New Year’s Eve Is Fun, I Believe

Two fellow bloggers began the sublime:
Filling this week’s posts with rhyme.
I’ll gladly comply
Since, happily, I
Can partake in such fun this time.

Now, tonight is New Year’s Eve.
A time to enjoy, I believe.
But don’t overdo it
Or you’ll start the year blue; it
Should be the best one we can weave.

My dogs will celebrate too
They’ll help toast the New Year, it’s true,
With water, not wine
But that’s just fine.
They’ll like helping us ring in the new.

So Happy New Year to you, everyone.
Writers, readers and all, have some fun!
Make this year the best
Outshining the rest,
With happiness and love times a zillion!

(And yes, I know I’ve stretched things. It’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Far from a perfect rhythm or rhyme, but I think it gets its message across!)

Happy New Year to each of you and your families--including your pets, of course. By the way, I read that tonight is a Blue Moon!

New Year's Thoughts

I have decided that the next mystery I write will be “Threadbare.” For one thing, I love the title. For another, I had been going to write “And Then You Dye,” but once I started looking at the amount of research I am going to have to do for that one, I was overwhelmed. It was like finding what I thought was the corner of a handkerchief and discovering I had taken hold of a king-size bed sheet -- the subject is enormous. I am going to continue to research the subject of dyeing, but I think it will pretty much take up a year of research just to sound as if I know what I’m writing about.

“Threadbare” is about time of death and holographic wills, and I already know a little something about them -- and anyway, there is not as much to discover in the other little details that will make up this mystery (at least, I hope not).

The New Year is almost upon us, and some of us are making New Year’s Resolutions. Not me, not this year. I’m just going to try to continue doing the good things I did in 2009, maybe a little harder, and not continue doing the bad things. Any time I get more specific with resolutions, I generally get in trouble. This time I’ll be general and see if it brings specific results. Anyone out there thinking along the same lines? Or are you making a list?

Tomorrow evening we are holding our annual New Year’s Eve penny-ante poker party. I can’t remember how many years we’ve been doing it, but it’s a lot. I remember one year we got invited to a party and canceled our poker game -- but ended up playing poker in a bedroom with some other party-goers when someone found a deck of cards! Some traditions are just too powerful to ignore.

The Spanish have a wonderful toast, and I offer it to all of you: Health, wealth, love, and time to enjoy them!

Ring Out, Wild Bells

There's so much more to Tennyson's Christmas poem than the line we use for toasts on New Year's Eve. I've highlighted the stanza that appeals to me most this year. It seems to capture all that's wrong with our world today, and all that might set it right.



Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.



What are your thoughts? Do you have a favorite stanza in this poem?

Ertyl the Elf Gets Down to It

Okay, definitely a little odd, but I'm here in Orlando, the Sunday after Christmas, just back from visiting "the Happiest Place on Earth" with my family, and Ertyl seems to be right at home. Piece of advice: If it's below 60 degrees in Florida, bundle up like you're planning for an Alaskan winter. Oh, my gosh. we were so cold last night, my ears are still frozen.

So here's Ertyl, and here's a cheer for the New Year, a year full of mystery and magic and more Killer Hobby blog posts!

There once was an elf they called Ertyl,
He dressed all in green like a turtle,
A lover of holly and all things quite jolly
He found the day after Xmas a hurtle.
"What do I do now? Alas, holy cow,
No presents or gifts,
We're done with our lists,
No halls needing decking,
No mistletoe necking,
No more frantic shopping,
No global roof hopping,
No chimney slip-slopping,
No house-by-house stopping,
No more green and red,
No reindeer need fed,
No polishing the sleigh,
No wisking away
In the frosty winter air,
The coursers harnessed by pair,
So much time on my hands,
Without any plans,
What shall I do?
So I don't feel blue?

I know...I'll write a mystery!"

And he did.

So shall I.

The Last Christmas Blog

My favorite holiday moving isn’t really a Christmas movie, but it has my favorite Christmas song. Meet Me in St. Louis covers a year in the life of a family just preceding the St. Louis World’s Fair.

Toward the end of the movie, there is a whole section about the family’s Christmas. The father has accepted a job promotion which requires them to move to New York, so the holiday is very bittersweet since it is there last in their familiar setting.

Judy Garland sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Every time I hear the song whether it is the Judy Garland version or someone else’s I always feel a flood of emotion. It reminds me of holidays when I was a kid and how you think that’s how it will be forever, but then things change. Circumstances change. People go out of your life. Traditions change.

Growing up, my family always had a party on Christmas eve. I got married and moved to L.A., my brother spent his holidays elsewhere, my father died and the tradition went dormant for years, only to be picked up again when my son was born. My mother and brother came for the holidays and I threw the party on Christmas eve. Now my mother is gone and my brother doesn’t want to fight the crowd to come cross country.

But new traditions start. For a while we had Christmas dinner at the beach, then at a Japanese teppan restaurant. Last year and this, it was Chinese food and a movie. Just me, my husband, my son and his fiancé.

It’s pointless to fret over change. You can’t hang onto things anymore than you can keep a snowflake.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, if today is your day to celebrate. Happy holidays otherwise.

The roads have been treacherous around here for the past week or so. Not because of snow or ice like much of the country. We are spared that. Not because of the rain that can result in tricky driving conditions.

Because of Christmas. The freeways are clogged with out-of-towners making abrupt stops underneath signage and crazy last minute lane changes. The surface streets are full of savvy shoppers avoiding the freeways. Every parking lot has become a test of driving skills, full of avoidance tactics and requiring oodles of patience. How that woman didn’t know she was blocking the entire lane at the library the other day was beyond me.

So my favorite thing about Christmas is the quiet that it brings to the streets around me. Silicon Valley is a place that doesn't stop for ,much. People work all the time, and busy is the byword. Stores are open 24/7 and the McDonalds down the street cranks out burgers and fries non stop.

