Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Do You Believe??? WOYWW



 The year that I was in the third grade, I still believed in Santa.  I had asked for a Barbie doll dream house.  When the packages arrived, my two younger sisters, got their asked for gift, but mine ended up being art supplies along with a hand written letter from Santa that said that my doll house had been delayed as the elves had been so busy, but were working on it and would make a special delivery for me later.  I was not disappointed as I had in my hand the letter in the most beautiful handwriting that I had ever seen!  Besides I got an extra gift that year with getting the art supplies! I don't recall my sisters getting an extra 'cause Santa only gave out one gift! It was always the special one, as mom and dad always gave us homemade gifts, clothes and underwear!  When my doll house finally arrived,  I simply had to tell my school friends that I had finally gotten my Santa gift!  They looked at me in disbelief and said, you still believe in Santa???  And they laughed at me!  That was when they told me that he DIDN'T exist!  I mean, What the Elf???  Was I played for a sucker or what?  I couldn't believe what I was hearing,  No Santa?  NOOOOOOOOO!!!  I so wanted to believe that the handwriting was authentic and sincere more than the gift itself!  Just when were my parents gonna tell me?  I was so crushed that I ended up being embarrassed in front of my friends.

Well now, here I find myself in Santa's workshop of Santas, spreading the belief to other adult art traders.  There is still something magical about believing even if we have to grow up.(or do we?)
Arts In the Cards had a Santa exchange, so we all made our own version.   Rather than traditional reds and greens, I added other colors with yet a Santa appeal. For me, Santa's weight has gravitated south, much like mine has! To my amazement, I even have chin hairs! Even my hair is getting whiter too!

  My original drawing started out twice the size of this and I decided to make it more manageable to fit into Christmas card envelopes so I had to reduce it on the copier.  I also bought some TomBo Dual Brush pens from Dick Blick in flesh tones.  I really like how they blended!

The claim to fame on these brushes is not only do they blend with other colors, but once the color is mixed, the tips will self clean after blending!  I did however manage to smear a little of the black ink from the printer in an area that I didn't want to but it wasn't enough for me to want to change it.  The pens ran $26.00 for a pack of 10.  Next time I will pick up the other color bold tones and the pastel set.  I still want to try out copic markers one day, but unfortunately my budget won't allow it at this time. Perhaps  I shall simply have to ask Santa!




For the rest of the Santa, I ended up using colored pencils.  Then I embellished with crystals and glitter glue.




My Santa's workshop wouldn't be complete without working on a quilt.  I finished this Christmas piece for Vickie in gold Superior thread. (I love working with that stuff!)  However I couldn't get the thread to sparkle for the camera, but it really is there!  Just like Santa, ya gotta believe! 
PS. To check out what WOYWW is about check out click here.


24 comments:

okienurse said...

What a beautiful post! Love your beautiful Santa too! I can't remember when I found out about Santa but I remember keeping quiet cause my Moma enjoyed it so much and I had younger siblings. I felt I would ruin it for all if I didn't BELIEVE! Hope you have a great week. Merry Christmas! Vickie aka Okienurse
http://www.okienurse.blogspot.com

Annie said...

I'm a great believer in all things magical. There is nothing quite like a child at Christmas is there?
A x

Twiglet said...

A lovely post - great Santas and a fab quilt - really beautiful. x Jo

Unknown said...

great post...the Santa is adorable
I Believe !

- KAT

Joan said...

your Santas are adorable! I've got a bunch of tombo dual tip markers and I never use them. Do you want them? I'm happy to send them to you.

Lunch Lady Jan said...

I loved reading this post - it made me smile so much! I think he exists if you want him to badly enough :)
Chin hairs, tell me about 'em!! I call them Hag Hairs, lol!! I haven't got the wart ...yet :)
Hugs, LLJ #3 xx

Jacqueline said...

What a beautiful post! Very 'magical' and those santas!..just adorable!!

Absolutley ADORE that quilt!! What a stunning gift!!

Thanks for sharing a little piece of magic.

Take care

Jackie xx

Sherry said...

Oh Wanda what a revealing post this is. Isn't it sad that we have to find out the truth about Santa - although secretly we all know he does really exist - he just gets a little help from Mums, Dads and carers along the way!

Your hand drawn Santas are fantastic - as is your beautiful quilt - some people are going to be very happy.

Thanks for stopping by to look at my Button Angels - shame you couldn't take part in the swap.

ps, Don't mention the chin hairs!! LOL xx

Ann said...

your Santas are beautiful!! i would so love to have your talent..i just can't draw a bit!!when i was probably in my 20's my mom and i were doing some Christmas shopping and walked by Santa at the mall..taking pics with the children. We talked a bit about how cute they were. then my mom said that for several years she and my father thought there was something wrong with my twin sister and i..because we never told her we knew who "Santa" was until we were at least 10!! we figured if they knew,that the Santa gifts would end!! Greedy little things..my sister and I!!

Anne said...

Hi there really enjoyed reading your post. I am dreading the day my grandchildren stop believing in Santa- their little faces light up when talking about him at the moment. Your Santa and quilt are beautiful, I wish I had that sort of talent. Anne x

Spyder said...

wotcha mean there's no santa???? course there is!! Who eats the mince pies and the wine and the carrots??? I'm staying up this year to find out!! thank you for my snoop! Have a great crafty week. HaPpY WoYw ((Lyn)) #31

Norma Soulet (AZArtist) said...

Hi Wanda,
What a great story of your childhood.
You haven't visited my blog so you can see I AM REALLY A BELIEVER!:)
LOVE, LOVE ,LOVE THE SANTAS YOU MADE! wink,wink
The quilt is gorgeous!

Pattyskypants said...

What a SWEET story!! xxoo

Mary Helen-Art Saves Lives said...

Thank you for sharing your story and sharing your processes. Your Santa just makes me smile. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

Sandra Tyler said...

I too remember too clearly when I was first enlightened to the reality that there is no Santa; it was in Sunday school when the teacher began a class with, "Well, you all know of course, that there IS no Santa Clause, correct?" they all nodded. I seemed to be the only gullible one.

Pam said...

I still believe in Santa. All I have to do is look in my granddaughter's faces and I can relive the excitement of Christmas.

P.S. Your Santa's are delightful. Christmas quilt is very nice and I'm sure the owner will love the sparkling threads.

ParisMaddy said...

Great posting about the good old days:) and believing.
Like your Santa a lot. You drew him so cute! I haven't tried the TomBo pens yet so I'm glad to read you like them.

Your quilt is really pretty.

April said...

WHAT??!! there's no santa??!! :o) that's obviousley a part of your life you will never forget, it's a shame, it's so much more fun when you do believe in santa. love your santa! and the quilt is lovely x

Julia Dunnit said...

Oh great post! Love your drawing, how clever you are. It's all about the believing..when my DD finally squared up to me with 'santa isn't actually real, is he'..I simply said that if you believe in the magic of Christmas, then the who or what doesn't come into it....that's been the way and she's 19 now and as happy to believe as any 4 year old!!

minnie_mac said...

Thank you for your visit to my blog. Loved your post and the Santa is terrific.

Marilyn

Joanne said...

I adore your Santa and take no notice of those school pals. I've met the real Santa from Lapland when he came to my town for a visit. I know it was him because he told me that one year Kylie Mynogue went to see him and she was as light as a feather sat on his knee - so there! LOL

Jenn said...

Loved your post! You are so talented.

Gabriela said...

Love the post!BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE!!!!!!

Edzellinni aka Linda Edkins Wyatt said...

yaaaaayyyyy! jingle bells and happy dancing with my arty santa collection, afrayed of fibers is back!