Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

 A few years ago, I began scheduling into my day, the routine of a daily art practice.... seven years later, I still love #the100dayproject and am a strong advocate of "create something, anything, every day" .  In more recent years, I haven't been content with a mere 100 days and have often pursued shorter /or longer projects requiring some daily attention. For example, I completed 145 days of slow stitching my garden and then another 60 day random cross stitch garden.... but that's a digression....  This month, I am being far more practical... I still like to send and give Christmas cards, but am always getting them in the post very late, and trying to make some  special unique cards  for the family the night before.... so all this month, I am making Christmas cards - just one a day. By 30 November, I should have some to choose from for posting within Australia and for giving in December.  Here are my first 4 days ....  If you're wondering why bother ...

  Over the last few years, I have created an "advent" regime of creating something with a Christmas theme in the month of December - sometimes, it's been drawing, tags, cards or sharing photos . The themes have been Christmas Tags,   Christmas Firsts , Christmas \postage stamps, Christmas cake, and crazy Christmas trees from the past.  You can search this blog with the tag #christmas countdown and see what you can find ?  My mother used to love the #Christmas Countdown series  and it is now almost a year since she passed away. The "lead -in" to Christmas and origami were a couple of her favourite things, so this year, 2023, my December goal is to make a paper folded Christmas tree ornament each day n her memory.  1 December, 2023 : To start with, I chose the simplest little pinwheel and added a button and a star.  2 December, 2023 :  This folded shape starts with a pinwheel, so it seemed the logical follow on. And I also stitched on a button and s...

  "Santa Claus" dotee dolls - Wilma Simmons   No, not me! I hope every year that I will be ready by 1 December, with no rushing about during the festive season... it doesn't happen..  However this year, I am happy to have met some Christmas deadlines... For my doll makers group, Gumnut Dollies, Newcastle I made some dotee dolls for  decorating the  charity Christmas Tree. What is a dotee doll, I hear you ask... here is an explanation from another earlier blog post , Dotee Divertissement.  Yesterday, I sold some of my  handmade Christmas decorations at the Hunter Art Bazaar - a Christmas market held in a beautiful park, Lambton Park , near my home.  I had been working on these and my crocheted birds while watching TV  during the year - the photo shows a variety of  stitched and beaded decorations.   I was also touched that I was asked to make some Christmas dolls with a multicultural look... I must admit this made me thin...

  The current theme at Tag Tuesday is "Christmas in July" - .enthusiastically celebrated here in Australia, but I wondered if there was more to it than just a reason to celebrate in Winter in the Southern Hemisphere . Here is some information I came across.  from  Trivia Hub Live   1. Christmas in July is usually recognized as occurring on July 25th. 2. The first mention of Christmas in July dates back to a French opera in 1892 that mentions “When you sing Christmas in July, you rush the season.” The term “Christmas in July” originated with the 1940 movie “ Christmas in July ” which follows a man who buys gifts for his family during the summer. The official celebration of the pseudo-holiday is believed to more formally begin in 1944 when the U.S. Post Office and American greeting card companies launched a Christmas in July campaign to encourage the early mailing of cards to overseas soldiers. In the Southern Hemisphere, seasons are in revers...

 Most years, I decorate a huge Christmas tree with hundreds of ornaments and sparkles, but this year our tree is so different .... it is a small jade tree in a pot, decorated in soft colours .  The  little tree is  from a second generation cutting from my grandmother's jade tree, brought from Hong Kong, or so the family story claims. The baubles are frosted glass with our grandchildren's names on them, made by my daughter-in-law.  I added a few little dolls also in pastels and  I hung some felted balls .  These little balls were made in Nepal, a couple of  years ago at  Seven Women , a centre  which empowers marginalised Nepalese women through education and employment.  There is a single wooden star resting on the top branch  of the tree.  Somehow all this seemed appropriate with the unsettled and disturbing situation  of the fast spreading  Omicron variant of Covid -19  here in Newcastle ( NSW)  - thes...

 

  A few days ago, I read an opinion piece about the absurdity of portraying a white Christmas  with carols about snow related activities in Australia. I thought that it was worth checking if any of our postage stamps have an Australian theme - happily there are quite a few - surfing Santas, Madonna and Child amongst Australian wildflowers and this one - drawn by Kylie Courtney aged 6 in 1988. This koala in a Santa hat looks rather content to be celebrating in the bush on a sunny summery day.  On this card, I have stitched a paper collage to hint of the bush where koalas may celebrate Christmas happily.  

  I am all for recycling, so here is a card that next year the recipient can reuse ... just remove the decorated "tag" and use it as a gift tag  next Christmas!  This is a stitched fabric tag featuring a Christmas postage stamp issued in Australia in 2008.  The stamps from 2008 are amongst my favourites.  And very special Christmas wishes to  the  Tag Tuesday   team and  followers ..... 

 Another of the vintage Christmas stamps - 1966 - is featured on this collaged card . It was the first Christmas stamp issued with a decimal value . Do you remember when it was only 4 cents to post a card?  The non-representational angel is an image from a  rubber stamp, impressed onto fabric  and then hand coloured with marker pen. I chose this image to complement the Nativity scene depicted on the postage stamp. 

 Today's card celebrates a Summer Christmas, inspired by frangipani . The stamp is a vintage one and  one of the many I have of this issue. I like it because of its stained glass window look and the unusual Christmas colour of magenta. There were such brightly coloured stamps that year. 

  For a change today , this collaged card features a Christmas stamp from Great Britain.  The collge is created from commercial papers  The postage stamp refers to Verse 2.10 from the Gospel of St Luke...    But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.     Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

 Last year,  both the secular and religious postage stamps for Christmas featured Australian flora - quite a lovely change from traditional images.  Today's card is a stitched and coloured pencil rendition of NSW Christmas Bush to reflect the theme of the native flowers on the stamp.  Here is the 2020 Christmas issue : 

 One of the more popular images on postage stamps is the Adoration of the Magi ( or more commonly known as The Three Wise Men) . On today's card, a 1998 Christmas stamp is featured on a stitched paper collage .  Here are some of the many  other stamps  telling the story of the Magi .... 

Card #16 is a paper and cloth collage. Most of the papers are gel plate printed.  The featured stamp is Australian issued in 2012 as part of the Christmas series.  Hope you have already done your Christmas posting - it is almost too late....   

  Today's card is an abstract landscape collage, picking up the colours in this bright Christmas stamp from 2009. Both of the stamps with religious connotations, from this year are very colourful and have a contemporary feel to them.   

Featuring an Australian Christmas stamp, issued in 2008 , today's card is a mixed media collage - a commercially printed paper and a painted digital print.  This stamp designed by Melinda Coombes, is one of a series, which Australia releases for Christmas each year. Each series is recent times has  usually depicted both the religious and secular aspects of Christmas .  This 2008 series of postage stamps is amongst my favourites.  

  It's time for Christmas gnomes :  What is the story behind Christmas gnomes? They originated out of Scandinavian folklore and were “house gnomes” who lived in or under the house. They would protect the children and animals from evil or misfortune.   A nisse ( Norwegian) ,  tomte (Swedish) , tomtenisse, or tonttu (Finnish:  is a mythological creature from Nordic folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season.  On today's card he is surrounded by Christmas gifts in the form of a Christmas stamp  (Australia 2017) 

 Card #11 features an Australian Christmas Stamp issued in 1969 - with  the contemporary colours of green and  magenta echoed in  stitched flowers and vegetation.  In 1969, besides this stamp with an image of Mother and Child in a stained glass window, a more abstract design was also issued with references to the Tree of Life.  And if you missed the first 9, here they are.