Today I will revel in the closed stores, the shuttered businesses, the empty streets. Everyone, it seems, is home. Taking a well deserved break.

Enjoy your day.

Holidays' Best

It’s Christmas Eve! My older son and daughter-in-law will arrive tomorrow to celebrate the holidays--for our second time. We already had one celebration with other family members who were passing through L.A. earlier.

That’s a fact of life for me. My family has always celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas by gift-giving, so our holiday season lasts for a while.

My favorite gift, especially these days, is the ability to spend the holidays with as many beloved family members as possible. My mother-in-law is giving us the special gift of staying with us for a month. Our younger son pops in and out, since he lives in San Diego, only a two hour drive away from L.A. And of course our pups Lexie and Mystie are around to help us celebrate.

I also get a kick out of store-bought gifts. I’ve always liked collecting wristwatches, which is a bit of an anachronism in these days when people tell time by glancing at their Blackberries or cell phones. The gift I loved best as a child was a watch that had interchangeable bands and frames for the face. I begged for it, and wound up getting a band and a face for each day of Hanukkah.

The only Christmas story I’ve had published so far was a romance story in an anthology called WINTER WONDERLAND, published by Dorchester as a Love Spell book. All of the authors based their stories on a Christmas carol they chose. Mine was “Up On The Housetop.” This year is the ten-year anniversary of its publication, but it reappears on store shelves every once in a while near Christmastime.

Who is spending the holidays with you? I wish you all a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas 2009

My mother passed peacefully away December 17. We wanted to put death notices in newspapers from the city where she was born and grew up and again in the city where she spent most of her adult life and again in the city she was living in when she died, but discovered newspapers charge by the line as if these notices are trying to sell something. The Philadelphia paper was the most expensive -- $900 for three short paragraphs! My sister, who is in charge of the burial funds, said to cancel the notices and I replied that we didn’t have to because the papers want proof of death and the hospice she died in wouldn’t tell anyone, even at my direction, that she had, in fact, died and so the papers refused to accept the notice. Well, except the Fort Myers paper; for some reason they decided I wasn’t a prankster and published a notice. The hospice cited patient privacy laws as the reason they wouldn’t give out the information. We didn’t go through a mortuary but had Mom taken directly to a crematorium, so we didn’t have their expertise in handling this. Life is too weird to be believed, sometimes.

Meanwhile, Christmas approaches and thank God I’m finding it a comfort rather than a painful contrast. Favorite ways of celebrating:

A showing of “Scrooge,” the movie I find that comes closest to Dickens’ version of “A Christmas Carol.” It’s the one starring Alistair Sim, made in England in 1951. I’m also looking forward to “A Christmas Story,” based on the short story by Jean Shepherd from his anthology, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, which I read long before the movie came out. It’s not Christmas until I see those two movies. (Fortunately, I have them on CDs, so if television fails me, or shows them at a time I can’t watch, I’ll still get to see them.)

For close to thirty years I collected the Fontanini Christmas Creche pieces, which is not just Mary, Joseph, the Infant, the Three Kings and a few shepherds, but Bethelem: the rug seller with the spinner and weaver; the priest, rabbi, and temple; the carpenter in his shop with an apprentice; the baker and his dough-kneading wife and basket-wielding son; the innkeeper with his apologetically-spread arms (confronting Mary on a tired donkey and a worried Joseph); the stable in the form of a ruined pagan temple; the potter painting a pot in front of his kiln; a big cluster of angels suspended on fine fishing line over six shepherds, three dogs and a large flock of sheep; and so on and so on and so on. I used to put them out on the long raised hearth of our living room and allowed them to spread onto the coffee table -- but then we moved into a much smaller place. I no longer have room to put them out, and didn’t want to leave them jammed into their glass-fronted bookcase so I began to think, sadly, of selling them. Then I got a better idea: I donated the whole set to my church. And they, very kindly, have named me the informal Curator of the Creche. I still get to play with them, they provided a big table in the narthex, and I went over yesterday to move the Three Kings on camelback from a table that holds announcements to the big table, where I turned most of the figures to gape at their striding into town. Christmas Eve after the Children’s Service at four, the Baby Jesus will be brought by one lucky child to the manger. January 6 the Kings will dismount and will appear on foot presenting their gifts in a brief appearance at the stable before the whole set gets put away until next year. So far the members of St. George’s seem pleased at having this display. I am not inclined to preen because I’m genuinely humbled at this public evidence of my lack of self control when it comes to collecting.

Among my earliest published books is one called Original Sin, set at Christmas time. I loved writing it -- it’s a locked-room mystery that takes place in a big Victorian mansion cut off from the world by a blizzard, with a body in the library -- and while it’s long gone out of print it remains one of my favorite Christmas reads. Another is The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy Sayers which, while not explicitly a Christmas book, has Christmas happen in it.

This year my sister-in-law’s Christmas gift to me was to take me to a play, “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol,” which was really good. It’s a tour de force for the one actor who tells the story in two and a half hours, playing all the characters without the aid of sets or costumes. I hope I can think of something half as good for her next year.

I also like to bake a wonderful Austrian Christmas bread called “Vanocka” in honor of the season. It’s a yeast bread with orange peel, blanched almonds and two kinds of raisins in it. I will send the recipe to anyone who asks for it. Write to MaryPulver@aol.com.

The Twelve Months of Christmas

I'm probably the most impatient person you'll ever meet, or whose blog you'll ever read. So, there's no way I could wait 364 days every year for Christmas. Instead, I have favorite Christmas items that I keep in view all year round.

Miniature houses (of course). Why wrap them, put them away, and then unwrap them again, when Christmas will be back before you know it? This one acts as a night light in a bathroom.



The Rockettes! Couldn't do without them all year. They dance in my window box every day, behind a small Rockefeller Center tree.




Spoon rest. A delicate little Spode plate with a Christmas tree is the perfect size for my counter. Why would I ever put it away?

