Come, Ye Disconsolate

The only commissioned piece I managed to create this holiday season was for my friend Sarah to give to her husband Dennis. She said his favorite hymn was Come, Ye Disconsolate and was wondering if I could create something from that. I gave it a shot. At the end of the second verse, there's a line that goes, "Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying, "Earth has no sorrow that heav'n can-not cure." That line spoke to me and I tried to create something from this, using part of this line and depicting a sphere inside of a more celestial orb. They both said they were happy with the results!

Template Tuesday - Creche

I'll bet you were thinking, "There's no way Cindy's going to do another template, she doesn't have any of her Christmas shopping done. How can she have time?" These are valid thoughts, but I created this last week at the same time I created the other one. Two birds with one stone!

Christmas day is almost upon us. My bishop requested that all the members of the ward read the 4 gospels and 3rd Nephi in order for us to gain a greater knowledge of Christ this Christmas season. So far I've read Matthew and Mark. It's been a wonderful refresher of who exactly He is and what He has done for us. I hope we can all get to know Him a little bit better this season.

This is what the template looks like. Be careful around the star! Cut the gray areas out first!
Download here: Creche

Friendly Friday - Valerie Atkisson Nativities

If any of you are interested in a beautiful nativity that will last for many, many years, check out my friend Valerie Atkisson's work made out of precious metals. These nativities are for sale right now and the perfect gift for those créche collectors out there or to have in your own home.

Valerie Atkisson Design

Template Tuesday - Nativity

Every year for Christmas, I have this grand ambition to cut out a life-sized Nativity silhouette from wood and place it in my front yard. I sketched out a possible Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus scene in church and that's about as far as I got with it this year. It's closer than I got last year! I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season and for those of you who believe that our Savior was born a little over 2,000 years ago, that you are remembering Him in your hearts at this time. Merry Christmas!

Above is what the template looks like. You can download the pdf of it here: Nativity. Remember to try and cut out the inner parts first. For the halo, cut from the inner points of the stars, outward. Enjoy!

Friendly Friday - Songs of the Sea

I don't know if I'll keep this up, but I'm gonna try. I have quite a few extra super talented friends with extraordinary skills that I would love to share with you.

I'm going to start off by showcasing my friend Cory. The name of her company is Songs of the Sea and she does hand-embroidered pieces of clothing and accessories. I have a skirt she made for me that is one of my most favorite skirts ever. Here is her blog: Songs of the Sea. She has an etsy store that doesn't have anything in it right now (I can't critique because mine is currently blank as well).

Take a gander!

Template Tuesday - Mistletoe Santa

Look at this! Two Template Tuesdays in a row! I was actually going to make this one as a wallpaper, but December 1st happened and then December 2nd happened and then it was the second Template Tuesday of the month and I thought I would just use it for today. Maybe my goal for next year will be to actually do calendar wallpapers a month ahead of time. What I wanted to do was make a bunch of people smooching under different mistletoe, but I only got around to making Santa and Mrs. Claus (in their lean years).


Here's hoping that some of you get some mistletoe action because heaven knows I'm not getting any as of yet. Christmas is still a little bit away, so there's still time! Here's what the template looks like. It's moderately simple. Just take it easy on the faces. Try to cut from the inside crooks of the face out towards the negative space. It works better for me that way.
Download your free template here: Mistletoe Santa