Merry Christmas!!

Hello Everyone!

Well I had planned to post a couple of more cards before the year was over, but as often happens, plans change. The baby squirrel who has been living on my balcony, Dolly P, has been very sick and I am working hard to keep her alive. My family arrived on Friday, so the Christmas festivities have already begun. So I will take the opportunity now to thank everyone for another year of bloggy friendship and crafty inspiration! I wish each of you a holiday filled with joy and many happy memories!

OMG, isn't Nemo cute!!

From everyone here at the Johnson household, I say...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Upon a Star

Hello Everyone!

Today I am sharing a holiday card put together with the Lemoncraft holiday papers "Christmas Carols".  How adorable is that image of the little boy with his packages!! LOVE!! You can purchase theses beautiful papers at Lisa's Etsy shop here.

The big star is made out of bark, such an amazing embellishment. I dabbed it with a bit of white paint and the some vintage pearl gold paint to give it a little shimmer. 

Some of you were asking about the white pebble looking things. A while back, one of the dog toys ripped open and it was filled with these little white styrofoam balls. What a mess!! I dumped the remainder of the balls into a container and now I use it as snow!

I have decided to join in the fun at the Lemoncraft blog for their December challenge. 

Challenge #11 - Be Merry

***

As I learn more and more about wildlife through my studies, I have decided to try to cut back on the foods that aren't good for my furry friends. So this week I filled the food dishes with lots of yummy vegetable and healthy alternatives. The reactions were pretty hilarious!! 

"Vegetables again! That's it I'm taking a stand! I'm not moving until you bring me out the peanuts!"
~Baby Bush~

"OK now, there has to be a peanut somewhere in this hole, otherwise what the heck is it even here for!" 

~Scarlet~

"Did you seriously just step into my territory with a bag of grapes!! Total weak sauce human!"

~Miss Roxy~

"As much as I enjoy this healthy food, I think you're holding out on me woman! Please send down the good stuff now!" 

~Mr Chubb~

I finally broke down and pulled out a few peanuts, but just a few. lol

Another shot from the week of mist here on the lake. I haven't had a chance to go through my snow day photos, so misty day photos it is!! lol

OMG, fluffy Chickadee! Love!

I don't catch a Dove shot very often. One of the bright sides to having no leaves on the trees! Lol

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. If you have any questions or interesting tidbits about today's wildlife, please let me know.

Filigree Christmas Tree

Hello Everyone!

Today I am sharing this soft and subtle Christmas card featuring Pion Design collections "Long Ago in Bethlehem" and "Legends of the Sea". I love combining Pion collections together, they always fit so perfectly, and these work wonderfully for a shabby holiday card!

My card was inspired by my amazingly talented friend Sara Emily of sarascloset. I would never have thought to use these colours together, but the minute I saw her beautiful card, I just knew I had to try! Thanks for the inspiration my sweet friend!

Pion products:

Long Ago in Bethlehem - Angels Singing PD9404

Long Ago in Bethlehem - Holy Scripture PD9410

Legends of the Sea - Go West PD9002

Legends of the Sea - Sea Grass PD9004

The Night Before Christmas - Borders PD7810

Is that a handmade flower you ask, why yes it is!! lol The flower petals are blooms from Wild Orchid Crafts and I coloured them with distress ink Weathered Wood. The wood flourishes are from Scrapiniec, the other flowers are also from Wild Orchid Crafts and everything else is from my stash.

The ribbon is a hand woven silk Sari ribbon, it's so delicate and soft! Thank you to Alison of Words and Pictures for turning me on to this gorgeous product which I purchased on Etsy.

***

Guess what I woke up to yesterday morning... a white winter coating of snow!! I spent several hours outside and took a ton of photos! I'm excited to go through them all and share some with you, but for today I will share some shots from last week. Lots of mist and chubby animals. lol

For my birds today, this beautiful male Sparrow...

and a gorgeous Bluejay...

"You! Human! Explain to me why my whiskers are turning white because I sure as heckfire don't get it!" 