Ornaments. Many of my ornaments have a permanent place. Here's a picture of Pinocchio, the hero of a story I read in Italian in grammar school, swinging just below my electric pencil sharpener. He reminds me also of a Christmas tradition when I was in high school -- we'd go to the Italian old folks home and sing carols and holiday songs in Italian: Rodolfo dal Naso Rosso .... Not that we needed the practice, since most of us were from bilingual homes.

Above Pinocchio is a NYC taxi ornament that's also there permanently.



Presents. Like most crafters, I make Christmas presents all year. (Hey, who messed up my crafts table? It's always so NEAT!)




Donations. A favorite tradition is donating a dollhouse to a holiday raffle at a local school. All year I put aside items that will end up in the house. This year's house was featured in my blog a couple of weeks ago.

http://killerhobbies.blogspot.com/2009/12/november-in-review.html


Do you have any Christmas items that are a part of your year-round decor or do you make a clean sweep of all the red and green when the new year dawns?

My Favorite Holiday Things

My blog sisters and I thought this would be a good time to discuss some of our holiday favorites. Here's my list:

1. My favorite TV program--An episode of The Red Skelton Show where "Freddy and the Yuletide Doll," where Freddy the Freeloader danced with a Raggedy Ann doll that came to life.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0854001/

I have a video, and I can barely watch it because it's so poignant. Red Skelton grew up in Vincennes, Indiana, my hometown. I loved Red Skelton. He had such a gentle hand with humor. I saw him once live, and I was struck anew by how he could be funny without being hurtful or mean toward anyone.

2. My favorite holiday book--Um, this is pretty maudlin stuff, but as a kid I was totally entranced by A Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin. It's thoroughly Victorian, and a read three-hanky read. You can learn more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds

Or even read the whole book!

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/24286

3. My favorite holiday song--"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is my favorite holiday song. I love the story behind the words. You see, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was thinking about his son who had been wounded while fighting in the Civil War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_the_Bells_on_Christmas_Day

The song is a plea for peace. The words are powerful, and the hope is universal.

http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=1&searchseqstart=214&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=214&searchsubseqend=ZZZ

4. My favorite holiday treat--Definitely, it's my brother-in-law Mike Hutts' Snickerdoodles.

The recipe is on my website.

http://www.joannaslan.com/resources.php

5. My favorite thing to do over the holidays--Every year, I try to do something for someone else. This year I visited two schools, the Maret School in downtown DC, and the Henry Thoreau School in Vienna, VA, and talked to the students about being an author. I told the kids the absolute truth: I'm one of the luckiest people on earth because I get to do what I love best for a living!

6. My favorite gift--Of all the gifts I've ever gotten, I probably liked the goat best. My husband and son bought one in my name through Heifer International.

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.2663295/?msource=kw2871&gclid=CJ617Yus454CFR9M5Qodkxbh9g

**

Slashing Through the Snow


One of my blog sisters wondered if any of us had ever written a holiday story or if we'd consider it for our characters. I wrote a Kiki Lowenstein short story called "Slashing Through the Snow." It's available free at http://www.youpublish.com/ Just put "Joanna Campbell Slan" in the blue SEARCH box, and you'll see my "library" of offerings. Please note that this story was written BEFORE the details of Tiger Woods' accident became public.

For Crocheters on the Go

One of the nice things about crochet is that it is easily portable. Even easier than knitting since hooks are shorter and don’t have pointy ends to bust through plastic bags. Of course the portability depends on the project. A scarf is easy to take with, a big afghan - no.

I usually grab something to work on at the last minute. However, just taking a work in progress and a hook really isn’t enough, something I ‘ve discovered at 35,000 feet. What if you finish and want to weave in the ends, or find that you’re losing a stitch because you can’t tell where the last stitch is supposed to be and would like to mark it? It’s nice to have the basic stuff you need with you. I finally made up a small bag with an assortment of tools and always take it on the road. It occurred to me that a small kit like that would make a great last minute crafter’s gift.

I started with the thick plastic bag that a six pack of underpants had come in. It was doubly nice. I was recycling and the shape of the see through plastic container was just the right size for a travel kit. I bought some children’s rounded edge scissors. Short scissors are allowed on planes now, even if they have sharp points. Still I don’t want to take chances and have stuck with the kids shears with the lady bug handles.

I keep some hooks in the bag in case something comes up and I need them. For a gift, I would probably stick in a J and a K sized hook. A small ruler is convenient to check gauge. I carry a tape measure in mine, too. It comes in handy when you’re trying to determine the final size of something.

I always carry at least one blunt needle and a needle threader. I remember laughing at the concept of a needle threader. Not anymore. I use mine all the time and am grateful for how easy it makes getting thick yarn through the eye of a needle.

There’s some little junk at the bottom – some safety pins and some stitch holders. I like having a pencil and a small pad of paper. I use it to keep track of foundation chains. Say something calls for 108 chains. I make a mark for every ten and then for the last eight. Much easier than trying to keep track of where you are in the chain, particularly when the fasten seatbelt announcement interrupts your work.

The on the go kit isn’t fancy, but it sure comes in handy. I would have loved getting one before I figured out to make my own.

There are probably some other things that would go well with the kit. Any ideas?

best gift of all

If you've got a quilter or stamper on your list, I have an idea for a great gift. How about giving them the gift of time?

What the world needs now is time, more time. Time is something we all need more of. When my crafting shifts into high gear (like right about now, as I add more last minute gifts to my roster) I don't want to stop to make dinner or do laundry or clean my car. Little jobs around the house go begging as I chain myself to my sewing machine. (I'd tell you what I'm making but that would ruin the surprise. Come back after the New Year.)

So make a little coupon book for your favorite fabric artist, whether family or friend. Volunteer to pick up the kids at school. Bake for the next bake sale. Go visit Grandma in the nursing home. Give your quilter a break. Tell her you'll do her grocery shopping. Put air in her tires. Oh, check her oil. She'd love that.

