Welcome

Welcome to my Virtual Open House. Come in and warm yourself. It's a cold 36 deg. outside at the moment and will be about the same when Santa comes to deliver his presents. The house is decorated with lots of lights outside, Christmas tree inside, and many of my most favorite items on display for everyone to enjoy. Santa is one of my favorite images for Christmas. I think he embodies for me much of what Christmas is all about. Not because he brings presents, but because he gives from the heart and because he doesn't expect anything in return. Well, perhaps some cookies and milk and a carrot for his reindeers!

So to make sure Santa has his cookies, my DS and I baked a bunch of cookies today. Think there'll be one left for Santa?

Upon entering my foyer, you'll be greeted by three ceramic Santas I painted way back in the late 80's. There were so many ceramic shops then, but now, it's hard to find any. I barely did any type of crafts then and my hubby spent all his spare time detailing model airplanes. My mother-in-law pointed me in the direction of ceramics and I did these as one of my first few pieces way back in the late 80's.

From my foyer, we enter the living room. My collection continues. Here are some store bought Santas I have. I add one each year to this.

Times changed, and the ceramic stores closed. I still wanted to do art, so I did some paintings on my own. Here are three santas that I painted once I couldn't find any ceramic stores.

ornaments my son and I made

and more Santas. This time as cards I sent out. There are no art stores close to me here, so I turned my creating to scrapbooking, cards and ATCs. Now that my local scrapbooking store is closed, I wonder where my art journey will take me.

I hope you enjoyed a little bit of the time you spent in my home. It's been my pleasure to show off my collection. I'll be giving a hostess gift to one person picked at random from those that leave me a comment here. I don't have a pic of my gift, but it will be one of my coasters. There is an example of it further down in one of the other posts. Of course, it's a Santa! I've got a selection of images you can pick from and I'll make it especially for you. Thanks for stopping by. Next on the tour is Tami's house. Just click on her name and just like magic, you'll be whisked away to her home. Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a very joyous New Year.