Christmas Eve Has Arrived :-)

Christmas has arrived & there is snow this morning. However just 1 1/2 hours up the highway 401 there are still people with no electricity & loads of ice on the trees & road that will stay till the weekend.
Here it's a winter wonderland outside & Christmas on the inside, here's a tour of the decorations & surprises this year!

 Last night I had my camera handy for this love/hate relationship between Boris & Tommy.
There they be, cozy by the fireplace.

 Boris moved in closer...

 Tommy had something to say about that...

 Then it was sleepy time for both of them. Notice how the basket remains empty as they snooze away by the fireplace! Contentment.

Christmas Eve!!

 The paper-white bulbs are in full bloom & the smell off them is wonderful.

 This is my favourite Santa figure.

 He has such a kind face, one that I would imagine Santa would have.

 Nick shovels the fresh snow from last night...then he'll have his morning tea. I'm happy he came home for Christmas. :-) Bill will arrive later today, he'll have stories of the horrors of the blackout in GTA & all the ice.

 I just love this fresh tree from the front yard. Our Christmas wrapping is mostly original boxes that have been placed under the tree or plastic bags tied in a knot. The gift bags present a more formal flair. lol

 The lounge has a few decorations in it.

 I was at Eldon House last weekend with Bill & the fresh arrangements were lovely...so I made my own for the Richardson House. I used left over cedar from the tree, blue spruce from Nick's backyard tree, boxwood & ivy from my backyard, & red sticks & a red ribbon saved from last year.

 I placed a couple of pomander balls that I had made earlier in the month. It now has a lovely smell too!

 I just love this vintage piece, electric candles that have flickering lights in them. I picked up more at Doris's yardsale...next year they'll be all set up.

 The downstairs washroom has been decorated too.

 The colour really shows up in this black/white backdrop.

 The diningroom has a splash of warm reds, very inviting against the blue/green backdrop.

 The curio in the clock is now full of the six Christmas ladies.

 This is the newest, 2013 Christmas lady. Bill really surprised me this year! I was online having a look at her when he called me to look at my sewing machine. Well I thought I'd look at the artist of one of the Christmas ladies from years past, as this year had the same look as one of them.
He suggested that I try the top one, she did look familiar & as I went to lift her I realized that she was carrying a wreathe...just like this years Christmas lady!! OMG it is this years!!! I never touched her but jumped back to hear Bill laughing at me, he said my look was 'priceless' once everything started to register at what I was truly looking at! I was not expecting her. I was reading aloud from the online description of her with her 'capacious pockets'! oh how I too would love a coat with capacious pockets...when Bill called me into the dining room to look at 'something on my machine'...

 More ding room reds...

 With a touch of blue from the snowman hanging.

 Tommy on the bench that's covered with quilts, topped by a placemat that's easily cleaned from his shedding, those with cats call these 'cat mats'.

 The wee studio tree has been relocated to the parlour by the front staircase. It was in the kitchen/lounge area that now has a real tree in it.

 A rug I purchased at the Myer's Church rummage sale last summer, really gives the granite coffee table a warm Christmas look. Notice the wood flooring to the left...it`s piled high throughout the parlour. It will be installed in the New Year by Bill & Nick, I can`t wait to see it installed.

 The Nativity Scene on the parlour mantel is pretty at night when it is lit up with a tea light.

 Snowmen are such fun to view!

 The Twelve Days quilt hangs for Christmas, I'll have to make something to replace that area for the rest of the year. I use to have 'Over the River' there...it's now at the cottage.

The bookcase  Boston Terrier collection has been decorated too!

 The studio tree from another angle, this tree is a tree of memories for me from family & friends over the years.

 These Mary Engelbriet felt designed elves took forever for me to make, there's so much work put into them, even bells & beadwork all the way up his toes on the boots!

 This is one of my favourite decorations on the tree. I received a parcel from my east coast girlfriends & in it was this Santa hat made from a lobster claw, painted & decorated!! I miss my east coast friends & think of them often. They`re getting a huge storm right now, I hope all is well out in Atlantic Canada.

 The bottom of the front door has a quilted piece I made years ago, there would be two made, a positive & negative were made. St. Andrews Memorial Church has the other.

 I love carolers, that was something we did as children in our neighbourhood & were rewarded with good cheer & cookies.  

 The dining room, I use this room often for our meals or a teatime together to just chat.

 This cardholder has been embellished & repaired for decades, I love the Victorian flair to it & grace cards & pictures from it.

 Boris`eating area has been decorated for Christmas.

 The lounge looks dark but it``s where we spend most of our time, it is cozy with the fireplace.

 The Christmas Countdown Mystery quilt looks great on the bench with Santa.

 Bev surprised me this year with a wallhanging she made for me, the embroidered writing reads - I love snowy days...frosty nights & warm hearts. I love it, thank you Bev!! :-) XO

 The china Christmas lady was a huge surprise...I had gotten my Christmas gift early from Bill when I was out east, my antique bonnet chest...then on the weekend this 1881 Handcranked Singer Sewing machine with case! Oh my, I must have been a good girl this year!

 This is the sewing machine cover, see the little box to the right...

 It holds the sewing machine attachments, they`re on the table next to the machine.

