Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hi to all,

My heart felt wishes and prayers go out to all of you who have suffered through Hurricane Sandy.  I hope that all things will return to normal as soon as possible.  

What about Halloween?  I wanted to find out more about it, so I did a little research.  All of our Halloween customs have roots in ancient and medieval Europe.  Many historians believe that Halloween originated as a harvest festival. As the days got shorter and the nights got colder, people all over the world ushered in winter with gatherings, bonfires, costumes and sweets.  One of the oldest of these festivals was an ancient Celtic festival called "Sanhain".  The participants celebrated the harvest by lighting bonfires and wearing costumes to scare off the ghosts of the dead.  Sound familiar?

Later, about 800 A.D., All Saint's Day was declared a religious festival celebrated on November 1.  All Saint's Day was a celebration and remembrance of the dead.  The name Halloween probably was derived from "All Hallows Eve", the eve before All Saint's Day. The night before All Saint's Day, poor children would roam the neighborhood begging for "soul cakes"; this is believed to be the origination of "trick or treating".    "Trick or treating" was not really a common custom until the 1930's in America.  Amazing!

The eve of All Saint's Day was a spirit's last chance to avenge any living enemies before moving to the next world.  Costumes were worn as disguises, so these spirits could not find you.   Turnips and pumpkins were used as lanterns, the beginnings of our modern jack o'lantern.  Apples were a harvest symbol back to Roman times, now we bob for apples and eat candy apples.  And finally, the candy corn was made to represent a kernel of corn, another harvest symbol.  So there you have it, some of the ancient roots of Halloween.  Have a great scary night!

Kaye Lynn, Max and Tori, my best supporters!

Saturday was the Croton Artisan fair.  Here's my team!  We had fun, there were a lot of ghosts and goblins trick or treating from one vendor to another.  And thankfully the weather held.  Below are a few new things I added to my table at the last minute.  A little holiday glitz and some necklaces made with paper beads, old acrylic beads and ribbon.

And finally, please take a look at my Make your own holiday cards and gift tags with Recycled Paper Workshop.  It will be fun for all ages!  It is being held on November 3 at the Greenburgh Nature Center.  You can see what we will be doing in my blog of September 18th.  I'd love to see you there.

Well that's all for now.  Check out my Etsy site and thanks for visiting my blog.
Talk to you soon,

anne

My Beautiful Nieces

 

                 Kirsten, the photographer

Emily the model (photo by Kirsten)

These are my beautiful nieces, two of many in my family.  You can see they are beautiful women, but they have beautiful hearts too.  Both Kirsten and Emily worked hard to make these pictures to help me update my Etsy site.  Kirsten is a professional photographer and Emily works at EMILY'S List, she's not a model.  Although, maybe she should be.  You can find Kirsten on Facebook or via the link I provided.   

My Chunky yellow cereal box necklace (photo by Kirsten)

I have been working very hard this last week, getting ready for the Artisan's Fair in Croton, NY next weekend.  Here are some of the items I have crafted recently.  I will have all of them at the Artisan's Fair.

Chinese Tubular Bead Bracelet

Paper Bead and Ribbon Necklace

Alice in Wonderland Necklace

Alice in Wonderland Bracelet

Below is the information on the Croton Artisan Fair.   I'll be there with my sister Kaye and my daughter Tori.  We will have all of the new necklaces and bracelets I have shown you lately along with lots of paper beads for you to use in your crafts, wine charms, and a special Free Paper Bead Bracelet Kit Giveaway!   There will be activities for the kids and food!  I hope to see you all there.

PS:  Bring a copy of this blog for 20% off any item at the fair.

See you soon,
anne

Your Brain and Crafting

Two more garage sale finds

Did you ever wonder if your crafting was really relaxing you or was that just your imagination?  I'm sure most of you have experienced this feeling of euphoria while doing needlework, stringing beads or any other craft you love.  Is there something going on in your brain and how does all of this happen?

Well, now the evidence is in, crafting really does put you in a deep relaxed state.  You can find a few articles on the internet and in magazines which will document this.

When part of you brain is absorbed in a crafting activity, the other part can not remain focused on your worries and problems.  You can leave all of your stresses behind while crafting.  You really have an opportunity to "zone out".  Crafting can even lower your blood pressure and your heart rate.  The brain waves of crafters immersed in repetitive tasks like knitting are remarkably similar to the waves of yogis in deep meditation.  Knitting has even been called "the new yoga"!

What about all of those unfinished projects in the closet?   Don't worry about them, your brain waves don't care if you finished them or not.  Remember it is not the end product, but the process that is most important. Read more about your brain and crafting in the November 2012 MS Living Magazine. Sorry, I can't give you a link to the article yet, you will have to buy or borrow the magazine.

Alice in Wonderland Bracelet

In my last blog, I told everyone I was getting a copy of Alice in Wonderland.  Well here is my first project.  The bracelet is made with the pages of the book and some corrugated cardboard.  I used charms and three different chains to make it a little more interesting.  The bracelet is posted on my Etsy site.

Remember the Craft Fair on October 27th in Croton, more info to follow.

Next time I will show you more creations made from my garage sale finds and maybe a coupon for the craft fair!

Talk to you soon,

anne

Sunday in the Park

Wanderlust Yoga @ Pier 63, NYC

Anne & Tori @ Wanderlust

Tori's Triangle

Hi to all,

You can see Tori and I spent last Sunday at Wanderlust NYC.  We practiced yoga with about 2000 other yogis in Hudson Park.  What a wonderful event!  Lots of yoga, music, incredible demonstrations and sunshine.  It was all for the benefit of Yoga Aid which supports the charity of your choice.The perfect day to spend in the park.  We had a great afternoon, followed by a dynamite dinner at Le Grainne Cafe in NYC.  Great little French cafe!  Try it if you are ever in Chelsea.

Last week I showed you a new tube bead idea.  Well this week I strung those beads into two bracelets.  They would look great worn together or separately.  They each have a different pattern and I did mix the colors up a bit.  Amazingly, all of the beads for both bracelets, plus 18 more, were made from one piece of great color "junk mail".  If you see any piece of paper with great colors, colors that speak to you, just grab it.   Believe me you will use it.  Above are the two new bracelets, hope you like them.  I'll have them posted on my Etsy site soon.  Let me know what you think.

Last, mark your calendars for Saturday, October 27th for the Croton Fall Arts Market.  Get a jump start on Holiday shopping! I know some of you readers even live in Croton, I'd love to see you.

Check out my Etsy site--annemadethis.  And thanks for all of your support.

Bye, talk to all of you soon,

anne