Winter Solstice 2010

4:38PM Utah time, marks the Solstice.  It's the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere, and the Summer Solstice for our friends in the southern hemisphere.  It's going to be a long, dark night here, and then tomorrow, just like magic, the days will start to get longer.

In days of old, before we had central heating and the ability to stock our larders at the local Kroger's, the Winter Solstice was very important to the ancients in the cold and snowy latitudes.  The return of the sun meant a promise that warmer days will also return, along with new plantings, animal babies, and once again full stomachs.  Using a sort of sympathetic magic, the people brought evergreen cuttings into the house, lit candles and fires, hoping to entice the sun to return.

Today, we still celebrate and acknowledge this time of year, each in our own ways.  The important thing, I feel, that we all need to remember is that there are many ways and traditions to celebrate the season, and each of those traditions is the most perfect tradition for the individual or family practicing it.  As for me, I'm going to start lighting candles and the fireplace to illuminate and warm the house in preparation for this long night.  And then in about an hour and a half I'm going to sit contemplatively, awaiting the re-birth of the Sun.

**************************

I'm going to be taking a bit of time off from Bloglandia.  I'm hoping to participate again in the Ballet West Shoe-In project, so I have a submission to prepare.  DH goes in on Thursday for another little surgery to get one of his pins removed.  And then, I'm just taking some time to read, and cook, nest and play house, and start making my plans for the New Year.

I wish you all a very Blessed Solstice, Happy Holidays, and a bountiful New Year!  I'll see you next year:)

Holiday Gift to You

I finished my cards and even mailed them!  As my Happy Holidays gift to you, I'm making this little deer available as a download.  Click on the small image below and it will take you to 4shared, where you can download this image to your computer.   You can size it how you wish and print it out to use for cards or gift tags:)  Enjoy!




**Edit: the 4shared thingy doesn't seem to be working well.  I'm looking into another option.  In the meantime, if you would like your own high resolution digital copy of this card, drop me an email and I'll send it to you!  Wouldn't it be fabulous if this was a smoother process??  DH says it's because it's the day before Solstice with a full moon and a full lunar eclipse on the way!

In the studio - what is on my work table

I'm busy making holiday cards and finishing up some gifts I'm making.  I'm getting real close to that point where I just want this season to be over with so I can start my New Year nesting.  Every year I tell myself that next year I'm going to start earlier so I don't get to this overwhelmed point.  But I never do it.  I just can't get in the mood to do Winter Holiday crafts and presents until about the week before Thanksgiving.  Then I make a huge list of a million and one things that I want to do.  As the weeks peel away, I start paring down that list.  Then of course the Universe has to throw in a couple of unexpected surprises that mess up my already too tight schedule.  This year the heater broke.  Yesterday morning I woke up to a very cold house.  It's fixed now, but that did take up extra time.  So, I've shortened my list a little more.

I do enjoy all the creating and decorating and baking.  That's why I make my to-do list so long.  There are just so many fun things to do!  And it is fun to paint big red poinsettias and little brown deer.  I'm really happy with the way they're turning out.  I think I'll go see if the paint is dry now, so I can do the next step.

Have a great weekend!  I hope you are getting through your to-do lists with little to no stress:)  See you next week!

Holiday Traditions

Kristi over at life through the lens has her photo prompts going again:)  As busy as we all are, it's wonderful for her to do this!  The prompt this week is "tradition".  Like most of Kristi's prompts, this one got me thinking.   Tradition, especially holiday tradition, has changed so much for me since the birdies left the nest.  When I had kids in the house, we always had a real tree that we decorated together when they were young; as they got older it took more bribing and pleading on my part to get them to participate in this ritual.  ("But the sun won't come back if we don't decorate the tree!!!!") Nowadays, my own children are spread out and don't make it out to Utah for Christmas.  Sometimes we will go to Colorado, and depending on which children are there at that time, we'll get to see them and our Colorado friends.  Here in Utah we get to spend time with my husband's son on Christmas Eve, and he usually will stop by for a little while on Christmas day to exchange presents, but he's grown too and has friends and much more exciting stuff than us old fogies!

