holidays

Now In Stereo.

| Betsy

This Christmas card, from Fine Cell Work is by far, my favorite Christmas card this year. Maybe even of all time.

I like the humanity it brings to what is normally thought as inhumane or deviant. I like that it highlights a part of our communities that might have been forgotten about, people who might have been forgotten about. I like how it communicates quietly that the holidays just aren’t for the ones who are out shopping in malls or wrapping presents and setting up the tree.

The holidays are for the lonely, the forgotten, the abused, the ill, too, and not just for those who try to make this holiday “the best one yet!” And they’re not about money and acquisitions and wish lists. They’re about recognizing love and joy and kindness…wherever they might find you.

Fine Cell Work is an charity that teaches needlework to inmates and sells their work. From their site,

Fine Cell Work is a Registered Charity that teaches needlework to prison inmates and sells their products. The prisoners do the work when they are locked in their cells, and the earnings give them hope, skills and independence.

Savings reduce the likelihood of offenders returning to crime. Prisoners often send the money they earn from Fine Cell Work to their children and families, or use it to pay debts or for accommodation upon release.

The inmates are all instructed by volunteers, many of whom have been taught at the Embroiderer’s Guild, the Royal School of Needlework and the world of professional design. Once trained, they can be responsible for difficult commissions done to deadlines, and support other inmates who are still learning.

Much of their finished work is traditional, but my favorite piece is a cushion of a prison calendar. After going to a sale of theirs in London a few years back, it’s been a pleasure to watch their online shop grow in designs and medium. Their work is always well-done, so I wasn’t surprised to see this excellent holiday card pop up in my inbox!



And in book news:

Today! (December 9)
*An interview I did with Open Mind was broadcast, and will be repeated again on December 14!

Tomorrow! (December 10)
*I’ll be talking about how you can use your craftiness for good at 7.30 in Raleigh at Quail Ridge Books!
*After the event, I’ll be doing a live interview with the wonderful Feminist Magazine on KPFK in Los Angeles, which will be broadcast online and on Pacifica Radio! I’m the last person interviewed on the show tomorrow, so listen up around 10.40 EST!

welcoming the familiar and the familial.

| Betsy

So it’s almost Thanksgiving here in the U.S., my most favorite of holidays for reasons like snuggliness and hugs and warm sweaters. Tomorrow I head to the Georgia coast, which means a few extra special things like late night talks with my grandfather when everyone’s asleep, knitting with my grandmother, long solo walks on the quiet beach, watching the sea for the dolphins that always come at dawn and dusk.

And if I’m extra lucky, it also means spending an hour or two walking around and taking photos of the Southern gothic beauty of the Christ Church grounds and hearing all the family stories I never tire of even though I know them by heart.

After all the food has been eaten and the football watched and the whiskey consumed and the naps had on Thursday, it will be Black Friday. There are many sites online with coupons for the shopping day to end all shopping days like here and here. Many sites that help you with your day after Thanksgiving bring-on-the-holidays spendiness.

But what about actually celebrating Buy Nothing Day instead? Not just participating in the no spending activities, but actually enjoying the day itself? What about taking a day to enjoy all the things around you that don’t cost money?

How many more shirts do you really need? In this world where we are lucky enough to be able to drive to the store down the street and choose between 30 different brands of peanut butter, why spend a day off fighting just to consume more? You could be listening to old family stories again, remembering them for when you’ll be the only one to recite them, or curling up on the couch with an old blanket and your favorite book.

What about choosing not to buy new new new, and enjoying the tiny wonderful things that are on offer nearby, at arm’s length, and for free instead? What about daring to enjoy what’s in front of you instead trying to replace it for a new shiny moment? What about daring to be okay with what you have instead of looking for more? These tiny notions of rebellion and resistance are where life is to be enjoyed, honored and fully lived.

dreaming of handmade holidays.

| Betsy

I wish I was having the above evening right now. The evening where I cooked dinner with friends (who are in massage therapy school and made me able to turn my neck to the right again after sleeping weird), ate homemade apple crisp, played a game, and drank hot chocolate prepared by an ex-barista.

Instead, I’m home sick instead of going to see Synecdoche, New York and then watching a basketball game downtown. But, I can’t complain because the term craftivism has now been used by CNN.com, which means being one step closer to world craft domination. See article here.

And seeing that that article is all about making your gifts for the holidays, have you taken the Handmade Pledge yet? If not, you can go for it by clicking below…

I Took The Handmade Pledge! BuyHandmade.org

I’m not sure if technically I need to sign it again because I signed it last year, though?

