also for a wandering guest who should not be turned away. The CD of Polish carols is switched on, and then we share the Opłatek, a wafer that has been blessed in Poland and sent over by our relatives, wishing each other certain things for the coming year.

We start the meal with barscz, beetroot soup, accompanied by kapuśniaczki (little pastry morsels filled with wild mushrooms and sauerkraut that are just very moorish!). Then a fish dish follows, herrings for the parents, while my brother and I usually enjoy a big round of pickles and bread. After that there are ruskie pierogi minus the bacon (dumplings filled with cheese, potato and onion), and another fish dish, this time hot. If anyone still has room hours later then we enjoy something sweet like pierniczki, baked cheesecake or makowiec to end with.

Unlike in Poland we don't open presents on Christmas Eve.

A traditional Christmas Day in our house starts with presents being opened, then a traditional Christmas Day Polish breakfast kicks off the celebrations, complete with lots of cooked meats, bread and other delicious food plus the ever traditional Polish vodka toast and top ups! The rest of Christmas Day is filled with typically English fayre…

Here are the close-ups:

This page has been brought to you in association with the fab products of KI, KI and KI... Oh and Paper Salon, Making Memories, and American Crafts, plus a bit of Pebbles Inc for good measure. :oD

Mmmm the pierniczki in detail - afraid we don't create anything quite as beautiful as this, nope ours come from a packet! hehe

The only ovals I love in the world are those KI ovals from their mod blox and tag sheets, etc. I am strange that way, but they are so delish!

The journaling inside...

I love that frosty tree paper!

Well who knows whether Christmas Day will bring another entry... after Polish breakfast and vodka in the morning... then mulled wine around lunchtime I think my journaling may be a bit impaired! But we shall see... lol

Day 8 - Twinkle, twinkle

So hurrah! Here is an update to my Christmas Journal. OK, it's only one entry, but still! This is one entry more than I had last week!

Another KI extravaganza, this time twinned with some free-hand light bulb bits and Hampton stamps.

Journaling reads:

For me, the first signs of the season are rather bright and luminous! They are the beautiful, delicate strings of twinkling fairy lights. I have quite a fondness for pretty fairy lights, especially small white twinkly ones. Not those great big flashing strobe ones that either blind you or leave you seeing multi-coloured spots before your eyes.

Nothing says "Christmas is coming!" better than seeing homes, streets and shops decked out with mega amounts of Christmas lighting. Seldom a year goes buy when I don't expand the collection a bit and buy something new to add to the Christmas glow in some way. This year it's a new set of white LED indoor/outdoor lights that are merrily twinkling away wrapped around the Camellia in the back garden. Just stunning, and a great way to locate the bottles of various tipples chilling outside!

The nicest way to forget all that mayhem and stress of the season, is to switch off the room lights, and plug in the fairy lights - instant magic.

And the close-ups:

The fully monty...

Loving that I finally have a use for those KI acetate alphas!

The hampton stamp on a KI diecut with a nice KI sticker in the middle.

Bit of Poinsetta action.

It's all about the fairy lights!

Day 7 - I'm making a list

Well after lots of time spent buying some new Christmas tracks and previewing the vast, vast quantity of Christmas compilations, oh and after dinner of course, I sat down to check out the prompt for day 7.

So the pics in detail:

Total lack of journaling really as I was more in the playing mood. Not so sure about how this turned out, but look I finally got to use my date stamp on a page! Just need to go back and do the others now.

Hm, not sure about that Carolee's paper as the main background, maybe I should have gone with something else but hey, it's got to be used! :oD

Anyway, in retrospect I think my favourite bits are the presents! lol Nothing new there! hehe

 

A few things non-journal related that I MUST do tomorrow. Also I want to head to the gym and try out my programme for the first time. I say this of course tonight, perhaps tomorrow morning will be a whole 'nother matter! ;o)

Day 6 - All I want for Christmas

Well this is the tale of the Christmas gift that never was. There was obviously disappointment at the time - I mean I was 6 or 7 at the time....

You see that Cabbage Patch doll?

Yeah?

Well here's the story:

It's amazing how selective your memory can be when it comes to the Christmases of past. Especially when it comes to the gifts you dreamt 10 months in advance of seeing under the tree as a kid. Didn't we all covet the Argos and Kays catalog toy section months before the big day and start mentally penning our detailed letters to Santa?

Well as a child of the 80's and one very susceptible to the pressures of Svengali-style advertising (read: that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) I longed, truly longed to see my very own Cabbage Patch doll under the tree on Christmas day. I know, they were so ugly, what was I thinking??? Just what was I thinking?? Especially when you consider Exhibit A…

But it was the 80's, most things were ugly.

