Monday, December 10, 2018

Wishing you a blessed Christmas!

Hello to you and a great big Thanks! for looking in~
I want to let you know I may not be posting anything for a while; well, possibly till February~
I am a full-time bookkeeper and do lots of accounting and some work related travel  at the years end.  This is a busy time any way, with Christmas and New Years just a few weeks away!
Perhaps I'm jumping the gun a bit - - but just in case I don't make it back for a while, I wanted you to know why~  I certainly hope to do some blog visiting though;  So I'll see you at your place! :)

Well today I am posting a card I made a looong time ago!  - but is a favorite for me.
Old world Santa and burlap
I used a distressed card base, a layer of red burlap, then white burlap, a piece of corrugated board with some Gesso 'snow', the image from a friend, and a few berries & such, & a whisp of raffia. The white button is from Grama's jar.  There is a generous amount of white glitter too~

How are your holiday preparations going?  From what I see in my 'Readers List' there is much Creativity going on!!  Hard to believe Christmas Eve is just 2 weeks from today.  In my family we love the festivities of this celebration of Jesus' birth - along with reaching out to others with gifts of love, good will, and best wishes!
I Thank each one of you for your loving support and dear friendship~  My life has seen it's share of difficulties these last few years and I truly and sincerely appreciate your love and encouragement!

Wishing for you a very blessed Christmas and very Happy New Year!
Love and hugs,
Karen~

33 comments:

  1. Beautiful card!

    Merry Christmas to you, dear friend ♡

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    1. I appreciate your visit Debbie! Much thanks to you Debbie; your love and kindness have had a huge impact on my life~~ Wishing you many blessings for Christmas and always! love & hugs, Karen

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  2. My dear Karen, thank you for your loving greetings, to us. I know there are lots to be done with having the accounting finished for the beginning of the new year, so I understand you may need to work hard in January .
    I just returned home from visiting with my daughter and the kids, and everything here is busy too, preparing for them to come home for Christmas . But I hope I find time to write you a pm Karen.
    All the same I will wish you a very Happy Christmas with your family, -I know there will be sad moments, but also happy ones to save for good memories.
    Dear friend I send you loving hugs and love , I hope my card will soon arrive to you :-)
    Love from Dorthe

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    1. Thank you for the visit Dorthe! I'm so glad you were recently able to be with family~~ And now you are preparing for a visit from them! How wonderful. Wishing for you a Very Merry Christmas! I am blessed by your dear friendship Dorthe~ Love & hugs, Karen

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  3. Oh goodness, this is indeed a gorgeous card, at first glance I love the touch of red, not overpowering or stealing the scene from the other layers of interest. I like the appearance of gesso snow on the corregated board, who would have thought of that? well you of course.. lovely work. May you have a wonderful Christmas

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    1. Thank you for the visit Sheryl!! It was so nice to find your blog again and see the beautiful things you have been creating! ~Merry Christmas~ Hoping to stop in and see you again soon~ Karen

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  4. Oh Karen,
    such a lovely card!
    Many hugs,
    Karen B. x

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    1. Many hugs to you too Karen, and thank you for the visit!! Wishing you a Blessed Christmas season~ love & hugs, Karen

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  5. Your card is gorgeous Karen! I love the old world Santa image and the splashes of red!! I also love the corrugated board with the sparkly gesso snow .. brilliant and so pretty!!
    Wishing you and your family a Blessed Christmas and all the very best for 2019. Take care my sweet! love and hugs xx

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    1. Dear Marg, Thank you so much for the visit~ I appreciate your friendship and support very much! I hope for you Gods best blessings this Christmas and always! I'm planning to keep my visits up in blogland even while I'm working & away ; ) Hugs and love to you, Karen

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  6. Oh Karen I sure hope that things aren't as busy as you are thinking they may be, I hope you enjoy some quiet time to celebrate this very special time of the year. I am so glad you have come back to the blogging world after all you have gone through, and keep sharing your beautiful creations with us. This one is just wonderful, you sure know how to layer so beautifully. Love the vintage image and all your lovely embellishing!

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping in Connie! I always appreciate your words of encouragement and your blog posts full of inspiration! : ) You too have a very blessed Christmas as we celebrate our Saviors birth~ Yes, I will be very - - busy; but I will make sure there is peaceful time to celebrate the reason for the season : ) Love and hugs to you my friend, Karen

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  7. This is gorgeous Karen!!
    Merry Christmas to you and many blessings for your new year!
    I will be keeping you in my thoughts and look forward to your return in February!
    Jackie xo

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    1. Hi Jackie and thank you! for peeking in today~ Wishing you a very blessed Christmas season and continued good health for you and your family! Do take care of yourself my friend~ Happy New Year too! Love & hugs, Karen

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  8. Hi Karen, sad to here you have so much work ahead of you but I hope there may be excitement with the travel too? Your card is indeed so traditional I adore everything about it from those rich red berries to that old style Santa. So much nicer than these modern day Santa's. Thank you very much for sharing and popping over to see me today. Although only a recent friendship it's lovely to know you on here and you are always welcome to pop on over when ever you get a spare moment.
    Life can be very cruel at times but it's good to know there is always a warm wish and kind word within my blogger friends.
    Wishing you a very Happy Christmas & all the Best for the New Year if I do not get chance before the time arises.
    Take good care of yourself.
    Creative wishes Tracey xx

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    1. Thank you for stopping by Tracey! It really warms my heart~ Yes, there will be some good things about my business travel; and that is I will be visiting my father and siblings! So I'm quite happy for that~ I am very glad to know you too! I appreciate your warmth and kindness so much! Isn't it amazing some of the friendships here in Blogland!? My life is enriched with the lovely creatives I have met; some of them amazingly beautiful people~ Thank you for the Christmas wishes! You enjoy and take care as well. Much thanks~ Karen

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  9. Oh, nothing better than a bit of burlap for a rustic look - and the layered red and white fringes here are lovely. There's something a little Scandinavian about them. The image is simply charming - a really beautiful rendering of Father Christmas (who also looks a bit Nordic to me... maybe it's just the mood I'm in!). The gatherings at the top finish the whole thing off perfectly.

