Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more

One of my favorite stories at Christmas . . .

. . . So he paused. And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow... 
But the sound wasn't sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY! 
He stared down at Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise! 
 

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same! 
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" 

Merry Christmas to all! I hope you enjoyed your day with family & friends.

(I love to watch the old Dr. Seuss cartoon.)

A Christmas Lesson

Some years ago, I was given a gift. It was a gift that I didn't appreciate. It taught me a valuable lesson I've never forgotten.

Here's the setting. My sister wanted a particular CD. My brother gave it to her. He gave my Dad something he was excited about. My Mom got something equally impressive. I got this ornament. Naturally I was gracious, but disappointed. How could everyone in my family have gotten a great gift while I got something you hang on the tree?

I seethed most of the day. Especially after my sister listened rapturously to her new music. I'm not a greedy person by nature, I just expected some degree of fairness. I felt cheated. Slighted. 

It was some time later that afternoon. I don't recall the exact details of the blowup that ensued. It wasn't really a blowup, but I did let my brother know that I was not happy with his gift. Maybe he left his shopping too late? Maybe he spent all his money on everyone else's gifts? What possible reason could he have for giving me such a gift?!

"I saw it. And I thought it would be something you would like."

I felt about 2 inches tall. I'm tearing up just recalling his response. His gift was from the heart. And I had completely missed the point. Every gift should be given with thought and love---his was. I don't know what CD he gave my sister, or what my parents opened up, but I will never forget this present. I took it with me when I moved out and went away to college. It never even makes it the Christmas tree. I keep it on a shelf of keepsakes and souvenirs on my bedroom wall. It stays out year round. I love it's heart cheeks! I love his buttons! I love his scarf!

  

I love this gingerbread man!

Thank you Steele. Thank you for a Christmas lesson I will never forget. This ornament has become one of my prized possessions. I know it didn't cost much, but it's value is beyond measure. 

Merry Christmas!

Dead and Boring

I know my blog has been neglected, but not for lack of ideas. Last week my camera DIED! It's not a great camera, but it's been a good camera. I've had it for 4 years. I bought it at Sharper Image because I had a $100 gift card to put towards it. This camera had a touch screen which I loved. Anyway, it no longer works. And I don't have the money to replace it. So even though my photo library has over 10,000 photos in it, this post will remain photoless.

Good thing I know someone I can borrow a camera from for future posts and product listings in my shops.

Happiness is . . .

watching HELP! with The Beatles.

Best line in the movie? Tonight my favorite is, "This is no time for foolish tricks. This is a hired car." at 9:51. In our house we quote lines from this movie daily. It doesn't matter how many times I see this movie, I always crack up.

If you haven't seen this movie before, this clip won't make much sense, but you will get to see The Fab Four sing "Another Girl." Shame on you if you've never seen it. It's definitely worth owning. If this clip intrigues you, you can watch the other parts on YouTube.

It's Friday Night . . .

. . . and I'm home alone. What did I do? I crocheted a beanie I've been meaning to make for weeks. I made it to cover my greasy hair-do. It's greasy because I love having it straight and tried to stretch it one more day.

Then I took a few fun photos with my camera. The beanie is red because it's my favorite color AND it's almost Christmas. It's just a coincidence that I was wearing a comfy red hoodie. 

Not that this was very exciting. I guess I could have just washed my hair.

2010 is Winding Down

Can you believe it's December already? I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving. If you were too busy eating and hanging out with family last weekend to check out our sale---never fear---Sylvia-Louise knows how to treat you right. We are having a YEAR-END CLEARANCE SALE! Every ready to ship handbag, messenger and tote is marked down. We want to make room for new bags, so take a look. You might find something for your best friend, your mom, your sister or even yourself.

Violet Stripe Small Signature Bag

50% Off

Red Toile Large Signature Bag

33% Off

Teal Flowers Regina Messenger

33% Off

Yellow Gray Miss Maxwell Small Signature Bag

50% Off

Lilac Rosette Little Bette

57% Off

Gray Bright Eunice Large Signature Bag

50% Off

Lemon Lime Gray Bette

55% Off

Fancy Gold Miss Maxwell Large Signature Bag

60% Off

These are just a few of the over 40 one of a kind handbags on sale at Sylvia-Louise Handbags. 

