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Life on Saint Martin's Hill in November
(you may view this page with music!)
22 December 2008
All
Enjoy the Pristine of Winter's Cozy, and a Beautiful Calm.
A New Year is on the Horizon.
For all of Us.
Affections to You.
Andrew & Aimee Suzanne
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17 December 2008
A Thank You Giveaway
As promised, these are for two lucky winners via a random number draw.
All you need to do is sign our Guest Book, over there to the left! Click on it!
Today is Wednesday, 17 December 2008.
Drawings will be on 20 December 2008 at midnight EST.
You can sign the Guest Book once per day, so three (3) chances to win! In all fairness, duplicate, same-day entries will be deleted. Comments may take several hours to post, so don't be concerned if you don't see your post right away.
International guests are welcome to participate, too!
First winner receives this prize pack which includes a batch of my paper tin-type tags, and some collage clocks. Also a batch of antique French bed tags, an organza bag filled with crown tags, a miniature pin with two owls perched (I love this!), a set of antique chandelier tags, a pair of black velvet earrings, and one of my collaged acrylic focal pieces.
The second winner will receive these prizes, pictured below:
A set of four foil pyramid boxes embellished with vintage images.
Vintage paper dolls hand-colored by moi.
A wonderful set of chandelier notecards.
One of my collaged acrylic focal pieces.
Handmade pair of cloisonne earrings.
Good Luck!
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16 December 2008
I'll Have a Blue Christmas
'I want a blue, blue tree this year'. That's what Andrew said the year before last. Then he said it again last year while shopping at the 50% off After Christmas Sales at Thimbleberry Antiques Store. He loaded up on blue velvet poinsettias, lime green velvets, peacock blue ribbons, and armfuls of glittered rock crystal cascades.
Blue seems to have a fond place in our hearts this time of year. Though it is not one of my favorite holiday colors, I still feel that emotional tug whenever I see strands of blue lights floating on snow-flocked bushes at night.
I grew up in a traditional red, green and gold household. Silver tinsel was draped by the boxful on our live tree, and of course no bough was ever complete without a butt load of striped candy canes.
Now my grandad, the Los Angeles socialite, was always onto the latest decorating trends. For years, his front window was eclipsed by a ginormous aluminum tree decorated with only red glass bulbs. And clear lights.
Even at three years old, I remember thinking, Where are the rest of your ornaments?
Then at fourteen, I was invited to attend my first grown-up (aka teenage) Christmas party. Hair pinned up in a dozen loose curls, wearing a green velvet gown and black patent leather heels, I remember walking up the pathway to the exclusive home that everyone in town always whispered about.
The bushes were alive with blue lights. Blue. A layer of freshly fallen snow laid like a shimmering veil over top, and I almost stopped dead in my tracks.
Blue?
It was stunning.
Almost ethereal.
And though I never admitted 'till now, it took my breath away.
Even though I never considered blue as a holiday color for myself,
I now see that I have surely missed out.
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15 December 2008
I Found It!
Now my next question: how do I cash in on the 'extra gift & good luck'?
Hmmm?
!
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10 December 2008
Decorating Fanatic; A Bejeweled Home
Here today to share some photos of the Kruse-Ross Decorating Marathon at the half-way point, and give you a peek inside our home.
Of course, we only show you the perfect parts.
It's the least we could do.
And a few things for you, our dear readers, to enjoy in the days to come.
Read on.
Another Thrify Tinsel Tutorial.
Super easy decoration, inexpensive, and super-stunning results.
A Holiday Give-Away.
At least one.
Maybe two.
Or perhaps, if you've been very good, maybe a third.
Get ready to sign our Guestbook.
Gotta share the goodness you know.
And the town's Christmas Party is this weekend.
Are any of you coming?
Despite these storms?
I bet you will.
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7 December 2008
Tinsel Wands
A Holiday Project
A massive blizzard this weekend provided the perfect stay-at-home excuse for decorating.
