Beautiful Fontinini Nativity Sets

On our lovely UC list we are having a discussion about favorite wedding gifts to give. An old college buddy of mine's first son was recently married. I don't know him well (but have a picture of him bouncing on my knee when he was 6 months old...)-- but he knows his mom and I are old buds. So I wanted to give him something special. They also have a new baby, so I want to support them and also have a thoughtful gift.

Our UC discussion turned to religious gifts- really the best, most eternal and beautiful! My friend and son are Christian though not Catholic, and what speaks better to us all than a creche? Plus the 'new beginning' of a baby.. and it is Advent coming, too!

Anyway, it got me thinking about the creche that Stephen and Bryan's Godparents gave him on his first Christmas. Just a simple stable and holy family, but over the years we have added to it.

Our family tradition is to open one gift each Christmas Eve after Mass. It worked itself out that the gift the boys opened was always a figure addition to the nativity. After many years we had all the main people, so they would get cows, a dog family, chickens... and we even started working on the rest of the town of Bethlehem! If you want you can get into Roman soilders, buildings, wow, you could fill up your house!

Instead last year I got a second stable and we are filling that one out, so each son can take a nativity with them to their families one day.

But, I wanted to share the Fontnini site with you all. They are wonderful quality, vinyl that looks like plaster and child friendly! The boys have played and played with them over the years.

Also some years I would have the wise men at one end of the house, slowly making their way across the rugged carpet to eventually get to the stable by Epiphany. And of course the Christ child would be hidden in a drawer until Christmas morning. One Christmas about five years ago I hid him so well we could never find him, so I had to order another.. lolFor more info on Fontinini click here- or do a google search, there are many dealers...

They are not cheap, but an investment and the quality is worth the price. But adding a piece or two each year is not horribly expensive.

LIfe Imitates Art..

...or vice versa?

Too Much Time on my Hands *NOT*

For proof that a SAHM's hours are well spent I looked around my kitchen the past few days. Yes, I have two teens, no I don't spend hours teaching them. No I don't have a job that takes me out of the house a lot. ( I have two or three smallish jobs that I mostly do from in the house.)

But, if I did any of the above things would I have time for THIS?




Our first cold front came in and I had a WHIM to make pumpkin muffins. Then I had a whim to give some to some dogsit clients and had a whim to decorate a bag for them. Too-busy people don't have time for WHIMS! And I am glad I do!!

OR THIS?


I painted this watercolor for my dh for our 20th anniversary as he just loved this dog which we bought together after we married. People who work 60 hours a week at high tech firms don't have time to create such masterpieces.. (BG)

OR THIS?

I bought too many eggs this week so decided to hardboil a batch. After writing HB about 4 times I thought, I can be more creative... so we have a fridge door full of smiles.

See what we are adding to the world in our non-productive ways?

Humm.... I feel like making a batch of homemade cookies. Eat your heart out, Hillary!!

I Find Myself Talking Myself Into NANOWRIMO...

... as tell others about it.

Here is an email I wrote to a friend when she asked for more info..



Picture it.

You have one month to write a novel.

The novel you have always dreamed you would write.

Who you?! You don't have time! You have kids! You have a job! (homeschooling- and maybe more... )

You have a family!

But.. who is writing novels during the month of November at NANOWIMO?
All sorts of people.. moms, students, full time employeres and homeschool moms!['

What do they do?

They write 50, 000 words in one month. You start on Nov 1. You end precisely on Nov 30. Unless you finish early. No extensions because of Thanksgiving, you have to factor that in. Tough, yes.

Hey, you probaly say 50,000 words in one day!

You can plan your plot, characters, backdrop, history etc, before. But you cant' write a word of Chapter One until November 1, 2007.

50,000 words is about the length of The Great Gatsy. But it doesn't have to be the quality. :) Well in my case it was.. picture Jay Gatsby in Stillwater, Oklahoma.. just kidding.. :)

Ok, here is my experience:

I wrote a 'novel'. gosh, it is a mess, but it all came out. Kind of like a hummm... a birth of all the things I had inside? I just started, with little planning, knowing no one would read it. When I knew that, it came out on paper. and it was so fun, and also hard, just a wondeful experience. I had my daily quota of words and had to work hard to keep it up, ran the story lines by my boys, asked about characters.... it really is true that characters take on a life of their own, but so many came from my past. My muse was loud C&W music, Joe Ely specifically. I also had lots of spirtuality in my novel and many who converted... (maybe I should try and get it published?)

And Thanksgiving.. that is right near the NANOWRIMO deadline... that was hard. We went to my parents, and I knew I should be home writing.. so I bumped up my quota before I left.. and I made it!

To actually do this, w at you do is log in to the site and you upload your word files and they have a word count that tells you if you made the word quota.

Many nanowrimo actually publish books, most don't. The whole point is to release the inner author and support each other in the journey...
Here is one NANOWRIMO friend (homeschool mom) I met who published her novel:
http://www.amazon.com/Eldala-Michelle-Gregory/dp/0615148182/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-4221941-1610802?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190388869&sr=1-1
let me know if I can help more-- I think I will try it this year!
click here for the site

Crafts/Art now on my other blog...

I think I am going to try and keep up with my artistic endevors and crafts on my other blog sHosHie and rOo Get cReatiVe.The link is on the right. Please check in there if you are interested in such stuff.

I may move it back later... I don't know... just see how it goes. :)

Mosaic Creations

I am excited about starting making mosaics. I have always seen them and thought 'I could do that', but of course never did. :0

This is cool too, because half the fun, they say, is finding the treasures. What treasure? Ceramics and china that you aquire then smash into shards and arrange on pots, stepping stone, bird houses (anything that doesn't move as one crafter friend said), put mortor on it, let dry and you have a creation.

