Saturday, December 24, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Christmas crunch . . .

 Even Father Christmas feels holiday stress -


Did you post early? I know I have a few more for the mail today. 

Just in case the Christmas hammer really comes down and I don't get away to blog - 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Holiday bling!


We like a flashy Christmas. 
I've asked for plain white lights for a while but, apparently, that isn't traditional in our family. 

I've been pushing St. Lucia Day (December 13) as a tradition for some time. Now that Youngest Child is the only one left, though, we had to mix our metaphors.


Meet Star Boy & Lucia!



I decided to extend the season by making some beaded pins. I used this artwork (from Lucia, Child of Light: The History And Traditions of Sweden's Lucia Celebration by 
Florence Ekstrand) as my inspiration.



I sketched it to be just larger than a pin back.


Maybe not so many beads?


My first pin - light blue felt front and red backing. 

I decided to embroider the greens on the the wreath and bead only the candles, flames and berries. 

After I beaded the design, I sewed the pin back to the backing felt piece, then glued them together. I added a bit of embroidery around the edges and Ta-Da!



Pin #2.  This one looked a bit like an advent wreath.



I ended up with three different designs.

There has been some knitting going on as well - but those are presents!

Happy Holidays!