I have bags and bags of this tinsel garland, courtesy of thrifting for mere pennies. And in trying to come up with inexpensive decorations for the Children's Christmas Party next weekend, I came up with these festive Tinsel Wands.
These are so easy to make. All you need is some hot glue, glue sticks, tinsel of your color choice, and wood skewers (these are usually found in the baking section of the grocery). These skewers are 12" long.
Put a line of hot glue along one end of your skewer.
After letting the glue cool for a moment, drape your tinsel into the glue and begin winding quickly until you've reached the end of the skewer.
Just be careful not to burn yourself.
After the glue has cooled, cut off the tinsel 'tail'.
After cutting off the tail, you could choice to use these 'as is'. I chose to top each one off with a mini Christmas bulb. Simply put a little hot glue on the the tinsel end, and slide your Christmas bulb directly over the skewer.
Just make sure that you remove the wire cap and wire hanger from the bulb before adding your glue.
Les Voila! Finished tinsel wands! Tuck these into Christmas trees, garlands and swags, or floral arrangements. Changing out the colors will give you a variety of looks that will be suitable for most any Holiday!
Enjoy!
No guarantees express or implied. Use caution when working with hot glue.
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5 December 2008
It's Not The Most Obvious
Sitting in the car with my breath turning to ice on the frozen windows, waiting for Andrew to finish an errand when I look across the street and think to myself, 'Wow, the sky is really grey today'.
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3 December 2008
In a Pickle Without Having a Pickle
This story will be rather longish, rather boring-ish, but since it is decorated with a variety of holiday photos, you could humor us and simply
pretend to read.
The Legend of the Christmas pickle is a bit vague to me. I have never been fond of the pickle as a decorating item, and so whenever I see Christmas cards with pickles on them, or ornaments made to look like pickles, I walk away and plead ignorance.
And I plead a lot of ignorance.
That was a good enough excuse at least until recently, when I chanced upon an article about the Christmas Pickle. It went on to explain that, oh gosh, I really can't remember a thing about that article except that the Legend doesn't really exist, that most of Germany doesn't even recognize the pickle as part of the holiday festivities.
Certainly, if you are a lover of pickle collecting, then happy to you, and no offense intended. But I really think that the concept is kind of dumb.
And here's why:
Who wants to hide a pickle somewhere on their Christmas tree in order for someone else to find it? I mean, really people. . .if it's true that the finder of the pickle gets good luck for the coming year, then why doesn't everyone hide-n-seek their own pickle?
Well phooey, no sooner did I learn something about said pickle than I find a blog that challenged its readers to find a hidden pickle on their website.
To win a prize, no less!
Oh I sure changed my mind in a hurry, and off I went in search of this elusive virtual pickle.
Page after page I searched without luck. Then I got mad and knew that I could not go on, or think in a rational manner until this pickle had been found. Andrew was enlisted to help search, and he came up empty handed as well. Look again, I insisted, I mean it can't be that hard especially when we're so good at all those hidden object games. It became so important to find this dumb pickle that I actually wrote it down on the List of Things to Do For the Week.
Meanwhile, I know we have a glass pickle ornament around here somewhere. It's in a glass jar filled with shredded sawdust.
I just unearthed it right before Thanksgiving while organizing all the ornaments that we have. And I know we have it, 'cause I specifically put it on the workbench to donate it.
And now, for the life of me, I cannot find it.
My gosh. . .I stayed awake in bed last night racking my brain trying to remember where on earth I put it.
No, I checked the workbench.
It's not in the Holiday basket, either.
Why do you want that dumb pickle anyway?
Because I just have to find it, that's all.
You're ridiculous.
I know.
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18 November 2008
A Hunting We will Go
It's that time of year again. The men of our town clear out their belongings, pack their foods and beverages of choice, fill their pockets full of coins for poker games, and polish their memories for the story of the big one that got away.
All so that they can sit in a confined space for hours and hours,
doing nothing, and keeping silent.
Why can't they do that at home?
Ah, Deer Season has opened. Officially.
