From today, Advent 29th of November Christmas decorations come to use!

 

American university in Africa

 

Tonight I practised polyrhythms using an American University website.

They record all their resources in Africa and provide textual introduction and tools where we the users, without registration, can adjust sounds to play along with particular drums.

Here is some excerpts of my session of today, the 26th of November 2020.

Link 1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/Xnf81qxYcxpXmtlQcULbMOTAqKgTz5dUqu6gsbb47KM

I created this , 

Link 2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/jPNhvm6vdU3rVuOZwL71JeyulBgLC2dDnXQSvB9yAtl

Went on to add lyrics and pitch singers for the songs,

Link 3

https://soundcloud.com/ariane-brito-345893490/2020-is-sailing-away-by-ariane-brito

All good!

Best wishes,

Ariane

Between odd late crafts sessions!

This is a craft blog but not all is about crafts and pin cushions like my little Miss Mouse friend

Today I put a dress on to learn about Microsoft

Here is a video of what I was learning about today 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/GzLxeJZYI4mrhNjYOL4acv2sTGVUVJwKX66An8ay7Km

And in the evening I decided to play drums and unwind

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/thAd6adU3pkJCCPXKww7Xw4VW01HX1ED7Vxg04aqlaX

Unwind and create :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/pAU1YNgdTtm9wZqQOV3ZlVTczXvO8pEyBIgJFBtpkMx

And create more

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/SoHOcZWpTebQPPpNAq7wn3lC0aE4aoS1M8wu5AeIDaz

Best wishes,

Ariane

The Korean Conflict and Nordic Peace Mediation

 

I registered to this event to watch the discussion and learn about the present crisis situation.

What a learning experience!

Hope they find peace!

Here s a brief excerpt captured on my camera,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/photos/share/pgXFeE59NjBrSVlerAy2hCpJbF6kSDGVN9LpwlkRE7D

Best wishes,

Ariane

Christmas decorations in progress:Pipe Cleaner and Twine Wired Tinsel

The kids and I made some Christmas decorations with Wilkinson supplies. We spent £3 , yet we make everything below based on the book FIFTY NIFTY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS. 

This book is a wonderful source of activities that can also be converted and used in Easter or other religious season if you practise a different religion.

Below are my favourite pictures,

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and is inspirational,

Best wishes,

Ariane

 

Work in progress!

 

DAY 5 (English)starts 10 am /UK time

Shopping for Christmas baking

 

  

  

Lockdown, empty shelves, no Christmas delivery slots available  are the most important details that come to my mind when " picturing the picture" of shopping online for Christmas dinner.

Knowing that this " picturing the picture" have a very strong possibility of happening, I purchased via Amazon.co.uk 6 kilos of mince meat ( 2 three kilos Country Range containers by Food Service Direct) , 16 kilos of Nelstrops flour for £14 and 24 silicone cupcake moulds for £4.99.  

Mince pies can make Christmas happen "anyhow" because  together with Christmas pudding marks Christmas season quite well.

This year will skip on baking ginger cookies because of health concerns with ginger seasoning and how excessive seasoning can impact in  our future health and instead will opt for baking orange cookies. Today I am crystallising four oranges for that purpose. 

What are your plans for Christmas baking and are you relying on early Christmas shopping? If so bear in mind that is widely advised not to buy most brands of ready made mince meat pies and store them in the cupboard for such a long period of time.

The National Trust Mince pie recipes and Christmas pudding recipes are the most accurate recipes but I don't use nuts nor extra seasoning in my pies and I keep it plain and easy only using as ingredients: flour, butter, very little sugar, no salt and ready made mince meat.

Are you friend of baking or you consider baking and crafts just a waist of time?

Leave your comments below,

Best wishes,

Ariane

Marie Cross stitch selling individual kits and individual Christmas frames for as little as £1.98!

Quick attention note in regards to Christmas stitchery!!!!

British online shop Maries Cross Stitch is selling stern golden Christmas cross stitch frames for as little as £1.98. 

What you make of my new star decoration? Critique as much as possible but make sure to leave : your twitter handle, your email , Facebook id and to allow trolling afterwards!!!! Ahahahaa relax , all comments welcome!

Do you find the star frame below attractive? If so you can buy this and many other shapes ( birds inclusive) at Marie's Cross Stitch, here 

The cross stitch kit I bought cost me £1.50 and came with a mini chart, threads, a needle and a star frame.

Instead of the threads in the original package I used leftover from a previous package and black embroidery thread number 8.

