BEAUTY FROM THE 1940'S!

I know some of my readers make their own greeting cards and tags.  I have received handmade cards for many years which are so gorgeous, that I still have them in a box in my studio.  It is an art form all of it's own, and it also has become a very popular and expensive craft to get into.

When I was going through things in the studio these past few weeks, I came across an old scrapbook that belonged to my Mom.  I showed you some of the cards I found there in my Lest We Forget post, but there are many more beautiful old Christmas cards I wanted to share with you.

Most of the cards have come loose from the scrapbook, so I took them out and had a really good look at them.

Most are from the 1940's,  and all are made from a single sheet of paper - ordinary weight paper ( like copy paper weight) and they are just folded in four to make a card.

I have to tell you  -  they are gorgeous.  All these years they have survived in the old scrapbook they were glued into - without the aid of acid protectors or any other protective covering they now tell us we need in order to protect paper-related products.

Looking at these beautiful cards makes me wonder why all this money is spent on card making supplies, when we can make them from a simple sheet of paper.  And more so - it makes me want to try and make some of these simple and beautiful cards, myself.

I took some pictures of a few of them for you.  The pictures don't really do them justice, but perhaps will give you an idea of just how simple they really are.  I took three photos of each so you can see how they are made.

If you can draw, you could make these so personal.  You could also cut images from old cards to put behind the cutouts like  3rd card below.  Those of you who have stamps, could use those.

You could add glitter, ribbon, braid... but I don't think you would want anything too heavy as it is just paper and not card stock.

I am going to tea dye a few sheets of copy paper and give a card a try.   I am no artist, but I might even try drawing a winter scene  - it doesn't have to be elaborate - simple will do.

So, my friends - take up the challenge with me - lets see what we can do to create some very special handmade cards for those special people we send cards to this Christmas.



Card #1

 

 

Card #2

 

Card#3

 

Card #4

  

Card #5

 

Card #6

The candle image is a small post-card.

And this one is just a little single postcard - I love it...

I also found a bunch of very old cards from Germany, sent to my Grandparents in the 1940's.

I will share those in a separate post very soon.

Enjoy!

FINISHED WINDOW, AND SOME SNOW FOLKS!

I finished my old window yesterday.  It's not quite finished the way I really want it, but for now, it will do.  I still haven't found the mirror spray in any stores around here, so I might just wait until after the New Year and order it online.  It's too cold to be spraying anything outside, anyway - that job might have to wait for spring.

But, I really wanted it up for Christmas - so I cleaned it, hung it on the wall and yesterday I decorated it.

Funny that - originally I thought I wanted to hang a wreath on it - and I did try that, but it just wasn't right for my room.  So in the end, I decided to keep it simple.  It does pick up and reflect a lot of light coming in from the big west facing window, and our tree will be there, so no doubt it will reflect the lights from the tree as well.  So I simply hung three glass ornaments and three new handmade crochet snowflakes.

This project cost me 10.00 total.  I paid 20.00 for 2 windows this one is the inside and I still have the identical outside window to do something with. 

The glass balls were free, I found them at our local recycle place in the summertime.  I made the snowflakes from cotton I have had for years, and the ribbon was some that was in the box of craft supplies given to me from my Aunt Margaret's stash.

 below... a little closer look so you can see the snowflakes better.

I love this piece and it is going to be a beautiful mirror whenever I get that done - which still will be able to be decorated in much the same way for the holidays.

I decided to start putting my snowmen collection out, so down under the basement stairs I went and started hauling out totes of decorations.  The kitchen is the "Snow Zone"  All the snowmen are showcased here, and lucky for me, my kitchen is so long they sort of get lost in the big space so it is not overwhelming.

These are  now on a shelf over my sink...

and these are on another shelf on the wall.

I still have more to put out, some will go on my old kitchen cabinet, and every window in the kitchen will be decorated with a few snowflakes which I have also collected and made over the years.

So let the decorating begin!

A GIFT FOR ME - FOR THEM - FOR ALL!

Yesterday was a very special day for me, one that I think I will carry in my heart for the rest of my life.

This day should have happened a month ago, but a snow storm and a stomach flu prevented it from occurring then... so yesterday was the day.

I played the organ for the church service at the little church in Waldersee Manitoba - which as it turned out this month happened to be the Remembrance Day Service.  I have talked about this church and it's significance to my family here before, but even I was surprised at how I would react to this event.

