Merry Christmas!

I'm not normally a very crafty person, but this year I decided to make these little fairy gardens for three of my nieces and my daughter for Christmas. It was a fun little project. Take a look...

Abigail's Beach House features shells, gems, a crown, directions to some tropical places, and a lovely statuette of a flowerful fairy. (Also pictured: burlap for sand. Find out why below...) Not being much of an artist, I had to have my sister sketch the house for me.

Evelyn's Treasure Cove features shells, gems, fishies, a treasure chest (made from a ring box), directions to some other treasure spots, and lots of glitter. I made this one first and learned a valuable lesson about not ever using real sand for anything again.

Isabelle's Playground features moss, flowers, a variety of animals, pine cones, mushrooms, a Princess Peach mushroom, directions to some fairytale places, and a door that leads nowhere (shh, don't tell her). Moss, btw, is fairly easy to work with. This was probably the most enjoyable garden to make.

Winter's Wonderland features a train, soldiers, presents, coniferous trees, a snowman decorating a tree, candy canes, directions to other (sometimes) cold places, and a throne. Yes, I made her a snowy, wintery palace. Deal with it.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

White Christmas? I'll take it.

You may have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. The reason for that is because I've been away, involuntarily visiting a place I call "Why-I-Even-Doing-This." I'm pretty sure every author has been there at least once, maybe a few times, yet it still seems like one of the loneliest places on the planet.

Nevertheless, the snow this morning has brought me back to a happy places where words flow like water in Niagara Falls (or something like that). Well, that and the fact that my friend and pseudo-editor has been bugging me every day for something new to read. What more motivation could I possibly need, right? So with my week off for the holidays, I plan on setting a proverbial pen to paper and getting some stuff done. Maybe I'll even finish another book. Who knows?

Anyway, mostly I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy and safe Christmas, and that the next year of your life will be the best one yet.

- Natasja

PS. If you're a fan of bad music, head on over to Josh's blog.