Compost Studios

A little more than a month ago, I came up with the idea of making a wall calendar for my mother-in-law for Christmas. She lives with E’s sister in Florida and suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, and an Alzheimer’s-like illness. E has made a few trips to see her since we’ve been here, but the children and I haven’t seen her in almost two years, a reality that weighs heavily on our hearts.

Making a wall calendar featuring photos of our family seemed the perfect way to help her stay connected to us as well as the months and the seasons. Since moving to Belgium, I’ve embraced paper crafts and amassed a large collection of tools, paper, cardstock, and art supplies. I loved the idea of putting my budding scrapbooking and stamping skills to good use in a new format.

Originally, I planned to use some family snapshots taken during the year as well as studio photographs and school pictures for each page. Happily, our recent photo shoot with Di provided far superior materials to work with.

Yesterday morning E loaded the photo cartridge and paper into the printer and we began printing off photos to use in the calendar layouts. As each photo dried, I looked for just the right colors of cardstock and the best patterned papers to work into the layouts. I considered which stamped images could be used to enhance the pages, and began experimenting with different designs.

I worked all afternoon, took a break for dinner, and then worked another hour or two in the evening. I finished seven pages. Only seven pages, and let me tell you, I’m not a scrapbooker who likes a lot of embellishments. I favor simple designs. Still, making final choices on colors, cutting and positioning the paper, and stamping the images takes time. I haven’t even begun work on decorating the actual calendar pages yet. I had no idea it would take so long, but at the same time, I’m really pleased with the results.

In the years before she became ill, my mother-in-law gave me many handmade gifts. The very first time I joined the family for Christmas (before E and I were married), she crocheted me a hat, scarf, and purse. During our marriage, she crocheted an enormous afghan for our bed as well as lace doilies and runners for my antique chests. She cross-stitched numerous samplers for my walls and once hand-embroidered a tablecloth and matching napkins. She made throw pillows for our bed and a window seat cushion and curtains for the baby nursery. When my son was born, she knit him mittens, booties, and a little cap for his fuzzy blond head.

Last night as my back ached from standing and leaning over a table all day, I remembered all those gifts and all the work she put into every stitch. I don’t have her talent or patience for needlecrafts, but I hope she feels the love going into each page of this calendar and that it makes her smile all year long.

Are any of you making Christmas gifts?

November 12, 2006