Thursday, January 7, 2010

December and January Beading Moments..

I have been quietly beading and it has given me alot of enjoyment of late.

The piece above was meant to be a $20 secret santa gift (with a dragonfly on it, see below) but I have troubles doing things by halves, I just kept going until I had made something that was obviously worth much more than $20. Then my mother fell in love with it, (I loved it too) but it is now spoken for and the lady had asked for the dragonfly to be removed and a eucharistic medal to take it's place... I have definately a green person, especially when there is aqua as well..

This is how it looked before the change...the dragonfly and some of the other parts are from Vintaj ~ I love their products.

Lourdes necklace, with lovely subtle grey's and washed out lavenders and pinks..this one will be going over to Tota Pulchra Beads soon..


This is one of my all time favourites, it will be winging it's way to the States tomorrow...


I love the colour mix in this rosary, and at last a most beautiful rosary center I like has been cast in solid bronze and not just the sterling silver..


This is my lovely paraman necklace with Our Lady and the Child Jesus. Very earthy, the stones are so subtle yet so alive sprinkled with my favourite swaroski crystal colour, it's luminous and throws of blues and purples, 'Crystal AB Satin'.

For those who have not heard of a paraman, here is a description:

"The word paraman originally and strictly referred to a monastic "scapular" in the Byzantine Church. It was rectangular and made of cloth and only worn by monks. The sole motive on the paramans was a depiction of the cross.The paraman pictured is a modern version of the old type of monastic scapular where the motives are more varied (Jesus, Mary, the Cross) and they are "pressed' into the leather."

This piece was commissioned by a friend who had worn out a loved necklace that had interesting focal pieces to the side with little dangles ~ she wanted something similar but this time a religous piece. Lots of earthy colours...

A really beautiful eucharistic medal...




Sterling silver and lavender go so well together...

A St Anne tenner...


This rosary was really beautiful IRL, especially in the sun, the colours, the COLOURS were fantastic! It has a shamrock crucifix and a St Patrick's rosary center, so I called it initially 'The Forty Shades of Green' but a dear friend bought this for her daughter, the same lady who introduced me to the St Patrick's Breastplate ~ she had told me at the time that she recited it everyday for this lovely daughter ~ it struck me the otherday the connections!!! Just had to tell her!

The St Patrick's Breastplate is so very Christ-focused and it was lovely that I had added for the very first time, some little czech fire-polished beads with the image of the crucified Christ on them, they two, on either side of each Pater bead.

I love this pair of men's beads...the pater beads are a lovely thumb size, and feel so comfortable in your hands..this one will probably make it's way over to Tota Pulchra Beads as well.

This is not new, it's the original necklace that is in my Tota Pulchra Beads header...I've just decided to re-photograph it, took some lovely shots...




Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Our Christmas Eve...

Finally our Christmas Eve. I sort of fell off the blogging band wagon when we had a very sick weekend on the 12th-13th December, severe gastric that zapped all our strength and energy for the weeks to come and despite that, we had a very busy Christmas. I'm still recovering, I think but I did want to share our photos from Christmas Eve.

Our Eve started with some of the children processing the Child Jesus to our lounge room and placing Him wrapped in a beautiful, little patchwork quilt (makes me think of the quilt from 'The Legend of the Pointsettia').

Our lounge was ready, the empty crib, the Advent wreath all lit up and the electric candles that we did not get to use on St Lucy's feastday due to illness, lined on both sides of the wreath.

My littlest was completely captivated with the baby Jesus, this is her first Christmas to really interact with, being almost 2.

Had to make sure the baby Jesus was snuggled and warm...


Our Christmas stable was all lit and full with the scene of Christmas...


Our tree twinkled with the 'Christ Child' gifts for everyone, under the tree.


My wordless Wednesday moment.....


We then sung christmas carols for the whole evening, drinking homemade eggnog, it was a beautiful, blessed night.

One last kiss for the Child Jesus for the night...

So a little late with these photos of course but appropriate for a 6th of January posting...a blessed Epiphany to all!