I'm sad to report that this was the time in the 80's when for a few years running there were never enough Cabbage Patch dolls to go round in the UK, and those that were available were extortionately priced. Naturally, us children were never wise to the pitfalls faced by our wonderful parents when it came to the pre-Christmas toy rush! So bad my disappointment must have been as I have completely blocked the trauma from my memory. I just remember that this was the one gift that I wanted so much but never received. I am pretty sure that every adult has a similar scenario playing in their memory when they look back on their childhood. Even my mother tells me it was her biggest regret that they couldn't have bought me one, now I just pretty guilty about the whole thing, especially since the Cabbage Patch doll-less Christmas was followed by the amazing Christmas that saw me receive my biggest Christmas surprise as a kid.

The My Little Pony Dream Castle!

Did I say I was a child of the 80's?

My gosh it was so unexpected that I was just glued to it for days after, I even had to take Majesty and Spike to church with me I was that over the moon.

So it just goes to show, those disappointing Christmases can be overwritten and even erased - it just takes a little Christmas cheer and, OK, a whammy of a surprise for the ones that you love!

And now for the close-ups:

A bit of KI colour and vintage KI Winter papers and tags plus alpha stickers, SEI pearl and crystal brads, MM tags, rub-ons, Heidi Grace acrylic hearts and my new Judikins bauble stamp. :oD

Day 5 - Count the days

Well finally I tried to catch up a bit and do yesterday's prompt. It's not turned out at all how I imagined, but never mind! hehe

I did the advent calendar topic in my day one entry, when I opened the first door, so I thought I'd go for just a bit of fun on this one playing with the KI and the slight lack of number stickers - who'd have thought it!

The page in full - no stamp yet - so counting down the days for that as well - Royal Mail permitting!

And the close-ups:

 

Also Tree has a lot to answer for, I have purchased a set of her circle stamps - I may even use them on a page - you just never know! Also after today's driving lesson (3-point turns - lovely!) my foot is a bit better from all that clutch action so have managed to walk on it. Yay!

Off to watch the rest of Love Actually now as I try to clear up the mess!

Day 4 - Vogue style!

Right this has to be a quick update as I really need to go to bed!

Bit of a departure from the other pages, but I wanted to do a kind of idea-board look to this one. I picked up a few magazines last week, even before starting this class just because they looked nice. Well I spent tonight cutting out and trimming and moving the scraps about and finally stuck them down.

Added journaling strips, rub-ons and a button - and left that space for my Cherry Arte stamp once I get it! :oD

The recipe for a dream Christmas is quite simple really:

• Add a dashing of dazzling festive colour
• Mix with a hint of frosty winter sparkle
• Eat, drink and be merry
• Make just one someone happy
• Yuletide by the fireside
• Be forever a child at heart
• Keep tradition alive

So the photos:

Bit difficult to photograph with the glossy scraps! But I rather like that Noel for the mantelpiece.

And the lyrics to that song - just love them!

The rub-ons! I also love those fuchsia baubles hanging from ribbon - hate to think what the ceiling looks like if you've not got a chandelier to hand!

And the gorgeous candles from Laura Ashley and the place settings - don't you just love those snowflake napkin rings??

Right, I'd best scoot - not sure if I will manage an entry tomorrow night as I have the gym yadda yadda...

Thanks again for all those that have visited and commented, it's so sweet of you! :oD

Day 3 - Cards galore

Hurrah the home stretch for the evening/day/weekend! Phew.

I thought at 5 I'd never get here, but here we go, all up to date, and now ready for day 4 - just please let me sleep first! hehe

Basically journaling is short and sweet on this one: Christmas would not be Christmas if I didn't make all my own cards. Full stop.

Said it was short! But I think that got the message across! LOL

I'm rather fond of the simplicity of this entry - why is it tho, that simple things take me EVEN longer?! dither, dither.... It's just some of last year's Carolee's papers, MM frame, brads and tags, AC Frankie rub-ons and dings (aren't they fab those dings?), what seems to be the second to last doodlebug heart button, and some ribbon.

The ribbon down the side is supposed to be a take on those ribbons you hang your cards from and I sincerely hope I have left enough space for that Cherry Arte stamp, it's going to be very tight!

And the close-ups - ta-daaa!

The Robin - I just love Rocky there!

 

Heart - I :heart: that heart!

A little joy galore!

The End

:oD

Day 2 - Oh the weather outside is frightful

How apt, as it has been pouring with rain and blowing a real gale all through the night - yes the weather outside is very frightful!

