Sew His Word, Designed by Susan Messier

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:11

This is my cutie sister, Susan. Although we live in different States, we met in New York City during Christmas last year. We share December birthdays, so we treated ourselves to a day in New York to see the store windows decorated for Christmas, visited the tree at Rock Plaza and watched the ice skaters. Then we enjoyed a delicious Italian meal in this adorable little restaurant on the West side.

So when we knew we were meeting in Vermont to visit our mom last weekend, we decided to exchange birthday presents.


Besides her fiber art, she is also designing beautiful knit purses. I was so thrilled when I opened up my present and found this beautiful purse. She created this from hand-spun yarn, knit the bag and felted the design.

Everywhere I go I get compliments on it, and I feel a bit like Paris Hilton with my own "especially designed for me" bag.


I just love the lining...


Now here is the Ta Dah of it all...
This Christmas my sister Susan, The Fiber Artist has opened up her Etsy Store. She is selling the most amazing things.








Hand knit and felted one-of-a-kind handbags

These lovely handbags have the cutest handles and are lined in delicious fabric.



Christmas Designs...


She recently designed this fiber art on canvas for Christmas of the wise men and baby Jesus called The Gift of the Magi.

"Sew His Word" is a fabric creation hand-made by Susan with a Bible verse sewn into each design. In her Etsy store she is selling her fiber art, Christmas art quilts, knit bags, and other goodies. This newly designed piece is finished on canvas and comes with a lovely easel.

The Gift of the Magi

Well, I hope you stop by her Etsy shop to see her Christmas art quilts, and her other wonderful designer goodies for Christmas. I am so proud of my sister Susan, I have a collection of things that she has made on flickr called My Sister Made This, she is my inspiration. She also writes a lovely blog called Sew His Word that is also a wonderful resource for you knitters or fiber artists.

Oh dear, I'm afraid that Susan's little dog Fiona might have eaten all the figgy pudding, but she says "We wish you a Merry Merry Christmas!



...and a Happy New Year!

The music for this post is We Wish You A Merry Christmas.



Read Susan's blog, it's called Sew His Word.

Weekend in Vermont

Joy, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

I went to visit my mom in Vermont this weekend. It was great to see my sister, Susan and to visit a few fun places. It never seems long enough...I wish I could stay a few weeks instead of just a few days. When I go to Burlington Vermont I always feel like I am going home. I have never lived there, but visits to my sister and my mom have made me fall in love with the lovely place.



I secretly wished my daughter, Sarah had attended University of Vermont. What a beautiful campus, and they always seem to be improving the campus with every visit.


My sister Susan suggested that we go to the Lake Champlain Chocolate factory for a cup of hot chocolate. Here is our mom enjoying a cup of delicious hot chocolate in front of the factory window. I don't think I can ever look at a backdrop like that and not remember Lucille Ball stuffing chocolate in her mouth as the conveyor belt moved faster and faster.





Walking along Church Street and out and about Burlington, I found this so Vermont store downtown and photographed a bit of the ambiance.




It was very cold and snow flakes were falling on and off, it was just a preview of winter in Vermont. Until December when I will return to capture some more Vermont joy....so the song I chose for this post is December in Vermont.

White Christmas & Vintage Santas

White Christmas & Vintage Santas, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

Well my Christmas canvas crafts of a White Christmas and Vintage chalkware Santas are finished. I wish I had ordered more chalkware Santas to paint and coat with glitter...I could have painted lots more before I got bored. I felt like I was in Santa's workshop with all of them lined up.


Before I wrapped these to give to my mom and my sister, Susan I thought I would take a photo. I found really nice silver easels in the Christmas Tree shop. I love the way the canvas looks sitting on an easel, and I thought it would be easier to display them.

I am leaving for Vermont with my daughter Ashley and her friend to meet my sister Susan to spend some time with our mother. We'll come back Sunday evening. When I return I'll be making just a few more White Christmas canvases and easels for friends and my sister, Lynne.

The best part of Christmas is designing special things to make for loved ones.


I just love Christmas, especially white ones. Best part of living in New England is that you can pretty much count on snow sometime around Christmas. Let's hope we have a white Christmas Eve. If you haven't already, please visit my Christmas Place...it's filled with stories, artwork and ideas for the holidays.

