Changing Seasons and a Holiday Shop Sale ~

Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving?

I adore Thanksgiving.

Then....I am ready to take a long nap and wake up to find myself transported to January 2nd, refreshed and preparing for springtime.

I am not a winter-loving girl.

I am always shocked into winter reality when

Overnight....

the season changes....

from this ~ 

to this ~

Literally overnight.

But, I do admit, once all the decorating chores are done, I have learned to enjoy the season a little more than I did a few years ago.

Truly, I am not a scrooge.

I just NEED sunshine and longer days and a springtime garden.

I do find ways to keep busy when I can't work outside.

Of course, I love to spend the evenings in my studio...

planning and creating ~ 

Working on a nursery rhyme illustration for an art challenge.

"Hey Diddle Diddle"

I sometimes find my way into the kitchen.

Making and baking.

Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apple pie ~ 

The holidays allow me the chance to use my beloved china and depression glass collection.

Peeking into the china cabinet, remembering and planning holiday table settings. 

A vintage Noritake tea set passed down to me by my mom ~

Vintage green goblets and pink depression glass ~ 

Fun and crafty projects help to keep my mind off of the short, winter days.

Dyeing bottle brush trees in vibrant Christmas colors ~ 

Honestly, it is probably good that the short and slow days of winter are engulfing me.

If it were gardening season, I would be so frustrated because I am down and out with a bad knee....hobbling and bobbling.  

I would not be able to do heavy duty gardening work.

My knee is swollen and crazy sore ~ 

Like a big goose egg right in the middle of my kneecap.

I slammed it hard on our metal doggy gate on Halloween night.

Ouch!

Maybe I need this quiet time indoors to help in the healing process.

So, as I ponder the new year and re-introduce myself to the inside of my home...

the lights are twinkling ~ 

I have plans in the studio and even a cookie baking day.

I have plenty to keep me busy.

Including a holiday sale in my Art Shop.

If you fancy giving art for holiday gifts, now is a great time to purchase.

I am offering 40% off my entire Etsy shop with coupon code SilverBells40.

Simply use the code at checkout to automatically receive your discount.

I hope you are all enjoying the season and not falling into the chaos that sometimes attaches itself to the holidays.

Until Next Time:

Kim

Gerushia's New World

Unexpected News, December Skies And a House Full of Christmas ~

Well, it's been quite a week so far.

So much Christmas happening everywhere.

Right in the middle of decorating our own house, we were hit with some unexpected news...

My husband was laid-off.

It was unexpected, but not really a surprise.

Just the fact that he was laid-off during the holiday season gives you an idea of what type of company he worked for.  Need I say more?

So, we are trying to stay positive and look at this as a blessing in disguise.

In the meantime, I need to put my art shops in high gear.

So, if any of you have been thinking of purchasing something from one of my shops, now would be the best time ever!

Gerushia's New World on Etsy

Gerushia's New World on Zibbet

I'll be working extra hard in my shops so that I can bring in a bit of money to help us get through this turn of events.

I refuse to let this ruin Christmas.

I am looking at this as a positive thing and 2014 will be fabulous!

After all, there are still hundreds of Johnny Appleseed skies to be seen.

Pinks ~ 

and purples ~ 

December is a month of transition.

A change from warm autumn days and orange pumpkins,

to wintery reds and jolly garden gnomes.

Christmas pumpkins ~ 

December is my birthday month.

Lovely birthday flowers were delivered ~

Every year just around my birthday, there's another gift...

The Cedar Waxwings fly in

I watch for them every year.

There were 50 or 60 of them flying all around my yard and birdbath just before my birthday.

They're quick and I was only able to snap a photo of these 2 beauties.

Nature's birthday gift to me ~

December always puts me in a frantic mood.

It's Christmas, I tell you....Christmas does it to me every year.

So many decorations and boxes of traditional goodies to go through.

Decorating, decorating, decorating.

Decorating the mantel ~

Decorating the dining room hutch ~

Filling Moe Howard's head with candy canes.

A Christmas Stooge ~

Noooo...he's not really Moe.  I bought this mug for my husband because he's a "Three Stooges" fanatic and I thought this guy looked like Moe.

Decorating the family tree ~

Putting the lights on the BIG tree ~

Decorating the BIG tree ~ 

Awww...looks like one of the puppies has some new Christmas pals ~ 

Decorating

Decorating

and

More decorating.

My favorite ornaments.

This was the first set of ornaments my mom and dad bought after they were married.

They are the last ornaments to be placed on the tree,

and the first to be taken off and put safely away at the end of the season ~ 

This year, I am happily decorating my studio.

Just a little bit.

I found these lovely black tabletop trees ~

Just perfect for my studio cabinet.

Did you know that black is the new evergreen?

So, time marches on.

Things change.

Jobs come and go.

New opportunities present themselves.

Good and bad.

Light and dark.

Shadows and highlights.

We need the whole spectrum to make this life a bold and textured painting.

Until Next Time:

Kim

Gerushia's New World

P.S.  Don't tell anyone that my husband loves "The Three Stooges."  It's a dirty secret!

