Christmas Blessings!

Mistletoe Market

This weekend I will be at the Eighth Annual Mistletoe Market at the Anderson County Museum. This officially kicks off the holiday season for me as far as shows go, and I am excited to be doing a show I haven't done in the past. If you are planning on going to the MM this weekend, please stop by and visit my booth. I've been working since the summer on Christmas pendants for this and other shows coming up this month. Below is the information for the Mistletoe Market and a few photos of more holiday pendants.

The Eighth Annual Mistletoe Market hosted by the Friends of the Anderson County Museum will be held November 4 & 5, 2011 at the museum. The Mistletoe Market, a juried show, marks the start of the holiday shopping season in the upstate and features artisans and crafters from all over Upstate SC and Georgia. This year’s market is the largest to date with thirty-four vendors. The Friends will host a “Sip & Shop” with refreshments on opening night, Friday, November 5, from 4pm until 8pm. On Saturday, November 5, the Market is open from 10am until 5pm. To allow parents time to shop uninterrupted, ACM will have a program for children under eight years of age at 10 a.m. and at noon. Each program will last approximately one hour. The children will make turkey centerpieces to take home for their Thanksgiving table. For more information about the Market, you can call the Museum at 864/260-4737 or contact Catherine Luplow, Market Coordinator, at acmmarkets@hotmail.com.

Time and Love

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.
- Peg Bracken

This past weekend, I spent some time on another batch of Christmas pendants. I made more of the snowflake pendants, experimenting with different types, textures and colors of glass. I also made more trees. I love playing around with these, seeing how many variations can be created on a theme. I did a few that were tack fused rather than doing a full fuse. This just means that I don't bring them all the way up to 1550 degrees, but rather hold them at a lower temperature. Tack fusing allows the glass to melt together, but it retains more texture and shape. You an see tack fusing in some of the pendants below.

Trees for the Forest

Here are a few more Christmas Pendants. I put another large batch in the kiln last night and can't wait to see how they turn out. I experimented with some new glass, and I hope it worked, but sometimes it just doesn't do exactly what I expect.

Christmas Baking in a Very Hot Oven

When I was a child, it seemed like Christmas took forever to arrive - not so much anymore! It really doesn't seem possible that another Christmas season is almost here. It is October!

Now, don't get me wrong, I adore Christmas...everything about it. I love that we have a time each year to pause and reflect on the birth of Christ so many years ago! I am so grateful that He chose to humble himself and become a man. It hurts my brain to consider His humility and the boundless love demonstrated in His death on the cross for me.

I know some people get upset by the slowly expanding length of the Christmas season, but I don't even mind that. More time to celebrate!

I have several shows and events scheduled for this time of year, one at the beginning of November is called the Mistletoe Market and is being held at the Anderson County Museum of Art. After that I have a few other smaller events and then I am doing Holiday Fair for the very first time. It's a big 3 day show at the beginning of December.

So, this weekend, I decided that I'd better get busy and start creating some of the Christmas pendants that I started a few years back. Working on them, kind of reminds me of baking trays of decorated Christmas cookies...cutting the shapes, deciding on the right decoration, putting them in the oven and waiting for the magic to happen.

Okay, the oven is 1550 degrees and the "cookies" are completely inedible...but it's kind of the same.