Make a photo slideshow

we created an amazing backyard oasis with fire pit and all, we adopted a new puppy (now twelve furry legs running around), and I began a new job as a kitchen designer. Perhaps all of these things wrapped up on a ball is why I have not been as consistent with my posts (which is the downside for 2011). I hope that I can improve on this in 2012!

Thinking back over the year my favorite posts (top five in no particular order) in my opinion are…

1. Panel Molding or Wainscoting?
2. How to Decorate with High Ceilings
3. Kitchen Design Trend (Matchy Matchy is Out)
4. It’s Still All About Gray
5. Creative Ceiling Treatments

Little Pika is peeking out the office window wondering what the crazy lady is doing out in the open space at night with a camera.

The tree sits in the corner of my home office in front of the art wall. It’s a perfect view from the living room and the kitchen so that you can see the tree from just about any angle. A path is left clear through the presents so that Leroy can hide out.

My favorite tree decorations are the snowflake photo ornaments I found in sets of three for about $6 at Kohls this year. We used them to honor two pets we lost this year to cancer and the two (Pika and Leroy) we still have the joy to share our home with everyday.

After 13 years of running trails, swimming in Colorado rivers, chasing squirrels, and running free in the open space we lost Jackson just last week on December 14th…

Miss Lacey passed in May of this year after a wonderful 13 years together. I rescued her from the animal shelter in 1997 and she was my sweet, kind, and snuggly companion throughout the years until it was her time to go.

Our fireplace is decorated with a real evergreen garland that you may remember from a previous post. Since then I have added more ornaments and a strand of lights. It’s rare to have Pika sit still long enough to get a picture therefore I didn’t move him for the shot.

You may remember my dining room table centerpiece. I have since added some wooden snowflake ornaments to the rosemary trees. We had a party the other night so I added three large silver pinecones to the curtain rod for some added sparkle. 

Last but not least I found the perfect spot for my litte silver tree from my Julian street home. The silver, black and white color scheme of the tree compliments the wallpaper perfectly!

Thank you for taking a holiday tour of our home. With that I will end with one final picture… our neighbors adorned their homes with lights as well so I thought I would share the effect because I think it is quite beautiful.

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy the holiday!

Today I joined the following link parties:  
    

FYI, if you don’t already regularly check out Brooklyn Limestone I highly recommend doing so. Super creative and she is a fabulous photographer! Good stuff.

One: Pretty notebooks for writing down ideas on the fly (some of us are still old school and like  a piece of paper to write on).

Two: An awesome writing pen to go with the notebook… it must write smoothly and with black ink (no ballpoint pens either).

Three: Funky file folders to coordinate the home office. Best for those random things that don’t appear across one’s desk in a digital format like brochures and magazine clippings that inspire future ideas.

Four: The perfect messenger bag that has lots of compartments for carrying and organizing the notebooks, file folders, etc. that we all seem to carry everywhere.

Five: Design books because we love them. Better yet, design eBooks for the iPad that fits just so in the perfect messenger bag.

Six: An iPad because now that one has design eBooks they need to be stored somewhere… & did I mention that it would fit easily into the perfect messenger bag?

Seven: Since we are on the path of an iPad why not ask for a Mac computer? … Simply because it’s better than a PC.

Eight: Now that we have a Mac computer then we will definitely need Photoshop or some other photo enhancement software that makes it easy to create great photos that will eventually be shared via the design blog.

Nine: An awesome camera backpack that is comfortable to carry everywhere. You never know when you will have the opportunity to take a great photo of something inspirational. (Especially now that we have a Mac computer with Photoshop then we will definitely want to take a LOT of photos).

Did I miss anything? What would you add to the list?  Remember, the imaginary budget is unlimited!