December 25

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

I have a girlfriend with whom I've been friends with for 22 years. The first year we exchanged Christmas gifts we gave each other Christmas ornaments. We didn't discuss it ahead of time, it was a fluke.

This porcelain Santa was the first decoration.



This ornament is paper mache and depicts Father Christmas.



This one is a full figure Father Christmas. She lives in Sweden and I love receiving ornaments you don't see in Canada.



Golden Cherubs



A crystal moon and star

Christmas Lights and Friendly Competition

Every neighbourhood has them. One neighbour decorates with Christmas lights and then another does too. Only they add just a little more. Over the years it becomes a friendly competition. So here is the house that started with just a few lights inthe windows.




And the neighbour determined to outdo.





And new to the neighbourhood, determined to be one of the club.

The Tree is UP!

We put the Christmas tree up today. I know, December 20th and we just put the tree up. Some of my neighbours have had theirs up since the first of November. But I don't want to have to dust the decorations. We used to have a 6 foot tree but when we downsized a few years ago, the tree was downsized too. This one was a steal, $10.00 at Home Hardware. And it is so easy to put up and take down.



Here it is waiting for the offical decorator! My son has taken over this job in the last couple years. Otherwise it probably wouldn't go up.





I think he did a good job. A little bit of everything. I crocheted the angels out of crochet cotton that has gold metallic thread woven around it.

Christmas Baking

I did some baking yesterday. Not a lot. I don't do much anymore, just enough to give my son a taste and to take a plate to the widow who lives next door. One of our favourites are Mud Pies. A brownie like treat with pecans and chocolate icing. Not overly sweet but rich because there is a ½ cup of butter in the cakey part and another ½ cup in the icing. These are delicious in a bowl of vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce drizzled over top. A wonderful treat on a hot summer day.



And then I baked butter tarts. Did you know that butter tarts are unique to Canada? They became popular in the early 1900's. Butter tarts are similar to the American pecan pie and the British treacle tart. Butter tarts started life with raisins but have since become popular with walnuts, pecans or currents baked in them. The best butter tarts have a runny filling. The kind that drips down your chin when you bite into them. Delicious! Messy but delicious.





Don't these look yummy? Yes, but unfortunately this isn't mine. This is the picture on the recipe card.





These are the ones I baked. It looks like some disappeared overnight!

Anonymous asked: Do you have complete moments of inspiration and wonder where the time has gone?
I do have moments of complete inspiration and then the time flies. When a piece doesn't go like I see in my head, then it gets frustrating. The bracelet pictured below has over 100 pieces of black onyx and freshwater pearls. It took over 2 hours to make but boy did the time fly!

Festival of Unique Gifts, Sunday November 15, 2009

The Festival of Unique Gifts is an Artisan show that I arrange annually. There are 13-14 artisans, all with something unique, all handmade. This year was a big success where we collected 3 large boxes of food and a jar full of money to donate to the local food bank, Pelham Cares. The show ran November 15 10am-4pm and the crowd started arriving before 10 am. Next year is already shaping up to be even more exciting. I will post updates, but if you want your Christmas gifts to be quality unique handmade items keep the weekend of November 12-13 2010 open.

My Table at the Niagara Winter Wonderland Show Nov 28,29 2009

This show was held in a church hall and other than freezing to death the first day, it was a success.

Welcome to Gracie Jewellery!

Jewellery is my passion! Even as a little girl, I knew jewellery would figure prominently in my future. My first job was in a fine jewellery store. No costume jewellery here. I was in my element, surrounded by gold, silver and diamonds.

I have spent 22 years in the jewellery business. Selling it, repairing it, always enjoying it.

And now I’m doing what I love best. I take pride in creating affordable casually elegant jewellery using high quality Argentium sterling silver wire (stronger and higher tarnish resistant than regular silver) and an ever growing assortment of semiprecious gemstones and top quality Swarovski crystals. I travel to the supplier to personally select all my beads. It is a 2½ hour drive, but I want to pick each bead. I'm fussy that way.