With the economy in the tank, you might be finding yourself in a situation where you need to make your holiday gifts instead of buy. A situation that you may not have been in since the 3rd grade.

If this is the case, you may even be a little shocked that there are hordes of people making their holiday gifts in years past, too, before you started to wonder if Warren Buffett was really going to take over the world. Even more shockingly (and probably much to your relief) these presents were good presents, not the fabled 3-sleeved sweater from your aunt in Tulsa!

Have no fear, as one of the greatest things about all these crafty people are their ideas, which make gift giving less stressful and much more fun. So, need some gift ideas so you can turn your house into an elf workshop? (Ok, I confess I love elves. Especially Buddy the Elf and Hermey who should totally be in the Elf Hall of Fame. Every year I have to watch the 1964 Claymation version of Rudolph or it isn’t Christmas, even though I know it all by heart.)


To get you started:
*Martha Stewart’s holiday ideas
*HGTV’s Last Minute Handmade Gifts
*Upcycled Wrist Cuffs at craftingagreenworld.com
*10 Elegant Inexpensive Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas
*Better Homes & Gardens holiday ideas (link via Whipup)
*Giant thread of handmade children’s gift ideas over at Cafemom.com
*Domesticdiva.com’s list of SewMamaSew’s 30 days of crafty ideas from last year (rounded up from here)
*Handmade Holiday Craft Ideas from the awesomely awesome Susan Beal
(I can’t even begin to say how helpful this is!)


And if this still leaves you cold, you can find what your heart desires over at Etsy or a local handmade shop near you. For those of you seriously needing ideas on the cheap, I love this Recession Gift Guide of presents under $5 from Indiefixx!

teatime wisdom and bringing in the holidays.

| Betsy

As I was winding down from the day, I went to make a cup of bedtime tea. It’s starting to get really cold at night here in North Carolina, which means that nighttime tea is practically mandatory before going to sleep. Tonight’s tea was extra wonderful as considering what I wrote about yesterday, I found its accompanying wisdom pretty much perfect. Maybe it should become mandatory for all tea to be attached to little labels of awesomeness?

Even though I try to not start celebrating the December holidays until the tail end of November, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to go eat homemade butterscotch cookies while watching Julian Koster sing carols the other night at a friend’s house. Julian is currently on a caroling tour of the United States, and if you’re lucky, he might just play at a town near you. For more details, see here.

I highly recommend starting the winter holidays with an in-house caroling session by a traveling musician, musical saw optional. Even though he arrived in a 4-door sedan instead of some sort of fairytale holiday sleigh, Julian was as magical as ever. I’m already wondering my Sufjan Stevens Christmas albums are.

Lately:
*Cloth and Culture Now
*Design Altruism Project
*Dreaming of running around St Kilda
*Trellick skirt kit from Clothkits (via Needled)
*Whose Craft Is It, Anyway? by Diane Gilleland and Rachel Hobson (via Murketing)
*Claire Joyce’s new website…finally her glitter paintings up close! (via Extreme Craft)
*Amazingly brave article about my friend’s little sister, Olympic swimmer Margaret Hoelzer’s childhood sexual abuse and how she plans to devote her life to helping abused children

just one more cup…

| Betsy

I started making 80%* of my holiday presents myself a few years ago.

Of course, this makes the time around the holidays a bit more stressful, but I think it’s an effort well worth it. The people getting the gifts you toiled over may never know that you almost lost a finger during a crafty mishap or almost burned down the kitchen in an attempt to make the perfect batch of vegan chocolate chip cookies, but they will know that you did more than just run to Wal-Mart at the last minute.

You get the joy that occurs when you’re up at 3am trying to wrap all your scarves correctly, singing along to Slayer or Billie Holiday or Lungfish with the stereo cranked up. Somewhat unlike the fear of trying to get your science project finished before the bus comes with “Thriller” playing on the boombox, you are a bit worried that your efforts will fall apart once you hand them over, but are proud nonetheless.

You might be a little bit sleep-deprived when it’s all said and done, but hey, that’s why there is coffee.**

*In case you’re wondering, why not 100%?, well, some people I adore just don’t think that handmade presents are where’s it at. Yes, they’re misguided, but I forgive them.

**I wish coffee could be ingested through an IV drip. Between essays and making presents, I am practically never seen awake these days without a cup of coffee in my hand. I promise that one day (sooner rather than later) I will stop being so damn emo and write more about actual craftivist stuff that is helpful. As for now, get crackin’ on those presents!