It wasn't until I packed away all the Christmas decorations, swept up the crumbs from the goodies we'd been nibbling, and tidied the house for my mom's visit last weekend, that I realized: something was missing.
Not to sound greedy, but I think Santa might have forgotten a few things at the bottom of his bag. Guess my hints to John--I mean Santa--were a little too subtle.
Not that I didn't get some lovely and thoughtful gifts. I'm blessed with generous family members and friends. But there were a few things...like a couple of books, videos, and art supplies I had put on my list that I still want or need.
Truth be told, I'm not really disappointed, as I can easily pick up these things for myself. Best of all, a lot of them are on sale.
In fact, that was always one of my favorite things to do as a kid: using any Christmas money I got to go out and shop for myself. I felt very grown up!
Now that I am grown up and truly know the value of a dollar, I also like to take advantage of the sales to buy presents in advance for other people's birthdays--or even the next Christmas.
For example, I know a certain someone who adores Beryl Taylor's work and would love to learn some of her mixed-media art quilt techniques.
I'm going to make a Beryl-themed package of her book, Mixed-Media Explorations; and her Workshop videos, "Layer by Layer" and "Mixed-Media Art Quilts"; as well as the "QATV" series DVDs where she appears, now that they're all 40 percent off during our Winter Wipeout Sale this week.
If you're missing something you or a friend needs to make your art quilting experience better, I recommend you take advantage of the Winter Wipeout Sale while it lasts.
