Christmas wishes....

Wishing all of my family, friends and blog followers and blog friends...... a very Happy Christmas..... and also saying from my heart... Happy Birthday Jesus......... that is the true meaning of Christmas to me..... the birth of baby Jesus.

This is my nativity scene that I started painting (ceramics) way back in 1980. I painted one a  year, or one every few  years. I dated the bottom of each one, and my  youngest son helped me with some of them. It is so precious to me.

It is my hope and prayer that 2017 will be a calm, bright and peaceful year for everyone in this world. There is so much tragedy and sadness and upheaval and power struggles, and hunger and devastation...... my wish is for world peace, and peace within my country, the United States.

And even though Christmas is really a spiritual and religious holiday, I must say that my Christmases, as a child and through the years, have been intermingled and intertwined with church, God, and Jesus, and with all the wonders of Santa and reindeer and elves and the evergreen tree, decorations, and presents, baking, cookies, and feasts with the family.  To me, it is all wrapped up into one beautiful, wonderful time of year!

That's me on the far right in the plaid dress. My oldest sister, Chris, on the left, and my younger sister, Linda, in the middle. 1952. (Sorry youngest sister, Barbara, you weren't yet a twinkle in my parents' eyes!)

This song (video below), by my new favorite and most awesome group, Pentatonix, pretty much says it all for me. Please listen and watch the video! They are just fantabulous. They are an A cappella group from Texas....... no instruments EVER in their songs! Their voices are their instruments... they are so sharp and precise and beautifully crystal clear. The two men with the low voices act as base instruments. It's truly amazing. If you haven't heard them, this is my Christmas treat to you! (And if you are viewing this email in your inbox, then you'll probably have to go to my blog HERE - click on this link to watch and listen to the video.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!  I cherish all of you.

 

A few of my homemade Christmas cards

I started early this year making my Christmas cards, and I've enjoyed the leisurely pace of making them. I usually wait until the last minute and then feel so rushed and pressured to get them all done! 

I started making in late October and finished up last week. 

 Here are a few of my favorites:

I LOVED this paper from The Paper Studio, 12 Days of Christmas (with the old cars).

Vintage images I found on Pinterest.

LOVE this vintage image from The Old Design Shop. I added lots of gold glitter.

More paper from The Paper Studio and I used a die cut to cut this scrolly design from gold foil paper.

Another darling image from The Old Design Shop. I added glitter to her dress. The background paper is some free digital Christmas paper I found online. I printed out several sheets to use on my cards.

These are papers and images and sentiment tags I bought from  Polly's Paper Studio on Etsy. Her kits are wonderful, full of 4x6 papers, vintage images, sentiments and bows. This link will take you to her Jolly St. Nick Creativity Kit ($9.50). 

Two years ago, I bought a kit from Polly's Paper Studio that was her "pink Christmas" kit. Here are two cards I made from that kit.... but I hoarded them for two years because I loved them so much! I finally sent them out this year.

I found some wonderful digital Scandinavian papers and images to download and use, from  Free Pretty Things for You.  I didn't have enough cards to send out to use all of them, but here is one card I made using the paper that I printed on my printer, and the Merry Christmas sentiment (below).

I love this cute little rubber stamp I got at Hobby Lobby on sale for 50% off!

Here's a photo of the graphics package that Free Pretty Things for You showed on her blog. I think they are there for a limited time only:

Since I am of Scandinavian descent, I absolutely LOVE these graphics and papers! I just want to print them all out and post them on my wall where I can see them. They give me such joy to look at. Here are a few others for your viewing pleasure:

Just glue one of these to a white card base, add some glitter, and you're good to go!

If you go to the Free Pretty Things for You blog and can't find these to download, or they aren't offered anymore, let me know, and I'd be glad to email you any of the ones I downloaded.

Maybe my next post I'll have our tree up. It's still in a box in the garage. Darn........

 

Pancakes and bunnies.....

What do you do on a day when a big winter storm has hit your area and the snow is pouring down and piling up?  

Eat of course!...... and sew.........and play in your craftroom..............

Gluten free sourdough pancakes covered with agave nector and powdered sugar.

Hubby had made some gluten free sourdough pancakes a few weeks ago, and we froze the leftovers..... RECIPE HERE. So I pulled one out and nuked it for 30 seconds and added a couple of organic eggs. Yum!

What else do you do?

Oh yes..... crochet of course! I've been kind of stalled on making a baby afghan (8" squares), so decided to try using some chunky Christmas yard I got at the thrift store for ONE DOLLAR. I found this pattern for the simple, 1 skein mini-cowl from the Fiber Flux Meringue cowl pattern. I follow Fiber Flux on YouTube and she had this tutorial there. You can find the pattern on her blog at the above link. I LOVE this because it isn't too long and big and doesn't hang down over my chest. It just wraps your neck in warmth.

And the most fun I had was making a sweet little wool felt bunny. I LOVE working with wool felt, but don't do it very much. I had checked this book out from the library when my son and his girlfriend were here over Thanksgiving, and she LOVED this little bunny (see the little light brown bunny on the lower left corner on the book). What a wonderful book too! I want to make everything in it!

I loved this book so much, I went to Amazon the day after they left and ordered a used one. I received it in 3 days. I buy almost all of my pattern books, etc. USED as you can usually find one that is in good condition or "like new", and the price is way cheaper. This one was about $8.50 I think.

So here's my bunny. I used gray felt for the body, as she has a real gray bunny at home!.... with a white tummy and tail, and little pink ears. (many photos here):

All of the stitching is by hand. This is my first attempt at a stuffed animal that had panels for the head and tummy. I've usually only made flat things, so this was a little bit of a challenge.

I tied a pretty lavender shimmery ribbon around her neck as my son's girlfriend's favorite color is purple.

But of course she has to have a Christmas bow too! I'll add this red gingham ribbon to the package so she can be "dressed" in lavender or red.

Such a cute little white tummy.

Here are some more projects from the book:

That's a chicken "cozy" for a hard boiled egg cup. Love.e.e.e.e.e.e. it! And I HAVE to make the Christmas pixie with the little pointed red hat.

Aren't these houses just precious?

Swoon..... LOVE this butterfly... can you imagine several in different colors on a ribbon that hangs on your wall or as a banner?

Oh my..... owl pillow anyone?

Well.... that's been my fun for the last few days. My Christmas cards are done and sent! I made those during the last few weeks. I'll show a few in my next post.

Snowing HARDER now and we have about a total of 10 inches. Supposed to snow until about midnight tonight (Wednesday).

Stay warm everyone (in the U.S.) I think the entire U.S. is having a cold wave and lots of snow!