Pay the bills for a change. Put new batteries in her smoke alarms. Take over her duties at the next guild meeting. Make her a casserole and put it in her freezer. Buy her flowers and put them on the kitchen table.

Shine her shoes. Iron her shirts. Change the sheets. Vacuum. Clean the toilets. Shovel the walk. Aerate the lawn.

You don't need to do every thing on this list. Just pick one or two things that she (or he) usually does and do it. No fanfare, no need for gratitude.

She'll appreciate every little thing that you do. And you might just get a great gift out of the deal.

Can you add to my list?

Pet Gifts

Instead of blogging about handmade gifts last week, which was our primary topic, I sort of addressed this week’s topic: what other gifts to give.

But I didn’t delve much into what to get for our pets.

I’ve been looking for a new “blue ball” for Mystie. She knows that term. Her favorite game is to get us to throw or kick small rubber balls, ones that squeak when she squishes them in her mouth. She has three, but her favorite is “blue ball” --and its rubber is starting to crack. It’s in the pattern of a soccer ball, and I can find them in white but haven’t found another blue one to replace the original. They used to say dogs are color blind, but the last I heard was a theory that they had some limited ability to see colors. It probably doesn’t matter. Whatever color it turns out to be, she’ll know it’s not the same treasured “blue ball.”

Lexie’s a little easier to buy for. When she plays, it’s with nylon bones, so I’ll get her some new ones to chew on and tease Mystie with.

We haven’t started dressing our dogs in clothes or costumes, but there are a lot of cute outfits out there, especially this time of year. I saw a lot of dressed-up pups yesterday when we went to The Grove shopping center in L.A., right next to the Farmers Market. I was surprised to see the number of dogs there, in fact, until I stopped to pet a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (I can’t resist hugging Cavaliers) and the owner told me that it was the last day to have your dog’s picture taken with Santa Claus! The line to see Santa was long--filled with both kids and dogs. We missed out, but we’ll get our photos of the dogs with family.

Do you get gifts for your pets over the holidays? What kinds?

Gifts for a Stitcher, Sad News

Probably the best gift for a stitcher would be a gift certificate to her or his favorite needlework shop. Stitchers can be hard to buy for. They tend to have a lot of “stash,” unless they are beginners -- “stash” is a term for supplies. We are always running out of some things, but even an experienced needle worker, on going through another needle worker’s stash, might not be able to ascertain what is missing or in short supply, because stash is a very individual thing. Of course if you find a catalog page pinned to your pillow and a certain gadget pictured thereon is circled in red, you just might be able to interpret that as a hint.

This has become a difficult Christmas season for me. My mother had a stroke early last week and has been moved from the hospital to a hospice house. She is ninety-one, and so has had a good long run, but it is still very sad. I went down to Ft. Myers for a few days to see her and she recognized me, but was unable to speak. She does not seem to be in any pain, though they are keeping her sedated against anxiety. Other family members are gathering to say goodbye. I ask you to keep a good thought for Marie Pulver. Thank you.

We Three Wise People

Here's my 2009 Christmas card. I can't claim that it was a quick and easy last minute idea —- it was labor-intensive! -- but I can say that I used many of my crafting tools!

1. Used my sketch pad and charcoal to draw cartoon of Three Wise People and cellphone tower, in black and white.
2. Used my husband to shrink drawing to fit, 4-up, on 8.5" x 11" cardstock.
3. Used printer to print out 63 sheets.
4. Used paper cutter, yielding 252 cards.
5. Used scalloped edged scissors to cut along top of each card to make "horizon."
6. Used a sponge in stamp pad ink, running along edges to make a thin border.
7. Used a ¼" punch to punch out a star over the hills on each card.
8. Used my new fine-tip brush-point markers to color in parts of the cartoon. I colored in something each time ... sometimes the garments, or crown, or cellphone parts, whatever kept me from becoming bored!
9. Used paper cutter to cut 252 gold cards (4-up) from gold card stock.
10. Used my adhesive dots to glue final version of cartoon onto gold card.
11. Used a thick marker to write a message on each card.
Whew.
But I wasn't finished. I had to prepare the envelope.
12. Used a stamp of a crowd of people pointing up on the back of each envelope.



I make my cards every year as a way of meditating on all the people on my list, each one with special meaning in my life. The more difficult the card, the longer I get to think of each one. At least that's the thought that kept me from running out to the nearest card shop when my fingers cramped up!

What are some favorite holiday cards you've made or received?

The Perfect Gift For Any Scrapbooker or Crafter

(That's the window over my sink. I love decorating the house, and I especially like small unexpected touches like this. The only problem? Those berries are toxic to dogs. Do be sure that whatever you use to brighten your home is safe for your pets.)

This week the Blog Sisters promised to share their ideas of perfect gifts for crafters. I know that a few were covered last week in our Last Minute Gift marathon, and some of you might have read my suggestion for a massage. I hope so! I know people worry about modesty, but I have to tell you that massage therapists can work around any concerns you have. And the results are soooo worthwhile. Treat yourself, why don't you? You deserve it.

In addition to massages, here are a few gifts I know any crafter would enjoy:

1. A Gift Certificate. Yes, no matter how many supplies I have, I still run short. Besides, there's always a new product or a new tool or consumables (glue, paint, etc.) that I need to re-stock. So buying the crafty person on your list a gift certificate is a great way to encourage his/her hobby. On Saturday, I signed books at Scrapbooks Plus! a darling store in Chantilly, Virginia. While I was there, two people came in and bought gift certificates for a loved one. Now those are the kind of Santa's helpers that we need more of!

2. A Glue Glider. I bought myself the new Glue Glider Pro from Glue Arts. Go to http://www.gluearts.com/ to see one. These look like those big packing tape dispensers on handles, but the tape is craft friendly. I get so sick of running out of glue tape, or having dispensers gum up, or having empty dispensers that are difficult to refill. My new dispenser is hot pink, so I'll be able to find it easily. I can't wait to use it!

