At last we are here. It is the day of Christmas Eve and I have just put the finishing touches on my final craft items. This has been somewhat of an emotional 24 hours for me as these have turned out to be quite poignant for me. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time but either run out of time or just had no idea what or how I wanted to do it, so if nothing else, this Christmas Craft Challenge has at least inspired me to finally do something about it.
I have mentioned in a previous blog about this being a time to remember those who can't be with us on this the most family orientated day of the year. We can't always be with the ones we love maybe due to distance or circumstance and some we will never be able to share the joys of Christmas again as they have passd on. I think that Christmas is certainly one of the times when memories of past times seem to flood back and overwhelm us and we miss those gone from us even more.
I wanted to create something to remind us of the people we have lost who were so dear to us that we could put up on our Christmas Tree so they could share in the Christmas spirit with the rest of the family. So I have created a set of memorial heart ornaments. It's not complete, it is missing four that I know of, that unfortunately I didn't get photos of in time - my paternal grandparents Eric & Rachel Swanston and Eric's second wife Holly and my cousin Blair, who I never had the opportunity to meet. Hopefully they will join our tree for next Christmas.
For this year I share the following family members who will be on our tree (very shortly).
Granny Anne Lake - she was my step-children's maternal Great Grandmother, who passed away only a couple of years ago.
Sonia-Ann Sumbler-Lynne, Pete's first wife and mother of his three children, Lavinia, Alysha & Kurt
Peter Russell Lynne (known as Russell), Lucy's second husband and Pete's father. Poppa to my step children.
Lillian Mary Wilson (nee Walker) my maternal grandmother.
I was probably about 25 or so when she told me she had never been given a soft toy as a present as they had not been around when she was younger. So every year from then until her passing I gave her a Farmer's Santa Bear for Christmas.
Graham Barraclough Wilson, my maternal Grandfather. He was a carpenter by trade and was known to spantaneously burst into song at any stage. He loved photography and I am truly grateful to have been given all his camera gear which I hope to restore with some TLC.
I cried a lot while making these (and while writing this blog) remembering how special these people were to me in one way or another. They have all played an important part in my life whether they know it or not and I am grateful to them for the gifts they have bestowed upon me.
Finally I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Christmas Craft Challenge as well as those who just popped by to read my blog as well as anyone else's. It has been an interesting challenge, perhaps a bit more than I thought it would require but I have loved every minute of it.
I have gone back to the roots of my crafting, lots of glue and paint and foam and felt rather than just patterned paper and adhesive. At times I have felt like a kid again and I have enjoyed that immensely, just as I have enjoyed some of the more grown-up and sophisticated creations.
I'm already thinking about next year's Christmas Craft Challenge - NO I didn't learn my lesson, YES I am doing it again, only this time we ALL have 12 months to plan our creations and perhaps start them a little bit earlier this year lol.
I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas with your family and friends. I look forward to seeing more of your creations in the New Year, but for now it is goodbye I'm off to set up my tent in a craft-free zone, though I think I will take some magazines for some research.
Paula xxxxx
Baby's First Christmas: Sonia-Marie pre-Christmas preparations including her first visit to get a photograph taken with Santa and dressing the Christmas Tree.
My First Toothbrush: At eight months Sonia-Marie already has six teeth and I couldn't resist taking pictures of her "cleaning" her teeth (even though it looks more like she is just eating the toothbrush lol).
