Merry Chrismoose....yes, I know it's February

Every year, a couple of Ontario gals (J and I) hook up Christmas mats for a couple of BC gals and we send them on their way in the mail, hopefully to arrive before Christmas. We just do something small-ish, approximately 6-8" square. A little something to perk up the season. We wrap the two similarly, then the gals at the other end get together and choose which one they'll unwrap. So it's a surprise and you don't know who's mat you're selecting. 

We've done this for a few years now, and for some reason this year my brain kept saying "moose" to me. As in "Chrismoose". Perhaps a bit of a stretch but alas, I went with the idea in the absence of any others. 

Because of the cloak of secrecy around the reveal, I couldn't post this before now. Okay, yes, I could have posted it in January, but I just found the one photo I quickly snapped before the mat jetted off to BC. 

It's often nice to have a small project to work on pre-Christmas as you're rushing to get other things done. It's a quick, usually brainless, piece that provides a bit of joy when hooking, and hopefully also at the other end. 

Swaps are enormously fun. I've done season-by-season swaps with other groups as well, and have some magnificent small mats to show for it. I was surprised when I got out my Christmas decorations this year and realized just how many small mats I have to decorate with. They're great!

This year, there was a delay at the BC end, so the swap package has just arrived in Ontario. Not a bother for me, that just means there's something fun to do in February - who doesn't need that? I'll report in when I open my secret package. 

Merry Chrismoose.....in time for Valentine's Day! ;)

15 minutes/day for #15in2015

It's almost mid-February and I'm having a tough go at carving out time for me and for creativity. I've been frustrated by a number of things lately, and it occurred to me (finally, duh!) in the last 24 hours that I would probably be less grumpy if I found some time to create. I need that in my life, and I know that but......how often do I forget? Very frequently. 

So alas, I'm now committing myself to another part of #15in2015 and that is to spend 15 minutes a day creating. 

What does this look like?

• Time spent rug hooking, knitting, crocheting, sewing...
• walking in nature and photographing what I see 
• sketching or pushing myself to brainstorm new ideas
• just spending time in my creative nook and looking through colours, materials, inspirata 
• ???

And see, I'm making progress.....albeit slowly. I can't report a finish, but I am chipping away at getting this mermaid done.

 

So are you coming along for the ride (metaphorically, that is)? 

Fur Bears

Some time last year, I realized that my efforts to sell my mom's fur coat were going absolutely nowhere. It seems there are far fewer people wearing fur coats, let alone buying them, these days. I hear they're super warm but I personally wouldn't choose to wear one. 

I don't remember when and where I first heard that you can have bears made from a fur coat, but I found someone in my province that does exactly that. I contacted her and emailed off some photos of the fur coat, presumably to make sure that it's quality was adequate for re-use. After more discussion, I mailed off my mom's coat. 

Because I wasn't in a hurry, it was a few months before the bears were done. She was able to make three large and three smaller bears - one each for my mom's six grandchildren.

I decided to give them to the kids for Christmas. I didn't know if they'd like this particular gift, but even if they didn't I thought it was nice for them to have something that connected them all together, and that would be a memory of their loving, fun granny. 

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by their reaction - even the 20-year-old grandson was pleased with his bear! I had them randomly select their bears (except the one with the vest went to the one grandson) so that the distribution of large and small bears was fair. 

Here they are all together before Christmas!