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I found this gorgeous solstice background on Creative Fabrica in a bundle of twelve. It was hard to pick just one. The girls are from pngtree, I think. To create the "window" I combined a rectangular vector with an ellipse vector, magic wand selected on the outside, switched to a layer with a duplicate of the background, and deleted. Then I modified the selection with Select Selection Borders for the outline around the window. Added a little inner bevel on the text (Avenida LET font) and a drop shadow with 100% opacity and no blur. The singers got a smaller inner bevel just to give them a little depth. I kind of liked having the same background design in two different sizes. Any suggestions?

I've been a bit distracted and not feeling great for a while (back pain), so the Festive Season has not been on my mind. But I'd better get on it b/c the time is getting shorter! I have so many kits and elements to use, so that's what I did. No photos included, just decorative elements mostly from Di Hiller and Ericka Designs. Trying to get jolly....

I got the printed book for my son-in-law yesterday. I am very happy with the result and the quality I got from Staples. Here is the "reveal".

The doors etc in the center are from a photo I took yesterday with my new camera, standing in the the foyer of my church. The other elements are some I have saved over the years probable from C F as that is where a lot of them are from.

The doors etc in the center are from a photo I took yesterday with my new camera, standing in the the foyer of my church. The other elements are some I have saved over the years probable from C F as that is where a lot of them are from.

Julie I got a hip replacement last year, it is something else but I know the relieve when the pain is gone after surgery. For me it was so worthwhile and now I'm back myself without that constant pain. I hope for you that, whatever your choice will be, it works out well.

What a family heirloom that will be! Imagine in 20 or 50 years, when someone looks at that labour of love! A treasured and very special keepsake.

Lab13-01_Stencil Alpha: Freebie cass-ChristmasCookies-Alpha (Blog) Tubes: cass-LitLights-Red Pine branches: Snowy Winter-DBMagnolia - themagnoliapatch.blogspot.com Snowflakes come with PSP (I think) Background from photo

OMG! this is so cute! I love it. I'm glad you can create to keep your mind busy with more pleasant things.

At my worst (with my back) I could walk and stand for about 3 minutes before the pain made my break out into a sweat and felt like I was going to throw up. Weirdly I could still work out with weights and ride a bike, but not walk or stand for any distance or time. When I was humming and hawing about surgery a guy I knew (who also had a major surgery on his back) said "get the surgery and get on with your life, you aren't 'living' the way you are now". My 4hr surgery turned out to be 5.5 hours long and the surgeon told my husband it was much worse than the MRI showed. So I am extremely thankful to him and that I got it done. Surgery is a very serious consideration and I did not take it lightly. I was and still am a very active person, I couldn't live with what I figured was coming (wheelchair) so I took the leap. I was lucky and had a fabulous surgeon and am pretty much pain free. The surgery took the compressed disc pain away. I did deal with soft tissue issues for some years after, nothing major just annoying (piriformis issue's) that didn't even need any pain meds (I cant take pain meds more than two days in a row , so I tend toward icing pain, then heat). If you ever want any specifics of what my pain was like before and after and what I went through I am always open to chatting via email or phone. You can private message me if you like for my email addy.

Still trying to get jolly. Decided on a layout that is NOT made of traditional red/green colours. The image is AI-generated by a designer on Etsy (AI WearGallery), and I thought it was something different to work with since I don't take a lot of pix in everyday life. Concentrating on a layout and all the details keeps my mind off other things.

Surgery is for sure the last option. Let's hope yours is soft tissue related. I am still doing recovery for a partial hamstring tear. I didn't know I tore it and left it for over a year before I got it checked out. I was told surgery is not an option since I'm not an athlete (hmph! we are all athletes is our own mind aren't we?). Anyway, I turned to massage as that helped when I twisted a QL (back muscle). It helped but I still couldn't do certain things, then my massage person suggested Dry Needling. It's one needle that inserts into the knot in a muscle and relaxes it. Without this I'd not be able to do much, just swinging my leg to get out of the car was agony. The dry needling worked, but it does/can take many sessions. And you need a good practitioner who uses the smaller gauge needles. I just go in for touch ups now and have 90% mobility. I will tell you, it can hurt (I'm a baby when it comes to any needle), but it's worth it for me. I hope you find a good resolution because any injury really sidelines you and chronic pain really messes with your mind.

Gorgeous! Thanks for telling us how you created this.

Michele: you work is stunning, as always! You really ARE a Fab Diva!! 😉

Happy Christmas: )/first IMHO/.

I = Illumination. I remember when my mom drove us around in the car to see the holiday lights. I did the same with my daughter, but it wasn't quite the same. 1980's Long Island (where I raised my daughter) isn't the same as 1960's Brooklyn (my hometown). lol

H = Hymns

That is beautiful Julie. I love your natural style. I hope your back pain subsides quickly. I know back/nerve pain all too well. Surgery in 2011, L4-L5 with rods, screws and a bouncy new disc (disk?), just call me Tigger. I'm pain free and active. Let's hope you get back to that point too.

SO beautiful and so touching. A wonderful gift!

Perfect! I used this stencil too this year for one of the 3 designs I did. Nice to see you back in the Campus Marie-Claire.

G = God

F = Festive Season

E = Eggnog It is my Husband & my tradition to have an eggnog when we are setting up the Christmas Tree. We listen to C. music and when it is all set up we just sit and watch the lights for a while (along with another eggnog.

I would say it was more fun than work.

It turned out great. I know it was a lot of work, but I bet he (all of them actually) will treasure it forever.

You can't see it at this size, but the background has a subtle texture.

@Michele@Chris SchultsIn that case my message is for Chrissie, but without the kissie!!!😅

This seems to be a layout that is a hybrid between the November Word Challenge (Cold) and the December (Christmas) Challenge. Just playing with lots of elements and basing it on a layout I saw on Jessica Dunn's Curio Pantry site.

I created this starting with a Globe shared on PSPManiacs.

I dug out one of my very old photos from home. It wasn't that long ago that we were discussing the origins of Christmas and it's relation to the Winter Solstice during pagan times, in the campus. I mentioned that my children and I would go out gathering greenery for decorations, and branches for a tree. I have created a Yuletide page. I still make paper chains. I used Carole's label script for the journaling, the pine cones come with PSP. The other elements I have acquired over the years, which I use over and over in other pages, particularly the ivy, which you may recognise.