I went to Half Price Books today and found a great step by step book on how to do this. And at Goodwill I found some neat dishes. Goodwill is still a little steep, more than garage sales, so I will have to keep hitting those. But that is fun to do, too... we have lots in our areas, especailly on Thursdays. So I will have to make sure I get out early on those days.

Biggest challenge now-- where to work. It is messy. When you smash the plates fragments can get in the carpet. Also mortor is dusty. The garage is best, but it is really hot and humid now. Maybe I could clear a space and work early mornings? I really need shelving and bins to put the materials though.. this does require some space. Well, that will come! No perfectionsim gonna happen here...

Oh, this is great for kids, too.. but make sure little ones don't do the smashing and that the edges are not sharp. Lots of ideas online for that.

I took some pictures of my finds so far. Hopefully I will soon be able to post these as they are transformed into my works of art. ;-)

More Highlights as I Google my Crafting..

Found this quote... love it!

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. - Thomas A. Edison

**********************************
Later the same day:

Well, just an addition here to say how true this bore out to be!
I am now in search of a pile of junk. Cheap junk. Let me explain...

Today I did a lot of legwork, getting the basics I need to make my mosaic pot. Went to Lowes and got all the supplies.. then to the tile department to see if they would give me some broken tile. They did, but all neutrals. Which is good for background, accents, but I am looking for color, design, etc.

Then home and thinking. I realized it may take me a while to collect enough plates and things to smash to make my mosaic. Garage sales are hit and miss. So off to the craft store to see what I could buy.

As I suspected the prices of 'mosaic tile' were kind of high. As I stood pondering, reading a mosaic idea book a lady walked up and, glancing at the book, asked if I did mosaics.

I told her I was just beginning..

She smiled and said I will soon be hooked! She has convereted the third bay of her garage to making mosaics and we talked and talked! She told me where to get great plates, how to smash them, what kind of adhesive.. everything! Then she invited me to come to her house sometime and see all she has done (she lives about 45 min away in the town of my friend).

It was like the way the world USED to be... people friendly and willing to share and help. It just made my day. There are still lots of beautiful people in the world. Sometimes I get discouraged, but then something like this happens, and I know that God's grace is working through people.

Now, as I found out from my new Mosaic Friend (MF) I DO need a pile of junk to be creative. Most especially plates. So, my next mission is to find my ceramics and china! MF told me to try thrift stores and dollar stores along with garage sales. Soon I will have buckets of pieces to choose from. And the best part is you get to SMASH them! She is really sweet.

I told MF I am blogging some of my crafting. She says she doesn't blog... she is always out in the garage making things. Maybe that will be me, soon, too... :) Well, I don't know, I still love blogging. It is a very creative release for me, too. Even if nobody is reading.

If nobody is reading, just don't tell me. I know I have my loyal friends who will comment once in a while so I don't feel too bad.. :) 0--- (no pressure, you understand...)

Switching gears.... try and keep up!
In the meantime, I bought the makings for wreath for my front door. I have some seasonal ones, fall, Easter, Christmas.. but wanted one for summer. I know I can make one-- and the ones I liked pre-made were big, bountiful and very expensive.

I love the idea of a wreath... big, circular, welcoming. Right now my door has an empty wreath hanger since Easter is over.

I knew exactly what I wanted in my summer wreath, too. This is not usual for me. But everytime I see Maria's blog and those sunflowers it makes me happy. She took that picture herself ya know... (check it out..)

It also makes me think of summer. So that is the look I am going for. If you want to have fun with your kids, plant some Giant Sunflowers one summer. They get 6 feet tall and are beautiful!

Ok, I am going to be really bloggy and post my before picture. Here are my supplies. They were all half price... yeah! We shall see about the 'after".

Faux Wood Dog Portrait- craft---!

Now doesn't this look fun!! Found it while searching for the cracked pot instructions... still looking...

Impressionism Course.. fun!

I think I found my all time favorite DVD set from the Teaching Company.
I perused my library's collection and found this.

It is called From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism.

I must admit the professor looked a bit boring when I first began to watch. But he is so passionate and knowledgeable about the subject that I was soon hooked. He uses lots of pictures, of course and I was enthralled.

We have done art study over the years, ala Cm and I am so glad I did as I felt many of the paintings were old friends. We had done some short bios, too, of the painters, just dabbling. But now with this indepth analysis-- of the painting, the painters, the times-- socially, politcally-- it was so neat!

I loved how he would discect a picture. I never really appreciated that before, but this time it was so intriguing. I found myself often wondering if the artist would agree with his analysis or just say "I just painted a picture! Lay off!" lol

But I got to where when he put up a new picture I would hit pause and look at it myself and guess what he might say. That is really what I used to do with art study when the boys were little per CM. Let them look before you ever say a thing. Let them form their own connection with the painting. It is true for adults, too.

I really see how the idea of nibbling a bit here and there at a subject, then coming back to it later on (as we have with trips to museums, etc).. and then when one is ready really delving in.. makes sense. Who said that? Cm? Others? Probably just about everybody.

The only problem is when I order from the library they can't control what part I get. So, I have watched Part 2. So I still get to watch Part 1. Yippee! I talked to the librarian today and she said I just have to call her everytime I want to order them so I get the parts in order.

I highly recommend this if you have it available. Note- there are some nudes presented so if you have dc with you, you may want to preview. But actually watching this, and seeing his commentary I see how the nude is very important in art, or at least to some artists and genres.

This is something that qualifies for making my heart sing. It must as I watched 12 lectures in 2 days.... where does all my time go? lol