3. A Crafty Mystery. Honestly, you can't craft 24-7. At least, it's tough to craft and drive or craft and travel. I can't figure out a way to bring my supplies with as I fly to visit my family. Not with airlines charging extra for luggage. Not with scissors being comfiscated by TSA. So when I can't craft, I enjoy reading about crafts. Did you know that the Killer Hobbies blog sisters have 84 books to our credit? Yes, and there's a reason. We're good at what we do. (By the way, if you wanted a signed copy of either Paper, Scissors, Death or Cut, Crop & Die, call Scrapbooks Plus! at 703-263-9503. Debbie has a few copies left.

Here's a pleasant bonus: You can order any book online TODAY and know your gift will be in your mailbox in time for the holidays. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have this down, folks. (I bet Debbie at Scrapbooks Plus! can get a signed book to you in time, too.)

Need a gift for someone whose vision isn't what it used to be? I'm proud to announce that Cut, Crop & Die has just been released in a large print version. In fact, I'm happy to play Santa's elf today. Just send in a comment about this post, and I'll choose two lucky commenters to each win a copy of Cut, Crop & Die. I'll announce the winners on Tuesday. (Be sure to watch for my announcement, as I'll need your postal address to get the book to you.)

NOTE: Due to the overwhelming number of comments offering to improve our sex lives through cheap prescriptions filled over the Internet, we're now sending all our blog comments through a moderation process. Your comment won't show up as quickly as it did before, but we also won't be tolerating foreign languages saying goodness knows what, ads for drugs or sex tapes featuring incest. (Ugh.) Call me cranky, but I was getting sick and tired of cleaning these comments from our blog! I don't know what sort of idiot orders drugs from a whack-o advertisement spammed onto a blog, but ... I suppose anything is possible! Okay, rant over. Return to my normally happy self ;)

Last Minute Gifts

I spent all of November and the beginning of November working on my manuscript or thinking about it just about all the time. Once I sent it off, all of a sudden I noticed there was a mountain of laundry, my kitchen was a total disaster, well, my whole house is a total disaster. For the past few days, I’ve tried to make a dent in the above before I tried out the recipes one more time and finished the two crochet projects. Or got into the holidays.

Okay, this week we’re writing about last minute gifts. I like food items. Last year I sent out homemade chocolate chip cookies and spritz cookies. I got little fluted paper holders at Jo-Anns for the cookies and packaged them in tins. They looked very festive and tasted great. I was just at Michael’s and noticed they have patterned take out containers which would work nicely for cookies or fudge.

My other idea for a last minute gift is to give a certificate for a handmade item, which in my case would be something like a scarf or shawl. The good thing about the certificate idea is the recipient can decide what color they like and what kind of yarn they want. I am hesitant to make things out of wool, even though it’s warm and looks nice, because a lot of people seem to be sensitive to it.

This isn’t handmade, but chocolate is always a good gift, last minute or otherwise. I like to send boxes of See’s candy, which is my personal favorite. Even if it arrives after Christmas, I don’t think anybody would complain.

This is an addition to Linda’s gifts for writers. Pens. I find the best ones at art stores. They even have pens you can sign glossy bookmarks with. And you can never have too many pens.

Quick Gifts

Giveaway extended one more day!
http://quiltinggallery.com/2009/12/04/terri-thayer-quilting-mystery-books/

You can also win a set of books by weighing in over at Pat Sloan’s site. http://quiltmashup.com/index.php?topic=301.new;topicseen#new

Now for some quick easy gifts. Technology is a wonderful thing and in sewing, heavy duty interfacings such as Timtex or Fast 2 Fuse have made making fun gifts a snap.

My friend, Maureen, made these wonderful pins last Christmas. I was lucky enough to get two. Every time I wear one, I get stopped and complimented.



I used the same technique for an Ipod holder. This goes to the gym with me. I can listen to podcasts while working out. Makes it go much faster. Also makes me look crazy when I laugh out loud at Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.




It’s easy enough. Back two fabrics with a heavy duty interfacing and stitch together (wrong sides together) with a satin stitch in a contrasting thread. Or just use a zig zag or even a straight stitch. Do all four sides, add a pin back. Decorate with beads or charms. For the Ipod holder, leave an opening at that top and attach a cord. I used a shoe lace and just stitched it onto my sandwich.

I can think of plenty of uses for these little sandwiches. Coasters, ornaments. How about sewing a clear plastic pocket onto a piece of fused fabrics to make a luggage tag? Use a cookie cutter to trace a holiday shape for the ornaments. You can put a clear pocket on it to hold a school picture. One each year for each kid and you've got instant treasures.

For you non-sewers, a fancy clipboard is a quick, fun, easy project.


All you need is a clipboard from the office supply, scrapbook papers, ribbon and other pretty stuff. I paint the clipboard black with an acrylic. Then I layer pretty papers and glue them down. I used Traci Bautista’s Collage Pauge on the back of the paper and on the top. Use plenty, it dries non-tacky. Thread ribbon or yarn or pearls through the clip for a pretty touch. I used my hairdresser’s business card on the back.


Here's to a wonderful, homemade holiday season!

Holiday Gifts for Writers

As I’ve said before, I’m not especially handy these days. I won’t attempt to tell you how to craft a delightful gift for your loved ones and friends.

Instead, I’ll do what I hope I’m more skilled at: ideas.

Those who read this blog tend to be writers or readers. A lot of us have friends and family who are writers, or who want to be writers. What can you give them for the holidays?

Number one for me this year is... some large capacity and attractive thumb drives! I’m always worried about disappearance of what I’m working on, so I back things up. Of course, I work on an old computer and still use the nearly obsolete small floppy disks out of habit, but I also use thumb drives. Some of those thumb drives come in decorative cases now, so I wouldn’t mind at all receiving one or more of those pretty ones or the holidays.

