The Nativity

You will not believe me when I say I am not Religious...... Spiritual, but not Religious..... Especially when I show you around the Nativities that Adorn my SMALL house at this time of year! I consider myself a Pantheist.... a Believer in ALL Religions and ALL Gods..... Please forgive me if this offends your Beliefs. Nevertheless, I have always ADORED Nativities and the Medieval Art of the Christian world... and at Christmas.... that Darkest Time of the Year...... my House fills up with the Celebrations both Pagan and Christian...... Trees, Lights, and the Celebration of Birth. And over the years I have accumulated.... very NON-intentionally...... quite a collection of Nativities.

This first one is a Pop-up or Fold out Nativity..... when it is closed it is a Book......

The World within a Book has ALWAYS intrigued me..... so here it is........

The above picture shows all four sections......
The one below shows only three of them.......

Here is a closer view of the Nativity with the Baby Jesus......

And the right hand panel with the Three Kings....

The background sky is the inside Cover of the Book
The figures are printed on the paper and fold up into position when you open the panel of the book..... (the ceramic bird is holding the flap in place...)

The left central section shows the Angels appearing to the Shepherds.....

And the far left panel shows the Angels appearing to the Town Folk........

I found this Book Nativity in a used book store.... was I ever surprised and DELIGHTED when I realized it was a pop-up Nativity...... I had never seen one so Beautiful and I snapped it up!
It takes over a Whole shelf of one of my Bookcases...... it fits So Perfectly!

Here is another Fold out or pop-up Nativity I found much later, and is of a Quite different Style... being more Medieval rather than Baroque.......
It moves to the Hall table... which is actually my sewing machine which has to move here to make room for the Christmas tree..... and the Hall Table.... moves to the Kitchen Hall.....
So here it sits in front of some of the Christmas Cards I have drawn over the years.... but that is the subject of another post......

It, too, is a Book when closed.....

and Voila it is a Nativity in one smooth Opening!

Here you can see a little closer...
the Characters are all images from Medieval Art......

And while we are on the subject of Paper Nativities..... here is a view of the Paper Mache Nativity I have made.... I was inspired by one my In-laws acquired in Sicily Many years ago....
I started this when my first son was one....... and finished it a few years ago.... the painting of the figures took a great deal of time each...... The figures are between 8 or nine inches tall....so it is larger than dollhouse scale.....

The angels flying overhead stay up all year.....

actually the whole Nativity does in this house... there is nowhere to store it!

And a closer view of the Stable....made of cardboard boxes!......

With the Holy Family, the Ox and Ass and the Midwife and the Innkeeper.....

the shepherds are to the right..... and the Kings to the left......

And of course, the Nativity I drew in the Christmas Card for last year......

How many versions have I drawn over the years?

I even have stray pieces of Nativities.....

like this manger with the Baby Jesus and no-one to watch over him.....

so I always place him beside my Buddha on my Coffee table.....

under the Christmas cactus......

And a very traditional ceramic version.....

which Happens to be a good dollhouse scale......

and will someday figure in some creation of my dollhouse world......

Then there are a few tiny ceramic boxes with Nativity scenes on top........

And another one....
Who could resist a Tiny Box and Nativity together?.... NOT I!

One of my Favorite little Nativities is this Resin one which opens up........

Here you can see into the interior of the Stable past the Wise Men......

to glimpse the Baby Jesus...

And here you can see it opened.....

And a closer view of the Holy Family.....

the whole thing is not more than three inches tall.....

And of course, the Nativity I set up inside one of my Snowball ornaments.....

to hang on the Christmas Tree..... it is very hard to photograph this one......

And another Nativity within a Globe ornament.....

this one is Mexican .... inside a gourd.....

Given to me by my ex-husband's Niece..... Long ago.......

And a closer view of the Holy Family......

I have ALWAYS LOVED those Worlds inside a little shell....

Like this one.... again Mexican..... and inside an Eggshell!!!

And if we are going to count the Tiny Nativities....

then surely you MUST see the ones in my Dollhouses.....
On the Mantle of the "Folly"......

On the sideboard in the "Lovely Old Dollhouse"........

And in the Chapel of the Castle Dollhouse........

So you can see, I have an Enduring LOVE for the Nativity......
But I don't Collect them...... Truly, I Don't!

