Soul Humming

Day Eleven Causes a Sleigh Crash!

today's song is for today instead of the number 11. i got the soundtrack to juno yesterday and this one makes me snicker so it's the song for today...

I've been on the run all day. So I just dragged my little self into the house and decided to test drive a martini I'm making this weekend when our friends come over.

It's called a Sleigh Crash and boy it is good! But not as good as this...

day eleven brings me Finally to this bundle of happy joy from my friend cindy forrester. i was very, very tempted to open it since it arrived. and it was one of the first to cross the threshold of my house. but i waited until today!

and look at this beauty that was inside...

isn't it so cool! it's rusty and waxed and collaged and fabulous!

here's a toast to Cindy and her awesome ornie!! hip! hip! hooray!


rusty, rusty, rust


pray for us


do not try this at home...

whew. i had to put that cocktail down. i am not much of a drinker. martinis are for big girls. i need a glass of milk and a peppermint jojo cookie instead.

i love my wonderful, fabulous ornament, cindy girl! thank you, thank you for all this joy!

only one day left!

Ten Days!

Today I am blessed to have a gift to open from my sweet friend, Ruth. Ruth loves Rilke so I'm starting today's post with a quote from his letters about JOY...

"...the reality of any joy in the world is indescribable, only in joy does creation happen (happiness, on the contrary, is only a promising and interpretable pattern of things already existing); joy, however, is a marvelous increasing of what already exists, a pure addition out of nothingness."

And here's her lovely gift all sewn up. The wrap alone is gift aplenty!

ruth always dyes and stamps her own fabrics.



given the chance, i think she'd grow her own cotton to make her own muslin...



but i don't think she'd be up for picking any cotton.

and inside....!!

ruth gave me grace to grow...


and wings to fly


it's a beautiful angel dress!


thy gift is joy

thank you, my dear friend, for this beautiful gift which indeed carries with it so much joy! and i turn, once again, to rilke to sum it all up, to tell you a bit more about sweet ruth and how she expresses herself, for which i am ever thankful...

"Turn therefore from the common themes to those which your everyday life affords; depict your sorrows and desires, your passing thoughts and belief in some kind of beauty -depict all that with heartfelt, quiet, humble sincerity and use to express yourself the things that surround you."

-Letters to a Young Poet

Number Nine

So now I'm apparently going to have a song other than the 12 Days of Christmas going around in my head each day. Today's tune could have been Love Potion Number Nine. But I much prefer the Beatles, don't you...

In the end, the real magic came from my wonderful friend, Pilar, also known as Pip.

She sent me this lovely carmine and gold wrapped treat, tied up with raffia and shouting its number from this uber cool Moo card...

And inside the lovely wrapping I found...

this Gorgeous bit of business! aren't i a lucky duck?! pilar printed a fabulous piece of her digital art onto silk paper then stitched it up into this little pillow.

please do visit the link above on pilar's site for more of her inspiration and details of this lovely ornie. she will tell you how she made the beautiful star, too.

so, to quote ringo from rev #9, "take this brother. may it serve you well." and i am delighted to take it, pip!! thank you, thank you, thank you!

and what will we do when day 12 has come and gone? are you inspired to make your own ornies yet? 

Eight Eight Eight Eight Eight Eight Eight Eight

Eight is one of those words that if you look at it long enough or write it enough times it begins to look extremely strange. I'm just sayin', that's all.

So today was the Eighth Day of Christmas in our ornie exchange. It was also the first day in more that a week that I didn't feel like my head was stuffed with straw. Hurray! So that meant that I played catch-up on all the things I haven't been able to do for a week and am very late to post.

Cha, cha, cha...

On the 8th day of Christmas, my pal Deryn gave to me...this gorgeous gold glittered bag with a rocking wish-filled bell-ringing tag!

when the gift is so pretty it make me wonder how in the world the gift inside can top it. but these girls always manage to blow my earrings off...

just look at this face. don'tcha love it!

i know Jackie and Deryn weren't in cahoots but it sure was fun that they both used little glass bottles for their ornaments. Jackie's angel from yesterday is going to be hanging right next to Deryn's sweet lil man on my tree.

