Christmas Countdown Characters #16

P is for Pollyanna

Yes - today the Christmas celebrity is that beloved happy girl from Eleanor H Porter's classic children's book. Now I know you are all wondering if there were any Pollyanna Christmas stories? No there weren't any specific Christmas stories, but I just want to remind you of the reason for Pollyanna's being was making others happy and seeing the good in everything. In the original stories and all the sequels, Pollyanna was renowned for her optimistic "Glad Game" where you were challenged to find the positive in any situation. I remember that I admired Pollyanna for being "glad" about whatever gift she was given. When she received crutches in a gift exchange, instead of a doll, and she learnt that she should be glad about the gift, because she did not need them! I also remember that although I thought Pollyanna was very virtuous, I hoped desperately that I was never given crutches when I didn't need them!
Now to the real reason for the choice of Pollyanna today - I am sure this " glad game" approach gave rise to the practice of gift exchange which in some parts of USA is called a "Pollyanna". The practice named after today's heroine is probably better known in other parts of the world as Secret Santa or Kris Kringle or even the White Elephant Gift Swap.

It’s a way to give gifts, as you say, to other members of a group, such as fellow workers in an office, other members of a club, or within a large family. The formal term at one time was Pollyanna gift exchange, which turns up a lot in newspapers from about 1947 on. . The idea is to limit present giving by ensuring that each person gives one gift to one other person in the group; often a ceiling is placed on the amount that can be spent on each gift. In some cases, each person provides a gift already wrapped so nobody knows what it is; the potential recipients draw lots to decide who gets which gift. Or people draw lots to determine who buys a gift for whom; sometimes recipients are asked to guess who bought it for them. Both the giver and the receiver may be called the Pollyanna. (from http://www.worldwidewords.org)

I was amused to read a blog written by someone obviously disgruntled with Pollyanna and Secret Santa gift exchanges in the past and wanted to be sure some formalised 'Pollyanna" etiquette be established to ensure no future disappointments.
Not quite in the spirit of the Pollyanna but then again Pollyanna was about making everyone happy!

I have to admit that on occasions I have been disappointed in what I received in gift exchanges, and at other times, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of the gift giver. I guess the lesson to learn from Pollyanna is that whatever your gift is, be positive and happy - enjoy the giving and stress less about the gift itself!

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage? I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results.... Here are Peggy's rules : 1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from collage box/stash 2. Make three different compositions using each scrap at least once. (some pieces can be used more than once) 3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way. 4.Do not use glue. 5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box. I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags.... Did you spot the nine pieces? Would you like to suggest some titles? And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items. Hope you will try this exercise - it is lots of...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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