Arkansas Women Bloggers Secret Santa Reveal

ArkansasWomen Bloggers is a group that I've been participating in. It's been fun to network with other bloggers, of all kinds, that are near by. They sponsored a Secret Santa Handmade Ornament Exchange that has been a load of fun - mostly cause I've got to know a couple of members a bit better.  I was supposed to send a handmade ornament to my fellow blogger, Gina of Desperately Seeking Gina.  She got a Christmasy Dressed version of my Noah's ark Moose. Check them out here.

But check out my loot!

This lovely box of goodness came from Esmee Lynn of Plaid Pages.   My Friends and family know the sad truth that I can make beautiful stuff but my packaging is a bit limited.  This was a party in a box! 

The actual ornament is sooo pretty and unusual.  It looks like she Modg Podged lightweight paper or tissue onto a blank ornament and then added sparkly sequins, beads and a perfect tassel!  I would do a whole tree in these.  Esmee has a Etsy Shop full of vintage goodies that I could have selected. I think we must be twins, or long lost cousins. (She's Scottish  - so am I :) ).  She said she would blog about how she made these so check her out.  I think these could be adapted so many ways and though they look fragile they are pretty tough and kid proof - something I still love.  Big hugs and thanks to her. This will live happily on  my tree.

Just for brags, here are my moose. Yeah, I had the idea to get some of these in the shop before Christmas but life interfered.  I don't know why a moose says "Christmas" to me but it does. If I had a tame moose I would so dress it up for the holidays.

Christmas Cards

The last two years I've designed and painted our family Christmas card.  Be careful what you do for Christmas traditions, your family comes to expect it every year.  A little late, but I got something painted for our card, the cards printed, folded and then addressed.

I always think of something complicated for our card design.  I then rack my brain on how I should do it.  I then give up and do something quick that I end up loving a lot more.  My Christmas mantra should always be "SIMPLE".    Cards mailed - done!  Christmas is coming.

At Last - Chrismas

One of the very few down sides of being an artist crafts-person is that things get pretty busy before Christmas.  Thus, my lack of blogging.  It's now too late to ship so I've closed the shop for a week and I've been able to work on non shop related Christmas for family.  Since some of the recipients read this blog I'll have to wait to post pictures of some cute items but I can show you some Christmas preparations.

 
 What do you do when when your beautiful 9 year old pre-lit Christmas tree quits lighting?  Last year there was one little string that wouldn't light but this year there were only a few bits that did light.  I love this tree.  It's fat and fluffy, new ones are tall and slim, and it's still in good shape - except for the lights, so. . . I decided to take the non working lights off and just string new lights on like we did in the good old days before pre-lit trees.  I ended up with piles and piles of stripped off lights.  It took me a couple of evenings watching TV and clipping the lights off the branches to get it finished.

Then on to putting the lights up.  I think there can't be too many lights on a tree but don't know how to figure out how many I need.  After shopping 3 stores I found all the white lights sold out.  Plan B, I got 10 strings of 100 lights, plus I knew I had some colored strings in the Christmas boxes.  Not nearly enough.  I bought 10 more boxes, then had to go back and get 3 more.  I've got 2300 mini lights on the tree.  BLHubby thinks it's too much but I feel I was a bit restrained. 

Now to put the ornaments on. 

On the Workbench

There are but two seasons for many of us - The Holidays, and preparation for the holidays.   If you are like me the approach of July reminds you that there are too few months (weeks really) to get the shop stocked.  As a result my work table is full of camels. 

These are all bound for Nativity Scenes.  Yup, it's over 90 and humid enough to melt any body but here - It's Christmas.

The Best Nativity Set - Or is it Christmas Yet?

I listed a Painted Wooden Nativity Scene in my Etsy shop.  It's a version of one I've been making for years that is partly my design but mostly designed by Judith Martin.  Sorry for the long post but I wanted readers to know where this design came from.

