Trees

I don't feel quite ready for the full xmas monty yet - it's always like that.

But it is coming. In some shape or form. Such as the sudden urge to crochet little trees.
So, yeah, I made these (with styrofoam cones from the hobby shop, and olive jar lids to give them
a bit of stamina) and the question is whether they will be encircled by dancing elves or topped by
golden stars in a few days. I do get carried away. I love a corny christmas window, like the ones from
my childhood with a small village of odd sized creatures, gathered around a lake (= a mirror) in the
cotton wool snow. And the church - with the little candle in it... Sigh.

But right now, these are just green and quietly tree-like.

Don't forget to check the first heart tomorrow....!

Going all flaky on you

Apropos snowflakes, I have to show you these breathtakingly beautiful photographs by the japanese photographer Yuji Obata.

They are from a series called 'Hommage to Wilson A. Bentley', 2005-2006 - honoring the pioneer of snowflake photography (born in rural Vermont in 1880), who took thousands of photos of snowflakes
in his lifetime.
 
Inspired by a Breughel winter paiting, in 2003 Obata went to Hokkaido, one of Japans northernmost islands, to photograph speed skaters and other wintery scenes, and got particularly involved in trying
to capture the snow itself.

Take a look at his fine book 'Wintertale' right here:
http://www.photoeye.com/BookteaseLight/bookteaselight.cfm?catalog=ZD657&image=1


Had to google a bit more about old Wilson A. Bentley. And here he is.

Wilsons interest in snowflakes started in early boyhood when his mother gave him a microscope.
It took him years of experimenting with camera equipment and general inventiveness, before he
actually managed to capture the evasive flakes.
His approach was scientific and systematic. Apparently he numbered his flakes. Patient guy.

I found this lovely montage of the flakes 889-900 - and a large single perfect snowflake.
As they all are, of course.

A quiet start

I welcome you all to this seasonal pop-up-blog, in which I will be writing about - well, something,
I wouldn't be surprised - as I am sometimes prone to rantings.

But most of all, I will give you a little something to print and make every day - usually woven hearts,
but sometimes not. The hearts are my thing, though, so you can expect a few of these. I make them
every now and then, so some of them are not necessarily christmas-like. But you will see....

No cheating, though. No advent calendar downloads until December 1st.

Last year Copenhagen was covered in snow, at this time. I love snow and everything about it and,
contrary to popular belief, it is not that common to have two months of snow, as we did last winter.
It was glorious.
I so hope we will have some this year again. Piles of it, enough for skiing, enough for us to get really
used to it, and just relax and enjoy it.

The only sort-of-slightly christmassy decor I have felt inclined to do, is perhaps a bit inspired....
The flakes are made of Hama-beads, and these I will definitely be mentioning later.
As I have a bit of a fetish. And, as you can see: foggy, wet weather. No snow.