A time where all the males of every species goes into stalking mode, and capture-its-prey mode. Even the dogs picked up on this.
Oh looky here. Some perceived prey that Volney Allen found in the back of my upstairs coat closet. I had originally intended to recycle it, but considering how feroious it was, I'm terribly grateful that the dog got to it first. He did his own fashion show, showing it off alternately to me, then to his brother, and then he'd leave the room and come back to do it all over again.
Then he'd drop it on the floor and growl at it.
Instincts, I suppose.
Instincts which caused him to shake the thing to death, stalk it from behind the couch for hours, and shove it into his brother's face all the while prancing sideways with pride.
And his favorite part? The sound of it tearing to shreds.
It ended up looking like a wet rat-rag.
I, on the other hand, went hunting for my own stuff deep in the corners, bags, and shelves of the basement.
My prey was in the shape of round, shiny objects that hang on trees, mantles, and gift boxes. I also hunted out where the tinsel and garland resided, and moved them to a paper bag reservation. Soon I had a city block of twinkling lights, another bag filled with light-up tree toppers (which by the way, I plan on decorating one whole tree with) in every color, shape and blink-ability. But it was the bulbs that held me captive. Box after box, I found, with no end in sight.
Soon my head was spinning with all these roundy-balls, and then I hit the pay dirt. A white kitchen trash bag filled with at least a hundred bulbs. And I,
I was silently gleeful in my greedy delight.
Then I got this terrific idea to organize them all.
Uh huh.
Should I organize them by color? By era? By Shape?
I tried grouping them in piles. . .bulbs with Santa go in this bag, pink over there in that pile, red ones here in this basket,
oops. . .here's a bulb with pink & red.
The dilemma quickly got out of hand.
And then, just like that, I latched onto another find: my vintage Christmas sticker collection.
Oh boy.
It really is a Dear Season.
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10 November 2008
Look What Dropped By For An Extended Visit
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6 November 2008
reDefined
When I first read Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance, I was captivated.
Truly.
Every day was started by reading one essay. Every day for two years, you'd find me sitting in my south facing dining room, flooded with early morning sunlight, under the most gorgeous crystal chandelier, with a cup of black coffee,
and it was there that I'd find my muse.
It was like yoga for the mind.
Finishing a passage, I would reflect on the most profound of ideals. Sitting there in surroundings of my own making, sipping slowly, my eyes would wander out the windows that ran the entire length of my 1920's apartment, and I'd feel blissful. Blissful and grateful for so many things. Like my lovely and spotless little space. Grateful for my shabby chic bungalow kitchen. My crystal door knobs. The mother-of-pearl switchplates. The art deco bathroom and its clawfoot tub. The high ceilings and original fruit-n-floral plaster crown moulding.
And then I'd ask myself, is this how it's defined?
How what is defined? Happiness?
Oh but did I ever struggle to bridge the gaps in my own psyche.
Perhaps I tried to convince myself that loving objects was wrong.
There is so much to love in this world that I love: its nostalgia, its grace & wisdom, the hardships and all the histories ever documented. But I swoon for vintage Christmas decorations, fresh flowers, an old Valentine, or a scrap of lace.
And don't even get me started about pink furniture.
Or sparkly stuff.
May as well add chocolate to the list, too.
Surrounding myself with so much beauty (ie. my too-numerous-to-mention collections),
I often thought myself a fraud.
How can I be a really good person when I love all these 'things'? It's ridiculous really, you know it's ridiculous.
I believed, even then, that happiness was not inherited. It was learned.
Created.
And the more I played my part, creating and participating in my own surroundings, the more I realized that I wanted to be near beauty every single day regardless of its race.
That was one of my roles in life.
My Holy Grail de object, if you will.
Here in a world that is surrounded by material goods, I have found my place along side the objects. Oh do I love them, yes. They bring me happiness, challenge my creativity, remind me of a loved one, have a special memory attached, or exist simply just because.
But it only defines part of me.
So while on that journey, that journey of self-permission, I found myself not to be a fraud after all.
In fact, I never was.
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