 It`s called the filldlehead style, see the silhouette on the wood. What craftsmanship went into this sewing machine. In its day, the cost would be that of one years wages - so they did financing for a 10 year period. It also was stated that the machine would cost the same as a car! Bill`s ordered needles for me & will give it an overhaul & cleaning through the holiday season. I have Civil War reproduction fabric that I plan on using with this machine...blogs to follow.

 Old Tommy cat really has a white beard now, this will be his first Christmas without Jerry but I`ve brought Bose, (his sister from the litter before him)  home with me so he`ll have company. Boris will always have soft side for Tommy though. lol
Those that have heard me say `get off that cat!` know what I`m talking about. It's a love/hate relationship between those two.

Boris is getting excited knowing that his Auntie Ann is coming over to spend Christmas with us tomorrow! He's trying to be a really good boy for Santa Paws tonight.

Wishing Everyone A Very Merry Christmas! Happy New Year too, one filled with happiness, health, and prosperity!
See you in the New Year! 2014 WOW!~

Winter Has Arrived...Again

Winter has arrived again with more snow. Since the wind has died down it really is quiet pleasant to be out shoveling the white snow. It's hard to believe that next week is Christmas! I'm still making gifts to give away for this wonderful season. Here are a few things that I've been up to & trying real hard to finish for the Santa deadline.

 Little sewing bags made from Moda's Seneca Falls collection. Paulette & I were at a quilt shop...maybe nearly a decade ago & I purchased this sweet lunch box tin with a charm pack & fat quarters in it. I've admired it for years but this is now the time to use it & enjoy it!

 The colours are that of a mauve, red, & blue. I made a sewing bag in each colour! Now to get them all sewn up!

 The embroidery is now done on my Snowman Doorstop. I found some piping that I'll install around the figure, the star batik is for the backing. I still need to put it together & stuff it & weight it with some crushed walnut shells.

 Going through my red stash for the Christmas Countdown quilt, I found a project from 2010. I know it was 2010 because it was embroidered into the star. I measured out a border & made cornerstones from the scrap blocks & voila, a sweet Christmas quilt top.

 I trimmed it in the red gingham by accenting the cornerstones & made binding to finish it off.

 See what happens when you 'date' things! We're going into 2014 & it feels like yesterday when I made that!

 My mom would have an expression when she was mad...'I'm so mad I could spit nails!'
Well,  I could have had that feeling if I had not taken the time to pick up those nails from the roof install. When we had a quick thaw I went out to sweep up.

 Several were found in my laneway,  right under my car! Others were gathered & swept up all around the roof's perimeter. The installer reassured me that the magnet would pick them all up. In 2010 my neighbour had her roof replace & I got the flat tire! I did not want that to happen to any of my neighbours, or myself & expressed this to the installer.
 There were a lot of nails left behind & pulling the snowblower out...it too would have had flat tires! There are still nails buried under the snow that had not melted & will be seen with the spring thaw next year.

 On a lighter note, the side of the house was fixed the next day, it looks as good as new. I had heard noise outside & a man was getting ready to re-install the corner piece.  I noticed it to be a bright white...not the colour match as I had the house done in creme. He took a broken piece for an example  & returned with the matching house colour. I'm so glad that I was home to redirect him to make the colour change. It does look good again.



Rug Hooking -

 My hooking classes are great. We do postcard samples, 5" x 7". Pantyhose & yarn technique, my Scarlet O'Hara.

 This is a raised & trimmed flower bud. That's a 2 1/2" square next to it. These techniques are great to learn. Tomorrow we're dyeing wool with Koolaid! What fun is that!!

 My runner with the Christmas dishes on it.

 Real popcorn & cranberries, I strung them with a needle & thread whilst watching a Christmas movie one night. Bill was amazed that they were real, after Christmas the wildlife can have it.

 I made pomander balls from oranges, lemons, & apples. Yummy smell as the hang from the tree.

 I purchased two new ornaments, this is the glass squirrel  ...

 And this is the glass wolf or in my eyes it's Diesel, I waited for the before Christmas sales from the Brian Gluckstien's collection at Hudson's Bay.

 Going through my studio I found a cat I made from Diesel, the Siberian Husky's, hair. He had  daily brushing when he stayed with me when Mitchell was at Durham Collage.

 I made the cat body from muslin, then stuffed it with diesel's hair & started to felt the entire body...

 Felting is done on a very thick piece of foam with a small barred needle, the ears were difficult & I picked myself several times.

 The big bushy tail wasn't easy either.  There's still more felting to be done & glass eyes to be sewn in. I thought it would be fun to make a cat with dog hair!

 This is a wee bear I made a few years back from a class with Kelly Richardson. She also taught me to make a polar bear. Diesel got a hold of this bear & carefully took the ear & one eye off. I replaced the ear & that's when I found the cat, when I was looking for my felting supplies.

Bear has a better profile on the side. lol

Here's a blast from the past!

When cleaning & organizing I found this old photo I took back in 1985. When I was attending my 4 year art course at Bealart , I was in a photography class with Vivian Sturdy & she was teaching us 'pinhole photography' yes this picture was taken with a pinhole camera & I developed the picture too! Oh the things I have done in my charmed life!

This photo was taken at Port Stanley, Ontario & that is Bill sailing  the sail boat through the lifted bridge.

It's a beautiful life! Merry Christmas.