I wish you the happiest of holidays

 Well Christmas is almost here and it feels as though the time has flown by. I've been spending my time creating last-minute gifts and stocking up on the Christmas cookie dough for the freezer. Next week I will have a marathon of baking and decorating for all the Christmas tins. As usual, I think I want to make too many different recipes and I end up with more than I need. It is fun though.

This time of year I'm always reminded about how much more we do have in this part of the world and how lucky we are. My only real complaint about Christmas is that it proves that we consume way too much and produce way too much garbage. We are very lucky to have such problems.

This time last year I wrote about a couple charities that I donated to and I'm happy to tell you that I was able to make a second Kiva loan and help support another entrepreneur. I hope to keep rolling my loan paybacks into new loans to help more people. For this year I've decided to donate to Charity:Water and support projects that give the most basic necessity of life. I live in an area that has some of the cleanest and most readily available water in the world. Again, I know that I am lucky and I want to help make clean water a reality for others.

Next week I'm going to take a little break and spend it quietly with my family. I hope that you enjoy the rest of the  Christmas season  and I will be back before the year ends. Happy Holidays!

Notes about this year's Circle Craft

This past Thursday my Mom and I made our annual trip to the Circle Craft Christmas Craft Sale downtown at the convention centre. We go with the intent on buying for people on our Christmas list and we mostly find things that we want for ourselves. It's a guaranteed  way for my Mom to easily get a gift for me. I pick out something nice, she buys it and asks me to forget about it until Christmas. Okey-dokey.

I always like going to see if there is anything new and to maybe get a few ideas about packaging and show presentation. Each year re-affirms my desicion not to aspire to do a show like Circle Craft. While the exposure would be great, the work, commitment and inventory needed would be more than myself and my family would be willing to make. The artists and crafts people that do do the show have my full respect.

I thought I would tell you about a few vendors that really impressed me this year. First up is Untamed Feast which offers 100% dried wild mushroom products. I bought a gift pack of four different mushroom and rice mixes. I'm supposed to give one container as a gift but I don't think it's going to happen. I'm really looking forward to making the Chantrelle Arroz mix as the sample of mushrooms at their display smelt amazing.

Next up is Natalie Gerber who creates fantastic messenger bags and handbags using men's suiting. Everything looked so stylish and well made it made me wish I had some high-powered executive job to go with one of her items.

Next is Ilee Paper Goods. As a printmaker, I always love going into their booth and admiring the beautiful letter-pressed cards and calendars. The urge to buy a letter-press comes on strong when I see their wares.

Finally there is Abeego which is a vendor I hadn't seen there before. This simply designed booth was selling re-useable food wrappers made with fabric a impregnated with beeswax. Each wonderfully smelling sheet can be used like plastic wrap and molded around your food or dish with the heat of your hands. I think they have some strong interest in their new product as it seemed quite easy for them to maintain a crowd around their table.

I wasn't able to buy everything that I wanted but I never regret going to Circle Craft as it's so inspiring to see so many wonderful handmade items in one place. What did you get there this year?

Why giving is the best gift

I really love this time of year for several reasons and not all of them involve eating way too many treats. I love this time of year because it gives me the perfect excuse to indulge in my favorite things. I love to bake, so everyone gets cookies and candies that are too rich for the rest of the year. I love to create with my hands, so everyone gets some sort of craft I've been dying to try out. I love to take pictures of my kids, so everyone (family mostly)get calendars or photo ornaments of my girls. But what I think makes this holiday so appealing for people is the permission to spend money on gifts and show our affection to our loved ones. Unfortunately  I do think the "obligation gifts" that have no real meaning to the recipient or the giver has left many people with the sense that Christmas is just about keeping the economy going by buying next year's garbage. "It looked good on T.V." "Mommy, I want that!". "Maybe my aunt could use a SlapChop".

Last year I did a post about different ways in gift giving and I still think those are great ways to create some meaning for the season. This year I'm putting my money where my mouth is and giving to a couple of organizations that can help make a difference in someone  else's life. I truly believe that there's no better way to feel a sense of abundance than giving to others. I've chosen to buy a Literacy Package through World Vision and provide a small loan through Kiva which does micro-financing. Although I've given a small amount to each, I know that the amounts will have a greater impact within those countries in need.
And for any of you who are a bit skeptical about your money being used up mostly by administration costs of the charity, Will and Jada Smith claim 100% of your donation will be used to fund clean drinking water through Charity:Water. The gift of clean drinking water would always be appreciated.

Are there any charities that you give to regularly during Christmas? Do you believe giving should be part of your entire year? Would love to hear your thoughts.

New ways in gift-giving

Now that we're fully into the Christmas shopping season, maybe some of you feel a little like myself and question whether we should be spending all this money on things we may not need. Now I know that as an artist that I shouldn't really be talking about needs versus wants for X-mas presents because most people don't consider putting good art on the wall as a necessity. However, I think that it we're going to participate in this mass consumerism, we should buy meaningful well thought-out gifts. Perhaps we could even buy items that do double-duty by being enjoyed by the recipient and the world at large. This is one of the many reasons why some people have made the "Handmade Pledge". By supporting small and independent artisans who create meaningful, well crafted, and small editioned pieces, we support processes that pose less of an impact on the earth and hopefully more of an impact on the recipient. I believe people appreciate the effort that they can see that has been made by someone's hand.

If you would like to take this idea a little further and ensure your gift is meaningful then I would like to suggest a couple sites for your online shopping.

The first site is Ten Thousand Villages which promotes fair trade craft items from people all over the world. Their site boasts numerous beautifully hand-crafted items for on the tree and under the tree. Last year I bought a beautifully decorated paper weight from Indonesia.

The second site is World Vision which has done a fantastic job of actually creating a Christmas catalogue to order from. While there are no items for under the tree here, the buyer does get to supply families in the third world with life-saving gifts such as medicine , books and live-stock. I love how the print catalogue has presented items to appeal to children. You may buy "The Three Little Pigs" or "Billy Goats Gruff" for a family and change their world for the better. You can pick the items yourself or you can give "gift cards" to the recipient and they can choose what items they want to donate.

So if this year you're beginning to wonder if you should really purchase the latest gadget that will be thrown out next year , maybe giving a few gifts from these sites might appeal to you. Happy X-mas shopping!