Christmas....already???

How is it possible that Christmas Eve is only hours away? I last posted on Dec.1 and in the weeks since my life has been a flurry of activity. It will be a quiet Christmas for us with only 1 of our 3 children home. Even my mom has left the state. While we have been busy working there have been a few moments of quiet reflection. On the evening we put our tree up it was snowing outside the window. It was a beautiful, late fall storm that dumped over a foot of snow on us. Just the presence of snow made everyone around here full of holiday spirit. I love to put my tree up. It is like visiting dear, old friends once a year. My Big Ben is new, bought in 2008  to commemorate our trip to England & Scotland in April of that year. Just above it is a hand crafted heart. The message was embroidered over 30 years ago when we celebrated our first Valentine's Day together. I was unhappy with the size of my work since I had already purchased a small, metal heart shaped frame so I embroidered another one to place in the frame and made this into an ornament. I find handwork is a gift that can be appreciated on so many levels. My boyfriend at the time (now my husband) showed genuine appreciation for his gift.
As far as handcrafting gifts this Christmas they were few and far between. The days have flown by with not much to show for the hours. I made a few items but have tried more than anything to spend time in worship. Worship for the newborn King Who is my salvation and the reason why I celebrate the season. There have been moments of sweet remembrance as I attended a women's holiday dessert with my friends at their church and hosted a table for my church's Christmas Tea. It all...the gifts, the tree, the events, the family members coming home....all of it is what makes the season a JOY to celebrate. I am grateful that His birth allows me these days to reflect and worship.
Merry Christmas to all-

A Week of Giving Thanks

Like families all over we celebrated Thanksgiving with great joy...together. Since 2 of our 3 children have gotten married we have made a point of spending 1 of the 2 fall/winter major holidays a year together. This year was our Thanksgiving year. We rented a home in central Oregon and spent 7 glorious days under the same roof- 4 generations!  Since we do not live near our 3 grandchildren we relish every moment in their presence. Our precious littlest was just mastering his first steps, our lovely girls are both on a "Princess" high. We feel blessed that the kids all like each other and enjoy being together. We were happy my mom could join us and like most everyone else....we ate tooooo much!

Since we weren't going to see them on Christmas I needed to get the girls dresses done early. I had a sweet peachy-pink Eiffel Tower print that I made basic yoke dresses out of. Due to the season I made long sleeves to keep them warm. The smocking is a very simple pattern I designed. They seem to like matching dresses. I'm sure you will agree that they (the girls) are adorable .... says the doting Noni (grandmother).
I trust your holiday was a blessing as well and as we enter this season of Christmas, celebrating the birth of a King, I wish you great Joy-
Karen

The End is Near-

Dear Friend-
As of January 2010 I will be disbanding my website-
http://www.robynseggblue.com/
Along with that I will be eliminating 2 e-mail addresses:
karen@robynseggblue.com and
orders@robynseggblue.com
Please make a note to change my e-mail address in your file to:
karenplatner@hotmail.com
To follow my latest designs please visit my blog:
karen-robynseggblue.blogspot.com
Be sure to sign up as a follower to recieve notices of when articles are posted.
Thanks you for your interest-
Karen Platner

-I will be sending out my post cards with the above notice to alert friends & family of these changes. I appreciate everyone who has looked at and commented on this charming website. Thank you to Lisa Doty for making my vision a reality with a beautiful product, I will miss sending people to view it. A huge thank you also to my neice Ceirha Tripp for her exquisite artwork, she is a true craftsman. I highly recommend working with either of these 2 women!