And look inside...

It is filled with glittering treasures to charm and entrance you. And Deryn is so clever that she sent along a little ball chain to wear the snowman as a necklace so I can spread holiday joy wherever I roam.

Thank you, thank you, my dear friend! I love my jolly lil' man!

Lucky Seven - Jackie Blue

I've been singing this song all morning because today my friend Jackie gave me this awesomely-wrapped-red-bow-bingo-card-covered box which I know she definitely put her heart into.

It was very, very tempting to open this one early. It was just so darn pretty.

But I waited for today, the Seventh Day of our Christmas Exchange. And it was all worth the wait. Check out Jackie's gorgeous girl...

When I opened the box I found this beautiful bisque doll topping a glass bottle. And she was wrapped yet again inside the pretty, pretty embroidered circle.

And inside her bottle are tiny little treasures. There is a key, several shiny beads, a watch part, and a golden star. And, she hangs from a glorious metal daisy chain which all comes together with an even smaller glass bottle. And inside that bottle is a metal letter K for me!

Isn't she just the coolest?! I lover her! Thank you, thank you, dear Jackie! I cannot wait to put her on my tree!

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
- Oren Arnold

Etsy Update

I was quite happy to sell many things at the holiday boutique this past Thursday. But there was still plenty left over to stock my Etsy store. And I've marked several things down in time for the holidays.

i still have several other things to add, so please check back if you are interested.

Thank you!

The Sixth Day of Christmas

On the sixth day of Christmas my dear friend, Joanna Pierotti, gave to me...

this pretty present all sewn up and iridescent red. i had to take my scissors and cut it open. what fun, what fun!

and lucky girl me found this inside...

it is a many layered fabric collage, backed in old leather. it is layered with lace and buttons, flowers and netting. mine says King of Kings and has a picture of the Virgin Mother and the Christ Child.

isn't it beautiful!

i love this old tooled leather on the back. when i was in high school i took leather work in shop class. i really enjoyed stamping the leather to create lovely designs such as the ones on this old key wallet. joanna is very talented and clever.

i feel so blessed on this beautiful day. thank you friend! i hope that where you are is as fine a day as it is here. i took my kids and our neighbor's kids (wearing short sleeved shirts and shorts) to the park on scooters. they played freeze tag, built sand castles, and swung on the swings. it wasn't hot and it wasn't cold. it was just right. the sky was blue and the grass was green. after being in the house sick for most of the week everything looked especially verdant and powerfully good.

happy december sixth to you all!

"May your days be many and your troubles be few. May all God's blessings descend upon you. May peace be within you, may your heart be strong. May you find what you're seeking wherever you roam." - an Irish blessing

 

Five Golden Rings...

Today is the fifth day of Christmas. Today everyone opens the ornaments that I made. I think Deryn assigned me day five on purpose. Because five is my very favorite number and I'm a little obsessed with it. She knows about obsession and is my friend. If you could give your friend her favorite number, wouldn't you? But maybe I just got lucky and got number five.

Okay. I feel like I need a warning. I am still sick. Nothing makes sense inside my head. I just got home after working at the only holiday boutique I've ever done. It was five hours long. I almost had a panic attack that propelled me back to my house. This is not my normal way. I am getting so weird the older I grow. But it was fine. Except that I am still sick and I am rambling and nothing makes sense.

This is not how I wish to write about these ornaments but it's all I've got and I'm just going with it. Feel free to hum the soundtrack to Clockwork Orange and pretend you are sitting here with me for a tiny dose of sick girl crazy day five ornie gifts.

