The Season Has Begun

The weather was pretty wet today so the Santa Claus Parade was postponed until tomorrow. The news was announced over the loud speaker on the firetruck as it toured through town in true town crier fashion. It's little things like this that really make me love my small town.

I might have mentioned that for us the holiday season doesn't start until the day of the Santa Claus Parade. This year it was November 24. Today. I guess I wasn't specific enough about the rule. I must have said the 24th and not the Santa Claus Parade because even though the parade isn't until tomorrow, our house is now under the Christmas spell. Christmas carols, Christmas movies and tumblers full of eggnog. I knew it was coming but I'm not sure I was ready.

And because this blog is supposed to be about things I make I should mention that I did the window display in the picture. It was only possible because I had a lot of help from a special someone who can build like nobody's business, no matter what I seem to put in the sketch. It also helps that Jenny Jib has the best selection of goodies to fit into all those cubbies.

The Genius of Jack Frost

Not only is Jack Frost a speedy worker, covering entire counties with bits of lacy frost in a single evening, the quality of his work is legendary.

Our Christmas Rule

I don't think the girls would agree that it's our Christmas rule. They would say it's my Christmas rule and they're right. I'm the creator and enforcer and by typing "Christmas" in the title, I'm also the rule breaker. Our rule is that until the town holds their annual Christmas parade at the end of November we don't talk about Christmas. We don't sing Christmas songs, listen to Christmas music, watch Christmas movies or decorate until then. But once that day hits it seems to be nothing but Christmas. I like it that way. Christmas is a lot of fun but it's also a lot of work and it can be overwhelming at times. One solid month for one holiday is plenty of celebrating for me.

I have one exception to the rule. It's Christmas cards. If you take mailing time into account it's almost necessary to think about this one piece of the holiday a little bit early. This is the one time of year that the good mail showing up in mailboxes across the country far outweighs the bad and, for me at least, checking the mail becomes an obsession. We make the daily trek downtown to get the mail. We bring our treasures home, punch holes in the cards and add them to the card string. I know everyone has their own way of displaying Christmas cards. Ours is the card string and Christmas just wouldn't be the same without it.

Even more than getting cards, I love to be a contributer to the extra burden the postal workers have to bear. Every year I design a holiday card and send it out to family and friends. I print a few extra and the following year I put them up for sale. Last year I sent out the Sugar Plum Fairy cards and now I've just put them in the shop for this year's holiday season. I'm selling them as singles or in packs of five. I'll also be selling them on December 1 at the Lunenburg Holiday Artists' Market at the Lunenburg Cultural Centre. 

Last year I also decided that it would be great to send a holiday card to anyone who was interested in beefing up their mailbox in December. If you haven't signed up to get this year's holiday card yet, you have until November 30. You can still sign up after that, you'll just be on the list for next year's card.

May your mailboxes be stuffed this holiday season.

Fog and Dew

A free summer Sunday.
No schedule.
Lots of fog.
My camera.
And just the right amount of dew.

The Firehouse

There was a lot of swimming, a lot of boat gazing, a lot of days spent at the exhibition and a lot of day tripping this summer but there was also a lot of printing. I'm going to start injecting a little bit of work into the summer tribute.

First up, The Firehouse Open House. Will Brooks and Cheryl Lamerson commissioned the most beautiful coach house to keep and display their antique firefighting collection. They celebrated its completion with an open house for friends and family and they asked me to design a special invitation. It was a lot of fun to do a caricature of one of the antique firetrucks with a hint of the building in the background. It was also a lot of fun to print. There's something really special about small print runs.

The full write up for this project is in the portfolio under events.