Just Another Day in December

Here it is December 4 and I have  decided that I am going to work on Christmas presents today. Although I have many other things to do, I am going to take advantage of the fact that I am alone and do not have to go anywhere. It snowed yesterday and I feel like it is a snuggle in day.

I am going to put on Christmas music and work on making  hand made journals for everyone in my family. I think I have a bout 30 to make and it will keep me very busy all day and I know I wil not get them all done. I want to look up old pictures of  everyone and put them on the individual covers.  I  will also cut up old leather coats to use as binding for the covers to make them look a little more rich looking.  

As I look through the old pictures, it leaves me sad for sure because I realize that nothing in life stays the same. Mom used to say " we are here today and gone tomorrow" and how true it is as I look at this picture of her standing in front of  her Christmas tree. She so loved Christmas and enjoyed  wrapping and making each person's presents special. She took pride in her tree and had all the family over on Christmas Eve after we all went to church.  We would all have a big lunch of meat pie and white sugar cookies. Of course there was her fruit cake but I never could understand why the others all liked it with all those raisens and peel fruit. 

 After eating, we would open the gifts which took forever because each family brought over their gifts for everyone else. We were about 20 when we were all together.Then Mom brought out the Christmas stockings for her own  children. She had 8 of us and went through alot of trouble... along with Santa of course to fill them with little treats and treasures.

The years  have passed and both Mommy and Daddy are gone as well as my two brothers Hurd and Royden. I guess all this is to say that we have to make the most of today in all of our lives because life is so fragile and tomorrow is promised to no one. I will try and make this Christmas special for my daughter who will be home for such a short time from University. Since I still live on Mommy and Daddy's land right next to where our house was, I will continue the tradition and have all my family over on Christmas Eve after mass.. and yes I will have meat pies and white sugar cookies.. but sorry  no fruit cake!!!

A Thank You is Always Nice

 Like many of you, I have a shop on Etsy where I sell some of the things that I make. I started it last October and it has become a wonderful place which provides me with a reason to make things. I was blessed or maybe cursed with a very vivid imagination and as a child I was looked upon as being very different from the other 7 brothers and sisters.  I would spend my time drawing, writing  and sticking picture cutouts in a copy that I proudly carried around everywhere with me. I learned how to knit very young and used to sneak in the back kitchen to try and sew on an old Singer pedal sewing machine.  I was happy in my own little world of creativity.

 Today as a  very grown up girl (53), I am still happiest when I can find the time to  slip away into my craft area and knit, sew, paint, write and imagine all the things that I could make if I only had time ( see I work full time at a very stressful job). Sometimes I think I am a little crazy because I love making dolls, cats and little critters. Each one of them is special to me and I treat them as if they are a real little soul.

A few weeks ago, I sold one of my cats with her baby to an Etsy buyer and tonight I received a message from her that almost brought tears to my eyes.  Hey, maybe I am not crazy after all  if I can bring a smile to another  person so far away.

Message....

Hi, Maggie! We are going to have two extra guests at our dinner on Thanksgiving- along with myself, my husband Joe and our 10 cats at the "children's table", we are inviting our new mama and her baby kitten.They have brought such joy and laughter and reminders of rescues that they belong here in our home.I will never part from them-and since my beloved cats are getting old and their passing will be an unbelievable pain-but my mom and kitten will always be with us. I am getting emotional...I know that I will be adding another of your fuzzies to my gang.A few remind me of certain special kitties in my life...Happy Thanksgiving to a new and dear friend-from all of us here in Chicago.It's cold! Need some more warmth around me at night...we have to stay in touch....Luv, Donna and my cast and crew!

Another Girl

I couldn't help myself and so I  knitted another little doll. I guess I am like a bad kid  playing dressup with dolls that I make myself. I  love mixing the colours and the different yarns to see what she will turn out like.  Even though they are small, they still take about 5 to 6  hours to make and all the while I am imagining her completed.

 The say that when you grow up, you  must put your childhood toys away. Well for me at this time in my life, I have taken my toys back down and am enjoying the playtime once again.  Life is serious for us grownups as we face many challenges and responsabilities. From the time we leave our parents house, we are confronted with a lot of choices and  then we settle down and bring up our own children.  That stage of life is fast paced and we juggle many different obstacles. There is little time for play except if it is with your children and then all of a sudden they are gone. You are left with the void of  their needing you for the everyday things. That's when you look around and find yourself  alone and you turn to your long forgotten toys.

