(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ One of the things I would like to do during the new year is to create more treasuries on Etsy. As I put them together, I will share them here on my blog. To get a bit of a head start, I put together this Treasury, inspired by the beauty of Nature. I just love all the amazing work by these very talented Etsians! Just click on the title to take you to the treasury, or you can click on each picture to see the item in the artisans' Etsy Shop! Enjoy!!
(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ My brother, Charlie is a great photographer! He has an amazingly artistic eye and it certainly shows in all of his photographs. His studio is based in Texas and he specializes in portrait work ~ although he does many other kinds of photography as well. Wonderful landscape photographs, great classic car photographs, amazing shots of animals... and much, much more. When my son and I were in Texas for a visit recently, Charlie took some beautiful portraits of both my kids and me. We had a great time during the photo shoot. His studio has such an easy and laid-back feeling, and our sitting was a lot of fun. I thought I'd share some of the photographs that he took of us, along with the link to his website. He has many awesome photographs on his website to look at and enjoy! Here's the link: Charlie Prenzi Photography
My Kids, George and Melissa
My Mom and Me
Fun! :)
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ I just love all of these photographs that Charlie took of us, and I am so happy to have them! He captured this moment in time beautifully, and I thank him so much for that!
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~Trina
(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥I hope that everyone had a very special and wonderful Christmas Day! We had a nice day. I made fried dough for breakfast (A tradition in my family) and we enjoyed a relaxing morning with each other, opening gifts. It didn't snow, but there was snow on the ground, so it was a white Christmas! We took a moment to have our picture taken together by our tree, before heading over to Grandma's for the evening. Mary Ann had her whole family together this year (All three of her kids and their families), and that was so nice! We enjoyed the company of each other, and a delicious meal together!
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥Earlier in the day, George went outside to chop some wood to add to the fire that we had going in our fireplace... and sure, Izzie looks innocent enough in the above picture ~ but that was just to make me think she was behaving herself! She decided it would be fun to drag each piece of wood, as George finished chopping it, through the snow and off to the far end of the yard. So they were playing a game of "Chop the Wood, Hide the Wood and Go Retrieve the Wood!" Fun new snow game... :)
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥I made some ornaments this year, and gave them as gifts to my family. I want to make some more, similar to these, throughout the year, for my Etsy Shop, so that I am ready for next Christmas! This was my first Etsy Christmas, so I wasn't as prepared as I hope to be next year. I really enjoyed making these...
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥Thank you for taking a peek at our Christmas Day, and my newest Christmas Clay Creations! Wishing you a great day! ~Trina
(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ This is a very special Christmas for me and my family! It's the first Christmas the four of us have all been together since 2006! My daughter, Melissa, arrived yesterday and it was so wonderful to see her. Last night, after dinner, we decorated our tree ~ and while opening the bins and getting out all of our Christmas treasures, it was kind of emotional for me. My family's laughter and playfulness in the background was like music to my ears! We shared memories and smiles as we placed our homemade ornaments on the tree. George and I have so many very special Christmas decorations that the Melissa and George made for us through the years. It is so wonderful to have all those decorations out to enjoy, especially after they'd been packed away for so long! Some of them really made us laugh! The adorable things that little ones create... a few of them, made out of dough... well, we are not really quite sure what they are, but they are proudly displayed on our tree!
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ When my son placed one of his homemade ornaments on the tree, he said, "What the heck is this?" He was four years old when he created this abstract design. (He's now 20.) He used all kinds of techniques to create the ornament, even a garlic press. Once it came out of the oven and cooled, he painted it. Every year I see something different that it might be... What do you see when you look at it?
Created by George at Age 4
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Melissa made a baby Jesus out of dough one year, when she was about 8 years old. Every year she would hang it on the tree in a special spot. One Christmas the baby Jesus got lost, we thought it fell off the tree and our dog may have eaten it... (That would have been a "yummy" treat!) Well, Melissa made a new baby Jesus, so now we have two ~ because when we took down our tree that year, we found the little ornament! It fell out when we were taking the tree outside! Last night Melissa was sure to place both of them very high up on the tree, to ensure that they wouldn't fall off this year!
Baby Jesus by Melissa
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ We had a great evening decorating our tree and sharing our memories of Christmas's past. Meanwhile our newest addition to the family was romping around, knocking into things, as she was getting to know her new home! Melissa gave us a dog for Christmas... a beautiful and very sweet dog that was rescued. Her dad and I have been wanting to get a dog, and when Melissa saw this dog, she knew right away that the sweet little girl would make a wonderful Christmas gift for her mom and dad! And she was right! Isabella is her name and we are calling her Izzie. Yesterday she enjoyed her new surroundings, running through the snow in her new back yard... Izzie was the best gift Melissa could have ever given her daddy, the two of them playing in the snow was a special sight to see. Our family dog, Smokey, passed away several years ago and it was time for us to have a new dog to take care of and love. We are very thankful for Izzie! I am very thankful to have my family all together to celebrate the holidays!
Izzie, after a long day of fun!
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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Wishing all of you a Very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with Many Happy Moments with Family and Friends, Good Health, and Lots of Smiles and Laughter!!
(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ A friend shared this on Facebook, and I thought it was just so cute!!!! I wanted to post it on my blog for you to enjoy too. Jesse is adorable and really quite talented! He makes you smile and he makes you laugh! We could all use a good laugh, especially during this hectic time of year!
