Snow, Chaos & Christmas!

 It's been awhile since we've had a white Christmas. That might surprise you since we live in Colorado, but we're just outside the foothills where the prairie begins.  We have to drive for about an hour (due west) to experience John Denver's, "Rocky Mountain High"!  And when it snows, Colorado is so sunny, it usually melts the next day.  So, this was a really wonderful treat for Christmas.  It snowed & snowed & it was really, really cold.  Outside was beauty & bliss - inside, well that's another story!

 

 I did a little googling of "creativity" & "chaos" & found quite a bit of scientific, as well as philosophical articles.  Aaaak!  Too many Christmas cookies to focus clearly, but here's my favorite:

“You must have chaos within you

to give birth to a dancing star.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche 

  

Yeah, well, I'm not really sure about that - you be the judge!

I began with Pink Chalk Studio's Countdown to Christmas tutorials!!!  Oh, my - snowy bliss outside & creative bliss inside!! 

I absolutely fell in LOVE with Day 9 Home for the Holidays by Retro Mama

This is Retro Mama's original design (blue roof).  The tutorial was excellent - lots of photos - easy to follow.  The pdf templates were great. 

But, of course, I needed to add my own touch!  Some curtains in the window, a bit of hand embroidered flowers, etc.  Did I mention I LOVE Ric-Rac??  Best invention ever!

After I showed them to friends, they said:  Wouldn't it be great if they had a little pocket on the back - you know, to hold things?!  Like a lavender sachet or a little note ....

Ten hours & LOTS of cookies later, I did it!  That probably wasn't the best combination for productive thought, but it's Christmas!! 

I also added a little fiberfill stuffing to the chimney for support. 

These are SO addictive!  I found even MORE buttons -snowmen & moose & trees & little hearts for doorknobs ... 

I really liked "fussy cutting" Santa & reindeer for a fun rooftop  (bottom right).   

So, there they are - my DANCING STARS!!  Now, I better dance on over to my sewing room & get that chaos mess cleaned up! 

Hope you had a wonderfully-creative Christmas, too!  Faith.

P.S.  My favorite Christmas song that always makes me feel grateful for living in this wonderful place:  Colorado Christmas, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Fun with DOTS!!

Today, it's all about DOTS; polka dots.  I love them.  In all forms.  Once they catch your eye, you see them everywhere - falling from the sky (snowflakes are really snowdots when you don't have your glasses on) - tangerines on a lime-green plate - blurry lights on a Christmas Tree (again, better with glasses off).  Buttons are really useful dots.  But, of course, I love fabric dots the most. Like I said, they've been everywhere lately:

The fabric on the right is from a very sweet collection by Holly Holderman (LakeHouse Drygoods).  The flannel fabrics on the left will become a scarf, perhaps with scalloped edges  (half-dots) & yo-yo's (gathered dots) - gives me chills just thinking about it!  The cups came from a local thrift store that a good friend introduced me to - New Horizons. 

New Horizons recycles everything they can & what isn't fit for sale still goes to GOOD USE!!  And, that kind of completes the circle DOT!  Faith.

P.S.  If you still haven't heard enough about polka dots, see this:  Polka Dot Origin  As for me, I think it's time to get out of the house & go play in the snowdots :)