Then there are books. Writers love books. I certainly do. I’d enjoy receiving books by my favorite authors. Even more, I always love receiving research books. These kinds of gifts may require strong hints, so people will know what to get. Or, another alternative is to buy a gift card from a book store and let the recipient choose what presents they want.

Bookmarks are always a great gift for writers. Check out the wonderful one designed and made by my fellow Killer Hobbyist Monica Ferris, in yesterday’s post.

Another idea is a tote bag... to carry one’s books in! I seem to collect a lot at writers’ conferences, and you can always buy one these days in most stores as an alternative to paper or plastic bags. Those are not always especially attractive, but you can always purchase a pretty one.

If you get the idea that I’m a bit old fashioned and prefer printed books, you’re right. But another kind of gift is the e-reader, such as a Kindle or the Sony E-Reader, or the upcoming Nook by Barnes & Noble. If your intended recipient already has one of these, you can buy downloads... although I have to admit I’m not sure how that works as a gift.

There are, additionally, peripheral kinds of gifts. Writers love words. Words appear in crossword puzzles. I always enjoy a gift of a good book containing crosswords, or even other word games.

Finally, it never hurts, if you happen to be a published writer, to give a very special gift: a copy of one of your books, signed especially to your gift recipient.

What other ideas do you have for gifts for readers or writers?

BOOKMARKS

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas” goes the song. Sometimes it’s the little things that count most, the small, personal touches we put in or on the package that make a gift especially memorable. So if you are giving books this Christmas -- and you are giving a book or two, right? -- then why not a bookmark you’ve stitched yourself to make it special? And that way, in the weeks that follow Christmas, every time your special person opens the book, there is the bookmark to remind him or her of who gave it.

Above is pictured a very simple pattern I designed myself and taught at the last Bouchercon mystery convention. I have an explicable love of argyle, so the pattern is special to me. Don’t care for it? This time of year the needlework magazines are full of patterns and ideas for Christmas, and many of them translate easily to -- or are even designed for -- bookmarks. Little time? There are many, many alphabets out there, so stitching your or your recipient’s initials or first name up a bookmark is a fast and easy way to personalize it.

In case you do like it, I have asked my web mistress to put the argyle pattern onto my web site: Monica-Ferris.com.

Already there is a short story I wrote for an anthology that never came off. The story, which I have mentioned on Killer Hobbies before, is “It Slices, It Dices,” and is set at the Minnesota State Fair. Odd to think that that hot, summery event was so few weeks ago now we are well into the Christmas season. As I get older, the year gets shorter, and what once seemed an interminable wait between the last days of summer and the approach of Christmas now seems just about the time between one breath and the next.

We are up to our ears in snow this morning, which will make for an interesting drive to the pool for my water aerobics class. But I remind myself that this is Minnesota and such mornings are to be expected this time of year. Besides, it is very beautiful.

May your days be merry and bright . . .

Last Minute Holiday Gift Parade -- Part 2sday!

I'm not that great at last minute handmade gifts, BUT what I can come up with is handmade, often personalized WRAPPING. Here are some very simple ideas.

1. The photograph trick. These days it's easy to print out a full page photo from our computers. Print out of a photo of Aunt Molly's grandkids and wrap that box of candy or BOOK in it for her. Use the idea for a gift for anyone on your list whom you've ever photographed! For larger gifts, just print out more copies or a collage and tape together. Here's a photo of my niece and her fiance at their first open house. I'll use it to wrap stocking stuffers for their parents.



2. The bag trick. Take an ordinary lunch bag, brown or colored, and decorate with stickers appropriate to the person. I always have letter stickers on hand and can "write" the name on the bag. It's best if the letters are all different styles and colors, upper and lower cases mixed. You'd be amazed at how noncrafty people love this!

3. The bowl trick. Buy simple mixing bowls or large mugs and use to "wrap" homemade food gifts. A good theme present is a large bowl for popcorn, a package of popcorn, a DVD or a gift certificate to a DVD store, on or off line. Wrap in a large flour sack/cloth and tie with a piece of film or ribbon that looks like film or strips of negatives (remember them?) taped together. I happen to have a large supply of reel-to-reel tape that I've unwound and use as ribbon, or packing material.

4. The Internet trick. Print out "wrapping paper" from the 'net: for a scientist, I print out a periodic table; for a writer, tape together an article from Writers Digest (maybe even one she wrote). For kids use pages from the comics or coloring book.

5. The label trick. Instead of a gift tag, use a regular luggage tag with name and addy filled out. One year we gave everyone in the family sheets of return address labels with clip art that suited them. Another year we gave package labels.

6. The pocket trick. When I MUST give a gift card, cash, or check, I try to wrap in something handmade. Here's how: cut three strips of colored/designed paper of different widths, but all the length of a check. Layer the papers, leaving a pocket for the check or cash. Or, make the dimensions suit a gift card. The holders then can be decorated with glitter or stickers or beads or buttons ... whatever is rattling around in your odds and ends drawer.

Most of these ideas can be implemented with material you have on hand, in your scraps drawer (if you have one as cluttered as mine!), truly at the last minute.
What are your creative wrapping tips?

In other news ...
One of my goals for 2009 was to learn e-publishing and post a story this year. I just made it! I tried a couple of classes and they didn't work for me, so I put in the time on my own, read a 35-page how-to manual, enlisted my husband as a double-checker and a cover designer, and went for it.

The short story I uploaded is "The Fluorine Murder" – the ninth installment in my first series, based on the periodic table, written as Camille Minichino. The others in the series are full-length novels, many out of print, and I wanted to revive the series in a 21st century kind of way!

You can now go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/6876 and see a sample of the story free, or buy it for $1.

Now let's see what else was on that 2009 list ....

Last Minute Holiday Gift Parade--Part 1

Here's a fun, fast and ultra-thrifty holiday project using empty toilet paper rolls to make napkin rings. Yes, I've probably lost my mind. But...it was sort of fun!

