Circle Journal Pieces

This is going to be dedicated to all the layouts I have done in the Circle Journal swap I participated in this past year. In a past blog I did a slide show of my cj and how beautiful it came with all the gals who played. Now I will put together the photos of all of my work. I hope each gal likes how they came. This was a great swap and I had fun doing it.

I didn't take pics of all. I missed Kathi's and Serene's, sometimes my head doesn't hit on all it's pistons. Thankfully my dear Miss Elaine took a few photos for me after I sent it on to her, cause I forgot to snap Lisa's and Carrie's as well.

The gals each had such wonderful books. Courtney's had me on the floor with the quotes from the kids! I love Kelsey saying I'm not eating this slump! We all have created some of the most beautiful albums I have ever seen! Travel, friends, kids, pets, music. So inspiring, and yes, some will be very bittersweet, since life changes on a dime. This was a very fullfilling swap to be in and I would love to do it again. This time maybe we can turn it around in under a year ;).

May everyone have a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year!!!

Enjoy the slide show, listen to the music that already is playing, or pick from my playlist and enjoy.


** Just a spoiler warning now, if you don't want to see what was done for your book, don't go past this part**

Phew...

We made it! Well, another Christmas has come and gone. New Years will be here at the end of the week. Where does the time go? All that fuss and bother, cooking, wrapping, stressing, and then poof, all done. We had a wonderful day. Of course there was so much food between the eve and day, that we go into a food coma. Everything is so darn delicious though!

My brother in law does Christmas Eve, and hubby and son go early to start the preparing and frying. As Italians we do fish for the meal. Fried shrimp, scallops, filet. My brother in law makes paella, which is delish, crab and macaroni. I love crabs and macs! Fish salad, and he makes rice balls too, while not fish, they are so yummy.

For the day, hubby made the lasagna, sauce, meatballs, and sausage. I did the chipotle ham, roast pork loin, saurkraut, parsley potatoes, and green beans with onions and balsamic sweet sauce. All was so good, everyone loved the pork, I really liked the ham, the chipotles gave it a little kick.

For dessert we had cheese cake, I made panettone bread pudding with amaretto cream sauce, my sister in law brought her grain pie, or pizza gran as the Italians call it, and struffoli. Those are little fried balls of dough about the size of hazel nuts and then covered, literaly to the point of drowning, with honey and rainbow confetti sprinkles.

Here are some pics. The grain pie looks beautiful, these pics are not what my sis in law made, I couldn't find a pic of what the inside looks like, but it is a custard filling with the grain, very barley like mixed in, the other is the struffoli. I made struffoli last year with my Mom after Christmas and they came so good!! My dad just kept eating them and saying how delicious they were, so I will make them again this year, I will have Sophia help me.

Now we just kind of futz around and relax. The kids are enjoying all their gifts, there is so much. Christmas morning is an insane asylum here. My oldest daughter and 2 granddaughters sleep over and gifts just fly all over the place. It is just joy and laughing, screaming at the different gifts they all have gotten. I didn't do so bad myself! I got Skechers shape ups for my treks up into the park and hills here, Fergilicious ankle boots, True Blood goodies! I love Eric thongs!! Ha, never thought the hubs would go for it, too funny, and a thermos that says, I like my Vampire tall blonde and Viking, heehee! I also got a gift certificate to get my nose pierced! I'm so excited, I think it looks pretty. Here's a pic of my shoes, the exact ones I got, funny looking but they really work your legs and bum! It mimics walking in sand.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed your day together. Here are some pics from Christmas enjoy!

The picture of all the kids together is something we have been doing for years. All the nieces and nephews put on their Christmas pj's and we snap away. To see how each has grown each year is something. I may have to do a page just on this!

Collected Treasures

Through the years I have acquired so many wonderful pieces that I display at Christmas. Some are from as far back as when we lived in Brooklyn! I love decorating the house. It isn't easy and takes at least 2 sometimes 3 days since there is so much house and goodies, but so worth it for it looks beautiful! Here are some pics of my favorite things.

These are my angels that I have been collecting for the past 27 yrs easy. Most have been gifts. My family knows I love them!

This I've had for a long time my brother Thomas and sister in law Joann got this for us one Christmas. The glass tree was from Brooklyn too!

I love Santa and we've collected all different kinds through the years.

This big guy is special. I bought one for both Mom and me in memory of my Grandpa our first Christmas without him.

Here are my Mark Roberts fairies and platters that I've only started in the past 3 years, my Mom buying me my very first fairy, and then a second while my parents were here last year. The large platter was bought by a very dear friend, Barbara Hirshman, a wonderful woman that I met through my English friend Sharon. I just bought 3 more large fairies this past Saturday, it was buy 2 get one free at my most favorite shop, Mozarts. Shhhh don't tell Hubby, I plopped down 150 bucks for em.

