Christmas Carolers

Here We Come A-Caroling

Here we come a-caroling
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wand'ring,
So fair to be seen. Love and joy

come to you,

And to your wassail too And

God bless you

and send you a 
Happy New Year, 
And God send you a Happy New Year.

Christmas Aluminum Tree

But I wanted a . .

 

 "big, shiny

aluminum tree...

maybe

painted pink".

Christmas Nutcracker

Don't clean it up too quickly." Andy Rooney

"One of the most glorious messes in

the world is

the mess created in the

Living Room on

Christmas Day.

Belive in the Spirit of Christmas

Believe

in the 

Spirit of

Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve !!

Joy Love Peace

JOY ~ LOVE ~ PEACE

Christmas - Let It Snow

Let It Snow

Oh the weather outside is frightful,

 

But the fire is so delightful,

 

And since we've no place to go,

 

Let It Snow!

Let It Snow! 

Let It Snow!

Christmas Gift List

 To Your Enemy, Forgiveness.

To an Opponent,tolerance.

To your Friend, your heart.

To a Customer, service.

 

To All, charity.

To every Child, a good                       example. 

                                                               To Yourself, respect.

Rocking around the Christmas tree

You will get a sentimental 

Feeling when you hear

Voices singing let's be jolly,

Deck the halls with boughs of holly


Rocking around the Christmas tree,


Have a happy holiday

Everyone dancing merrily

In the new old-fashioned way.

"Rocking Around the Christmas Tree"

Johnny Marks

1958

Rockin' Round the Christmas Tree

Johnny Marks ~ 1958

Rockin around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop
Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop
Rocking around the Christmas tree,
Let the Christmas spirit ring
Later we'll have some pumpkin pie
And we'll do some caroling

"What if Christmas," he thought,

"doesn't come from a store.

What if CHRISTMAS 

means a little bit more."

Believe in Santa

                        "Not believe in Santa Claus! 

                  You might as well not believe in fairies."

Believe in what your heart is saying

Believe in what your heart is saying,

Hear the melody that's playing

There's no time to waste,

There so much to celebrate.

Believe in what you feel inside,

And give your dreams the wings to fly.

You have everything you need, if you just Believe.

If you just believe.

If you just believe.

If you just believe...just believe...just believe. 

  

Believe - Polar Express

Christmas Gift List

No more lives torn apart,
That wars will never start,
And time will heal our hearts,
Every man will have a friend,
That right will always win,
And love will never end.
This is my GROWN-UP

Christmas List.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

With the kids jingle belling,

and everyone telling you,

"Be of good cheer,"

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

There'll be much mistletoeing

and hearts will be glowing,

when loved ones are near.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

By: Eddie Pola, George Wyle - 1963

Christmas Star

A diamond shines no brighter
than that lovely Christmas star.
It shines in all its brilliance;
it's seen from near or far.
A symbol of the Christ child
as He lay upon the hay,
It tells to all the waiting world
a King was born that day.
O Bethlehem Star keep shining -
give us faith and hope and love.
Keep our thoughts forever turning
to the Savior up above.
Give us strength and hope and courage
to do our best by far
And never falter in our faith
as we watch that Christmas star.

Christmas All The Time

Christmas All The Time

If there is love in your heart and your mind 

You will feel like Christmas all the time

I feel you Christmas 

I know I've found you 

You never fade away 

The joy of Christmas 

Stays here in silence 

Fills each and every heart with love 

Where are you Christmas 

Fills your heart with love

RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS JOY

RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS JOY

1/2 cup of Hugs

4 teaspoons Kisses

3/4 cup of Smiles

4 cups of Love

1 cup of Special Holiday Cheer

1/2 cup of Peace on Earth

3 teaspoons of Christmas Spirits

2 cups of Goodwill Towards Men

1 Sprig of Mistletoe

1 medium size bag of Christmas Snowflakes

Mix Hugs, Kisses, Smiles, and Love until consistent. Blend in Holiday Cheer, Peace on Earth, Christmas Spirit and Goodwill Toward Men. Use the mixture to fill a large, warm heart where it can be stored for a lifetime, for it never goes bad!

Serve as desired under Mistletoe, sprinkle liberally with Christmas Snowflakes

It is especially good when accompanied by Christmas carols and family get-togethers.

