Checking in to say hello...

Hello my friends, I just wanted to touch base with you since I have not been on here in awhile. I certainly hope that you have had a blessed Christmas. It is hard to imagine that another year has flown by so quickly, seems like the older we get, the quicker it goes too!

Christmas with our two boys was very enjoyable,  We did not have a crowd this year so my cooking duties were minimal. We had country ribs, several salads, bread and sweet potatoes, the ribs were done in the crock pot so it was very easy. Spending time together is so precious, it doesn't happen to often anymore that the four of us are together in one place. The most fun we have is watching our little dogs tear into their stocking, what a silly thing! We do make a big deal of stockings, they are just so much fun, and not serious at all. I am sad it is over, but grateful to have had the time. If I do not see another cookie or candy for a long time I will be just fine.

The hardest part of these family visits and get togethers is having to say goodbye, I don't do those too well really. I miss my older son a lot, I do not get to see him much anymore since he lives over 300 miles away, so goodbye was very painful. I usually need a couple days to recover from my heavy heart after seeing him off. A word of advice, if you are thinking about moving away, think twice... separation is way harder than you will ever anticipate it being.

In other news, I have a hard time when January comes and I need to get my after Holiday ideas flowing, what will I create? There are times when I simply have a creative blank! I love making snowmen so much that it is a bit of a disappointment to set them aside. Ideas can't be forced, mostly they just have to pop in my head when they are ready. I think we all run into creative road blocks at times, projects just aren't as fun if they don't have glitter and a carrot nose.

 I did finally clear off my table, got out my paper, pencil, rulers and got to drawing an idea I was seeing in my head. What I am after is a doll that will completely sit by herself, she'll be a rag doll with a round head, sculpted and painted features. My aim is to turn her into one of my first patterns, this however will be a process, but I look forward to seeing where this journey will lead me. I will post her here first when she is done.

My goal this coming year is to get my website at least functional, keep my etsy shop stocked, work on my pattern line, do more fun blog giveaways. By next Christmas I want to be more prepared with finished items for sale, do some blog tutorials, and get a newsletter going. This list will grow I'm sure, we'll see if I actually end up with the energy and time needed for all this, now that could be another thing altogether.

As the new year begins I look forward to connecting with all my new online friends, share ideas and just have fun! I really enjoy surfing all the creative blogs, reading the posts and see what wonderful things you are all doing. Thank you for visiting my blog and making my day with your sweet comments. I realize I was not given the gift of writing, so that really makes me appreciate the visits here all the more! There are some bloggers that can make a root canal sound interesting, that as you know is not me!