It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Greetings everyone!  It has proven to be a most hectic week.  It seems as though the granddaddy of all holidays is right on top of us - and I have so very many things left to do.   As you can see from the photo, my husband and I had the itch to create yet another wreath for our home!  This one is a combination of fresh natural materials, dried naturals, and some wee scattered ornaments for a finishing touch.  We quite like making wreaths.  The scent from the pine boughs is so sweet and intoxicating!

Faerie Moon Creations also has a few new items in the Unique Boutique - including some of these holiday themed lovelies:

Holly Jolly Earrings!  The beads remind me of holly berries - hence the festive name!

Reindeer Games Necklace.  I LOVE reindeer - and I've been obsessing over them quite a bit this holiday season.  Too bad this little guy didn't have a red nose - could have named him Rudolph.

Winter's Kiss Earrings.  There's nothing I like more than silver and sparkles.  These glisten in the sunshine - just like fresh fallen snow!

Arabian Dancer earrings.  I named these after one of my favorite parts of The Nutcracker Ballet.  I'll talk more about The Nutcracker in a future post.  :)

Snowflake Faerie Earrings.  Again, my obsession over silver and glitter.  These earrings just sparkle and twinkle so happily - like Christmas ornaments.

Hope you like our new items.  We enjoy making them so very much!  Part of the excitement of making these pieces is know that there will only be one made...so the owner can take pride in being the only person ever to be wearing that piece of jewelry.    There will be more knit items forthcoming that will be most welcome accessories for the chilly winter months to come.

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear" - Elf

I am not a great singer, but I do love listening to Christmas music.  Holiday music has been playing nonstop in the car and in our house.  Here are a few of my holiday favorites:

• Carol of the Bells
• Winter Wonderland
• Silent Night
• The Holly and the Ivy
• Hark the Herald Angels Sing
• Angels We Have Heard on High
• O Come O Come Emmanuel
• I'll Be Home for Christmas

The Mediaeval Baebes have recorded a version of a 14th century Christmas carol that I absolutely adore!  "Gaudette" can be found on their holiday CD collection, "Mistletoe and Wine."  Here's a live version...hope you enjoy it!


Please share with me some of your favorite holiday songs!

Til next time!

Theresa

A Morning of Lovely Surprises!

Greetings everyone!  This morning I awoke to some lovely news...not one but two of my creative blogger friends gifted me with a "Kreativ Blogger" award! 

I was very shocked and so surprised.  I've been writing "Welcome to My World" since August, and I will admit that I was uncertain at first and not sure about what to write that would interest others.  But I think that since my first few choppy posts, that I've developed a nice little groove.  I've met so many great friends here in blog land, and I'm happy that you've decided to join me on my journey.  

With that having been said, the two wonderful artisans who gifted me with this lovely award are Serendipity Vintage and UmeOrigami!   If you love vintage, you will truly adore Serendipity Vintage's etsy shop, which specializes in vintage sewing patterns and notions. Her shop also carries vintage housewares, books, games, and other fun stuff from time-to-time!  Plus, the name Serendipity is just too cute for words.  Check out these kitchen witch patterns from her shop!  I have my own kitchen home hanging at home for good luck!

I'm a big fan of origami, and UmeOrigami's shop is full of lovely handmade origami treasures that serve a purpose!  A whopping 50% of all Origami Crane earrings will be donated to the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation.   Here's my favorite pair!

In receiving this grand award, I have learned that I must pay it forward - which I will do gladly.  Here are the necessary requirements:  

• Copy the Kreativ Blogger picture and post it on your page
• Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog
• Write seven things about you that we don’t know
• Choose seven other bloggers that you would like to give the award to
• Link to the bloggers that you choose
• Let the winners know that they have the lovely award.

I must now share with you seven little known facts about me:

• I am left-handed.  I also married a left-hander.  To this day, I cannot use a pair of scissors properly.  I am a self-taught knitter, and I knit BACKWARDS.  It was the only way I could teach myself to knit, as I know of no other left-handed knitters.  I've managed to get lovely results, though.
• I met my beloved husband through an America Online posting board.  It was meant to be...two days later the entire posting board was redesigned.  We probably never would have found each other.
• I have a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism/Fine Arts.  I used to write for local music fanzines and also for a weekly arts & entertainment column.
• My name (both maiden and married) is featured in the liner notes of five different records.  One of which went multi-platinum in the late 80s.
• I am directionally challenged!  I could not find my way out of a paper bag if my life depended on it.  I need to carry full driving instructions with me at all times.
• If I could, I would retire to a house in the countryside (most likely Vermont or Maine) with lots of land to grow gardens and have my beloved pups run free in.  I'd also like to raise sheep and goats, too.
• On my very first day of Home Ec back in middle school, I was the one student each year that burned a potholder on the stove!  To this day, I still converse with my Home Ec teacher.  She taught me so much.
• My favorite movie of all time is Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas!"  It never loses its magic for me.  I am a big collector of all things related to the movie - there are figurines, mugs, toys, games, ornaments galore in my home!  Here's my very cute Advent Calendar!