I showed you the wrap before. But here it is in case you missed it:

now...what do you think is inside? here's a tiny peek...

what did i make?

i made mermaids. twelve of them. they took me so long i didn't get to play with them nearly enough. it was very hard for me to send them on their way. they were really hard for me to make, too. i do no sew, although i really do try very hard to sew when i make an attempt. so i brought to tears with my efforts as i really wanted them to be nice. i hope the girls love them as much as i did. they each are named and from all around the world. but i imagine they will tell their new owners their own stories all in good time.

here are some photos of their development for you to see...

i started with a great big piece of muslin. i drew all the girls on the fabric with a pencil and then painted them in. this was a bit more difficult than i anticipated. i didn't prime the fabric because i just didn't wanna. it would have been ever so much easier to paint on primed muslin than soft fibrous muslin. it was thirsty and wanted to drink the paint and make little fiber balls. but i liked the color of the muslin and wanted to use it in the color palette of the girls. so i painted and painted and painted with the tiniest little brush.

and so they came to be. each with her own personality. and attitude.

and soon they got their tails. and i embroidered each one a heart. which, you probably know, is done with a needle and thread. which is something i don't normally do. it took me (at least) a half an hour to embroider each heart. and it taught me great patience. because i don't like to make things for people and think bad thoughts while i'm making them. like Ouch, that needle is sharp! why in the world did i think i should sew. it's all ruth's fault! her and her stinkin' fabric! lol! so i didn't think those things. instead i was happy and calm and took my time and it took a really, really long time. but it did give me some zen-like moments. and i'm thankful for that.

here are some of the girls as they were coming along. they are all about five to seven inches long. such petite mermaids are very rare...

she has a seaweed heart.

little red is my mermaid. she has my crazy eyes that i get when i'm really tired. you do not want to mess with her. and she has open spaces in her heart because that way there is always room for More Love. (just work with me people)

 

and then they were all painted and embroidered and i thought, Now What? we'll skip all the painful parts and just say that they were magically sewn with no trouble at all in mere moments by tiny fairies with hands as quick as a hummingbird's wings. yeah. that's what happened. it was just like that.

here is the dirty dozen...

when i looked at them i knew just which girl needed to be with whom.

i am not sure i can remember now with my fog in my head. but i hope the little fish girls are all very loved. i know i adore the girls i sent them to so i hope i made their fifth day of christmas very happy.

Merry Christmas!

Hope - The Fourth Day of Christmas

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge,
That myth is more potent than history.
I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts
That hope always triumphs over experience
That laughter is the only cure for grief
And I believe that love is stronger than death.
-- Robert Fulghum. Storyteller's Creed.

HOPE

i adore my friend, lorraine. she is funny, she is smart, and she is full of light without making you want to roll your eyes at her. i adore her on many levels and one of them is her excellent creative style. so i was especially excited to open her present today. i might have been so excited that i opened it late last night after i finished painting more ornaments of my own...but shhhh. don't tell!

she is so incredibly clever. she used a heavy, large wooden ball as the base for her ornament. and then she forged these awesome bead caps...

We must stitch up what has been torn apart, render justice imaginable in the world which is so obviously unjust, make happiness meaningful for nations poisoned by the misery of this century. Naturally, it is a superhuman task. But tasks are called superhuman when men take a long time to complete them, that is all.
-- Albert Camus.

and lorraine described the details of this treasure like this...

"My little ornie is a gift of hope to you all. The green represents peace and harmony. The ribbons on the bottom are placed so that they fall like angels wings to carry away your fears and sorrows."

thank you so much, lo! i will always think of your friendship to me when i look at this beautiful gift which you have honored me with.

lastly, the holiday boutique i am participating in is TODAY! i am still working on some things but here's a peak at some ornies and altered cab cards which will get beads and steel hangers. check out this link for more details if you want to drop by. 'wish me luck!

 

More Ornies

well i'm still sick and foggy upstairs. so i'm not going to say much as i've not much to say. but i could cough a few times for ya...

Second Day of Christmas brought this adorable little holiday burlap sack of goodies from my dear friend, Maija

And inside is this adorable little glittery treat!

It has so much of Maija's flair and style wrapped up in it. I love the folded crepe paper and glittery bird. And the word Faith is one I can't remember enough. Thank you, Mai!

And this morning, the Third Day of Christmas gave me this happy package complete with star carrying crows courtesy of Lou.

Inside was this lovely snowflake. Doesn't it look very rustic and old? Love that! Lou uses this particular image a lot. This gal has turned into Lou's signature. It makes me smile to find her again this year. Thank you, Lou!!

I'm back to bed now. See you again soon for more ornament openings.