Yesterday was the first time I played the organ in that church before a congregation, and other than one very brief practice three weeks ago, that particular organ was unknown to me.  I am not an organist, I am a pianist, so playing any organ is a challenge for me, but I said I would do it - so I did.

I was so nervous, but the hymns I had to play were very familiar to me, I had played them for years on the piano... so how difficult could it be?

My Prelude was beautiful - played just as I imagined - and then came the Opening Hymn.  I played a full verse as an introduction and then the congregation started to sing.  The one thing I remember so vividly about attending this church as a child with my Mother or with Aunts and Uncles, was the way the people in this congregation sang.  Full out - pour your heart into the music and the poetry - mouths wide open, straight from the diaphragm - LOUD!

I teared up by the second bar of music, and by the middle of the first verse, I couldn't even see the music.  My hands stumbled, I fumbled, and I started to panic.

But then the most extraordinary thing happened.  I thought of my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles who rest just beyond those church walls in the little cemetery behind the church.

 

 I thought of how happy and yes, how proud, they would be to know that I was here, playing in their beloved church - something that was so far out of any realm of possibilities in my life, until now.

My hands steadied, my eyes cleared and I put my heart into the task at hand.  No more fumbles, mistakes, tears - just music, along with this incredible peace and contentment in what I was doing.

The service ended... and I was applauded!

Can you imagine - applause - for me!  Just for a moment those tears threatened again...  I was thanked over and over and over again for giving them all music to sing to.  I never imagined that they would be so overjoyed to hear a pianist play an organ - but they were - and then some.

I left the church feeling like I had been given the most precious gift.  It was a morning I won't forget...ever.

When I got home I went straight to the piano bench and dug out my Advent music.  In one month's time I will be playing again - and I am going to give them as much Advent music as I can squeeze into the service.

This gift goes beyond me and beyond the congregation... This gift is flowing out the doors of this beautiful place to the beyond. 

For me - for them - for All!

LEST WE FORGET!

Christmas 1944

Dear Erna and Family,

First, many thanks for the nice sympathy card and letter you sent us.  That was so thoughtful of you.  Auntie sure did appreciate it.  Really I am so ashamed of myself for not writing oftner to you, we have had so many nice letters from you, and I am so lazy in writing, but please forgive me.

Last week we had a letter from Gust and he is here in Victoria B.C. again.  He said he would try and spend Christmas with is again this year.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?

You said in your last letter that Joe had a brother in the army, did he have to go overseas yet?  Sure hope not.  I haven't heard where my brother Eddie is for months.  About one month ago one of Herman's nieces got word from the government that her husband got killed in Holland, that sure was a big shock to us, because we were always together with them.  I still can't believe that he is dead, they have a little girl 9 months old, the baby never got to see her Daddy.  Oh if this war would only end.

Herman is out of the war age now, so I don't have to worry about him, but I still think about all the other boys that have to go.

Herman had to go back to work tonight for a few hours, so Mother and Ralph went to a show and I said I was going to stay home and do my Christmas writing, this is my 14th card so please excuse my scribbling as my fingers are getting tired.

Will send you 2 pictures, one of Herman and myself and one of Mother, Ralph and Herman.  They were taken last summer just after Ralph was confirmed.

Well lets hope to hear from you sometime soon.

Your Cousin
Emma

I found the letter above in this old Christmas card that was in a scrapbook that belonged to my Mother.  I haven't looked in the scrapbook for years and years, but for some reason I felt the need to get it out of the box it is always in and look through the pages.  Mom so kindly wrote the dates on the back of her cards, and almost every card in this one particular scrapbook is from the years of WW11.

My own life has never been touched by war, but war touched my parent's life very early in their time together as man and wife.  They were married in wartime, far away from their home and families  because my Dad was working in the nickel mines in Quebec because he could not enlist due to a heart murmur.

There are many many cards from friends and family in the scrapbook, but a few special ones strike my gratitude to the men and women who fought and still fight, for the freedoms we take for granted today and everyday.

This one is from my Dad's best friend, Armand... he was a young pilot that never came home from war.

 

And this one from my Uncle Scott, my Dad's brother.  Uncle Scott did come home, he lived a full long life, raised a family, and was a wonderful uncle, whom I will never forget.

And I said that war had not touched my life.   How wrong could I possibly be?  War touches all our lives in one way or another.  

God Bless Those who protect our Country, our Cities, our Neighbourhoods.  

