sistersola came up with a charming meme for Christmas:

1. Take a picture of an ornament on your tree, it doesn't have to be your favourite, but it can be if you like, and post it in your journal.
2. Say why you picked that one and what you like about it.

So, here's one of mine:



I picked this little angel to represent some of the handmade ornaments done by my sister (the next oldest after me, for those keeping score :-) ). She almost always makes something by hand for the family at Christmas, and for awhile there she was on an ornament streak. I now have these super-cute angels, wisemen and little versions of myself all made from small flower pots (like this one), bells and light bulbs.

I love hand-made ornaments and this one has a particularly exuberant spirit.

I went to the bookstore the other day. I went to TOWN in the bookstore the other day - there are some wonderful books out there right now, and I much prefer going to a bookstore to a mall. I had to get help carrying them all to the car - and not a single one for me, which showed unusual restraint.

I got very nostalgic and sentimental about my picture books, and when I saw that the bookstore had "adopted" an elementary school and had a selection of books that people could buy and donate, I had a hard time not crying in front all the shoppers. So, there's a copy of "Where the Wild Things Are" that I sent, with my blessing, out to the young and impressionable.

That got me thinking of an entry that will hopefully achieve two things: 1) share with you some of my old favorite books with pictures and 2) provide some inspiration for the new ones out there too. I think I've done this before, but it's been awhile, and there's definitely some new books.





I make no age recommendations. Most of these can be enjoyed by anyone. Some of them might be too mature for the very young. ( Continued behind the cut, because there are more pictures! )

Before Christmas I posted a preview of a little girl's apron I made from these free vintage patterns online:
http://www.dorothyshomegoods.com/articles.php?tPath=12

I didn't post at the time, because they were surprises, but I made 6 other aprons for the women in my family.

I was especially inspired by the designs "Mardi Gras", "Gingham Girl", "Pan-American", "Southern Belle" and a little by "Knickerbocker", by the end I was mixing and matching from the patterns and adding my own touches like appliques.

1) This one is a pretty faithful rendition of "Gingham Girl":

( All 7 behind the cut. )

My dad is a professional wood sculptor. His art is primarily religious and springs from his days as a Franciscan friar (before he met my mom, obviously!). He'll rarely talk about his inspiration or influences, and those of you who have met him would not be surprised to to learn that. He rarely talks about anything! He's a man of mighty few words.

But I also think he is a staunch believer in that Art is in the Eye of Beholder - not in the Artist's Intent. He makes disparaging comments about "Artist's Statements" and the like; he wants you to be free to feel whatever you want about his art. And if there is something he wants to say, and he doesn't manage to convey it through the Art itself, then it's his failure, not yours.

It's easy for him to hold that position in some ways. His art is representational, folksy and welcoming. I love catching the threads of inspiration he gets from Medieval, early Byzantine and other traditions that are more than a 1000 years old or so - he throws them out there from time to time - but you need no interest in Art History or Criticism to approach his stuff. That's one of the reasons, I'm sure, that schools especially love his work. If you look hard enough in every Catholic school in Calgary, and in many across Western Canada, you'll find something of his.

And if you look in the homes of almost every one of his circle of friends at Christmas, you'll find one of his Nativity sets.

The Master Piece is, of course, found in his own home. This is my childhood set, and for years he would give my sister and I a new piece to add to it each Christmas. I keep trying to count the number of pieces and failing, but it's around 80. I had secret hopes he would keep up the tradition and eventually he would fill up the North American Forest addition and get to the Town of Bethlehem so we could play with shops and markets and stuff. But it's plateaued off, and his Christmas presents to us now tend to be tree ornaments (which are awesome too!).

I took a couple pictures of the Nativity Set this year to share: ( Seen behind the cut. )

Shopping my Stash* led to an inspiration: aprons.

I made an apron for a small girl who I love and I gave it to her on her birthday recently:

The little person is much smaller than my mannequin, so it doesn't quite fit right in this picture.

Aprons are fast, rewarding and easy to suddenly add to or change while making them. Liberating!

I have a kitschy apron and I love it, and I started to think about making some myself. So I surfed the web to look for design inspiration. Hands down, the best site is Dorothy's Home Goods and specifically, the scans of the "Ten All American Novel Aprons" produced by White Sewing Machine Company in 1940:
http://www.dorothyshomegoods.com/articles.php?tPath=12

The one above is vaguely inspired by the "Hollywood":
http://dorothyshomegoods.com/images/all%20american%20aprons3%20001.jpg

As you can see, the articles are not detailed, and the pattern needs to be scaled. But it's not difficult stuff.

*And for Shop Your Stash - some of you have let me know your total yardage used, yay! I'll post an update soon. Anyone can join in at any time - just let me know how much fabric (that you bought BEFORE Nov 4) that you've used (ie from your stash). The contest ends midnight Dec 24. I'll give the winner the pick of my pattern collection (or a copy of one if it's precious).

I was totally slain by a great Christmas virus this week. Sore throat, fever, headaches and now this wicked cough. Anyway, it has put a damper on many activities. Nevertheless, I wanted to share with you Three Gifts. Two of them I've had a hand in making, and one of them was given by a friend of mine, and I love her for it.

So, if you're interested in the mysterious contents of this suitcase:



Or in how to make etched velvet scarves like these:



Or in how a Jedi saved Christmas,

Then read on! ( Follow the link, pilgrim! )

This doesn't count as my weekly post. Honestly, I'll actually write something soon. But I am such an envious little bird. I just had to have one of my own. And if you put one up too, I promise to put something in yours!

( My Christmas Sock )