Looking Ahead to December - Some Links

November ended up with a gain of two pounds. Ick! Of course, I started the month out with an unusual low, and it was a holiday month - Thanksgiving, a holiday that centers around nothing but food - but I'm still not very happy. Despite or in spite of that, it doesn't change much. I'll still be at the gym and in the pool when the doors open at 5:00 am. The pounds came on easily, they'll go off easily too.

I don't hand-address my envelopes - my handwriting is atrocious, and I want
my  cards to actually arrive at their final destinations. But there are some
beautiful hand-embellished addresses out there. If you want to take a stab at
hand addressing, here's a link to a free downloadable template you
might find helpful. 

I spent my time after dinner printing out the envelopes for my holiday cards. With the exception of one card (just waiting on the address information to arrive for me), those are now ready to go. I finished the interior of the cards yesterday afternoon with the exception of the actual signature. I have one more image to heat emboss on the card front and my personal "Made by xxx for you" information to stamp and sign on the back of each card, and then I'm finished. Yes, there is still a lot of time involved, but I'm into the home stretch. No inserts this year - time and the fact that I just couldn't quite pull together what I wanted, nixed that desire. I'll start thinking about an insert for next year's card right after the new year.

I haven't had a calendar by Jacek Yerka before, but his
artwork looks like a lot of fun so this calendar is going into
my computer room so that I can look at it every day and smile. 

I hung my new calendars for 2017 behind this year's throughout the house yesterday morning. I have calendars everywhere - both to remind me of the date, but also to allow me to have an ever changing palette of artwork to view. I'm hanging a lot of my standards - Gardens of the Spirit and Llewellen's Witch's Calendar are two of my favorites - but I also got one on landscape art and one on surrealistic art for the coming year. I think I'll be happy to see the end of this year. It's had some highlights, but has been very disappointing in other aspects. I suppose it's that way with every year, but I won't be remembering 2016 with a lot of joy, just a sense of relief that it is finally over and we can work toward something better in 2017.

I get a copy of Llewelln's Witches' Calendar every year. I
adore the artwork in it. The art is actually tinted scratchboard
art and it is primo! Do you remember scratchboard? Are
you curious about that technique? Here's a link for you. 

What about you? How are you progressing on your holiday schedule? Are your cards made/purchased and ready to go? Do you have your tree set up or do you even do a tree? Are you planning anything special for your holiday dinner(s)? How's your shopping going - finding all the right gifts? I hope you are having a holiday time of fulfillment and joy, but I also know how stressing these days can be. Take a few minutes for that extra cup of coffee or tea, settle back in your comfy chair, and take a deep breath. It's Thursday and the week is humming right along, so have a good one!