So long 2011 ~ hello 2012!

2011 has been a tough one and I am very happy to say adieu to it. 2012 is here and I look forward to it with hope in my heart that it will be a better one.

Irene, my mother-in-law in her younger days ~ she passed away in March at age 81

January means that I start my hunt for unique 2nd hand or handmade gifts ~ Christmas is only 12 months away. Antique malls, garage sales, flea markets, craft sales and the ReUse Centre are all potential locations to find such gems. Finding treasures for my friends and loved ones is such fun!

I am also hopeful that I will get more art done in the months ahead. I have a wing-back chair which is primed and ready to paint. Now all I need is some inspiration to get down to painting another fine art chair!

What great plans do you have in your head and in your heart for 2012?

It's a major award!

Took a little trip down the road to visit our friends the other day. They have been madly renovating their kitchen (and it is looking awesome, by the way). But with renos comes chaos. So Zach and I decided to present them with a couple Christmas gifts a little bit early to help them forget all the mess and confusion that has been their lives lately. (I should have taken a photo of their "fridge" in their backyard and their camp stove in their kitchen). These guys have been really been roughing it for quite a while now. One of the gifties we presented them with was an amazing action figure. And if you're a fan of A Christmas Story, you'll remember The Old Man and his "major award". Well that's what we gave them. They loved it, and they thanked us profusely for bringing Christmas to them. Now they're starting to talk about getting a Christmas tree put up ~ once their 400 lb. gas stove isn't sitting in the living room anymore!

Old Lady Christmas Shopping

She gathers up her meager Christmas gifts

And stows them safely in her shopping bag,

She mumbles to herself and nods her head,

Pulls off a little tell-tale bargain tag,

Counts off the items on a pencilled slip,

Enjoying to the full her shopping trip.

For one she buys a tiny beaded purse

And someone gets a hankie frail and sheer,

A little favourite nephew gets a book

Where knights in armour and a cavalier

Ride out to battle clad in bright array,

In all the trappings of a by-gone day.

She looks at crystal with a longing eye,

Gloats over china of a loved design,

Holds up a figurine with cautious hands,

Buys Christmas wrappings and a spool of twine,

Gets a stuffed dog with little scarlet paws

A tiny reindeer and a Santa Claus.

For one short season of the age-long year

She lets her generous heart hold happy sway,

Buying her little gifts with careful hands,

To match the joyful spirit of the day,

Denying her own need that she might share

The love that is like music in the air.

~ Edna Jaques

Simplify ...

It is the brainchild of my 19 old son ...

a Facebook group called

Don't-Buy-Junk-You-Don't-Need-Or-Receive-Useless-Junk-Christmas

He writes:
Okay, I had this idea. I think that Christmas has become excessively materialistic. But, what if we don't buy any presents this year? What if all our gifts are homemade and second hand? What if the only gifts we will receive are homemade? Let's not buy anything more than usual this Christmas, and see it as a holiday to spend time with family.

I have hand-crafted some Christmas gifts for many years.

This year, however, I am going to try to exclusively participate in the
Don't-Buy-Junk-You-Don't-Need-Or-Receive-Useless-Junk-Christmas

by creating handmade gifts and buying from garage sales, ReUse Centre and 2nd hand stores.

I will make one exception shopping in the ethnic food aisle of my grocery store
to find a few goodies for the ever-hungry college students on my list!

So I will simplify ~ use my creative DIM (Do it Myself) skills and
save a few bucks at the same time.
This should be fun!