New Year wishes

Wishing each of you a Healthy & Happy New Year!!

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2025 seasonal card



inside stamped sentiment



back of card

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Thank you all, for your continued Blogger friendships! I love reading, learning and interacting with each of you!! 2026 is going to be a great year. If I say it enough, it could happen LOL!

I look forward to unfolding, unpacking and letting go of that which feels heavy. Another year of sharing and caring, learning, reconnecting and expanding horizons.

All my best to you for 2026!!

sunday stills ~ handmade

We received the most thoughtful beautiful handmade gift for Christmas this year. A hand painted wooden ornament of Tank, referenced from one of my photos.  

front


back


see more at handmade at Sunday Stills

Happy New Year ~ getting creative

I just couldn't decide which photo to use for my annual handmade holiday card this season. Most of the cards I make are equine related. I had prospective photos options, but none of them inspired me enough to move forward with such a labor intensive project. I obsessed about it...

Cierra's calendar photos are good prospects? The concept I had was too similar to last years. I have several pics of Koda I could use? I feel like he gets more visible love than the others. It is Tanks first Christmas with us, I should really feature him! I made a composite using one of my favorite puppy photos of him, but it turned out too fake for me. Brad & I have talked about taking a photo of us for years in our woods, and we could include Tank! Never going to happen, at least not in time for this years card. I all but gave up. What difference does it make anyways. I spend days running errands and working on cards, for people to promptly throw away. 

After battling several long upper respiratory viruses the past couple months, I was beyond being able to catch up on my holiday to do list. SO what did I do? I let go, of my self imposed holiday expectations and focused on what was important to me. Creating my annual card. 

The process takes days of thought, then searching through digital files. I need to edit my mail list, get enough photos printed, find coordinate paper, make sure I have enough card stock/envelopes and sticky stuff. I always run out of sticky tape runner! I try to add a tasteful embellishment and sentiment. Someday my rubber stamps will be organized and easier to find. The cards need to be addressed, oops forgot I ran out of labels last year. I also never reordered my return labels that have a typo, so hand writing both on around 40 cards it is. Oh yea, I can't forget to buy postage stamps! 

I decided on sending a New Years card vs pulling all nighters for cards to prospectively make it by Christmas. If you don't leave enough time, it takes all the fun out of creating. Who cares what people think, and that some have already seen the chosen photo. Right? Right!!

card cover
"Milky Way over our barn"

inside greeting
"Wishing you a peaceful New Year, full of wonder!!"

My decisions, and the end card result were fulfilling. To me. I received heartfelt reactions from some of the recipients. So sweet! Once again, Brad reminded me that certain people actually look forward receiving my photography cards. My cards are different. They are a reflection of me. It renewed my commitment in the power of letting go, and being true to oneself. 

Thanks for being a treasured part of my journey, may our paths continue to cross. Happy New Year!!  

new year wishes

As we close out another year, I am reminded of all things held near & dear. Past highs & lows. Our ongoing shift towards spending time doing what we love. Being true to ourselves.

It is not easy, as anything in life worth doing is. We are judged for it. Many don't get "it" or better said "us". Hard to deal with, but I am getting better at not letting others negativity consume me. Or at least better at trying. 

2018 was a year full of big change. No need to recap, most are well aware of our move. Our dream, was is our focus. It is a beautiful life. Some days, I feel like I am living in a painting.

............................... 

I was going to take a photo of Brad & I to mail out for a family Christmas card. Photo cards seem to be the thing to send these days, if one sends anything at all. That photo was never taken. 

I have been hand making holiday cards for over a decade, and this year it almost didn't happen. A handmade Christmas card did eventually come together with existing photos. It reflects where we are at with our lives, as every handmade card has in years past. I am going to enlarge this photo composite, minus the added snowflake graphics. As a reminder, of our first year here. Where we truly feel like we are home.

card cover photo composite
(two of my 2018 photos)

inside stamped sentiment

............................... 

My hope for 2019 is to keep moving forward with our homestead, but make time for other passions. Enjoying our critters, with family and friends, on our land - maybe even riding our horses. Imagine that?!! 

If I was to pick a word for the new year, it would be "passion". I am not one to choose words, or goals for that matter. But I have plenty of dreams, and passionate intentions - which are all one in the same. 

Looking forward to more sharing, of your passions & ours, throughout the upcoming year! Best Wishes for a Happy Healthy New Year, full of that which you hold near and dear!! 

merry christmas friends

It magically snowed for the first time this year on Christmas Eve & it was beautiful! Not a lot, just enough to make it feel like Christmas. 

Every year I get my craft on, and hand make cards to send out. I feature something I've photographed throughout the year. Most of my holiday cards are equine oriented. Sending cards for any occasion is becoming a thing of the past, and homemade ones even more so. I don't make things by hand very often, and look forward to the creative thinking, searching for the right combinations, and even the methodical process it requires to put cards together. 

This year, I combined four of my photos. One from our pines, and three of our horses. If you click to view larger, you will notice the horses & pines are interrelated. As everything in this world is, to a certain extent...

front cover

inside sentiment

Thank you, for being a part of this blog ~ it means a lot to share each others joys & even sorrows. You are appreciated more then you know!! Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Healthy Magical New Year!