Let's Never Forget Them!

A WINDOW FROM ANOTHER TIME!

Let me introduce you to my new project.

Several months ago, I put my name down to purchase some old windows from a church here in town.  At first I was only going to get one, but then the price was so great - 10.00 each - I decided to splurge and get two!

I picked the windows up over a week ago and I am so excited about this project.

I want to turn one of them into a mirror for the living room.  I am going to clean them up, but I am not sure if I am going to repaint them as yet - guess it will depend on what I find under the dirt!

I found a mirror at the recycle place in town, and hauled that home, thinking I would cut the mirror into nine pieces to fit the panes, instead of adding a whole mirror to the back which would also add a bunch of weight to the piece.

Then I went on you tube to get some ideas, and I found this...

https://youtu.be/z8iTQwnDaLg

Well - suddenly my project has become so much easier.  How come I didn't know about this stuff?  Now the challenge for me will be to actually source this product out here in the boonies.  If I can't find it, I am sure I can get my local hardware store to order it in for me - they do that sort of thing here for their customers.

I can't wait to get my project done, my imagination already has it decorated for Christmas!

So what to do with the other frame?

I might save it for my Potager; I might put one big picture of a place in Brugge behind it; I might use it as a headboard in the spare bedroom...

I don't know... 

I'm still thinking.

So now to get out the soap and water and give this old window a bath...

More pics to come...

SO SORRY SEUSS!

Apparently I can't spell Seuss!  Did you notice that on my last post yesterday?

I missed it when I was editing, but Gary read my post this morning and said - Suess is spelled wrong, it is Seuss. 

Thank You my sweet man - you always have my back - even when it comes to Seuss - and I appreciate you for it.

So I have corrected my blunder, and my apologies to Dr. Seuss for misspelling his name.  I really have to invest in some bifocals, I think.  I can't see my screen with my distance glasses or my reading glasses, so I type and lean forward, blink, blink, type some more.

Stubbornness really isn't becoming to anyone, and I have been very stubborn about the bifocal issue.

It is another cloudy day here, it's not raining or snowing - yet - but it looks and feels like it might.  We have a little snow left on the ground from yesterday, but not much to even cover the ground - just little bits of white here and there.

I am up in the studio, at my desk stitching a tiny little polar bear sitting on a snowbank looking up at the night stars with the Northern lights flashing around him.  All that detail in a piece that only measures  3.5 " x 3.5 "  .  Totally adorable.  It's going in a Christmas card to someone special, even if I haven't decided who that will be as yet.

I have Tune In plugged in to a Christmas Classic station - yes I did say Christmas.  Starting November 1st Christmas tunes are practiced on the piano, played on my ipod and listened to at night before I go to sleep.  Sometimes its Oldies from artists long gone like Bing or Andy Williams, Perry Como - sometimes it Classical Music like pieces from the Nutcracker Suite, sometimes it Carols sung by Men and Boy Choirs from around the world, sometimes it's Christmas Pop, Christmas Jazz, Christmas Blues... I love it all, and soak it in for as long as I can before it disappears in the new Year!

Weird I know - but something I have done pretty much all my life, and I have no intention of stopping now.

So an enjoyable day spent doing things I love to do, for me.

I hope you all are doing the things you love today as well.


Oh and...

I did find a shovel yesterday...

A Blue one
A new one
As lovely as could be
There it was
Just waiting for me....

A LITTLE SEUSS AND A LITTLE ME!

There is nothing better than the words and rhyme of Dr. Seuss.  I think that all adults living in the world today should have to sit down and read Dr. Seuss at least once a week.  

I loved reading these books to my son when he was little, and I really regret leaving the books behind with him, because I would still be reading them if they were in my home.  Perhaps I should purchase myself some new ones.

And note to self - I am going to text him and remind him to read them to Azaria every chance he gets, because I know he will enjoy them - maybe even more than she will - at least until she is a bit older!

Today I am on a mission to purchase the perfect shovel.  I need one for my job at the Post office, and I am determined to find one that has a short arm ( like me) a small bucket and ergonomically correct.     

Let's see...

A shovel for me

Red or Yellow

Pink or Blue

Not just any shovel will do!

It must be short

but also wide

It must have colour

the snow to hide!

Well - there you go - no one can write like Seuss ...

But a good shovel will I find,

even if... it's one of a kind.

So off I go

Do wish me well

I'll be back soon

for show

and tell.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Be safe!