Anyway, here's my day 2 entry, snowflakes, how I love them! This didn't translate to the page as well as I hoped, I had something else in mind - but that isn't what's on this entry! lol

Change of colour for my wintery look ;oP. A fair bit of KI, some Kopp rub-ons, Purple Onion and Elsie stamps, Embelleez beadz, they are my fave beads totally! But I need to get some thinner beading needles, the little MM tag and the Doodlebug heart button - think I'll be moving onto other signature buttons soon as these are dwindling now!

Journaling reads:

"I forever hold out hope that in the frozen North of England we will finally have a white Christmas. We were close last year when it snowed a blizzard on the 27th - absolutely stunning. Usually we have a cold wintry scene and if we're lucky that unique winter sun.

I just love the thought of snow on Christmas day, it doesn't really seem like a true Christmas without a bit of snow - even if it's virtually enhanced by surrounding myself with snowflake designs of one sort or another! I just love the cosy feeling of sitting in an armchair in front of a huge window, watching the snowflakes gently fall outside and settling on a beautiful glistening blanket of white perfection."

And now for the close-ups!

The beaded snowflake - yum

Just love that KI Alpine chipboard - cute little hat eh?

Right, I'd best get on with day 3's page!

Day 1 - Beginnings

So I did manage to sit down and start on my first proper page just to document yesterday since it's quite a special day in its own right.

Once again lots of the old KI - it needs using up!

This one is about the first day of December and what's special about it:

"Not only is December 1st what I consider the start of the festive season, but thanks to the way my birthday falls, it is also my nameday according to the Polish calendar.

Being 3/4s Polish it's quite a novelty in some ways to have the best of both worlds. I celebrate my birthday in August, but I also get to celebrate my imieniny on December 1st with Polish friends and family…

Why December 1st? Especially since it is in celebration of Dies Natalis or Natale Domini (the birthday of our Lord). Well that's not for another 24 days according to the calendar! But the entire month of December is dedicated to this festival.

In addition to the cards and small gifts, it's also lovely to open the first window on my new advent calendar - a tradition that will never get old. No matter where I have been in the world, I have always had an advent calendar ready to open on the first day of December - and long may that continue!"

So here are a few close-ups - I am digging my close-ups... ignore the mucky attachment of the KI transparency letters hehe... oh and that blank space in the bottom corner is awaiting the Chery Arte calendar stamp - hope I've left enough space!

There you can see the journaling a bit better with my name underneath in light green. :oD

I am just loving those little Making Memories tags and the doodlebug buttons - I am definitely going to run out of those hearts soon! Oh and there's a piccy of the advent calendar, much nicer in real life.

So no reading of any books tomorrow, and I must do entry 2 and 3 as you can see from the time, it ain't going to be tonight for entry 2! And my not a single Christmas card made - so baaaad!

And so things begin...

Yay, I did it! I have sat down and thought about what Shimelle gave us in the first prompt and thought, yep, keep it simple and organic and just see where it goes.

Well I didn't finish the first entry.

Really... I kid you not!

Why not?

Well it won't get truly finished until Christmas Eve! How neat is that?! hehe That is truly a Christmas Journal in the making. I've decided to use the images from my gorgeous advent calendar as details on the intro page (or manifesto if you will).

So yes the pencil marks are still on there, since I'm not so good with lining up at the best of times and they won't get rubbed out until much later on!

My 9x9 page has been split into 6 columns and rows so I can cut circles from the 24 images in the calendar. In the middle we have my journaling (sorry had to type it since I ran off a bit at the mouth) and a little decorative detail courtesy of MM, KI, Doodlebug plus Rhonna and Banana Frog stamps.

Today's entry was a cute little doggy on wheels - how neat is that as I got one of those for either my first or second Christmas!

So in case you can't read it in the pic, the intro reads:

"Quite surprisingly 2006 has been peppered with sudden resolutions, unexpected promises that are going to be kept, and plans that have been put in motion. I'm in a constant state of change and you know what? I'm actually quite enjoying it. So what's one more little promise to myself?

It's time for another change. To not let Christmas fly by again like it has the past so many years, to put the brakes on and enjoy the season, enjoy the memories, the rituals and traditions, and just maybe look to future years and planning how I want to spend my future Christmases.

So I can make the time, I can put aside those 15 minutes each day to make my journal entries - I can take as long as I like and make as many entries as I want because this journal is all me!"

Anyway despite the fact the hovel looks like a bomb hit it, I'm all ready for more festive thoughts tomorrow!