I must share this honor with seven other bloggers.  Oh, how I wish I could spread the wealth to all of you!  Trying to pare it down to just seven is nearly impossible.  But I shall try (in no particular order):

1. Storybook Woods.  Clarice is a lovely soul, and she is a terrific cook who offers wonderful recipes and even has her own cookbook that you can purchase through her blog!

2.Joanne May Illustration.  Joanne is a wonderful friend and artist who lives in England.  She makes the loveliest jewelry and is quite an accomplished artist.

3. Moonlight and Hares.  Karen's artwork and her blog has a such a dreamy, ethereal feel.  I can spend hours gazing at her lovely artwork!  I own one of her amazingly beautiful hand-painted arctic foxes.  

4. Audrey Eclectic.  Heather has such a great blog!  Every Tuesday she writes a feature called "Tasha Tuesday" in honor of the artist Tasha Tudor.  It's so very inspiring - I look forward to it every week.  She is a wonderful folk artist - check out her beautiful silhouette art when you visit.

5. A Forest Frolic.  Jamie is terrific!  Her blog is fun and lively.  Plus, she creates the loveliest art banners I've ever seen.  I'm so happy to own one, which you can see in my previous post.

6. The Mare's Tales - Gypsy Mare Studios.  Jen has been my unofficial travel agent.  Because of her, my husband and I discovered the most glorious places to visit in the entire world - Longwood Garden!  Jen is an amazingly talented painter.  Her horse ornaments are beyond compare!

7.Itch2Stitch.  I love visiting Suzie's blog each and every week.  She is so inspiring.  She also creates wonderful embroidered and cross-stitch art.

Finally, my cute little barn owl necklace was featured on Cuteable!  You can find out more information about this sweet guy here.

Til next time,

Theresa

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Greetings everyone!  It's been a hectic week here in the realm of  Faerie Moon.  Much baking, and decorating, and crafting has ensued.  Tis the season, after all!  We received a wee dusting of snow on Saturday evening - not nearly enough to satisfy my desire for the puffy shimmering white stuff or even to take lovely photos of!  So, I have had to compensate by decorating my home with snowmen (and snow women!).

We have so much fun each year retrieving all our holiday decorations from the attic and transforming our house into a winter wonderland.  I've noticed over the years that I've accumulated many a snow friend, whom you can see here happily decorating our mantle.   I love snowmen in all shapes and forms - plush, wax, wooded, painted.  This year, I am obsessing over reindeer and found the cutest little ornaments to paint from Michaels.  I shall be working on those very soon.

Here are a few of my reindeer friends.  And my favorite snow folk family!

As is our ritual each year, in the morning we grab our cups of steaming hot coffee and make our way into the "Christmas Room" - aka the sun room - to diligently work on our holiday display.  The tree always gets assembled  first, as the best part of decorating is getting to carefully place all the ornaments we've collected over the years in special spots along the branches!

We have an eclectic array of ornaments, ranging from hand-painted, homemade creations to store bought.  Each year when we go on vacation, we make sure to bring home a Christmas ornament to hang on our tree - as a way to commemorate another year of togetherness and to spark memories of time well spent.  We always save this ornament for last and hang it on the tree together.

I love gazing at the tree and all its loveliness once we've finished decorating.  Even though the ornaments end up in different spots on the tree each year, the creation never ceases to awe me with its beauty.  I especially love how it looks at night, when its lights are ablaze and the ornaments glitter and shine...

We always settle in the evening of decorating to watch a holiday movie.  The living room is gaily decorated as well (see the above mantle photo).  This year, I was happy to hang the loveliest of banners that I purchased from Jamie of A Forest Frolic!  It was custom-made and the colors are so beautiful and delicate. Trust me when I say the photo hardly does this lovely banner justice!

Seated in front of a roaring fire and snuggled under blankets, we dug into the sweet potato pie that I made the day before.  Oh my, how delicious it was!   I daresay it was the finest I've baked yet.  In case you haven't had sweet potato pie, it's a lot denser than pumpkin and somewhat richer in taste.  I've never cared for traditionally prepared sweet potatoes, but I will readily eat them in a pie.  Lots of rich aromatic spices lend to its appeal - add a dollop of whipped cream, and voila!  Pie heaven!  I'd be delighted to share the recipe I used with you, please just ask if you'd care to have it.

In addition to feverishly working on handmade holiday gifts, myy husband and I have created new lovelies for Faerie Moon Creations!  All of these pieces of jewelry are one of a kind and can be found in the Unique Boutique section of my shop.  Here is the latest sampling of goodies:

The sweet owl has already found a new home, but the other lovely pieces are still available in the shop.  We shall have even more necklaces and earrings to list by the middle of the week, so please stay tuned.   I think you will really like them!  Remember that if you are interested in purchasing any of these creations, or any other items I have available, you can take advantage of a special 20% coupon that can be found here in the sidebar of my blog!

So, I will leave you all now until later this week with a short poem by one of my favorites, Robert Frost.  I think this poem sums up precisely how I feel about winter and the happiness I feel at watching freshly falling snow.

DUST OF SNOW

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I rued.

-Robert Frost

Please share with me what preparations you are currently making for the holidays and what's your favorite thing about them!

Til next time,

Theresa