December 25, 2014

All the very best to those celebrating today!

photo courtesy of www.etcpb.com

More #CarveDecember

I am wide awake in the middle of the night with a head cold, thought I'd post a few photos from last week's carvings. 

Decorating Cookies

We had a gingerbread cookie decorating contest at work yesterday. I was unable to participate due to a scheduling conflict but I did get there in time to take pictures of the finished creations. I think you will agree, they look positively delicious!

Still Carving

My daily carving project for #carvedecember continues. Too busy carving to blog but here are some photos of my recent creations. 

A Snowy Day

We got a big dump of snow overnight and the accumulation continued through the day today.  The first big storm of this winter season (they had snow while I was away in Mexico but not this much, apparently).  It should melt quickly though, as temperatures are forecasted to rise over the next few days, so it's still anybody's guess as to whether we will enjoy a white Christmas.

In the meantime, it sure is pretty.  Treacherous to drive or walk in, a pain to shovel (over and over for most folk, so glad I live in an apartment and don't have to deal with that any more!) but so pretty.

Let's Make Some Tags

If you're looking for something artful to make that is quick and easy to do during this busy holiday season, I just came across two great ideas on Facebook tonight.

The first one can be found on Diana Trout's blog, where she gives a quick 5 minute video about how to make Xmas tree shapes using your washi tape collection and turn them into tags for presents (although I'm thinking they'd be nice for just about anything!).  You can find that lesson here.

The second one can be found on Rae Missigman's blog. She's sharing ideas for 12 days of tags over the next couple of weeks.  Here's a picture of the first one which I copied from her blog (hopefully Rae doesn't mind if I share it here):

Thank you to both of these artists for sharing these free tutorials, much appreciated!!  Now, which washi tape should I use...?

Holiday Traditions

Last night was the December meeting of our art journaling group, the Journal Junkies, at Bizzy B. We always celebrate the holiday season with a potluck and even though there were only 8 of us in attendance, the food selections were delicious and no one went home hungry.

The main theme for our journal pages was "holiday traditions".  The optional product was glitter (very appropriate for the season!)

Bette's page was a three dimensional delight. She collected a number of items representing different aspects of the holidays that she enjoys and combined various textures and art supplies on her finished page, included a type of Mod Podge infused with glitter for her background.

 Marissa's page featured her nine year old son's letter to Santa.  He very considerately asked if Santa would like 3 types of milk to drink and wondered if he had a pet polar bear.  Too cute!

Donna focused on one of her favourite traditions, the use of Christmas crackers on the holiday table. We were all surprised to hear about the origin of this festive table dressing.

Heather's page was based on her love for making gingerbread houses this time of year.  I love the pretzel detail across the horizon!

Alex went with the alternate theme, which was "chocolate". She referenced a story which recently appeared in the news, warning of a possible cocoa shortage in 2015.  The horror!

Marilyn advised that she wasn't in the mood for a traditional Xmas theme so she created an angel using a steampunk motif.  It's fabulous, don't you think?

Sadly, I didn't have time to make a page this time around but I do have an idea in mind that I hope to be able to bring to life on the page some time soon, so stay tuned!

#CarveDecember Continues

My daily carving of rubber stamps during this month of December continues (as first mentioned here).

I'm taking part in this month long endeavour that was originated by Julie Balzer. Check out this post from her blog featuring a stamp carved by yours truly!!

If you are on Instagram, type in the hashtag #carvedecember and scroll through the amazing designs everyone is making, they are truly incredible. 

This one is my most ambitious so far:

Stay tuned, we're just getting started! (And it's not to late to join us!)

Haiku My Heart Friday: Madonna

The simple beauty
of a madonna appeals
to all who view her.

Sharing this image in honour of Rebecca's Twelve Days of Mary.  Whatever your beliefs or lack thereof, her beauty is universal.

For more Haiku My Heart Friday, visit recuerda_mi_corazon.

Mexican Graffiti

How fabulous is this stenciled image, displayed on a broken down brick wall in a vacant lot in San Miguel de Allende?

The lot itself was quite pretty.

I wanted to set up a table and chairs and hang out for a while but alas, it was not possible.  Perhaps next time...

A Cemetery in San Miguel de Allende

We visited a cemetery in San Miguel de Allende one sunny afternoon two weeks ago.  It was quite different than those I had visited in Paris earlier this year but no less beautiful.  There is a lot of white, for example.  The statues:

the majority of the tombstones

and even the bottom half of the tree trunks were painted white (the colour of purity and hope) for some reason:

Do you see the little man in the centre of the cut in the trunk of this tree?

But there was lots of colour to be found as well.

It was a few weeks past the Day of the Dead celebrations of November 1st and 2nd but there were signs of those festivities about, most notably the marigolds (known as the "flowers of the dead") which are frequently used to decorate the graves.  It is said that the smell of these flowers leads the departed spirits back to Earth.

I saw what I believe is a great-tailed grackle as I was walking about and clearly, he saw me too.

There were a lot of dead flowers, still beautiful in their decaying glory.

The cemetery staff were busy collecting and disposing of them.

Some of the headstones were quite unusual, unlike anything I've ever seen before.

The economic struggles endured by many of the Mexican population was something we were very aware of during our week in San Miguel de Allende.  The use of food tins to hold the flowers in the cemetery was both poignant and practical.

The beauty of some of the simpler, more rustic displays was appealing.

I even found a bone as I was walking about.

I can tell you where it might have come from:

but I can't be entirely sure how it got there!

I hope to visit this place again on my next visit and explore farther into the cemetery grounds.  Its beauty calls to me.