Christmas Cards

Well, here it is December 1 already. How did that happen? I always think that the first of December is the beginning of the countdown to Christmas. Tonight as I was driving home from Emily's house I saw a lot of houses lighted and decorated for Christmas. I don't start with the decorating this early. I get pretty tired of a Christmas tree after two weeks. I can't quite deal with a whole month of it, but I am getting myself mentally prepared.

Last December I shared the cut paper Christmas trees I made many years ago. This year I thought I would share the Christmas cards I have made over the years. I stopped making Christmas cards about 20 years ago and went to making Valentines instead. I didn't date all the cards I made, so I'm not sure of all the years, but I do know this first one was 1974 because I wrote the year on it.

That was also the year we bought our first house in Pocatello, Idaho and that was the subject for this card. It is a linoleum block print. I carved two blocks—one inked white and one inked black to create the two color print of the house in the snow.

Andy was a little over a year old and Emily had not yet been born. The house was my pride and joy. It was built in 1924 and a tiny little house, but really beautiful, with a leaded glass window in front, coved ceilings, a beautiful staircase and original bronze and amber light fixtures. It had a ghost that I sometimes saw out of the corner of my eye, standing on the stairway. Could have been my imagination, I suppose, but my mother saw her too.

I have loved all of our houses, but this one was really special. I hope someone is loving it and taking good care of it now. We sometimes drive by it when we are in Pocatello and it always looks just as it did when we owned it.