Black Friday-Cyber Monday SALE

Black Friday-Cyber Monday Sale! 11/25-11/29. 

FREE WORLD WIDE SHIPPING!

Shop FlyAKite for FREE WORLD WIDE SHIPPING all weekend!

Shop Sylvia-Louise for FREE WORLD WIDE SHIPPING! 

And DEEP DISCOUNTS! 25-60% off!

Support originality and buy handmade.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful for so many things. I won't list them all. But most importantly I'm thankful for my family, the Savior, my country, and my health.

Take more than a minute to think about the things you are truly thankful for this day. And tell the people in your life you love them. Enjoy whoever you are celebrating with to the fullest and take nothing for granted.

NEW NEW NEW

FlyAKite is expanding! We've added handmade Christmas decorations. ORNAMENTS! And STOCKINGS! I had so much fun making these. I'm hoping they are a success because I have lots more ideas. We hope to have more gifty type items in our shop on a full time basis. So head on over to the shop. If you haven't started thinking about Christmas yet, get started on your tree decorations. And pick out a few Christmas cards for those special people in your life. 

35 Years

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Happy 35th Anniversary to my parents Mark & Janet!

In an age when so many marriages end in divorce, I am grateful to my parents for sustaining their union, for fostering a family of love and sharing, and for always making family come first.

Sorry the picture is so grainy. It's a scan of a copy.

Hair Thingie Swap

The Hair Thingie Swap is sponsored by Marigold at Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! I make 5 hair accessories and ship them off. Then I get 5 handmade hair accessories! So much FUN!

These are the headbands I shipped. I had so much fun packaging these up. Can't wait to get mine!

Here is the link where everyone will post their photos.

And if you want to check out more headbands by Sylvia-Louise or to get your own click HERE.

FlyAKite Holiday Sneak Peak

A few of the newest FlyAKite designs soon to be listed in our shop!

"Toss your cares and curls away"

I've been wanting a change. I thought for a minute about going brunette. But I've always been blonde, so that seemed a lot scary. My hair has been growing out for a long time now. (I should have taken a before photo.) My hairdresser, sister Desiree, chopped about a foot off and gave me fountains of layers. I'm having such a fun time flipping my short hair all around. 

This is one of my favorite movies. Thoroughly Modern Millie. It's a 10 minute clip. Sorry. I couldn't find it shorter. The line I wanted is at 9:24. I've been saying it all week.

"Toss your cares and curls away!"

HI TREE

Almost from the day I joined Etsy, I have loved Hi Tree. It is one of the very first shops I hearted. The originality. The texture. The color---green. If you haven't checked the shop out do it! And if you want to get to know the artist Tina check out her profile. Recently I discovered her blog. And just a little while ago Tina held a giveaway. Imagine how excited I was when I won! It made for a great Monday morning! I just got my prizes & they are even better in person. I had such a fun time photographing all the goodies. Tina must love doing that. Everything was so dang cute!

I'll Give You A CLUE

Last weekend was the Wilde Annual Halloween Party. What were we you ask?

I'll give you a CLUE.

We had a Colonel Mustard.

Mrs. White.

Miss. Scarlett.

Mrs. Peacock.

And Professor Plum.

We were the characters from the board game CLUE. (We needed a Mr. Green). We had all the weapons. And we even played a little bit of murder mystery at the party.

The party hostess: Cleopatra

A little post party silliness. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PS: If you've never seen the movie CLUE with Tim Curry, I highly recommend it. It's hilariously one of my favorite movies.

Song and Branch Studio

Last night I discovered Song and Branch. Twice. I took some headache meds that have caffeine in them so I was awake pretty late. A perfect opportunity to make a few Etsy treasuries. I started with Cloudy With A Chance Of Sun by FlyAKite featuring this adorable owl  . . .

Then I curated Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful by SylviaLouise and featured these fantastic snowflake ornaments . . .

I didn't realize they were both created by the same artist until I started sending out messages to the featured sellers. I discovered I LOVE this shop! Meet Karen from Seattle. Her porcelain miniatures are ADORABLE! Check her stuff out! Especially if you love owls. Having been a "Highlands Hooter" in elementary school I have always loved owls. I also really like these chickadees . . .