You start by cutting open a roll longwise. Then, cut the roll in half crosswise to make two shorter rolls, each will be 2 1/4 inches long. Now, cut a length of decorative paper 5 1/2 inches by 3 inches. Cover the outside of your half roll with this paper. I used wooden clothes pins to keep the paper on the roll until the glue set. (See the photo below.)

Once that's dry, fold the extra edge of paper to the inside, and glue them down as well. A strip of cardstock will still be "naked" on the inside of your opened roll.

We now need to make a liner for the inside of your napkin ring. Cut a strip of decorative paper 5 1/4 by 2 1/4 inches. Glue to the inside of the ring, letting it overlap the edges you folded under from the outside covering. (Again, clothes pins work really well for this.)

Once that has dried, you can reshape the tube using your fingers.

Now we want to join the tube back together. You need a strip of paper 3/4 inches wide and 3 inches long. To this, you can add an embellishment. I went to the clip art offered by Microsoft Word and printed a menorah. I trimmed the menorah and matted it with another piece of cardstock. I punched a hole in the top left corner of the menorah "charm" and used a brad to adhere it to the 3/4 inch by 3 inch strip.

Finally I glued the strip with my paper "charm" around the napkin ring so that it holds the two short edges together and re-completes the circle.

You could easily make personalized rings for each member of your family.

Below is a photo of the toilet paper roll in various stages of deconstruction. You can also see my menorah "charm" with its original blue ribbon bow. I later decided an orange brad was more festive!

Happy Holidays!

PS I added three more fun, fast and thrifty gift ideas to my personal blog. See them at

http://tinyurl.com/yg3gt3u

Better Knot Stop

I feel like a broken record. For the last few weeks all I seem to have been saying was that I was down to the wire with my manuscript. I really and truly am, this time. I got another week which is up on Tuesday and they will definitely have it by then. As I’m still finishing, my editor has already been having cover meetings and today I got all the cover copy

. They also decided on a title. What I’ve been calling Book 5 is now Better Knot Dye.

In the midst of my frantic rewriting I got an email from my Chicago downstairs neighbor, saying her bathroon ceiling was pealing and would I take care of the leak. To make a long story short, two days later I was on a plane. It might sound extreme to go 1740 miles to let the plumber in, but there was talk of hacking up floors, so I thought I ought to be there (here since that’s where I am).

Thanks heavens for laptops. I just took my work on the road. I have no problem with that.

My father was a writer and wrote a number of non fiction books. But he had a thing about needing a place to write. I have my laser printer on the wooden desk my mother set up for him in one of the bedrooms when we moved here. At last he was going to have the place to work he always said he needed. He never seemed to use it. I’m not sure what fault the spot had, but for whatever reason it didn’t work for him and he used it as a reason not to write anymore.

Maybe as a reaction to forever hearing about him needing a special place to write, I decided I would be able to write anywhere and everywhere. Before I even left for Chicago, I took my work on the road. My husband and son had a meeting in Santa Barbara and I went along for the ride. I set up my computer in an outer office while they did their meeting.

I have to admit it is easier to work here in Chicago than at home. No cat is jumping over the back of my chair and then digging his claws in my shoulders so he doesn’t fall. There is also no one coming up behind me telling me I need to do something. No laundry buzzer going off, meaning I have to hang the stuff outside. No one is saying what’s for dinner or can you fix this. My dog isn’t barking at me telling me its time for her walk.

The plumber came yesterday and spent three hours here hacking the floor and replacing the broken pipe. I worked through it all. And when I stopped with the manuscript, I worked on the crochet patterns I’m including.

This morning it was fall out of bed and go back to the computer until I took a break to take a walk. It gets dark so early here; it’s twilight at 4:30. When I got back I ate something quickly and went back to work.

Come to think of it. This surprise trip has turned into a retreat like Terri’s, but without the other people and the javelinas. Okay better get back to writing or Better Knot Dye won’t get done.

One more thing

You can win a set of my quilting mysteries at the Quilting Gallery. Just comment over there before Thursday and you'll be entered to win.http://quiltinggallery.com/2009/12/04/terri-thayer-quilting-mystery-books/


Also, the winner of Becky Levine's The Writing and Critique Group Survival Guide is Janie Emaus. You can claim your prize by emailing me at Terri@territhayer.com

I went on a writer’s retreat last week at the COD ranch in Oracle, AZ. The setting was perfect for getting plenty of work done. No distractions. None. The nearest shopping center was 45 minutes away. The closest thing to entertainment was the Biosphere 2, about five miles north.


The ranch had fallen to ruin before Steve Malkin bought it a dozen years ago and made it his life work to bring it back to life as a retreat center. The little bungalows or casitas were charmingly decorated in Southwest motifs.


Mine had this view:

The food cooked by manager Dave and his wife Stacy was plentiful and delicious. It’s amazing what you can get done once all your basic needs have been met.

It helps to be surrounded by like-minded people. The folks that came to this retreat, some published, many not, were inspiring in their determination to dive full on into their projects. All had put busy lives on hold to come to the retreat and write. The rooms crackled with the collective energy of words getting put on the page.

Turned out we were surrounded not just by writers, however. And that crackling noise – sounds of teeth gnashing. In the pretty scrub filled hills around the ranch’s buildings lived a jaunty herd of javelinas. Before I got to the COD ranch, I didn’t know such an animal existed. It’s a peccary, a type of swine.
I didn’t actually see one up close until I’d been there several days. I’d heard of them, of their noisy eating habits (prickly pear cactus wouldn’t be my first choice), smelled their presence and caught two crossing the road one night. On Friday, shortly after dawn, I had my first encounter. They ignored me while I took pictures.


It’s odd to think we’d been living side by side all week without me ever seeing them. What else is lurking in the bushes? What lies beneath? Good questions for a writer to ponder.