Don't you just love Louis Armstrong? I do, his voice makes me think of romantic movies like Sleepless in Seattle. The song for this post is White Christmas sung by Louis. Blessings, Karen

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We had our first snow today, and although it was just a dusting it makes the holidays seem more festive. Everything is cozier on a snowy day when you are in the kitchen baking. I am busy getting the house ready for Thanksgiving. The turkey is in the refrigerator and I am looking over my favorite cookbooks to find a new recipe or two for the fixings. Friday I will drive with my daughter and her friend to Vermont to visit my mom. My sister Susan will be there too and it will be nice to be together again. I love Vermont, and my mom lives in Burlington, which is a little piece of heaven.




The song for this post is Wherever You Are and wherever you are...Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Blessings, Karen

IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR

I am in the middle of designing a mixed media piece on canvas. Our church has a lovely Art Ministry and gallery. They are having an exhibit for Christmas. So, I decided to use the words from the Christmas song It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. The canvas is 24 x 24 and a deep gray color. I painted the baby Jesus and blanket and I am using all different papers to create the material of His blanket streaming from the crib. I have used the lyrics and sheet music to add some texture. I am going to use this image underneath the canopy of the manger with a goldleaf background and have the north star in the background.













I love the words to this song. While I was working on the collage today, I stopped to have a cup of coffee and just out of curiousity looked up the history to this song. "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear was written by Edmund Hamilton Sears in 1849. The carol started life as a poem written by its author who was a minister living in Massachusetts at the time. The music for It Came Upon A Midnight Clear was composed by American musician Richard Storrs Willis in 1859 who was inspired by the words of the poem." Can you imagine writing a poem and one hundred fifty eight years later people are still singing the lyrics that you wrote?

Here are the lyrics, if you want to sing along...

IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR


It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace, their King,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.


I found within the story of the birth of Christ how this song was inspired. "Mary brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn. There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough." Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
on earth peace, good will toward men."



It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough. When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them."



I am continuing to design this Christmas canvas. I am thinking about adding an angel above the manger to the left. I am finished embellishing the baby and blankets. I put the music on to inspire me as I work on this creation. The song for this post is a lovely version of It Came Upon The Midnight Clear

I find that if you photograph your work in stages you still possess each step on digital image. This way I can use the different versions to include in other pieces or to use by themselves. If you go too far, and fail to stop when it is actually finished...you still have the previous stages to use.

Happy Holiday creating, Karen

Painting Santa

I have been working on the Vintage White Christmas canvas paintings and now for the matching Santas.

I found these wonderful unfinished chalkware Santas to paint.

Painting Santa, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

These chalkware Santas were created using vintage chocolate molds. I purchased the Santas although I have been tempted to try to make them, but these were so beautifully detailed I decided to be satisfied just to paint them for Christmas gifts.

I have been fascinated with painting chalkware ever since I took a workshop during a collector's weekend at the Vaillancourt studio. Judi Vaillancourt designs a new Santa collection every year and Vaillancourt folk Art is a collectible treasure known throughout the country.

I used white acryllic paint as a base coat and then used oil paint to finish them. Then I used white glitter paste that Martha Stewart sells in Michael's. I found that Twinklits Diamond Dust looks just like the glitter on Vintage Santas. I used some Winter Wonderland Snow at the base.

This Santa I decided just to use glitter on his boots and the bag on his back. I'll use the snow on the base when the paint dries.


This Santa looks more Vintage so I covered him with diamond dust glitter.

Painting Santa and listening to Christmas music made me feel like I was in Santa's workshop today. A lovely way to plan for Christmas. This year feels like the Christmas when my sisters and I spent the Christmas in the Hamptons at my mother's home. None of us were married yet, and we sat around and laughed and decorated the tree together. I hope my sisters and my mom enjoy these Santas. I hope they feel the love and memories that I feel this Christmas.

I found myself the last few years getting lost in making Christmas for church, shops, and last year a large Christmas fair. In the end I rushed to get my shopping done for the people that matter most to me. This year I have decided to just appreciate my family and simplify my commitments. I am making my gifts like I did when I was young. I wanted to remember "Just In Time For Christmas" what Christmas is about, and to be full of joy and count my blessings and remember how much I love the people around me.

The music for this post is Just In Time For Christmas.

The Nutcracker Ballet

Now I know you are probably saying "Christmas? I haven't even had Thanksgiving yet", but Christmas takes planning, especially if you plan on attending Holiday performances. My Christmas Place has been created as a Christmas card and has lots of stories, artwork and information about the holiday season. I have created this special post for all of you to plan your matinee or evening at the ballet.

