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Countdown to Christmas 2016 - Week 4 - Kenya
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Since Kenya is predominantly a Christian country (approximately 82%), the celebration of Christmas is very important. A few days before Christmas, a mass migration of people from the cities and other parts of Kenya is made, back to the villages of their parents’ home in the "upcountry." Family members and relatives all congregate to celebrate. For many people, this is the only time of the year they have the chance to see their families, so it is a very important time to reconnect.
The Autumn Wind is a Pirate - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Since I live in the Desert Southwest, autumn comes creeping slowly in with cooler temperatures. Most of the trees here are evergreen so there isn’t much color change. This time of the year, I always think about the forest we lived in for 10 years in Northern Virginia. Oh, the glorious colors as the leaves on the trees changed.!!! Sometimes almost blinding color combinations. Then sometimes, the wind would hit and the leaves became a carpet of color on the forest floor. I ran across this great quote about autumn wind from Steve Sabol: “The autumn wind is a pirate. Blustering in from sea with a rollicking song he sweeps along swaggering boisterously. His face is weather beaten, he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head . . . The autumn wind is a raider, pillaging just for fun.” A pillaging wind playing with and swirling the colorful leaves!
Countdown to Christmas 2016 - Week 3 - Ukraine
Christmas caroling in Ukraine
Even from a very early age, I have always been fascinated with words and languages. When I was in college, I took several languages, including Russian. Russian was challenging, especially trying to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and wrap my tongue around and pronouncing words with a string of strangely placed consonants. But what made the class VERY special was our instructor. I don’t remember her last name but her first was Natasha and she was from Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union. She was very kind and very understanding with a great sense of humor. We all loved to listen to her stories of growing up and the family traditions. She and her family had a very hard life but the countryside itself sounded enchanting. And I’m sure we learned to speak Russian with a Ukrainian accent! So I have always had a fascination with Ukraine (and am so sad about what is happening there right now). So, Natasha, wherever you might be right now, you inspired this edition of the Countdown to Christmas.
Countdown to Christmas 2016 - Week 2 - Italy
Carved life size presepe, Santa Maria d'Aracoeli Presepe Christmas Day Rome, 2012; photo by Margot Balboni
Traditionally, Christmas in Italy is celebrated over several weeks, from December 6th, St. Nicholas Day, until January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. On St. Nicholas Day, children write letters to St Nicholas asking for gifts and they hang up either a sock or put a plate on the table on the eve of Nicholas Day’s. If the children have been good throughout the last year, they will get some fruits, nuts and sweets from St. Nicholas while the naughty ones will also get a sweet, but one looking like lump of coal. The main gift giving day is January 6 - the day on which the Wise Men brought their gifts to the Christ Child.
What a Spooky Halloween! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
With the last days of September rapidly approaching, Halloween and Day of the Dead festivities will arrive before we realize it. With that in mind, I decided to browse the studios of Indiemade artist friends and pull together a variety of spookily fun handmade items: some in oranges and black, some with skulls, one with spooky black cats and a set of ever watchful owls. Any of these mostly one of a kind handmade beauties will be perfect for the other side of life parties. Enjoy!
Countdown to Christmas 2016 - Week 1 - Norway
Christmas in Trondheim, Norway; photo by PLANET LEW
This past weekend started the fifth annual “Countdown to Christmas 2016” collection hosted each year by Julie and Blu of Blue Morning Expressions. It is a way for handmade artisan and vintage sellers to share three of their items each week, each one perfect for Christmas gift giving. I will pick my favorite item each week and share them here in this blog.
Also, I plan on sharing a bit about how different countries around the world celebrate Christmas. This week, Norway is highlighted:
The Lucky Number 3 - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
I am not by nature a superstitious person, but I have a real affinity for the number 3 (even more for 33). For centuries, it has been revered as a lucky number. I also knew it had many, many religious connotations, such as the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in the Christian faith - St. Patrick used a shamrock to teach about the Holy Trinity. It also describes the three attributes of God: omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. In Hinduism, the number 3 represents the three gods: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. The number 3 is very important in Buddhism and represents: the Buddha, the historical Buddha Shakyamuni; the Dharma, the Buddhist body of teachings; and, the Sangha, the people who follow the teaching of the Buddha.
Spooky Halloween and Day of the Dead Skull Earrings by Shadow Dog Designs
Halloween and Day of the Dead festivities will soon be upon us. To help you celebrate, I have been stocking my Shadow Dog designs Indiemade shop with spooky handmade skull earrings of various types. Recently, glass sugar skull beads from the Czech Republic have appeared in a myriad of colors - such fun to work with! And I'm always on the lookout for new, fun skull designs to make into one of a kind jewelry, perfect to enhance your costume . . . or everyday wear!
Great Blue Dome - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
My husband, Seamus (our sweet, goofus Moose of a dog) and I are fortunate to live in the Desert Southwest, a part of the country where the sky is immense and an ever changing blue most of the year. In fact, a cloudy day (like today!) is actually a treat! I was gazing out the window in my studio the other day when a Thomas Carlyle quote came to me: "The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better." And I have to agree! Even though I love visiting old cathedrals with a sense of wonderment, spirituality and awe - Canterbury Cathedral, Koln Cathedral, Notre Dame, National Cathedral, St, Paul's to name a few - I absolutely revel in the everchanging "great blue dome" that is above my head almost every day. The colors can range from the palest blue to a deep, mystical, velvety blue that occurs 45 minutes or so after the sun has dipped below the horizon and the sunset has faded.