Embellishments  sources from an old bracelet . Pearls were moody , irregular but I did my best considering the light of the night and how tired I felt.

 Comment below and be happy, stay happy, stay well,

Until next time,

Best wishes,

Ariane

 

Leisure Arts Publisher : American Corporation leads Christmas Art Crafters into new millennium !

We are  now in 2020, Cov-19 pandemic, economic crisis, religious extremism  and the dying  threat of extreme right  have dominated  the news and yet  families  have  turned more towards revival of  traditional rituals  and celebrations.

Maybe is the lockdown - maybe is the assertion  that material things really  count very little in keeping traditions alive and maintaining the  real  meaning of celebrations like Christmas, the Passover and Ramadan-, maybe  is the  quickest and easiest  way to enjoy little  moments of art crafts or maybe is technology  taking  over our lives in a very convenient and cheaper  way ; whatever 'maybes' you feel  can justify the new trends of e-patterns rise in conjunction with regression to unmaterialistic traditional rituals celebrations, Leisure Arts Publisher once again is  on the lead  in upkeeping tradition at the quickest, cheapest and high quality manner possible and imaginable.

Why do American Corporations always have the ' know how' to make sales so  easy? In the case of Leisure Arts Publisher I feel is because it comes with  being an American Corporation, is a reflection of the rise of the fittest in the world of conception  and sales of products! What we might think is just tech and expensive education combined, is actually genius and if not, how come Leisure Arts Publisher just delivers low cost Christmas tree decorations with  Religious meaning, simplicity and golden quality like the Divine  Cross Stitch Christmas  Ornaments pattern while Dimensions  Crafts Publisher  still charges   £22.37 on  Amazon.uk for a Gold Counted Cross stitch package of six Christmas ornaments? 

Is it because Dimensions haven't caught up with reality that most people no longer feel that Christmas in cottages depict the  real Christmas meaning or is it because Dimensions haven't caught up with reality that most people  that are into cross  stitching Christmas crafts can download cross  stitch Christmas stocking patterns from Pin interest and  are looking for something else beside Father Christmas figure on a Christmas stocking ?

Competing   with Pin interest intellectual property  theft is not something that most Crafts Companies  are catching  up to, yet Vervaco and Leisure Arts are really  good at keeping Pinterest intellectual  property thieves away!

Amazon.co.uk and ebay are infested  with copies of wool cross  stitch kits shipped from China . Most kits are either poppies or Father Christmas and  have a lot of red colours, cheap wool , canvas that easily unthreads at the edges , but it covers the leisure art purpose of bringing relaxation to the crafters lives and joy to the receivers of gifts, presents, products or whatever other purpose it serves, personal  or commercial. When a Crafts company follows the religious purpose of the celebration, in a pandemic period, in an economic recession period, is actually targeting the majority of the crafters population because when crafters craft commercially during a religious holidays they  are celebrating the Religious holidays purpose itself and not the commercial version of its purpose, which is found in big malls, shopping sprees - in nothing oriented towards buying handmade crafts at " a not exactly cheap price", because it is the period where the crafters sell more and is the period where leisure crafters spend more time at home stitching along with other crafters, virtually or in  their community,  or celebrating the real purpose of the holiday that tend to comes with long periods  of reflection and non materialistic view  of what  is truly valuable or not: crafts are valuable but are not widely placed in shopping malls nor would make the quick  profit that mass importation from industrial crafts make from China and India imports!

That is, until  an American Corporation gets in the picture! There is no competition and there is no competing with Leisure Arts Publisher and that is why one of a much cherished book on my shelf like Leisure Arts ' 50 NIFTY  CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS' with pictures of activities that I did with my mom decades ago , still are  kept and divulged at a faster -instant really -  pace via the internet.

And  that  is why that Leisure Arts Publisher have 2986 items listed under the search ' Christmas e-patterns'  , because we as good sheep still flock to what is holly, what is safe, what is comfortable in our niches and family homes, while pigs still run towards the abysm , which is really the choice of buying kits who are released too late in the year, with overcomplicated patterns of constantly changing colours and stitches, while Leisure Crafts e patterns cover needlepoint, crochet but also crafts for crafters who don't like needles, paints, nor mess, but would rather to do crafts with solid materials as pipe cleaners.

Though  this is the case and an American corporation is on the lead, stay with me , stay  tuned as I execute a few mini Christmas kits and review it quickly just in time for you to make up your mind while strolling along the street and feeling bombarded with so many Christmas crafts magazines and seasonal cross stitch kits.

Until next time,

Best wishes,

Ariane