Snow Sighting!

This weekend, I spotted these at Molbak's Nursery.

For those of you in parts of the country currently covered in snow, It's possible that snow isn't particularly your favorite thing at the moment.  Sorry.

Where I live, snow is a novelty.  There have even been  winters without snow but we usually get a couple of inches on the ground at least once or twice during the winter and every ten years or so, we get a big storm that dumps five or six inches of the white stuff.

Rather clever, not difficult to make but probably fairly costly unless those aren't real tools.

If winter isn't your thing, you can pretend that they're giant sunbursts.

More of  Molbak's to come but that's all for now from your flaky friend.

Fused Glass Snowflakes (Again)

I like to make gifts for my co-workers and choir members.  Last year I made my first fused glass snowflakes.  I liked them and loved the idea of creating a different flake each year.  Having decided to make different flakes for this season, and having a year to accomplish the task, they didn't get made until a week before Christmas. O.K. next year year will be different!  (right.)   This year I made about 60 of these using a pattern created by Lani Neil who sells her flakes here.  I love cutting glass so that part was a delight.  Making sure that all of these diamonds are evenly spaced is another story.  Here they are on newspaper as the glue dries on the bails.  (Too lazy to futz with wire.)

Fortunately, the pattern can be printed on kiln shelf paper with a regular printer which makes it much easier.  Lani's patterns, pre-printed on shelf paper along with a glass cutting guide are available at Mandarin Stained Glass.

Being lazy, I made my own diamond grids.  Having done this with a ruler and pencil before, I was delighted to find how much easier it was to do on the computer!

Found these fun hooks to finish them off.  Fun!

Did you make or grow any of your gifts this year? 

How Tacomans Know it's December

A few years ago, something caused the S in Tacoma Self Storage's neon sign to stop glowing in December.  The owners have decided to make it a tradition and now this lighted sign that can be seen from the freeway coming into or out of town changes to Tacoma Elf Storage during December.   Interesting as one would think this would be the busy season for elves, not a time to store them away but what do I know?

 

Here's a much better picture than mine and a humorous take on Tacoma Elf Storage. http://www.theviewfromrighthere.com/blog/?p=5642


You can also tell it's close to Christmas when glass fusers are busy making gorgeous glass snowflakes like these by Sandy Rose, a wonderful glass crafter.

Sandy took a fused snowflake class at Mandarin Stained Glass and came up with these fabulous color combinations that look wonderful on Lani Neil's designs!

Where's the Snow?

In the Pacific Northwest, we've had a week of dry cold with another on the way.  The frost has been lovely but I would love to see a few inches of snow just for fun.  I'm getting so tired of waiting that I'll just make some snow of my own!  If you want to join me, here's what to do.  Find some glass in your basement, cut out some shapes and throw them together on a kiln shelf.

Heat the kiln to about 1425 degrees F. and voila - snowflakes. (Glass fusing is the new macrame/stoneware throwing/slip cast painting. If you can bake cookies, you can fuse glass) 

Now go outside and pretend that they're falling from that sunny sky.  I think they're sticking to the tops of cars.

That first snowfall on the ornamental grasses always makes one wonder if they'll remain standing or topple over under the weight of the snow.

When enough snow falls, the landscape looks like this, they close schools and I get to sleep in. See why I like snow?

"Winter" by my pal Florence Welborn hangs in my front window. 

Nadezda and Satu's Christmas Challenge and Rosemary's Liebster Blog Award

A few days ago,  Nadezda  and Satu challenged me to answer four Christmas questions  and Rosemary  nominated me for a Liebster blog award.  The Liebster blog award requires that I say 11 random things about myself and nominate 11 other bloggers with under 200 followers to do the same.  Thank you  for thinking of me in this way.  I will try to answer Nadezda and Satu's questions in a way that will allow 11 random things about me become obvious. 

1.  What is my favorite flower at Christmas?  Poinsettias are wonderful but I think my favorite flower at Christmas is red and white roses.  I know that they're out of season but they fit with a lot of Christmas legend like the German Maria durch ein dornwald ging, which tells of Mary walking through a thorny wood that had not had a leaf in years.  When the thorns realize what Mary is carrying "unter ihrem hertz" (under her heart) the thorns begin to bear roses.  Then there's one of my favorite hymns, "Lo, How a rose e'er blooming" and of course Jesu Bambino by Pieto Yon - "Twas born the child, the christmas rose."  Probably doesn't hurt that we celebrate our anniversary on Dec. 21st and our song is a setting of the Robert Burns poem O my luve's like a red, red rose.

 2.  What preparation for the holiday do I never miss?  Making these huge snowflakes to hang in the sunroom of the school where I work.  Of course there's shopping which is mostly done on line now and I don't do much cooking for the day as we go to my sister's house (not the one in Alaska or the one in Vermont/Florida but the one who lives here in Washington) for our Christmas meal.  I often don't do much decorating at our house anymore  but I love doing the snowflakes and there are windows big enough for them at school so each year I get the scissors out and...

 3.  What is the scent of Christmas for me?   Cedar, pine, spruce, juniper greens just brought inside.  The smell of oranges, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves emanating from a kettle of hot spiced cider.  Incense at midnight mass.

4.  Which song makes my Christmas?   Oh so many... the Christmas part of   Messiah  by G.F. Handel,

 "O Joyful Children" is pretty sweet. 

 I also love "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."

One of my new favorites is written by Brendan Lord and is called "Nativity"  This isn't the best recording but it is one of only two on youtube.  The words are pretty spectacular though.

Imagine holding the child of God within like Mary.

And in holding the child of God, holding God.

How would it feel to hold the child of God so close to your heart?

How would it feel?

Do not imagine for it is real!

We are all children of God.
We are all heirs like Jesus.
The spirit of God lives in our hearts.

So on this most holy Christmas night and always,

Let the light of Christ that is within shine as brightly as the star over Bethlehem.
As God’s only child burst forth from Mary’s womb,
Let us celebrate this gift within ourselves
As we celebrate the birth of the child.

All I want for Christmas (is to give my love away.)

And to wash it all down, the 12 Daze of Christmas.

 Of course there are the classics like -

and -



Here's a great reworking of two rose songs, "The Rose" and "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming."

 Hugo Distler's setting of "Lo How a Rose"  always gives me a thrill!

  
Here's another random thing about me:  I'm not savvy enough to figure out who on my blog roll (you know that long list of blogs I read over on the right of this) has less than 200 followers  and I LOVE all of those blogs.  So I'm nominating all of you for a Libster Blog Award! 

 I know you'll be honest because Santa's watching and will bring you a lump of coal if you claim this award and have more than 200 followers!  To claim the award, you will have to share 11 random things about yourself.  Things like when you started your hobby of collecting belly button lint, your favorite craft utilizing dryer lint, and how often you trim your nose hair.

Thanks again Rosemary, Satu, and Nadezda for the challenge.  P.S.  I can't believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away - YIKES!