These are on my dining table

These are on my buffet, he's one of my new boys

He's new too

Another of my dishes

A collection I've hung on the wall for Christmas

I love Santa!!

and I love all things shiny and sparkly, my Mom and Aunts would call me Mrs. Bouna Sera(good evening) when I was little, and I really haven't changed much now that I'm all grown up ;) !

I had to include these two pics of my ZuZu, I put the curtains in the laundry room to wash, I was folding clothes and of course Zu has to be right by my side, and warm...so the curtains work! The photo was taken by, you guessed it, Sophia "Ansel Adams" Rose!

She was by far the best present my Hubby has bought me! And he has bought me lots of wonderful gifts through the years. What a surprise she was. He always said, I'm a one dog man, and one dog to a family, but for me, he got me her. She was so very tiny and he put her in the littlest box, I never would have guessed, she weighed barely a pound. She's my little rottweiler. If anyone touches me when she's in my lap or I'm holding her, she goes just bonkers! Johnny-Boy likes to break her chops. He'll yell my mommy and touch my arm or shoulder and she growls and barks then when he puts his face next to her, she cries and licks his face. What a cookoo, but I love her!

I will try, but if I don't get back on before Christmas, may you all have a Blessed one filled with family and friends, making new memories and reminiscing on past ones!

Love Paula

Christmas Is A Coming

It will be here soon enough, and I am a busy bee!!!

Here are some pics of my 6" holiday circle swap and my recipe card swap. The next few weeks are mucho busy so I don't know when I'll be able to get on again and I don't want to leave the blog so long without an update.

The second set of mini books are done and I will show them as well. I think all will be very happy with them! I know I would. They are wonderful. I have really been utilizing my cricut and big shot with these projects!!

My daughter Desirae just introduced me to the Vitamin String Quartet. Go to my playlist and listen to them! They play all rock and pop music, it sounds so very beautiful. I love music, Sophia says she wants to learn how to play violin as well as the piano now. You might want to use one of their songs with the slide show.

Here are a couple of pics of my gift wrap this year. I take wrapping gifts VERY seriously, I daresay I have wrapping hubris ;) and go very extravagant! The paper has a felt pattern and the silver and gray is covered in glitter, messy as I wrap but gorgeous! I make my own bows for the gifts as well.

I love Christmas, but this year will be bittersweet. The 15th will be one year since my parents came to spend the Christmas Holiday with us and I still scratch my head and wonder how it's possible that he isn't with us anymore. What a gaping hole he has left, my Dad. No wallflower was he!!

A Friend Came Back To Me

Today in the mail, my Circle Journal returned to me! A year ago October, 12 beautiful ladies began a journey. Putting together our favorite papers and embellishments in a box, along with an album, we sent it on it's way to each participant. I had a lot of fun doing this, and today the wait paid off!

I am so very pleased with my book. The gals who joined in this are some of THE most talented scrapbook artists I have encountered. I learn something from them all the time and am so grateful that I was part of this. I have also become very good friends with some of them, and I am so grateful that they are in my life!! Through some rough patches they have been such a boost to me and I love them very much.

A big thank you to Kathi who organized this baby. It was truly a great experience for me. Now I can't wait to fill it with wonderful photos and keep it out for all to see!

Here are the ladies who participated -

Myself, Elaine, Joy, Jessica, Courtney, Serene, Lisa, Jenny, Kathi, Ceci, Stacy, and Carrie

I put each artist's name on the page she did so you can see who did which page. Please enjoy the slide show!

Pumpkin Carving Anyone?

I want to share some of the pumpkins we have carved this Halloween and past ones as well. The kids take it very seriously, to the tune of $95 in pumpkins each year! What they create is amazing though, see for yourself -

MaryAnn's Thriller (MJ)

Johnny-Boy's Joker from Batman Asylum video game



Victoria did Damon from Vampire Diaries

Desirae did Bill (TB)

Sophia did Edward

My Granddaughter Gianna did The Corpse Bride

Granddaughter Aelyn did Snow White

And the man himself, Santino {read me ;)} did Frankie



Some previous years -

Hubby did Elvis

JB did Batman

One of the grand d's did Cinderella




MaryAnn's Gizmo, I love Giz!



JB's Leonidas from 300




Some really cool pumpkins, huh!

I have really been working on getting my mini-books done, they're coming along nicely. When I complete the east coast nieces I'll slide show em for the blog. The kids are off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so I'm going to hit Ontario Mills a major shopping mall here and try to kick some Christmas gift butt! I want my stuff done by Thanksgiving weekend, and I usually do it so, I need to get going.