Where my inspiration comes from...

All of the Christmas decorations are down and put away for another year. I am going through the photos and will be putting a few posts together of 2014's Christmas decorations. Life is getting back to normal.

When I was getting the New Year's postcards together ready to scan I came across two antique Christmas cards that were the inspiration for "ilexander". I'll show him at the end of this post. You can have a look at the New Year's card and postcard blog posts here, here, and here.

I love this silly image of the holly berry guys popping a Christmas cracker.

The verse is delightful.

I had really only looked at the image on the front before and was very surprised when I turned it over after scanning the front to see that printed on the back is

Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd.

Publishers to the King and Queen.

Copyright London.

and at the bottom

PRINTED IN ENGLAND

I had no idea that I owned a Raphael Tuck card.

This is another antique card that unfortunately has no information on it as to where it was printed but it does look English.

I had not looked at these two cards for many years and was very surprised that they were quite different from what I remembered.

Here is "ilexander" my candy container sculpture that grew out of the two cards. His head is definitely inspired by the first card. The second card inspired the holly staff and if you look at that card you will realize that the large holly leaves that little guy is carrying as well as his long pointed ears inspired the holly leaves at the base of his head. The leaves were definitely needed to show that he was a holly berry but they also create a collar for his jacket.

I had not looked at either of the Christmas cards for at least five years before or during the creation process; the two images morphed into one image in my mind and then evolved into the finished sculpture. I love the creation process!

Go to my Etsy shop to purchase ilexander, there are other views of him as well.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It has been a very busy December and my blog posts have suffered. Oh well, as they say the best laid plans of mice and men...

More Antique Christmas Cards

These antique Christmas cards are made of celluloid, an early form of plastic. There is an inner lining of paper. They date to the turn of the last century.

The designs were used for various occasions. There would have been an appropriate sentiment printed on the inside to suit the particular occasion for which they meant. Some of these cards are very deeply embossed and are truly elegant.

Looking at these cards from a 21st century point of view it is a little difficult to see why these flowers and emblems were used. The Victorians loved to convey coded messages. Floriography, more commonly called the language of flowers, was used allowing individuals to express feelings that otherwise could not be spoken. Remember that Victorian England was very proper and the way in which you presented yourself was of utmost importance.

These are the symbols and flowers depicted on the cards. After reading the individual meanings that I have listed below see if you can find the sentiments that are hidden in these antique Christmas cards.

We associate the swastika with the Nazi regime, but this symbol has a long history in cultural design. It was adopted by them and now has a very unsavory image. The Nazi swastika also had the arms going in the other direction. Traditionally the reverse swastika has been used as a symbol of good luck, welfare, prosperity or victory.

The wishbone usually stands for a wish or desire.

The horseshoe stands for fortune or good luck.

The anchor was an early Christian symbol commonly found in the Roman catacombs. It was used on Christian tombs as a symbol of the hope we have in Christ beyond this life. Most likely the symbol comes from this verse:

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:19-20

Daisy – Innocence; loyal love; I’ll never tell; purity.

Ivy – Fidelity; friendship; wedded love; affection.

Aster – Love; daintiness.

Pansy – Thoughts; love.

Red roses – Love; I love you.

Bouquet of roses in full bloom – Gratitude.

Blue violet – Watchfulness; faithfulness; I'll always be true.

Don't forget to go to the NORAD Santa tracking site this evening.

Have a very Merry Christmas from me, Len Bentham at Happy Holidays.

It Snowed Last Night!

It snowed last night and everything looks like a Christmas card.  There is more snow on the ground than on the urn arrangement, it is tucked in an alcove by the front door.

People have the opinion that Canada is a land of ice and snow, it isn’t. On the lower end of Vancouver Island we don’t get that much snow. We have had a maximum of 2 weeks of snow in any given winter that I can remember. Some years there has been no snow fall what so ever. Locals refer to the West Coast as the Wet Coast, we get rain.

When I design and make items like "The view from the rim of the 20th century snowbowl was spectacular" it is not only fantasy in that snowmen are alive but that there is snow at all. When it snows here no on is prepared and no one can drive in it properly.

My brother lives in Dawson Creek up north and drives a truck for a living. He said that he wouldn’t drive in this snow. The snow tends to be wet and slippery like soapsuds, it is not fun to drive in. The snow outside right now is powdery so we will be going for a snow walk later. As you can see when the landscape looks like a Christmas card it is a novelty in some areas in Canada.

Have a Merry pre-Christmas.