Serve to one and all!

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Day 4 and still Jeremy is having problems.

Please come get me, he begs his family in his daily text.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Day 3, more troubles for Jeremy, more texting to his family.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Day 2 of summer fun,

Jeremy begs his family to come get him.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

1st Day Activity, doesn't work out so well for Jeremy,

He sends a text to his family asking them to come get him.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Bob the Counselor meets the campers and shows them the list of activities.

Here in the book, I am putting a full size illustration on one page and a vignette on the opposite side.

In the vignette I am including Jeremy's cell phone and the texts between him and his family while he is at camp.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

His parents drop him off. 

Jeremy hates it.

And the other campers don't 

look very happy either.

Ball Point Pen Drawings

Ball Point Pen

I love a ball point pen for drawing. Whenever I need to rest between projects, the ball point pen is my go-to. I think this goes back to the days of my corporate career - during meetings I would always sketch with my ball point pen. Now I use them to relax. Meditate. I know there are people who don't recognize this medium as art. I can't listen to them. I do it anyway. The drawings are beautiful. The finished effect looks like a pencil. For a left-hander, the pencil is challenging, always fighting the smears from my hand. The ball point pen is the perfect substitute.

Jeremy Duck Goes to Summer Camp

"Jeremy Duck 

Goes to Summer Camp"

by Judy Grupp

Finally - published on Amazon!! 

the sequel to

 "The New Adventures of Jeremy Duck".

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Grandparents can be a big part in a kid's life. 

These two think summer camp is a great idea. 

Jeremy thinks otherwise.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

For variety I added vignettes 

along with full page illustrations.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy has other plans for his summer vacation, 

obviously plans with his phone.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp 

starts with his Mom 

giving Jeremy the good news.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

Jeremy Goes To Summer Camp

is the sequel to 

The New Adventures of Jeremy Duck

and once again, his adventure 

begins right after the last day of school.

I used this illustration from the first book to start my second book.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Duck Goes to Summer Camp

Jeremy is half-way there - to Summer Camp.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Duck Goes to Summer Camp

Ready for the colored pencils! 

It seems to take forever to get to this point.

 This is the part I really love. 

Colored pencils. 

The challenge here is consistency. The colors I use on one page have to be used throughout the book. 

I start with the background and move forward. 

So - if I choose a light blue pencil for the sky, 

 I paint the light blue sky on all the pages at the same time. 

All 32 illustrations.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Duck Goes to Summer Camp

 stFirst I create the storyboard for a 32 page picture book. I make lots of sketches. Then I draw the picture I think I want for each page on tracing paper. Here I can make changes without ruining my good bristol paper. When I am satisfied, I transfer the sketches to the bristol board paper. I then use watercolor pencils to color the large background areas, like the sky and grass.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Duck

JEREMY DUCK 

GOES TO SUMMER CAMP

You would think every duck would want to go to summer camp during their summer vacation - you would think that probably because you are a grown-up. So my story is about a reluctant duck and how he resolves his dislike of the summer camp.

Children's Picture Book - Jeremy Duck

"The New Adventures of Jeremy Duck"

It's been one year since I published my Jeremy Duck picture book.

Now it's time to create a sequel.

After all, a duck should have more than one adventure!

I've decided to send 

Jeremy

 to Summer Camp!!

collage collage collage with buttons and bunnies

BUTTON BUNNY

This collage is so sweet.I love the napkin flowers - one of the flowers is painted and not a napkin at all.  

COLLAGE COLLAGE COLLAGE with coffee filters

BUTTON BUNNY

Time to add my collage elements. This charming bunny is my own colored pencil drawing, cut and trimmed, ready for collage. I fell in love with these paper napkins, the blue complements the bunny. Napkins are perfect for collage. 

COLLAGE COLLAGE COLLAGE with coffee filters

BUTTON BUNNY

Color.

I added color, acrylic paint to match the painted background peeking through the coffee filters.

COLLAGE COLLAGE COLLAGE with coffee filters

BUTTON BUNNY

More Collage - just getting started!

I tore strips of canvas from my box of scraps. 

Pulled strings from the edges - 

I want to get as much texture as possible. 

Antique buttons were perfect as they were not perfectly white. And a few strings of seed beads.