Christmas Magic | Tres – SEASHELL NELL

Twelve Christmas facts/ things that I love

Just for kix and giggles.

I was working on this new painting technique for this ultra-specific wall art I’m making for somebunny special (I have one thousand brothers, and gifting individual gifts to each? It’s like I read all of the “101 Christmas Gifts he’ll LOVE” every December 1, think, “Why would anyone love this?” and then I’m left to my own devices. Every year. ANYWAY. Back to wall art.) So, I wanted the paint in this one place on the canvas to look splattered, and the ol’ toothbrush technique wasn’t giving me what I wanted, so I read some more internet and it was like, “Try hitting a paint brush.” So, I tried. And I was successful. Very successful. Overly successful. So successful: paint all over my arms and shirt and body and on the floor and the newspaper. Oh. Dang.

How many things could I possibly accomplish tonight? Like, is embroidering and dying and making fudge in the course of 3 hours too much? What about running to the hippie-store? Is that too much? Please advise.

I went to a holiday party yesterday and there was a little toddler—just old enough to walk, not old enough to talk. I gave him some little, bitty green house slippers with a pom-pom on each toe. His mom put them on his little feet, and he looked at them, then at me, then at them…and then he did a special shuffle-dance, showcasing them and it was precious and my heart grew three sizes that day.

Do you want to talk about how my coworker made these candied almonds and I’ve eaten so many of them because they’re delicious but also: almonds so, therefore, they seen healthy and my self-control dwindles?
Do you want to talk about how I’m supposed to be making sides and salads for Christmas Eve and Pinterest looks full of delicious, so I ate an entire box of kale for lunch? There was no stopping me.

Speaking of Pinterest: my mom sends out over two hundred Christmas cards each year. OVER two hundred. And we receive a lot, too. This year she decided to hang them like circus flags all over the living room and what festivity. Olé!

MY MOM. This is blurry because I snapped it on STEALTH MODE.

I’m super digging on the Motown Christmas jams this year. For instance.

I have this beautiful, beautiful friend who is full of wisdom and beauty and grace and her life’s work is ushering people from this life to the next via music i.e. she’s a music therapist who ministers to the dying and did I mention that meeting her is like encountering the Blessed Virgin? Anyway. She wrote this online:

My friend xxxxxxx has me reading the Artists Way- a literal 12 week recovery program for artists to reconnect with their creativity that has been blocked and stifled. In spending all my time sharing music FOR other people, I completely overlooked the reality that part of Gods mission in my music is to create it, enjoy it and reconnect with my own passion for MY sake. I decided earlier this week I would start playing Chopin again, and today got the gift of meeting a patient who was an extremely accomplished pianist and a kindred soul. I sat down to play Chopin for her and when I finished she said “your eyes are sparkling. You are beautiful. May you never forget why music is so important to YOU.” Confirmation. Creativity puts us in touch with the Creator. Don’t be afraid of the child within that desires to create, play, and enjoy. Come alive!!!!Sometimes being fully alive and joyful does more for the world than a million selfless deeds with sorrow on our faces. ‪#‎Joygiveshope

Is she incredible or what? Daaaang.
I took that and loved me some creativity this weekend. I can’t show the finished product yet, though. Because: Christmas.

CREATE OR STAGNATE.

I went to mass on Saturday, heard from the Gospel of Luke about Mary and the angel Gabriel and the question–“But, how can this be??” and the stunning reply, finally, “YES!”
Later, during the consecration, the tall, young priest with the gentle enthusiasm said to us, softly but insistently: “Every heartfelt YES makes a world of difference.”
Is that not beautiful?
It reminds you of the most beautiful saints, doesn’t it?
Man. If I had more time I’d make some wall art offa that saying for real, though.
Mary/ St. Max Kolbe/ a St. Teresa-Theresa-Therese or two/ St James/ etc

SPEAKING ABOUT RELIGIOUS ART.
For one project I’m making I needed to reference a picture or one thousand of the Sacred Heart. So I searched for the Sacred Heart on the internets. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, whatdaya know, mixed in were a ton of images of the Immaculate Heart. For all the non-papists: Sacred heart=Jesus’ heart; Immaculate Heart=Mary’s heart.
I was like, “NEWBS. This is such a rookie mistake!!11!”
But then I decided to extend some grace and let it go, Elsa (Ana?)
BUT THEN I went to the craft store and witnessed THIS:

BEHOLD. On the “Christmas” shelf we have: a fleur de lis which, in its defense, has Trinitarian/ Marian imagery but still; an EMPTY CROSS which is 1000000% more Easter than Christmas and; an Our Lady of Guadalupe who, with total honesty, has a huge percentage of my love and devotion BUT STILL, “Christmas”? Check the calendar, silly gooslings, her feast day was 2 weeks earlier.