White Rabbit

Some days I feel like the White Rabbit running around saying, "I'm late!  I'm late!".  Other days, I run around saying, "I'm early!  I'm early!"  Most of the time I just run around thinking, "Where the hell was I going anyway?".    It really doesn't matter if you're early or late when you don't even know what it is you're early or late for.   I figure that sooner or later I'll run into it and recognize it when I see it.  The world is round ya know. 

But this time I actually know what it is and I'm early! I'm not sure how it happened, but I've actually begun getting ready for Yule!  I know!  It shocked my socks off too!  I'm usually running around at the last minute trying to do it all at once.  Well, truth be told, I'll probably end up that way this year too but at least I'm making a start on it now.

It's sort of a complacent feeling to know that even if I don't do anything else I'll at least have done two things to get ready for the holidays this year. 

The first thing was to give Bruce my Yule wish list.    He gets all stressed out and paranoid about selecting gifts so I do most of it myself.  he does the shopping but I give him the list of "you can't go wrong with these".  I know, it's not very romantic but it's easier to give him a list to choose from than to deal with him stressing himself sick over it.   And since my post-surgery-anti-insanity plan includes catching up on reading, that means that I want books, books and more books under the tree!  I had to give him a list of the books I haven't read yet.  I might actually catch up on both Rita Mae Brown's series!  I also want to read the last three books in the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay.    Obviously I have some seriously eclectic tastes in literature and since I'll be frustrated about not mini-ing, light reading is best.  Anne McCaffrey is also on the list.  I was hoping that Jane Lindskold would have a new Firekeeper book out but alas, nothing new.  I also need to go check Stephen King's website and see when he has a new book due out.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, the list.  Topping the list is a mini sewing machine.  Not a mini-mini, but just a mini.  As in a real sewing machine that weighs less than five pounds.  I don't have space in the studio to leave my full size machine out and I just can't lug it around from the shelf to table and back again anymore so a mini machine is the answer.  Small, portable, easy to use......yep, that's the ticket.  I've been out of the textile loop for awhile and even before that I was quite happy with my old Brother so I didn't even know which brand name is topping the quality list anymore.  As always, my best friend came thru with the info and I'm getting a Janome mini. 

So that's one thing checked off my Yule to-do list.  Yay.  The next was to get some Christmas-y stuff put up on Etsy.  I had some fabric that I'd been saving for a parlor set and a bed and it's just goooooooooooooooorgeous!  It's not a holiday print so it could go either way..........holiday decor or just plain Victorian.  Either way it's to die for.   The parlor set is probably one of the best I've ever done but the bed is pretty elegant too.

I wanted to do one more bed, but something informal and fun.  I dug out a white wire wicker bed and a couple of really cute fabrics with tiny holly leaves........one red with white lattice and green leaves and the other white with green leaves and itty, bitty red berries.  I thought it would be light and airy and bright and it is.  But somewhere in the middle of making it my Muse took over and said it needed a teddy bear holding a stocking.  My sense of humor got the best of me and, well, this is what happened:

T'was the night before Christmas and something more than a mouse was stirring under the tree. Mama quickly rose and threw on her slippers to tip toe down the stairs. Her wondering eyes beheld such a sight! A package was missing from under the tree and one stocking no longer hung by the chimney with care. Mama knew that it probably wasn't the Grinch so she quietly crept upstairs and opened the door to her wee one's bedroom.

 The light from the hallway shone on the bed but no one was nestled there dreaming of dancing sugarplums. However, Mama quickly determined where the missing package and stocking had gone! As she turned to look for the guilty one, from behind the door and out of sight came a voice that exclaimed.................






"TEDDY DID IT!!!!"

There are more pictures of it on my website here.  I love it when my Muse lets her sense of humor show. 

I got one other thing done.  I have a new video for Christmas on You Tube.

Now if I can keep the momentum going thru the holiday season, I'll be doing well!  I'm planning on making fudge this year too!  When I make fudge, I go on a marathon and make around 35 pounds in five different flavors.  My favorite is butterscotch pecan.  Yum!  I won't be doing 35 pounds of it this year, but I'm going to try to make a few batches at least.  I need to start on my shopping list first.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. 

Oh, before I forget, if you haven't done so already, stop by Julie Campbell's blog ( http://bellabelledolls.blogspot.com/ ) and congratulate her on her new title of IGMA Artisan.  Julie's dolls are amazing and I'm delighted to see her receiving the recognition she deserves.

One more thing...............pop over to MiniMadWoman's blog today and wish her a Happy Birthday!   It's always fun to visit Marigold Manor but she's got a party going on over there today and you don't want to miss it!