Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Christmas atmosphere....

Even though we are packing up a house and preparing to move into another one in just 6 days, the expectancy of Christmas is still making itself known in our hearts.
Last night Mr E and I rode around Townsville on our motorbike; up and down suburban streets aglow with Christmas lights and decorations! We waved and shouted "merry Christmas!" as we passed by families and neighbours gathered on front lawns, and laughing children wrapped in red and white and waving poles of twinkling coloured lights. How could our spirits not be lifted by such a joyous sight!?

I thanked the Lord for this experience because in the rush and stress of a house move at Christmas time it's all too easy to forget that we are about to celebrate something very, very special.
Jesus, our Emmanuel, born as man.
The true gift that exceeds all others on December 25th.

So, it occurred to me that we will have one week in the new house before Christmas, and in that week we get to decorate!! \o/
Blossom is especially excited about this as the custom in our family is for her and Mr E to set up the tree together and adorn it with tinsel and sparkly balls whilst I make festive nibbles for afterwards - because when the tree is done and the night sky has come to switch off the sun, we just sit and gaze at it for hours. Rested. Contemplative. Thankful.
Christmas has begun.


I love these gift tags from Amy at Nana Company
Especially the little poinsettia...


Next year I plan to take some time each month to make a few. By Christmas 2014 I should have quite a collection for gift giving. They would be perfect for tying to jewellery pieces, don't you think?

Kristyne has a very simple tutorial for making the basic fabric gift tag HERE on her blog...

 
Here is another easy poinsettia to make. It's by Kerryanne at Shabby Art Boutique, and has that touch of class I always admire in her designs. The tutorial is HERE.
It would be perfect to decorate a gift, hung on the tree, or part of a Christmas display...


Simple craft ideas to make in the lead up to Christmas. Love them.


Have you ever heard of The Collectionary?
It's quite an interesting site, set up and overseen by the lovely Josh and Pretty...


Definition: Collectionary -
Collectionary comes from combining the words Collection and Dictionary.  

 I chatted with Josh and Pretty about their site, and thought you may like to hear more about it too!

What inspired The Collectionary into existence?

The Collectionary was created because we wanted to create a Dictionary of everything in the world that people collect.   There are hundreds of e-commerce sites, but there is no dedicated place where you can learn about different items.  Whether it's the history, facts, or unique attributes regarding a particular collectible or item, we want to give people a place to learn about the collectibles they love.  

Is your site devoted solely to Quilting?

No, the Quilting Collectionary is one out of hundreds of different Collectionaries to join.  We have expert collectors we call moderators that help us with each Collectionary to add new and cool items to the site.  In fact, we would love to have more Quilting moderators willing to help out :).

What's the takeaway for potential customers? What can they hope to gain from perusing your site?

We hope visitors to our site will enjoy browsing all the amazing collectibles ever created.  Looking at many of the nostalgic items on the site we hope it brings back many fond memories as a child or another time in your life.  We also want people to learn about Collectibles and find out where those items are for sale as we point to the different places on the internet the items are for sale.

Anything unusual worth noting about your site? How can we participate?
 
Our site would love to have more moderators helping us out.  I'm sure you will find many unusual and never before seen Quilting items here.

To see ALL the amazing Collectionaries visit our homepage HERE.

 I took time out this morning to browse through some of the pages, and couldn't get past this quilt...

Love the Aunt Grace fabrics! 


Have a lovely day, don't rush. What will be, will be. Breathe deeply and enjoy this moment. Smile and remember "you are special".
 
hugs
 Jenny






7 comments:

Lyn said...

hi Jenny, I love the tags ideas. I too should do a few each month and have them ready for 2014. Could I be that organised???? Hugs Lynette

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

We moved 2 days before Christmas once. My mother wasn't going to decorate at all. I found the tree and ornaments, and we had a tree. She was very glad afterwards, since it gave her something else to focus on besides just unpacking. The special part is family time, and remembering who's birthday it is.

margaret said...

all the best with the move and getting settled for Christmas, you have had plenty of practise over the years. Love the tags and the quilt is glorious

Jenny said...

Good luck for the move - your posts always seem to be what I need to read. Thanks Jen x

Anonymous said...

Thank you for all your articles. These tags are lovely. I hope that you get settled quickly once you move. Blessings to you and your family over this Christmas season.
Helen S.

Lida said...

Overhere it is dark around 5 oçlock in the afternoon and you can see the lights inside the houses and in the gardens and the beautiful decorations on the doors, no children in the streets in red en white it was the first night with freezing and this morning all the gras and the leaves on the ground were white! Here God makes his own X-mas sphere for all to enjoy!
Hugs
lida

Robin in New Jersey said...

YOU are special, Jenny. I love to come here and read what you have written. I always feel more peaceful after reading. :)