    I'm so happy you had that response to the Winter Journal V page - it's the one which seems special to me too. There's definitely story or meaning going on at a deeper level than the surface one, and it all seemed to happen independently of me, the maker. I love those moments when you can feel you are channelling something, and you don't have to know what or why, you just let it emerge.

    Good luck with all the imminent work deadlines. I have to file my own taxes online at the end of January, and that's enough to give me headaches, without thinking about anyone else's!
    Alison x

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  10. : ) Thanks Alison! I appreciate your visit~ Glad you enjoyed the (yes, Nordic!) card~ And yes, year-end time for accountants and the like, is . . . taxing? (ooh my that was really bad. really. bad.) But I'm afraid that's how I make my living! : ) so here I go. There will be some happy perks too; so that helps immensely~
    Wishing you a beautiful Christmas time and great New Year too! I will visit when I can; I do love stopping in your blog! Hugs, Karen

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    1. Just popping back to answer your question over at W&P and saw your reply here... "taxing" made me laugh, so not that bad!

      I didn't do the washi upside-down deliberately for effect, but I did know it was upside-down. For all of the underfoot washi areas, I've been tearing a strip of tape in half along its length and then placing the two flat edges together in the middle (if you see what I mean) so you inevitably end up with the washi design upside-down, but you get the nice ripped edges which are far more important to me! I love that you saw it as a reflection - I wish I could say that was a conscious choice, but the truth is I didn't notice even that it looked like black ice until I was writing the blogpost and editing the photos!
      Ax

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  11. Hi Karen,
    Another sweetly gorgeous creation from you! Ooh, and more eye candy below, I will look there now too! I love this vintage santa and the scripted words. The whole vintage feel with its shiny berries is striking. Have a berry bright Christmas! Sending hugs and much love,
    Jesse XXX

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    1. Hi Jesse,
      You are such a peach! : ) Thank you for the comments and support on my blog~ I hope to be back in a few months. Until then I will do some visiting around and keep in touch as I can : ) Have a blessed Christmas! Hugs to you, Karen

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  12. Dear Karen!
    This is really gorgeous !
    Merry Christmas to you and many blessings for the new year for you!
    Take good care of you and I am looking forward to your return in February!
    Susi xo

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    1. Hello Susi! Thank you for the visit~ It is such a busy time, and yet here you are : ) I appreciate you taking time to comment. I hope you know what an encouragement and fresh lively place your blog is! Like a breath of Springtime~ Have a blessed holiday and I'll be stopping in when I can. Hugs, Karen

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  13. Ohhh Karen, this is simply delightful!! What a gorgeous piece of art - thank you so much for sharing!! You know, you are really making me want to pull out allllll of my shabby goodies that I tucked away as I've been on a more colorful journey these past two years. Looking at this, I'm reminded of my love for all things vintage and shabby - this is just stunning beyond words!! I hope your year end is not too terribly busy - as an accountant, I hear ya on the accounting side, it's definitely the busiest time of year - not even including Christmas and New Years lol! Wishing you all the joy and happiness this Season. Merry Christmas, sweet friend!

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    1. Ivana I hope you can forgive this late (but sincere) thank you for your visit to my blog in December! Wishing you a great new year ahead~ Hugs to you, Karen

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  14. Beautiful as always and Merry Christmas to you and yours :)

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    1. Hello Connie, I am very late with my Thank You! for the visit to my blog in December~ I appreciate you and your friendship - And your wonderful blog! : ) Have a great new year ahead~ hugs, Karen

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  15. Dear Karen, your card is so beautiful! I love the pops of red! Wishing you a peaceful Christmas filled with love, and sending you big hugs, xx

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  16. Hi there dear Wen~
    I am very late, but with the most sincere Thank You for your visit in December~ I hope you had a great Christmas and I'm wishing you the best of years for 2019! Hugs my friend, Karen

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  17. Happy New Year Karen! I can see why this card is one of your favorites! I love it! I've always loved old world Santas. Yours is lovely with your vintage styled embellishments. The black and white checkered ribbon and red berries are the perfect finishing touches. What a masterpiece! Thanks for popping in earlier to say hi. Always a pleasure! XX Linda

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  18. Hi Linda, I sure appreciate you stopping in to my blog! I am always blessed when I peek into your and see beautiful new creations~ Have a great week ahead! I won't be crafting for several weeks; but perhaps I'll post another fav from the past?! Hugs, Karen

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  19. Hello Sweet Friend!
    Happy New Year. I hope that your Christmas was blessed! Both of the cards that you made are so pretty. Your creativity always inspires. Your lovely layers and the sweet bows that you add. The bell and other embellishments that you use add so much charm.
    I hope you're doing well. I'm so happy to see that some people are still blogging. I'm trying hard to get back on track. I always am happy to visit your lovely blog. Thank you for stopping in to say hi on mine. Praying that your new year is blessed with the realization of the strength that you have in the Lord.

    Blessings and hugs to you, XO Tamara

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    1. You are a peach Tamara! : ) Thanks for stopping in and for your comment~ I am away for work right now but hope to continue blogging again in February if possible! My new year has started out with several things 'testing my faith' in big and small ways; but I want to have peace despite the rough seas~~ hugs to you friend, Karen~

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