~Butch~

"Hahaha, so hilarious you think I'll eat those veggies! I'm a peanut man all the way!" 

~Teddy~

"I see you judging me human, but I don't care! I love cookies and I'm gonna eat this whole thing!" 

~Neddie~

Everyone say hello to Baby Zippy. This is the other baby squirrel who is living on my patio. He's so brave and he's wicked smart too! He's learned that if he comes to the door and scratches on the glass, that I'll bring out fresh food! How precious is that! He's a bit bigger than Dolly P, but he's still super small! When he looks directly at me, I actually melt! Just look at all the cuteness!

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. If you have any questions or interesting tidbits about today's wildlife, please let me know.

Ribbons & Bows

Hello Everyone!

Today I'm sharing something a little brighter and shinier than my normal card. That's what's so fun about Christmas, you can whip out the spots and stripes, and throw glitter everywhere!! This card features some fun papers from Canvas Corp Brands.

For this card I used a heavier plastic mesh instead of the normal tulle. I took my heat gun and curled up all the edges for a fun effect. The snow is DecoArt SnowTex covered in Glamour Dust glitter. The flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and everything else is from my stash.

***

So on Thursday I'm drinking my coffee and out of the corner of my eye, I see movement outside. I turn my head and to my surprise, it's snowing!!! I jumped up, ran to the closet and pulled out all my camera gear. It took two minutes, but it was already too late, the snow was done. lol. Oh well, it's a step in the right direction.

"Excuse me Miss, I heard a rumour that you're in charge around here. So why don't you do something about this rain already!" 

~Red Breasted Nuthatch~

"I agree with the Nuthatch lady, turn off the rain already!" 

~Miss Woodpecker~

"Holy dickens, is that avocado I see on the buffet! It must be my birthday or something" 

~Rocky~

"I would like to thank the panel of judges, my friends and family, and of course, the peanut lady!" 

~Missy~

I would like you all to meet Dolly P. She is one of the babies that has taken up residence in my patio couch cushion. I named her after Dolly Parton because of her curly blonde highlighted tail. She is super tiny and I've been trying to help her gain a little weight with a special diet. See how big her feet look, that's how tiny she is! She is such a 'doll'!

"Don't just stand there, hand me a wipe! THERE'S CRUMBS ON MY ARM!" 

~The Cute Twin~

I was so excited to finally see some frost outside last week because I got a chance to play with my large macro lens again (remember the rice sized bug?). I can get much closer and get better detail with this lens, but it's much harder to use, so I'm very happy with my shot.

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. If you have any questions or interesting tidbits about today's wildlife, please let me know.

Pion Design - Gingerbread Hugs

Hello Everyone!

Today I am sharing this soft neutral card featuring the Pion Design collection "Christmas Wishes". I just love all these vintage gingerbread images, so fun that I can almost smell the gingerbread cookies in the oven!

Pion products:

Christmas Wishes - Gingerbread Land PD9803

Christmas Wishes - Snowflakes PD9809

Christmas Wishes - 6x6 Gingerbread Land PD9903

Christmas Wishes - Borders PD9811

Christmas Wishes - Tags PD9812

***

This is my favourite time of year for the reeds around the lake. The are so big and fluffy and they look so soft and beautiful as they sway back and forth in the wind. This shot was taken early in the morning while it was still fairly dark out.

This is only the second time I've ever captured a White Breasted Nuthatch on camera! There's not many of them around here!

"WILL DANCE FOR FOOD" 

~Mr Cardinal~

"Oh crap! I'm gonna need a bigger mouth!" 

~Scarlet~

"I heard you coming, you know! You're not as quiet as you think you are!" 

~Winston~

"Yeah yeah, good morning human. Enough chit chat, is the buffet ready or not!" 

~Teddy~

"Oh no, you did not just say that! I thought you said you brought veggies today instead of peanuts, but you're joking right!!" 

~Princess Tabitha~

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. If you have any questions or interesting tidbits about today's wildlife, please let me know.