Foggy Nights and Christmas Chaos ~

Hello There:

Do you like fog?  Oh my, the entire Wlassak household is in love with fog.  Misty days, foggy nights.  We had a very eerie and foggy night recently.  It was 3:00 am and we found ourselves out front involved in an impromptu "photo session" ~ 

The creeper in the photo isn't really a madman killer.  That's my son.  Isn't this an eerie picture?   Seems this photo would have been more appropriate for a Halloween blog post.  But ~ alas ~ you can only take advantage of the fog when it visits.  I don't recall any fog during Halloween time this year.  So...Christmas fog will have to do.

Did I mention that it's been crazy busy around here lately?  Well....it certainly has.  

Starting with this innocent piece of black poster board ~ 

Which eventually became this Welsh stove-pipe hat ~ 

I can't take credit for constructing the hat.  My husband concocted a pattern and built this hat from scratch!  

It truly looks like a traditional Welsh hat, doesn't it?

So, you're probably wondering why anyone would need a poster board Welsh hat, right?  

Well, I was asked to create an art piece to be published in a book of Welsh Nursery Rhymes.  The book will be published and for sale just in time for the Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood on March 3rd, 2013.

Each contributing artist was given a Welsh nursery rhyme and they were to create an art piece influenced by that rhyme.

Here's my rhyme translated into English:

Hen Wraig Fach

Little old woman living in the valley,

Ragged clothes and heavy clogs.

She had a calf named Twm

Who was quite poorly a long time ago.

Little old woman giving the calf some milk,

But the calf refused it.

Well she then became angry.

O dear! She slapped him.

Little old calf running like mad,

And she was shouting, "For God's sake!"

Following a calf across the country

Oh friends, what an experience!

And....here's the piece I created to go along with my rhyme ~

As you can see, the focus of my piece is from the last verse.

I have to give my daughter a huge amount of credit.  She does a lot of modeling for me.  That's her acting as the angry little old woman.  She's wearing the hat my husband made!  What fun we had modeling and snapping photos.

Busy, busy, busy!

Oh...look at this lovely piece of nature found attached to the eaves of my house ~ 

This amazing piece of goodness is now on my Christmas tree.

Speaking of Christmas...are you absolutely overwhelmed with it?  I find myself dreading the reality of my Christmas decorating.  I love to look at it once it's done, but doing it is so crazy.
Although I admit, my family room tree is always fun to decorate.  It holds all of our silly, older and mix it up ornaments ~ 

Hah!  I didn't realize until I saw this photo that the tip top of the tree seems to be swaying with the weight of Jack Skellington.  I think I like it.  It adds a bit of whimsy, somehow.

My giant beast of a living room tree is another story.  Not so fun, but I love it when it's done. It's 9 feet tall ~ 

...and, I wrap the lights up and back down every single limb.  It takes forever and a day to wrap lights like this.  But....the effect is beautiful....so much depth ~ 

And here's the finished tree ~ 

By the time we're done with all of this Christmasy labor we need a a few of these ~ 

Yummy Mimosas!

And, maybe a few of these as well ~ 

Along with all of the odd-ball photo sessions, Christmas decorating and art projects, I've also been working on my Tiny Tale Art ~ 

I'm super happy with the way my little stories are printing up on calligraphy paper ~ 

"Clara and Lucy's Curious Visitors"

"The Guardian of Cordelia's Swan Song"

Each Tiny Tale print comes with a little story that I wrote.  The print image is 4" x 6" on a single sheet of 8.5" x 11" HP Premium Plus Photo Paper.  The corresponding story is printed on 8.5" x 11" calligraphy paper.

If you are interested in purchasing any of my "Tiny Tale" art prints for holiday gifts, now is the time.  My 50% off holiday sale is still on.  But, I can't guarantee Christmas delivery beyond Dec. 14th.  However, the sale will continue through Dec. 19th. Any prints that sell out will not be re-stocked until January 2nd.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me!

Until Next Time:

Kim

Gerushia's New World

P.P.S.  Just wanted to put in a good word for this poor frosty soul ~ 

This Jack Frost Humpty Dumpty is waiting for a good home ~

He's sporting the shiniest vintage silver belt buckle ~ 

If you're interested in this hand-stitched "gnarly-doll", he can be purchased for 50% off in my Art Shop.  He's funny and big and looks incredible sitting underneath a Christmas tree!

♥♥♥♥

Stitched, Stuffed, Cold and Icy Blue ~

Finally....finally I have a new "Gnarly-Doll" listed in my Shop.  This guy is cold and icy blue and perfect for Christmas and the entire winter holiday season!  

Introducing "Jack Frost Humpty Dumpty" 
(You can call him Old Man Winter if you like) 

Isn't he chilly and frosty?

Do you know who Jack Frost is?

I remember seeing a Russian movie about Jack Frost on television when I was a little girl and it scared the guts out of me.  

I mostly remember that he was chasing some poor girl around a tree.  Scary stuff!!

My Jack Frost isn't scary in any way.  He has a button face on tea stained muslin ~ 

Icy printed pantlings ~ 

and a fabulously fancy vintage silver belt buckle ~ 

This guy is big!  He's 30" tall and about 9" wide at his plumpish belly.

Jack Frost is completely hand stitched.  I did not use a sewing machine.  I do not own a sewing machine.  I am altogether terrified of sewing machines.  They're too fast and chaotic for me.  I prefer the rhythm of a hand stitch.  It is truly meditation.

If you're interested in purchasing Jack Frost, you can read more about him Right Here.

Until Next Time

Kim

Gerushia's New World