Artists In The Family

We come from a long line of crafty people.

Our mother was a photographer, a woman who could sew anything, a floral arranger, decorator, and lover of anything beautiful.

Our dad could make anything with his hands, he was an optician by trade and that itself was a craft. He loved gardening and all things beautiful

Our generation took crafting to the next level and my sister and brother and I all do crafts as a hobby and an income. A second income for my sister and brother - and me, it's all I do to pay the rent.

This is about my sister Elaine M ? emccain.gather.com

She is a fabric artist and creative person who played with a lot of ideas and made some pretty wonderful items that live in my house.

All of our Christmas presents to each other are hand made. I thought I'd share a few with you that my sister Elaine made for me.

This was one of the first - my my daughter was a toddler. All my children loved this advent calendar. Made out of felt.

These two deer sit where I want them too and never make a peep.

Cross stitch done by Elaine - goodness she has patience.

I loved this tree skirt from the first moment I saw it. One christmas my dog tried to eat it and my sweet sister fixed it for me. She is so talented and has more fabrics in her home than anyone else I know.

Santa Cross stitch.

My sister's funky angel. I get more comments on this than anything else. Made out of paper mache, modeling clay, fancy fabrics and laces and sets on an antique spool. Maybe Elaine will comment and remind me what exactly the spool was.

Group of Santas -  all fabric weighted so they stand. Another conservation maker.

Elaine used to make frogs and sell then for big bucks in Saratoga. She made me a frog angel that I cherish.

All of Elaine's things are made by her and have such detail. The hair on this Angel is Cloves.

Ho HO HO - I love Snow and my sister knows that. This wall hanging stays out untill the snow melts in April.

This funny looking guy is made out of paper mache and I love him. The quilted runner under him is made by Elaine too.

This Santa is paper mache too. He holds a list of name of good children - mine's on that list...

Another Funky Angel that I enjoy. Elaine made the face and hands out of SCULPTY = a modeling clay and the fabrics and details speak for themselves.

This is special. In 1986 our mother passed away just before Christmas. She was burried in a snow storm and after all was over Elaine and I walked to the cemetery to say good bye. We ended up building a huge snow angel at the foot of Mom's grave. This stained glass angel was under the tree for me on Christmas. Elaine started making it before Mom died and didn't have the heart to finish it for me  - untill we left a snow angel for mom. Bless you Elaine.

This is not just the fabric panel you buy at the fabric store - each square has hours of hand work, beading, buttons and lovely metalic stitches decorating the piece.

This guy, part of my snow collection was made out of canvas by my sister Elaine.

These three guys have weighter feet and hands. They hang anywhere you want then too - on lamp shades, over a door,  off a chair,  a drawer pull, anywhere - they have cute faces too.

Another stained glass angel

This final piece I'm showing you today stays up all year. My sister Elaine designed this herself and it represents the Adirondack Mountains, the Sacandaga River we camp next to and the sun indicated the sunny days and happiness we share while camping at CAMP

INSANITY. (I've written several Camp Insanity articles if you're interested)

Thank you so much for looking and I hope you will go visit my sister Elaine and connect with her if you haven't already.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Great New Year to you all.