Foto Friday - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;

  Soon the bells will start,

And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing

Right within your heart."

Don't ya just love that song from Johnny Mathis?

It's surely one to get you into the spirit of Christmas decorating.

I have to say I just didn't get out for that walk this week, although I

did snap a few pictures on my way home one day.

So I thought I would try to get a few around the house,

which for me is a little boring and challenging. I am truly

an outside natural light kinda girl.

Stalking the candlesticks just isn't the same as a lizard! ; )

But before I move on to the photos, I wanted to share something

exciting. Remember a few months back when I told you that I was asked

last spring to start a boys athletic booster club and that with our first

t-shirt fundraiser we raised $2,500, well, drum roll please . . . .

We have raised nearly $10,000 and I had the privilege of writing a

$6,000 check this week, as the booster club gifted the boys athletics

with a new weight room. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!!

Okay on to some Yuletide photos . . .

{linked to Shoot Edit Submit and La-la's home daycare}

One thing you should know about me, I love coffee cups/mugs! I love having a different choice everyday

depending on my mood. So now that it's officially December, out come the festive ones . . . and what you

can't see on this one is the inside of the cup is lined with beautiful silver snowflakes. It was a little chilly the other morning and when I poured my coffee you could just see this beautiful steam coming from the cup.

I took this with my 40mm macro lens and what is interesting to me is that you can actually see the tiny

water droplets evaporating.

We have a leaded glass front door and this is a view from one of the only smooth pieces of glass

looking into the foyer.

This is the mirror above the chest of drawers in the above photo. And since I love birds, you see

them on many of my Christmas decorations.

More experimenting inside, again with the 40mm. Actually now that I think about it all of the photos

I have today were taken with it.

Oh, and look who I found, Matt, trying to hide behind the mask!  Yes, he is back and will be staying with us until Christmas Eve, when he returns to the North Pole to be with Santa for their rockin' Elfcapades party!

{linked to Photo Art Friday}

My roses are blooming like crazy and it's hard not to want to get yet one, more, picture!

This week Bonnie asked us to try something new, but this photo art is all new to me!

But this week I did try "smudge" which gave me on both photos, (above and below)

some cool effects. I erased some off the rose so it is more subtle and the negative space on

the rose photo isn't noise, it's a very slight mosaic effect or was it dots?

This last photo is actually art on art, as in a watercolor photographed and then doing a little

more 'art' to it. Before we moved where we are now, I had gotten a bee in my bonnet one day

and decided to take a watercolor class. What was I thinking? It's probably a good thing I just dove in, because having never painted I had no idea what I was getting myself into and had I really thought about it I would have talked myself out of it. I had the best instructor and this is after a few small practice things like a leaf and a shamrock, my first (and last) piece I painted. Something I've learned is to never

underestimate yourself, and try new things even if you've never done them. How do you know

you can or can't if you don't try? I haven't painted since we've moved, but with out instruction I guess I thought too much about it and now I'm afraid I won't be able to do it by myself.

I used that same smudge effect on this too and I just love how it framed the entire piece! I didn't purposely

put that around the edges, it just did it by itself! ha   I think I started in sepia exposing the color, used orton-ish or lomo-ish which popped the color and then the smudge, faded.

Have a fabulous weekend, and happy decorating! Fa la la la la

Love Kim

XO

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