Clara and her beloved Nutcracker come alive on stage all over the world in the ballet performance of the Nutcracker Ballet. The ballet is a holiday tradition that marks the beginning of this very special season. I painted this Clara on canvas using oil a few years back, and I use this artwork each year on cards, and decorations.

This year I have made Tussie Mussie's using Clara and Nutcracker goodies for Christmas gifts. If you would like to know how I made them, just highlight the mosaic below and it will lead you to flickr and the tutorial.




Can you tell I get excited about the Nutcracker? I do, I loved taking my daughters when they were little and watching the expression on my mother's face when she watched her grand daughters be totally mesmerized by the performance. We always got dressed up for the ballet and my girls would have red velvet dresses and bows in their hair. It was a tradition and my mom and I were little girls on the night of the ballet as well. They are teens now...sigh, and I don't believe they allow cell phones in the theatre, so I will have to take a girl friend instead. That's okay soon enough they will be moms and they will beg me to attend and I'll get to watch with glee as my grandchildren's faces light up with awe.

I found the most amazing site with all kinds of magical eye candy, the site has one of those magical wand mouse thingies cascading stars everywhere you point...I love those. This totally magical site has the Russian version of the Nutcracker story, and everything wonderful about The Nutcracker Ballet. On this amazing web site you can watch video clips of dance performances, backstage and they even have a video clip discussing how they make all the costumes, narrated by the head costume designer.

Clara and the Nutcracker Tussie Mussie, originally uploaded by bluebirdsandteapots.

We have seen the Nutcracker performed locally in Long Island, by the New York City Ballet Company in Manhattan, in Hong Kong at the Kowloon Art Center, in Princeton New Jersey at the MacCarter Theatre, Toronto, and in Boston. The English National Ballet must be wonderful performing in London. For my friends from Australia, the Australian Ballet will perform the Australian premiere of Peter Wright's Nutcracker. I love it when the stage comes alive in beautiful decorations. No matter which stage we saw the performance, I still was thrilled and I am thrilled to usher in the holiday season with yet another.

Wherever you see this ballet it seems to escort the holiday season with the magic only fairytales and children can awaken. I have found a wonderful place where they list most of the performances of the Nutcracker across the country at Tickets Now.

I just love Canada, and of course as I browsed through the various web sites for the ballet companies performing the ballet, Toronto's was the most magical place. You can even arrange for a backstage tour. The National Ballet company of Canada is performing the Nutracker Ballet in Toronto.The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is located on Ring 3 and is a focal point of the spectacular City Room on University Avenue and hosts a breathtaking view of Toronto’s ceremonial boulevard. Can you tell I love Toronto...as much as I do New York?

The New York City Ballet Company is performing the Nutcracker from November 23rd through December 30th, 2007. The Ballet company has a wonderful site which has a book telling the story of the ballet, you can even turn the pages in this virtual book. Once you are there...just scroll down the choices on the lefthand side until you reach "read the story" on the New York Ballet Company site.



If you are planning on seeing the ballet in Boston, The Boston Ballet Company, there are even more lovely things to do in Boston to make the magic complete...you can bring your children to a Sugar Plum Tea at the Ritz Carlton in Boston Common:

Sugar Plum Teas and Nutcracker Brunches
at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common
These family-friendly Teas will feature delicious treats from the land of sweets, story-time and cookie decorating. At the Brunches, The Ritz-Carlton Ballroom becomes a fantasy land as The Nutcracker characters re-enact the story of this beloved classic.
Brunches: Sundays, Dec. 2, 9 & 16 at 10am $35 per child, $65 per adult.
Teas: Saturdays, Dec. 1, 8 & 15 at 11am $30 per child, $40 per adult.
Call 617.574.7184 to reserve your place at a Brunch or Tea.
*Matinees are at 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Must have Nutcracker tickets to participate. Happy Holidays,

Whether you have children to take to this magical Christmas and Holiday event, or you are a child at heart, plan on attending this glorious ballet. Grab your girlfriend, sister, mother, mother-in-law, Grandmother, aunt, cousin, Grandfather, beau or husband and give yourself and someone you love a special memory gift.

The music for this post is The Nutcracker Suite performed by London Festival orchestra.



Happy Holiday planning.

Blessings, Karen