The Nativity

Embroidery

Stitches In Time.... Time In Stitches

Warning! If you do NOT Absolutely LOVE embroidery you must stop now... this post will only Bore you! That said, I will admit to a passion for decorative stitchery...... known as embroidery. I learned to sew when I was seven or eight years old.... but didn't learn about embroidery until I was a teenager. The little pouch you see here is perhaps the Second thing I ever embroidered. I found an old kid-skin glove that was stained and I cut it up to make a little bag and then I started to decorate it with whatever idea came to mind until it was all filled up. I probably worked at it over a period of two or three years... not steadily... but just adding here and there when I had time.

Yes, it betrays my early Hippie years... a hookah smoking hedgehog........!

Amongst the dragon flies and flowers note the tiny bees.......

And even the bottom was covered in designs.......

All my projects were little things.......

like embroidering this butterfly and rose on the velvet lining for a needle box.........

Here, you can see the Rose.....

My biggest project was embroidering an Alphabet quilt for my first son...... a project that started out as just applique letters.... but quickly evolved into embroidered AND appliqued letters.... which took a WHOLE lot LONGER! I started when I was pregnant...... was stitching "L" when I went into labor..... and didn't complete it 'til my son was four and I was nursing my Second Son!

Here you can see the FIRST piece of embroidery I ever did..... on a scrap of torn bed linen..... which I saved and incorporated into the Quilt.... which is what got me going with the embroidery part....... this is a portrait of our black cat "Puss"........

And more details from my Son's quilt..... a pair of pink pigs in a puddle.....

And this letter I remember stitching when I was VERY pregnant with my Second Son......

And I DID START the quilt for my Second Son....

Honest, I did! This is one of the squares of his Still Unfinished Quilt...

(hanging head in shame)....

And Another one......

I got all the way to the letter "J" ..... for my Son Jake.......

and still have the squares all stacked up in the sewing basket.......

but somehow the Time got away from me........

This letter "Z" is the one from my older son's quilt......

There just never seemed to be any Time for embroidery...... I used to carry my basket with me and sew a few stitches even at the Boy's soccer games....... but they outgrew that and the quilt still wasn't done...... perhaps Someday I will finish it.......

So it can be no Surprise to you that when I discovered a local store that sold embroidered Saris from India I was hooked! One by one I acquired them..... they weren't Cheap...... a WHOLE Rainbow of Incredibly ornamented AMAZINGLY Beautiful lengths of cloth! I hung them on my Bed frame...... a four poster with a canopy frame just Made for displaying these wonders...... They made my tiny attempts and embroidery look Primitive by comparison........
Here you can see a photo from my FORMER Home...... my new Home bedroom is too small and dark so they are packed away.... But the Former home I had painted the walls in a deep Moroccan Blue and ornamented it with painted trees and flowers and birds........

This is the view from ON the bed........ Messy bed..........

And another view from the end looking towards the wall.....

but you can see some of the embroidery...

sequins and gilt thread on that saffron sari........

And the view from the door to the room....... I Told you it was a Rainbow!

So, to celebrate my Downsized Home .... where there isn't room for a dozen draped saris on the bed.... I purchased a small Quilt..... or Door hanging...... made from scraps from an AMAZING assortment of former Saris...... I hung it on my bedroom door where I see it EVERY Day and can admire the Unbelievable Variety of Design, Pattern, Image, Technique, Material.........

Here, You MUST have a closer look........

(I Apologize for the blurry shots.....

it was quite difficult to hold still enough and close enough to get uniformly clear shots....)

The Wonder of the beauty of just a Fragment of the original.....

And the Variety of Form and stitches......

And Complexity of Materials......

Makes me Wonder WHO stitched this...... and HOW Long did they work at it.....

And Who taught them HOW......

Or Created the Designs.....

The Patterns know no ending of Variety....

Some more Glittery than others......

Some Encrusted with Beads and Mirrors......

Some more Delicate......

Stitches I Still don't have a Name for..... techniques I would LOVE to learn......

Fine and Subtle.....

Bold and Tribal......

Brilliant and Flashy.....

Pieces that had a Life I will never know a thing about.......

And can only Wonder and Gaze at in AWE.......

Adorning my Doorway........

Reminding me Every Day how MUCH I LOVE

Embroidery