Postage Stamp Holiday Greetings

Wishing You a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

(Images from Christmas stamps in my collection)

Countdown to Christmas

We are enjoying remarkably relaxing days around the house here as Christmas approaches--as relaxing as a household with two preschoolers can be, at least!  Even though we've gotten a tree, decorated the house, bought and wrapped presents, done baking, played outside, had playdates, done crafts, and painted the dining room (!), things aren't feeling hectic or rushed, and I'm grateful to enjoy the feeling.

Here's a little peek into our household as we enjoy the holiday season:

We went one evening to enjoy the lights at Longwood Garden...we don't take the girls out after dark too often, so I think it's still pretty exciting for them.

We searched Linvilla Orchards for the perfect Christmas tree...

I was kind of "taken" with this little Charlie Brown Christmas tree that wasn't much bigger than Katy...

...but we opted for a more traditionally-sized six footer!

As one of our Advent activities, the girls tried warm apple cider for the first time.  It was a hit, and we've had it a few times since.  I've discovered the joy of Trader Joe's Spiced Cider laced with a little rum...for the grown-ups only!

Katy had her first preschool Christmas show.  Don't let that tinsel halo fool you!  She started the show by pulling her dress over her head, and ended it by crying out for someone to fix her fallen tinsel when she was supposed to be reciting John 3:16 with the rest of the group!  Her shenanigans were priceless though, and seemed perfectly appropriate for funny tales of a 4-year-old's Christmas program.

For one of the girls' Advent activities, all four of use went for a winter walk to enjoy the natural wonders God has given us to enjoy.  The girls collected leaves, acorns, and tiny pine cones in their bags, then brought them home to sort through out on the patio.  When we got inside, we said a prayer where we each thanked God for what we most enjoyed on our walk.

I'm not nearly so nervous about the potential mess in pulling out all the paints for the girls to play around with, and they love experimenting with the colors.  Look at those serious faces!

And I did a little serious painting of my own!  Michael and I finally painted our dining room yesterday after seven years of procrastination.  The end-result is not nearly as "baby blue" as it looks in the photo.  It finally looks like a dignified dining room; maybe we'll be more inclined to use it for its intended purpose, instead of just the kitty litter/recycling bin/storage space it has been.

Maybe it's because we started earlier on our decorating and shopping, or maybe it's because we've made a real effort to help the girls understand the true spirit of the season while starting the kinds of traditions that we'll stick with for years to come, or maybe it's because we're staying home this Christmas, so I don't have to think about packing everyone up for holiday travel (though I will miss being with my mom, dad, and sister)...It's a winning combination of factors to make this a very Merry Christmas season for our little family.

I hope that you also will be able to relax and enjoy the love and light and blessings of the season!

The Choice is Clear

I've been making several postcards as thank-yous and swaps, and have turned to a new art material I haven't used before:  transparency film.

Years ago, I purchased a transparency sheet filled with photos of girls with fairy wings from Art Chix Studio, but had never used it.  As I was preparing a postcard for Kym from Bliss Artworks, I decided to incorporate one of the images.  Stitching it to my postcard was the obvious choice, since I assume any sort of adhesive would show through from the back.

I had glued pieces from a sewing pattern as well as decorative tissue paper to a piece of cardstock, then added text pages and the transparency image, which I sewed around with my machine using two colors of thread.  Then I added a postage stamp and some postal rubber stamp impressions, and the postcard was complete.  Something about the playfulness and colorfulness "spoke to me" as appropriate for Kym.

At the same time, I was working on a postcard for a one-to-one swap with F.M. of La Wendula.  I chose a face from my files that was already on a transparency.

This postcard was also built on a foundation of sewing pattern tissue, but I covered it over with text, a reproduction of historical money, and other decorative tissue paper, rubbed away a bit for a weathered look.  I added two postage stamps (one of which looked like an uncanny mirror image of the transparency image!), and stitched around the elements with a couple different stitches.

F.M. noted that I had used her preferred color palette of neutral tones.  She also shared my postcard, along with the beautiful example of her artwork that she sent to me, on her Flickr site, here.

Finally, I sent a thank-you postcard to Seth, at The Altered Page, and once again went the transparency route.  This time, I chose a magazine image from my files and printed it out on my own onto 3M transparency film.

This also was built on a background of sewing pattern tissue, but I glued a section from an old Compton's Encyclopedia about "Mohammadens" (which shows you the age of the book, as they would today be referred to as "Muslims"), a small map of Africa, and some decorative tissue paper.  I stitched the transparency of camels walking by pyramids right over the top of these elements, adding additional decorative stitching that made me think of random footprints in the sand.

I added two African postage stamps--one a map and one a camel--to complete the thematic postcard. 

I love how the transparency film adds an additional image to a piece, but allows whatever is underneath to show through.  It adds almost a mysterious or ethereal quality to the work.  And it feeds my love of stitching paper besides!

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Please check out Natty's blog post on Awkward & Beautiful where she shares the mail art and journal card I sent to her to thank her for the awesome custom book I've been using for my art journal lately!