Merry Christmas from me to you

2016 Handmade Christmas Card

(cover & inside greeting)

This year my handmade Christmas card features a photo of our family dog (actually Brad's heart dog) and two of our grand dogs. Three very special dogs that share a bond, in very different stages of life. 

Merry Christmas friends, and may the New Year be one of progress towards whatever makes your life complete. Wishing you happiness & health in 2017!!

Merry Christmas from me to you

Wishing you peace, health & happiness throughout this holiday season!

My Handmade 2015 Card

The cover photo is Harmony, I took it a few years ago,
 when we actually had snow....the bottom is the inside stamped message.

I may be out of sight, but you are not out of mind.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone in the new year, if not sooner.

Be well & have a very Merry Christmas!!

hand made Christmas equine cards

Sending wishes in the form of hand made cards has all but become a lost craft. Online photo cards are now the norm. These days I receive more of them, then even standard boxed holiday cards. I get it, anyone can create them. Photo cards are a simple way to showcase you & your's, and if you are a labeler, you don't have to write or sign a thing. No doubt, a relief for many in this busy crazy world we live in. Digital anything is fantastic, and who doesn't like to see smiling faces when they receive snail mail?!! Much more fun then opening bills.

While grumbling talking to my mom the other day, surrounded by mounds of carefully selected card parts, I mentioned I had no idea why I was spending countless hours hand making cards, that people promptly throw away December 26. Hardly anybody hand makes cards anymore. With her wise wisdom she said "it's something you enjoy, so just keep doing it"...thanks mom! I almost forgot. I really do enjoy the creative obsessing, process of details, searching for that one missing thing, even the methodical hand work of doing the same sequence 30 times in a row, and finally seeing it all come together in the end!

My cards all start with the photo. This year I wanted to feature Cierra. I've taken many photos of her this past year, but this one stood out. Such a happy beautiful girl, that loves galloping across the field. Then comes finding a sentiment that fits, the hardest part for me. Some years I flip flop the order, and find or take a picture to fit a pre-purchased saying. If I find stamp messages I like, I buy them. I am p-i-c-k-y, and they are hard to find. Enhancing photo's digitally, is always a delicate balance. I was able to make the grass kinda sparkle, and had way too much fun adding warped floating snowflakes! When I do volume, I print out of house since printer ink is so expensive. Card stock is matched, selected, trimmed to size and glued in place. I usually add more background layers, but not this year. I stumbled across a new snowflake corner punch, sitting all by itself. I think it had my name on it? I've never used die cuts on actual photos prior to this card. I'm so glad I experimented. I had previously found snowflake embellishments, in the button aisle, but wasn't going to use them. As you can see, I changed my mind. Something that happens frequently throughout the card making process. A person really can't have a saying like "Sparkle and Bright" and not add sparkles to the words, right? that doesn't take any time at all...and wouldn't it look nice to glue a crystal in the middle of the snowflake? It was then I realized, I must be nuts!!

But it truly makes me smile inside to see my handmade cards. My mom leaves them up all year long, and occasional I hear sincere comments from friends that also display them. If not with these, perhaps other cards I've created just for them. Photo cards, handmade or digitally, are a snap shot that chronicle where we are in our life journey. Many times the chosen photos have special meaning, that only those closest understand. Special memories, captured in time, taking us back to that feeling...

Merry Christmas blogger friends, wishing each of you a sparkling bright 2015!!

Merry Christmas from me to you

To each and every one of you,
sharing your kindness,

and your knowledge of horses:

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas,

and a Healthy Happy New Year!!

2013 Handmade Christmas Card
(cover & inside saying)

merry christmas from me to you

2012 Handmade Christmas Card
(cover & inside greeting)

Merry Christmas & best wishes for a happy & healthy New Year!!

because of you

For many years I handmade a good half of my Christmas cards. It had become a family tradition, that included bribing asking my family to take professional photos. I liked the tradition and "documentation" of how our family evolved over the years. I also enjoy the creative hand work of making cards/scrapbooking, altho I can't seem to pull those types of projects together - but once a year I do. 

Every year we alternated, one year I had the kids only photographed and the following the entire family. As a reward, I would take them out to eat after. Some photo outings even included new articles of clothing. Not a bad deal if you ask me, and we always ended up having fun (and have some silly photo memories) especially when we found a creative photographer. Last year I couldn't pull off the photoshoot or card, for different reasons. But this year I did, because of you.

While I didn't do the professional photo outing/dinner thing, I did make my own annual Christmas card!! Shirley, Fern Valley, Dreaming and Wolfie inspired me when they commented on my photo. Not a traditional Christmas photo perse, but I decided to use it for the cover anyway. I usually hand stamp the covers, and put family photos inside. I wasn't sure how this years card would come together especially with a photo for the cover, but it did. After taking a year off, I was going to let the card tradition go all together - but I'm glad I didn't. I used all my own photos on the card below, and truly enjoyed doing the hand work.

While we still may do the occasional family photoshoot outing, in the interim I plan to continue to create and feature my own photographs/composites in future cards - most likely with an equine flair. It will be interesting to see what transpires each year. Thanks for the inspiration, in more ways then one.

2011 Christmas Card cover

Inside spread

Wishing a Merry Christmas to all my blog friends!!