Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

M is for Magi ..  While children here are waiting excitedly for Santa Claus to arrive on Christmas Eve with presents, some children will expect gifts from the Magi,   probably better known as the three wise men or the three kings.  The word 'magi'  (magus)  is an ancient word referring  to practitioners of  astrology, alchemy and other esoteric knowledge. The most current use of the word is applied to the men who according to the gospel of Matthew visited the baby Jesus soon after his birth. Most of the details  about the Magi are in an earlier post, featuring Caspar, one of the Magi. -  Christmas Countdown Characters #3 , so in this post, I will focus on the Hispanic tradition of "Dia de Reyes" (Day of the Kings)  which honours these Christmas icons.  Twelve days after Christmas, the Epiphany, is called Three Kings Day which is celebrated in  Latin America, Spain, and in Hispanic communities of the United States .Traditi...

Art Tag 2012 - Wilma Simmons January 20 is Penguin Awareness Day - a great opportunity to learn about and appreciate one of the few natives of Antarctica. Spend a little time learning about them.... a pictorial book or internet site is fun. Perhaps watch a documentary of these cute and popular, grounded birds?  Today is  also a time to wear black and white---penguin colours. However, wearing a tuxedo in their honour is optional. It is also popular today to tell a penguin joke or two, but  I think it is worthwhile considering what wisdom can penguins impart to us?  1. EMBRACE CHANGE While gradual change is easier to process, sometimes change comes suddenly and unexpectedly. Instead of shedding feathers here and there, penguins molt all at once and must stay on land for two to three weeks as their new coat grows in. If life brings you sudden change, embrace it, give yourself time to process, and get ready to return to life renewed and restored. 2. B...

Today,  January 13, is Make Your Dream Come True Day  It gives you the opportunity to do something to realize your goals and dreams. Whatever your dreams are, they usually don't come true without some effort on your part. So, today is the perfect opportunity to do something about it. On this day do something, anything, to move in the direction of achieving your dreams  I am a great believer in self talk, so here is some that I am happy to share with you.  Here are ten easy suggested steps to making dreams come true   1. What's your dream? This is honestly the trickiest step. Don't complicate it..... Start with the easy stuff. 2. Decide and believe. Many of us will pick a delicious dream for ourselves and then immediately start pecking furiously at the edges with a list of ways it can't, won't, or shouldn't work out for us. Stop that! 3. Release fear. This next step isn't a one-time event. It's probably something you're going to ...

I love this   - my daughter has this poster on the kitchen wall  in her home ... Family Rules  - Say Please and Thank you, Be Happy, Pay with hugs and kisses, Laugh out loud, Think of others before yourself, Do your best, Respect one another, Hug often, Listen to your parents, Say I Love You, Laugh at Yourself.

  “Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. Not in what they say. Just in what they are.”  ―  Markus Zusak ,  I am the Messenger Image : Collage Tag for Tag Tuesday, Theme - Italy. 

"Wise Words Wednesday" is a new idea for my blog... I will still be posting my regular updates about my art work, but this will be a little extra post now and then.  I have been collecting wise sayings for a few years and wondered why I haven't shared them. Many of them have been included on wooden tags on my message stick dolls, but most of them are just written in a notebook. Here are today's wise words featured on this message stick doll, designed for Christmas. ' “Peace is always beautiful.”  ―  Walt Whitman ,  Leaves of Grass      tags:  peace ,  poetry Read more quotes from  Walt Whitman   (from www.goodreads.com)