The pirates as a Christmas present

I turned the ’12 Princesses’ into a Christmas gift by creating a handmade book for my sister and her boys.  here are three pictures of parts of the cover (it’s long and narrow).  Each page has little pictures from the internet plus hand drawn pictures by me in colored pencil.

 The front is actually a skirt that I took apart and used for various art projects.  It also has an attached book mark with beads.

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Auntie Olga’s Brag Book

Auntie Olga here – I asked for ATCs from my very talented niece & nephew for my Christmas 2008 presents this year – and they are so wonderful I must share them with all of you! They are one of the highlights of my Christmas this year!

Here they are – from left to right, and top to bottom:

“A Sprite Night” – by Micah Streubel (15)

“Forest Fires are the result of Fairie PMS!” by Micah Streubel

“Silver, Gold, and Red all over” by Dakota Streubel (14)

“Now is the time (to go green) by Micah Streubel

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christmas dragon atcs

by Kerry

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More Christmas ATCs

Some wise raven friends have suggested I keep up my spirits by keeping the creative juices flowing – as May Sarton said, “No matter what happens, there’s always the work…” (And writing & creating is my joy).

So here are some ATCs I’ve been working on – a one ornament – in honor of my friends Down Under, a sleigh with ‘roos that says, “Christmas is a beaut” …

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God Jul – “Merry Christmas” in Swedish

with love for all the little ones, Auntie Olga

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Retro Christmas Dreams

Here is something dreamy I don’t know if they do anymore.  It was fun to look out for people’s creative windows at the holiday season, and see these designs come up, and then suddenly disappear when the festivities were over.  Hope you enjoy it, Anita Marie, more retro.  I like it too.

(copyright Imogen Crest 2008.)

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Chance Encounter With A Merry Band

Going home from a trip to Hong Kong last Friday, we came upon a merry band gathered just within the airport entrance.

First was the dear old man, all smiles and somewhat windswept white hair.
“Welcome! Would you care to join our festivities? My elven jesters are in a merry mood and would love to dance and sing with anyone who happens by.”

(Wait…did he say jesters!? I thought Santa had those little wee elves? You know…the ones that made all those toys?)

Oh! Look! Look up there above us!

This one is chuckling at the confusion of the passengers below. It knows it doesn’t need planes or cars or any mechanical means to go where ever he wants to go. A nod and a wink, a tumble into mid-air, and he’s there!

Next comes the gleeful drummer boy with his crazy hat and ruffles everywhere.

BONG! BONG! BONG!

“Hey! I want a picture with the drummer guy! You haven’t taken any pictures of me yet this entire trip and we’re already on our way home!”

Whoops, sorry Velvie! Here ya go, upsy-daisy!

BONG! BONG! *twirl, twirl* *bow*

“Merry Christmas, travelers!”

And so we continued on our journey home and the merry band stayed behind to catch yet more weary passengers in their spell…

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The Tale of One More Stocking

Well, you know, Christmas is coming. I’m trying to gear into some crafts, and I have a few projects that take precedence this year.  The others I’ll just have to try and make some time for.

The first of the necessary crafts is to make the Christmas cards. I do this most years, and I enjoy it. I have some new stamps and inks to use this year, and some fun ideas about what I want to do with them. I started organizing my work space a bit this weekend, but I think I need to organize it a bit more before I begin, so that I don’t waste a lot of time looking for things.

The other thing I need to get done this year before Christmas is knitting a stocking for Lyra’s fiance, Christopher. When each of our children was born, I knitted them a Christmas stocking. I found the pattern in a magazine I bought when Lee was a baby, 26 years ago. I made that first stocking – it was red with a green Christmas tree on it (knitted in, not embroidered on) –  and discovered while the finished stocking was huge, I loved it.  As each of the children was born, I knitted them a stocking from this pattern, changing the colors and pictures on each.  Peter got a green stocking with a red and white Santa Claus face on it, Lyra got  white trimmed in dark red with a rather fussy picture of candy canes and holly leaves on it – that one was a pain to knit – and Aaron got a blue stocking trimmed in white with a snowman on it.  I held on to that magazine for each of the kids’ stockings, although it was getting a bit beat up by the time I made Aaron’s. But I don’t toss out craft magazine that I use, so I put it away.

Fast forward to this year. Lyra is engaged, and I want to make Christopher a stocking to match the others. Lyra chose a color scheme and design from several I offered her, and I purchased the yarn for the project. (This really is a labor of love – all of the other stockings are made of very cheap and very rough to knit with acrylic yarn. I don’t knit with this brand anymore; it sandpapers my fingers. If I knit with an acrylic, I go for the softer ones. However, since I want this stocking to be like the others, and this brand has the colors I need, the stocking will be made with this stuff.)

Then I went hunting for the pattern. Now, we have moved since the last time I used it, and my craft items have moved around in the basement several times more.  But I knew the darn thing was here; I don’t throw away craft magazines that I know have  patterns I may want again. I even had a vague memory of seeing it – and hey, I just used it when Aaron was a baby, right? After a very dusty hour of exploring every magazine stash and sorter I can find, the truth occurred to me. Aaron was a baby 18 years ago. Eighteen years ago. Right. It might seem like just a few years ago to my parental brain, but really, it wasn’t. The odds of actually finding this magazine were very, very slim. I may not toss out magazines with patterns I use in them, but that didn’t mean that the thing hadn’t fallen completely apart by now (it was getting a bit ratty the last time I used it), or been caught in a basement flood and tossed out by one of the kids cleaning up.

I bribed Aaron to squeeze into the crawl space and pull a stocking out of the Christmas boxes stowed there. At least I’m a good enough knitter now to figure out the pattern from one of the finished stockings.

Next came the business of the picture I plan to knit into the stocking. I had a rubber stamp with a pattern similar to the pattern I wanted to use, so I got the printer/scanner working (this required a late night trip to the store for printer ink since mine had dried out) and scanned in the image. I enlarged it and then printed it out. That was as far as I got. I now need to get it graphed onto some knitters’ graph paper; this could be interesting as the pattern is of a flying reindeer and some of it is a bit small and delicate for knitting.  I guess I’ll be busy tonight altering the pattern so that it works in knitting stitches. Groan. Why couldn’t I just do stripes? ( But that would be far too easy.) 

-She Wolf (c) 2008

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When Your Nose Gets A Chillin’

 

 

Here are a few bits and pieces to help you

Make Merry!

Christmas Clipart HERE

Puzzles and Games HERE

and of course

the

TOP 25 CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES

HERE

photo:http://santaclausinc.net

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Christmas Wisdom, Fun Things and a Christmas Market

Thanks to being inspired by Kerry’s quotes, I decided to try and find some on Christmas wisdom and some other goodies online, so here they are.  Thanks for the thought, Kerry, yours were really uplifting!

AND!

Something even more fun and amazing, a good tour of the Nuremberg Christmas Market 2007 from the renegade Squire.TV.com, who I have never heard of until just now.  But great fun, a bit silly, unscripted and live, and very lovely to see.  Enjoy!  Trust me, Sybil, you will love this!

“The Christmas Angel and the Bratwurst”

 

Christmas Quotes from Quote Garden online.

German Postcard Early 1900’s from Santa Lady, site linked.

Victorian Clip Art from the Santa Lady.

Beautiful European Postcards from Santa Lady.

Early 1900’s German Postcard from Santa Lady.

I have a real weakness for retro Christmas cheer, and was glad to find these beauties online. 

(copyright Imogen Crest 2008.)

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