Twenty-first day of Advent - A Dove for the Christmas Tree

Twenty-first day of Advent

This is another ornament from Grandmother's Tree.  Our tree is fully decorated now, laden from top to bottom with old favorites and some      glossy newcomers.

"The tree is, as it is every year, more beautiful than they remembered"

Tenth day of Advent - Ornaments

Tenth day of Advent

Tonight we put up the Christmas tree and brought out the boxes of decorations, waking them from their year-long slumber.  For the tenth day of Advent here is a tiny detail from  "Grandmothers Tree", a story about just such an evening.

Twenty-fourth day of Advent - Away in a Manger

Day 24 of Advent 

(Child in the Manger from Grandmother's Tree)

"The Child in the manger looks up through the sparkling branches..."

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Twentieth Day of Advent - Angels We Have Heard on High

Day 20 of Advent

(Angels  from Grandmother's Tree)

A chorus of angels for the tree, which is getting pretty full.

Cross-stitched Advent calendar, from Grandmother's Tree

The Advent calendar that was weighted with sweets just three weeks ago is lighter now, and the Holy family is getting closer to the stable, as are the figures of the wise men and the shepherds.

Fifteenth Day of Advent - Christmas Past and Present

Day 15 of Advent

(Swiss dolls from Grandmother's Tree)
"The tree is, as it is every year, more beautiful than they remembered."

Fourteenth Day of Advent - Under the tree

Day 14 of Advent

(Family cat from Grandmother's Tree)

I am setting up and decorating the tree this week, a long job because of all the pretty and special ornaments that have come my way over the years.  The tree also has been with us for many years, "an artificial tree .... part of the family Christmas for so long that it is beginning to feel quite real."

Thirteenth Day of Advent - Gifts from the sea

Day 13 of Advent

(Mermaid branch from Grandmother's Tree)

" A charming little plaster mermaid swims from a lower branch that is also hung with real shells and paper fish with candy foil wings." 

Paper crafting has long been a  part of our Christmas, with snowflakes, Santas and little paper birds and fishes with their wings and fins made of fan-folded decorative papers or even candy wrappers, as depicted above.  We put two of our patterns for paper ornaments in Grandmother's Tree and one of them is available as a free download here.

Woodland Nutcracker, on the move

Woodland Nutcracker and Grandmother's Tree are up on the Etsy shop! And here are some of the Christmas fairs that we are going to with our books and cards, starting tomorrow:

November 5, 9:30-4:00, East Plains United Church,375 Plains Rd E, Burlington
November 12, 9:00-2:00, Church of the Epiphany, 141 Bronte Road, Oakvile
November19, 9:30-2:30, Appleby United Church, 4407 Spruce Avenue, Burlington
November26, 9:00-2:00, St John's United Church, 262 Randall St, Oakville.

December 2 - 24, Under The Moon Fine Arts, 217 Ottawa St. N., Hamilton

December 15-24, Arcadia Gallery, 680 Queens Quay West, Toronto, opening reception Thursday December 15, 5-9pm.

More dates to come. Woodland Nutcracker is also available at

A Different Drummer Books 513 Locust Street, Burlington
Bryan Prince Booksellers, 1060 King Street West, Hamilton and
The Acorn Card Shoppe, 221 Lakeshore RdE, Oakville.

Oh Christmas Tree

"Every year it is the same. First the tree and the box of lights are taken to the living room, where the furniture has been moved to leave a space by the front window...". Thus begins our book Grandmother's Tree, and it is still true. I have just put up the Christmas tree and unravelled the lights to wind and drape about the branches, as we do every year.

The ornaments are next. "Rustle, rustle through blankets of tissue paper as the inhabitants wake from their year-long sleep" .. the elf whispers "Wake up, wake up, it's time."

The inhabitants of my box of ornaments include paper birds, feather birds, Santas, an orchestra of plastic angels, the Hasbro "Dolly Darlings" of my childhood, tiny crochet Amigurumi dolls from Chinatown, and more.

Grandmother's Tree, written by Avril, celebrates 55 years of decorating our family's tree in all its lovely disarray, with its bent tinsel star, homemade ornaments and other family memorablia. The book can be ordered from my Etsy shop at a Christmas special price of $15 Can.

At the last watercolour classes before Christmas I have been teaching wet-into-wet techniques with Christmas ornaments for subject matter. In just two hours the results were merry and bright as well as reasonably proficient. So to all my watercolour students, Well Done and Merry Christmas!


Lesley at sea blue sky abstracts has a delightful giveaway this week, so hop over and have a stroll through her virtual gallery too.