CJ's Pony Express Home Station

A weathergram is a small work of art done on a 10" x 2 1/2" strip of Kraft paper or paper bag. It's meant to be hung outside from a solstice to solstice or equinox to equinox. It's meant to weather, become one with nature, and ephemeral. Weathergrams were introduced to the US by Oregon calligrapher, Lloyd Reynolds back in the late 1970's. They are based on an Oriental tradition.

Traditional weathergrams have a short poem or quote written on them. The topic usually is something to do with weather or nature. The poem begins with a versal, usually in red, freely written Italic and the artist includes his/her chop.

The weathergram pictured is not traditional. (I rarely make traditional weathergrams). It was made in memory of Ann of the Tassels who passed away last month after a long battle with breast cancer. Her family has requested them and they will be displayed in the family yard. Ann would have liked that.

Like most calligraphers, I first met Ann through Cyberscribes, an online calligraphy discussion group. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at Odyssey 2001, the international calligraphy conference in Boston, Massachusetts and again at Legacies 2005 in Dallas, Texas. The weathergram captures my first impression of Ann. She was such a free spirit. Her red hair was quite short except for a small braid at the nape of her neck. The weathergram reads "Free Spirit" done in Cardinal Red Ziller's Ink, Weaver Writing using a Nikko G nib.

In case some of you can't get enough of snowflakes, you can make your own at Make-A-Flake All the fun of making paper snowflakes without the mess of paper schnibbles.

The Young One drew a name from the cowboy hat. And the winner of the Ornament Giveaway is....

LINDA!

Congratulations, Linda! And a thank you to all who played.

Linda, please email me and we can get the particulars down.

Today turned out to be a snow day for the Young One. We're happy dancing! Do you like snow? Snow days? Do you do anything special to celebrate?

I'm on a roll! The past couple of weeks, I've won some wonderful blog contest prizes. Thank you to: Myra Johnson for her novel Autumn Rains. A lovely story and a delightful read. The contest for the book was sponsored by Erica Vetsch. Thanks to Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey for their exciting novel The Swiss Courier. I'm almost to the middle of this page turning novel. This contest was sponsored by Georgiana Daniels . Saturday I found I won an Old Farmer's Almanac calendar from the ladies at Seekerville. My head is so big from these wins, I'll have to wear two cowboy hats!

I had so much fun, I thought I'd pass the fun along. Leave a comment, and you'll have a chance of winning a lovely Christmas ornament suitable for gift giving. ("Mom", "Grandma", "Grandpa", "Nana", "Joy", "Baby" also available. Designs and colors may vary.) Names will be drawn from the cowboy hat and the winner will be announced on Wednesday's blog. I have no problem sending the ornament outside US borders, but I can't guarantee you will have it in time for gift giving.

What do you think of blog contests? Do you like them? Hate them? Let me know.

Several years ago, I created a line of personalized Christmas ornaments for a few craft fairs. I'd personalize ornaments while people did their shopping. Looks like I'll be calling on the skill of writing on glass again. You may remember me mentioning I had an assignment coming up where I would be asked to write on different materials. I'm happy to say, the details of the assignment have been worked out.

I'll be performing at Macy's Calligraphy Ornament Personalizing Event at the Providence, RI store on Friday, 11. December 2009 from 3pm - 7pm.

Stop by the third floor, Holiday Lane/Trim Department to say hello and watch me work. Purchase an ornament from Macy's, and I'll personalize it with a name for free.

Hope to see you there!

What are you working on this week?

The weather moves from one extreme to the other. From warm temps. and blooming geraniums to cold temps and snow. We got a couple of inches of snow last night. I'll grudgingly admit it looks pretty outside my front window, but is it July yet?

What's outside your window?