We don't even bother to have a real tree anymore.  We really have no space for one even if we wanted it!  So I have started, or reverted to, the tradition of putting up this aluminum tree.  When I was a kid I was always so excited about getting to put this tree up.  I think I liked it even better than the evergreen.  I like traditions and rituals; I think they are important in our lives.  They keep us grounded and give us continuity.  I do not, however, believe that we have to follow the same traditions and rituals as everyone else.   Tradition doesn't have to be rigid.  (even if I do have Tevye dancing on a roof in my head right now!)  I would like to create some new traditions, that have meaning for my family, however close or spread out they might be.  I'll be giving that some more thought over this holiday season.

What are some of your special holiday traditions that you look forward to?  How have traditions changed for you over the years?

The Holiday Madness

I'm nursing a holiday stress induced migraine this morning, which is a sure sign that I'm trying to fit too many to-dos into one day/week/month.  It's time to re-evaluate my schedule and the to-do list.

How do you keep your balance during this season?  Any helpful hints?  Please share:)

Snowman Ornament

Just look at this pitiful fella!  He came on a Christmas present I received as a child and I've been lugging him around all these years.  Well, I can't say lugging; he's tiny.  It suddenly occurred to me that I could make another!  Why I never thought of this before, I just don't know.

Click through for the tutorial!

Paper Snowflakes

It's cold, dark, and dreary here in Utah today.  What's it doing where you are?  Let's make some snowflakes to brighten up the day!  This is another quick and easy holiday craft, made all the better because we get to play with glitter!

Quick and Easy Poinsettia Craft

If you are looking for an instant gratification kind of holiday craft, this is it!  I found a poinsettia wreath tutorial over at Gifted Magazine, and I thought those poinsettias would make great gift toppers.

Click through for the tutorial....

Another Head Spinning Monday!

Wow!  It's quite the whirlwind around here!  I'm going to have to take a couple days off blogging, to fill Etsy orders and make more cardinals.  These little guys are flying off the cyber shelf as quickly as I sew their wings on!

I'll be back on Wednesday with another tutorial.  Until then, check out these great blogs and their fun giveaways!  Karen's blog at Sew and sow life is where I go to catch a peaceful breath or two, Julie's at This non-American Life is where I go for my armchair traveling.

I'm off to a coral reef meeting, then an evening of crocheting.  Too-da-loo!  See you Wednesday!

Green Holiday Craft

There are a bazillion fun holiday crafts out there online!  Have you seen them all?  I've been collecting a bunch of ideas on my Pinterest page.  As I complete them, and a few some I've dreamed up on my own, I'll share them here.

The first one is a great way to use re-purpose last year's holiday cards.  It's good for the environment, and pretty kid friendly!

Gather up your cards.

Punch circles out of them.  I used Martha Stewart's 1 inch scallop punch.

Next, fold them all in half, with right sides facing.  A bone folder helps here to flatten the fold, but is not necessary; you could also use the end of a spoon, or just not bother with that part.  If your arthritis is hurting (!) then hope that your friends sent cheap cards printed on thin paper.  But I suppose if you have little children in the house, you don't have arthritis yet, do you?  The Universe is kind, just one pain at a time;)

Next, glue the backs of the circles together.  As you can see, I used YES!  paste.  For kids, or those like myself that can't stand to get their fingers dirty, a glue stick would be wonderful.  Yeah, that's right!  I'm an artist that doesn't like dirty hands.  We've discussed this before; that's why I like to crochet;)

I decided five was a good number of circles to glue together, but you could use six or seven or what ever you want really.  Now let these dry awhile.

Next use a large needle and thread the globes onto string; I used crochet thread.  The glue gets a little tough in the middle.  I actually ended up bending this needle, so then I went and got a huge honking needle and it didn't bend.  It helps to tie a knot in the thread after each globe.  Space them as you desire.

And ta-da!!  Now go hang them up someplace pretty.

And have a super lovely weekend!

*** This tutorial is featured on AllFreeHolidayCrafts.com

Another Family Photo

This one just tickles me:)  I have a definite play mood fighting hard with my need to get a lot of work done!

I have gotten some work done today.  Good thing it's sort of like play too!  I think this is my favorite color combo yet.  It's going in the shop as soon as I finish here.

DH caught me sorting my garlands and insisted that I take a picture of this and post it on the blog.  I like to humor him, so here ya go!

Now, I'm going to get my work done so I can go back to playing with xmas decorations and taking more funny pictures!

Happy Hump Day!