The Art of Calligraphy

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One goal I've set for myself this year is to learn calligraphy. 

I'm always drawn to beautiful packaging, and the addition of modern calligraphy makes it even more alluring.

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The first example of modern calligraphy I came across was in a quaint little floral shop, Coriander Girl in downtown Toronto, quite a few years ago now.

Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls, a calligrapher and artist from California, had designed everything from her business cards, to her store window lettering, to her website graphics.

For years I've wanted to master this art, and while I've attempted it with generic calligraphy sets, I haven't been able to.

That is, hopefully, until now.

While browsing through Anthropologie, looking for some unique Christmas gifts this year, I came across a calligraphy set and immediately recognized the script.

Maybelle has created a kit for learning modern calligraphy.

I ordered one for my sister, and one for myself.

All of the basics are included -

a pen and nib

bottle of black ink

instructional booklet

A-Z exemplar

decorative labels

vellum tracing sheets

lined guide sheet

Today I finally opened it and started acquainting myself with the basics.

I know it will take a great deal of time and practise, but I think it's a beautiful art. I was inspired after reading Pride and Prejudice, again, and being reminded of the beauty of properly penned letter.

Another goal? The first photo is from an event Maybelle did, teaching calligraphy. Doesn't it look like a wonderful way to spend an evening? You can view the evening here.

And for a peek into Alison Westlake of Coriander Girl's charming converted church, which is also lovely, you can view an article from Chatelaine Magazine here.

And now to practise, practise, practise.

A Merriest of Christmases

These past two days have been unusually relaxing and quite peaceful.

Ryan and I spent the day wrapping up the last of our gifts, setting the table for brunch on Christmas morning, and tidying the house before we headed off to church for the evening.

I didn't have much time to share with you the rest of the house, and that's okay.

I did however enjoy playing with the boys and snugging on the couch as we read the Christmas story. I enjoyed chatting late into the night with my handsome husband as we laughed and stuffed stockings.

And I enjoyed a few too many delicious Christmas cookies.

I love Christmas day.

I love hosting Christmas for my family. For the past number of years, we've hosted a late breakfast on Christmas morning. My sisters and parents all come over after we've each had some time to do our own gifts with our families. We enjoy a big brunch, and exchange gifts with each other.

It's especially nice because it means that we never have conflicting Christmases. Breakfast is always with my family, and dinner is always with Ryan's.

As you can see, the table wasn't quite finished. Some of the napkins we in the wash still, and again, that's okay.

Everything was laid out the day before and prepped in the fridge so I could spend as little time in the kitchen as possible and as much time as I could soaking in each moment and watching the boys joyfully open their gifts.

I love watching them on Christmas morning.

Breakfast has become the same each year. When you find a good thing, why change?

We enjoyed cinnamon buns from the store, citrus salad, bacon and sausages, french toast with maple syrup and our favourite, eggs Benedict.

After gathering the piles of paper, and relaxing for a while, we headed to Ryan's parents for our traditional Christmas turkey dinner - and it was amazing, as always.

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And now the boys are fast asleep, and presents have all been opened. The house is quiet and peaceful and it's hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone.

But really, that's the best part about Christmas - it's never really over. The greatest gift is always patiently waiting to be received. Our Saviour is always waiting, longing for us to come and sit and rest and be loved and welcomed as we are. The lights come down, but His light is always shining brightest, even in the darkest of times. And the gifts are opened and the tree is bare once more, but the greatest gift, the gift of life eternal is always found at the foot of the cross - the tree on which the perfect baby we celebrate at Christmas time hung for our sins. So that we, we who are broken and lost and hopeless, can be made perfect, and welcomed in and given the only sure hope - eternal life.

It's the most perfectly beautiful gift. And it's ours if we want it. And who doesn't want to be loved unconditional and welcomed as we are, and given life and joy and purpose and washed beautifully clean and made holy by his perfect blood, shed for us?

He gives us the gift of Himself, and the gift of finding Him in everything we do each day. We simply have to choose to open it or not.

Wishing you the most wonderful of Christmases today.

With love, 

the Heikoops

Halloween Celebrations

This Halloween can officially go down as the most relaxed Halloween to date.

I, for once, was actually ready for Halloween. 

We had the boys costumes finished days before, and they sat hanging with their treat bags, and glow sticks, with my candy at the front door. We agreed on simple, inexpensive costumes - a knight and an orange butterfly (Hudson insisted this was all he wanted to be, so we happily obliged).

The boys went out with Ryan when he got home from work, and while they were out and about, I put some music on and got food ready for after, when we'd celebrate Ryan's birthday (yes, on October 31st). And when the boys had enough walking around, they came home and we all enjoyed an evening by the fire.

My sisters even joined us to celebrate.

And while I didn't go crazy with decorations (we didn't even carve pumpkins!), Willen and I did bring all the pumpkins to the front entrance to make it more inviting.

Here is Hudson in his costume. I would love to take credit for his beautiful butterfly wings, but that was all Ryan. And I never ended up getting a photo of Willen in his costume as he was too busy looking for his sword. That was the only stressful moment I guess... Somehow despite it being set out for him, in the half hour before they left, it managed to disappear for a few minutes. 

They were all smiles as they dumped their bags out and took stock of their loot. It's so much fun when they're so little and enjoy it so much.

And now it's November. That means it's time to start getting ready for Christmas!

Gift Wrapping

One of my favourite parts of Christmas are the gifts.

I love finding that perfect gift for each person on my list. But what I love nearly just as much, is wrapping them with beautiful ribbon and pretty tags, and placing them under the Christmas tree where they lie until Christmas morning.

There's something about packaging that I love. Tags and twine, ribbon and paper. I love making something like plain old kraft paper look elegant.

As I mentioned before, this year I made my own gift tags. It was quite easy.

On a completely unrelated note, these beautiful flowers are called Star of Bethlehem, which I thought was perfectly fitting given the season.

I also love the look of sprigs of natural greens tucked into the bow. Favourites are bits of Cedar, Leather Fern and Seeded Eucalyptus.

When I went under the tree to pick out a few wrapped presents to photograph, I found this tucked at the back. I knew that Willen had brought home a gift he made at school, and had asked me for a box to wrap it in. But I hadn't seen what he had done, nor did I know that he had carefully placed it under the tree with all of the other gifts. I thought it was the most beautiful thing.

While I was busy packaging other gifts, I wrapped Willen's gifts for his teachers, as today was their class party at school. I figured they were looking forward to some much deserved "me time", We picked out a favourite movie (It's Complicated and The Holiday), a box of sea salt chocolate covered toffees, an Essie nail polish and a tin of Harney and Sons tea. To me, it seemed like a lovely way to spend an evening in.