More Pets and the Internet

Sometimes I’m unhappy about all the junk mail I get. I’m on all sorts of e-mail lists.

But then there are some communications that really make me happy. For one thing, I receive a nearly daily newsletter from Dr. Jon--a veterinarian who sells pet insurance and pet toys and other pet-related things on a website called petplace.com. I haven’t bought anything from him yet, but his newsletter is full of interesting things about pets--a lot of them holiday related these days. Recently, the posts have included warnings about bad things dogs can get into during holidays, like coffee and chocolate. They can kill dogs if ingested in sufficient quantities.

Then there are unique gifts for dogs. I expect my dogs will receive the same stuff they have before, since it works for them and I’m not overly concerned about how they might hurt themselves with them. But Dr. Jon had some suggestions--along with links to places they could be bought.

I recently received an e-mail from the Hallmark Channel, telling me that the best dog movie ever was going to be on Hallmark last Sunday. I’ve recorded it but haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, so I can’t say whether I think it’s the best ever, but I’m glad Hallmark reminded me about it. I’d seen trailers on it but wasn’t sure when it was playing. I might have missed it otherwise.

Of course I’m on the e-mail lists for Petco, PetSmart, PetRx and others, too. I’m always scanning for bargains on things I want for my pups, but seldom see anything helpful.

I also received a link I had to peruse--photos of some celebrities and their dogs. I don’t pay much attention to the celebrity hype online or on TV, but it was fun to see some notables and their best friends.

BTW, one of my best friends, Mystie, acted very cute this week, showing possible canine reasoning. We have our TV pulled out from the wall for some work being done behind it. Mystie was watching a dog on the TV one day and went behind the screen to see if she could find it. Not seeing it, she returned to watch the doggy on the TV, acting interested but a little frustrated.

What are your favorite pet-related Internet sites? Your favorite non-pet-related sites?

This 'n' That

The book is finished, hurrah! It was sent as a file to my publisher two days ago. Whew! I think it was probably the most difficult to write -- mostly because I couldn't figure out why it was being so reluctant to come out of my head. I like the characters, it was a good story. Maybe it wasn't thrilling enough -- no one was trying to murder my sleuth and there weren't any fistfights -- such things make the pages fly by. We'll see what my editor thinks in a few weeks.

This weekend my writers group is holding a retreat. Sometimes we go away, this time we're staying close to home. One of the two days it is being held in the Party Room of the building I live in. Our Christmas tree is up and there's a gas fireplace and a kitchen, so it'll be very nice and cozy. We start early in the morning, and everyone will get a chance to read several chapters of whatever we're working on instead of just one, the critiquing will be a little deeper, the shared meals will tie us even closer, and it will be a valuable as well as a pleasurable time. We do this twice a year. My writers group has improved my writing tremendously. All you writers out there: Do you have a group? Is it helpful to you?

For many years I collected the Fontanini Christmas pieces. It started as the basic Creche: Mary, Joseph, the Babe, an angel, a pair of shepherds. Then the Three Kings. Then: Bethelehem! The green grocer, the innkeeper, the rug seller, the goose girl, the excited old man with a lantern, street musicians, the carpenter and his apprentice, the man with a basket of cherries, the woman with a basket of olives, the baker, the children . . . I have over three hundred pieces, if you count the sheep, the ducks, and the chickens. And no room to display them. We moved into a smaller place two years ago, and even using all of the kitchen breakfast wasn't enough. I thought about selling the set on e-Bay, but got what I hope is a better idea. I'm donating it to my church. They are very interested (I don't think they realize how BIG this collection is yet), and want me to be in charge of setting it up and taking it down. So I would still get to play with it, would have room to display it, and would get to share it with people. The best of all possible worlds.

November in Review

Today's blog: featuring selected photos from November, when it's finally livably cool in the Bay Area!




DOLLHOUSE
Every year I enlist a crew to help me build and furnish a dollhouse to donate to a local school raffle. Here's this year's offering: a Victorian. What I like best: the little windows actually go up and down. Also, the front door is very interesting and appealing.




FUNDRAISER AT OUR LOCAL B&N
You may already be aware of Barnes & Noble's book fairs -- nonprofits can apply to hold a bookfair during which a percentage of all sales go to the organization. In my case, it's the California Writers Club, Mt. Diablo Branch, and the money goes to support our branch's Young Writers Contest. The contest is for middle school children who take a workshop and then write pieces that qualify for cash prizes and a banquet in their honor.
If you'd like to help, you can go to the URL below and print out the voucher. Use it for any sales this week, at ANY B&N in the country -- you pay the same as you would as usual, but we get the percent if you hand over the voucher at the register. It's good till Friday, 12/4.

Below (besides me) are Barbara Bentley ("A Dance with the Devil," best selling true crime) and Lynn Goodwin ("You Want Me to Do What?" a book on journaling for caregivers) at our table. You can also check out our volunteer gift wrappers, writers Bill Stong and Fran Wojnar. Photos thanks to Barbara.







OR, you might want to think of contacting them and setting up your own bookfair, for a school or nonprofit.
http://www.mtdiablowriters.org/B&NVoucherNov2009.pdf


CARD PARTY
No, not that kind. I had a card-MAKING party at my house on a Sunday in November. Our instructor is an expert in stamping and in all things like brads, ribbons, punches, and glitter. We had a great time, putting together 12 cards each in 3 hours. It doesn't sound like a lot, but for beginners like me, it was a whirlwind afternoon!




SCHOOL
Nothing better than classes. Besides the ones I taught in November, I took two: a workshop on plotting the novel, with Janis Cook Newman, and one on magazine writing with Elizabeth Fishel and a panel of magazine writers. Both useful and motivating!

BOOK EVENTS
Lots of book events in November, including this one at the Livermore Public Library, with Ann Parker, Sophie Littlefield, and Juliet Blackwell.



On to December and more fun! What are you looking forward to?