More than 20 years ago my sister and I were both pregnant. It was fun to share being pregnant with someone.   I'm the oldest and she is only three years younger but our life stages had never been in sync. I married at 20 and started having babies right away, this was number six.  She married at 30 and it took a lot of pregnancy tests before one showed positive.  She was due the end of September.  I was due in March.  This was a surprise pregnancy for me (long story) and because pregnancy #5 had been plagued by hypertension and preeclampsica, and because of my "advanced maternal age" I was considered very high risk and had been referred to one of the nation's best perinatologists.  We also found out that BL Hubby and I had a rare blood incompatibility, similar to RH disease, so even my early pregnancy was full of worry.  Sis tested borderline diabetic when routine testing was done at 28 weeks and she followed her Dr.'s diet and testing advice and decorated a nursery.  She was told it wasn't anything to worry about.

My sister is really my best friend.  She had lived with me for a year and a half when she graduated from college and my kids (and husband) adored her.  Even after she got her own place we loved to get together for a day out.  Usually we liked to shop (we rarely bought anything).  We preferred the antique district, thrift shops and what we referred to as "cute" decor and gift shops.  Most often one of us would fix lunch.  Our tastes were similar and when I moved to the other side of the country what I missed about So. Cal. was a day out with my sister.

We were excited about having babies nearly the same age though everyone worried a lot about me.  As my sister's due date came and went our whole family and everyone who knew them was excited to welcome their new little boy.  We weren't prepared to find out that 2 weeks postdate, her baby died and then he was delivered stillborn.  My sweet sister and brother-in-law were overwhelmed with grief and we were, too.  Our hearts broke and we felt guilty for having a surplus of children while they were denied one.  To make things worse, it became apparent that her doctor had been negligent.  My sister and brother-in-law named their little boy Daniel.

My sister never begrudged me our baby boy.  He was born in February, more than five weeks early and after a lot of  high tech intervention.  She used to say there were times when she just wanted to hold a baby  and she was glad that she could come over and cuddle mine to her hearts content.  As Christmas approached the next year and we would have our days out, she looked for some kind of Christmas ornament that would memorialize her sweet boy.  Hallmark makes an ornament for almost everything, but not this.  We both were also searching for a nativity scene we liked.

Christmas passed with without any success in our search but we kept looking.  Sometime that year we were visiting a decorative painting store near my home owned by a couple that produced wood cutouts for many popular designers.  There in the window was this book and wood set designed by Juliet Martin. 

Christmas Elegance by Judith Martin

We fell in love.  I still love this depiction and symbolism of the baby Christ and the lambs.  Sis bought the book and I was going to paint one for each of us.  By the time I got to the project it had occurred to me that Judith Martin had other designs for Christmas figures that could be combined to make an awesome Nativity display.  I altered the size and when I couldn't find a Judith Martin design of Mary I liked I (after a few bad designs) designed one of my own.  For Joseph I re-purposed a shepherd..  I then had the bright idea that this would be the perfect ongoing Christmas gift for my close family.  People got "starter sets" that consisted of Mary, Joseph and baby and each year I could add a figure.  I could, and did, play this out for years. Young family members know they are really grownups when they get their own set.

Fast forward a few years and I'm living far from my sister.  I was asked to come up with and teach a painting class for a Relief Society "Christmas in July" event and I decided that the group could paint the Baby and a couple of lambs.  It was a pretty successful class, but several people wanted more of the Nativity Scene. Thus was launched the longest ongoing Relief Society class ever.  We had people meet to paint Nativity Scenes for eleven years.  (One of my friends still wants to do a Joseph - I should gift her with one).

My Nativity Scene

I've altered, refined and added to the original idea over the years but I'm still indebted to Juliet Martin for her designs.  Though her books and designs are out of print they are still in demand.  I haven't been able to find any  contact information for her but would love to let her know what her design has meant to me and my   family.  To me this is still Daniel's Nativity Set and it reminds me of the hope I have for resurrection, and joy and healing even after unimaginable loss.  Plus, I learned to paint well using Juliet Martin's designs.  (Every sheep I draw still tends to look like hers.)  Juliet, where ever you are - Thanks.

Note: The Nativity in the Etsy shop is smaller than my original.  One of the problems mine has is that it takes a whole lot of space to display. It's also made using a layered technique so the figures can stand alone.