 Don't get me wrong, my daughter is still my main focus even though she is away at University. I talk to her everyday and am always there for her no matter what her latest crises might be, like losing her bank card and not having any money on her.  Not much I can do with her ten hours away, but I am here and  I try to help her figure out how to get out of her  dilemena.

 But in the quiet hours at the end of the day, there is time to imagine and play a little before bed. There is still a time to be that little girl again and play with all the bright colours and imagine a world where life is about having fun. It is a chance to create a little time for me.

Halloween at my House

Well Halloween has come and gone and once again it was a lot of fun. It was also a lot of work. I like to tell stories and so I have been doing the story telling on Halloween night for many years now because I like to give more than just a bag of treats.

Willamina is the witch that comes to my house every year with her gang of goblins I suppose you could call them. Usually she is a bad witch but this year I wanted her to be a good witch so I made her out of a sheet of plywood and painted her. Her friends are made of pillows and broomsticks and odds and ends that I have collected over the years. My friend Pierre has been with me for three years now and although he helps me with all the decorating, I am sure that he thinks I am a little crazy.

One of the nicest visitors I had this year was a young woman who brought in her little girl. She had come to my house many times as a child herself and was now bringing her own child. That definitely made feel better about all the work that I put into it and the reason as to why I do it.

Children are the reason why we do so many things and although we are all grown up, I think that we all remain childlike inside. That is why we must take the time to do the little things and have as much innocent fun as possible. My Mom was 82 when she died and one of the nicest things that she left us was her openess and desire to do the little extra things to make people laugh and have fun. For many years she would dress up for Halloween and sneak over to my house pretending to be a bigger child; yes she was short and could get away with it. Many times I did not know her and we both would laughed at her fun. I still miss her as you can see.

So here are some of the highlights of Halloween 2009. Too bad that you missed the witches brew and muffins!

Little girls are made of Sugar and Spice

Tonight I am working on another little knitted doll. I don't have a pattern and that makes it even more fun. To tell you the truth, I hate patterns. It makes everything seem so complicated and it means that I have to watch every row and even sometimes every stitch that I am knitting.

Life is too short to be complicated. Also my day job provides me with enough stress , I do not need to add more to figure out how to knit three, purl two, yarn over, drop one stitch oh no , I wasn't suppose to drop a stitch and it goes from there.

So these little girls are knit instruction free and they even make me smile. I have baskets and baskets of yarn here in my office at home and it is fun to choose the colour her sweater should be and what hat will go with it. To tell you the truth, I think I have an addiction to yarn as I have it hidden everywhere. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever have the time to knit it all.

Oh well I plan on living until I am 95, so maybe. My great Aunt Mary just passed away last week and she was 98, so maybe I will follow her path. She was a seamstress and kept busy well up into her nineties. She was special and I always admired her.

So here are a few of my girls for you to look at. I find that they remind me of my daughter Erin when she was fourteen and had developed her teen age attitude.

Slippers made to make you feel good

I recently learned how to knit and felt wool and I am now addicted. At first I was buying wool from my local craft shop (I will definitely buy from her again because she is such a nice person) but I have found an online place that has the most beautiful selection of colours and blends. I know it is bad for my knitting addiction but what is a girl to do?

Now that fall is here and I have starting lighting my wood stove, well I am busy busy busy knitting and using all the many different colours together. What fun!

I found a pattern for slippers and have made some minor changes to the pattern because it is important to be creative as well in this line of work!!! This is a few of the many pairs that I have knit. They are so thick and cozy and I know that they will last a long time because the fibres are matted tightly together after their hot water washing.

I plan on knitting other things as well but I will tell you about that on another day. You can find my items on my Etsy shop at http://maggiesraggedyinn.etsy.com

Hope that life will bring you many creative pursuits,

Mary!

A Rainy Fall Day

Hi everyone,

A million sorries for not keeping this blog alive, but I have been unbelievably busy with my day job. Here it is fall again and I plan on slowly getting back into it. I finally got high speed so it will make a big difference in keeping it up to date.

Over the summer I did some house renovations which meant I was in a total mess and my craft room was emptied. I am still trying to find my things as I get back into making stuff. I will post pictures next time. I plan on renovating and insulating a small outside shed for the winter as I need space. Don't we all!!!

I am waiting on a big order from KnitPicks. I am hooked on felting wool. I made several pair of slippers over the summer using 100% wool and love how they turn out when washed in hot water and soap. I am going to list a few pair in my Etsy shop. If anyone wants the pattern, just contact me and I will be happy to send it to you.

Okay back to work and I will be in touch again soon. Have a great day,

Maggie!