Chocolate Peppermint Santa : Daily Art Practice
Couch Talk
It is hard to believe that it is Christmas time again. I am finally ready to decorate as we just bought our fresh Christmas tree this past weekend. The past few years I have purged most of my Christmas decorations as I was tired of unpacking and packing up decorations that I didn’t really like. I kept them because they were given to me. Now if I don’t like it, I pass it on. I prefer to keep the season fun and stress-free by limiting the amount of clutter. Hopefully by the end of the week, our home will be fully decorated.
What is your favorite Christmas decoration?
I have two. A Belsnickle Santa given to me by my MIL. I am not into the primitive style of decor but I really love those old world santa’s. My second favorite is the Willow Tree Nativity.
Shop Front Challenge
Last week a few of you asked if I was done with the Singapore shopfronts. No, I am not, but I did take a short break to try some other things. I have learned SO much from the Singapore Shopfront challenge on Instagram, hosted by Alice Lim aka @Eurekawanders. I started, very timid when drawing a line and intently sticking to the tutorials. Since then I have branched out to creating these shop fronts on my own and trying my hand at buildings that interest me and are not a part of the challenge.
The Chin Woo Athletic Association in Singapore and is dedicated to many different athletic forms including cultural dance. I enjoyed reading about the Lion dance troupe. I love seeing the pictures of the beautiful costumes. Reference Photo HERE.
The Dopa Dopa Creamery in Singapore makes artisan ice cream and gelato. They have some yummy sounding flavor combinations. The Lychee Oolong Ice cream is one I would love to try. Reference photo HERE.
Tea Day
I am joining the Tea Day ladies, hosted by Elizabeth and Bleubeard. My tea today is The Republic of Tea Peppermint Cuppa Chocolate Tea, Dessert Blend. I love this tea and thought it would be the perfect tea to share for this time of year, mostly because of the peppermint. I am not a huge peppermint fan but the combination in this tea is delicious!
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
Good evening Kate, I always liked candles in sacks at Christmas time. Many years ago when we lived in northern Illinois I would brave the very snowy and cold weather putting out my little bags filled with sand and a real candle. Looked so pretty when you line a large area.
I love your paintings so much and your eat sounds delicious this week Happy T(ea)
My deco is easy. Just a few pieces, up all year. Boy, I am lazy and we have green walls and red furniture, so… they blend in.
Your drawings always make me smile. And I hope I find the time and… will (!) to get it started. Right now tht new job scares me too much.
Peppermint-chocolate, YUM – to a happy T-Day!
Hi Kate, lovely to see your decorations and the shopfronts you painted, they are wonderful! Have a great T Day, enjoy your tea, hugs, Valerie
Somehow I can’t imagine the combination of chocolate with tea. But I like tea to be plain. I hope you enjoy all the holiday fun when your decorations are complete!
best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Stunning artwork!
Your Belsnickle Santa is gorgeous. Your MIL has great taste. Your creche/nativity figurines are really lovely.
Those Singapore storefronts are getting better and better all the time. They are now so very realistic.
LOVE the sound of that tea. I want to find some of those round teabags for my art. Thanks for sharing your art, your decorations, and your tea bag tea with us for T this Tuesday, dear Kate.
I get tired of packing up and unpacking decorations I love, and I stopped putting the ones I don’t love too. This year I wasn’t sure whether to put out things I loved even, but then I got into it as I went along. I think your primitive Santas are beautiful Kate, and I can see why you love them. And you certainly have aced the shop front drawings. You’ve made me want to visit them. for sure. Wouldn’t it be fun to actually see them in person? You definitely need to keep drawing though. You definitely have talent. I hope your T day is going well and happy rest of your week. Hugs-Erika
I remember reading about the Belsnickle santa before. The story is similar to the St Nicholas (Sinterklaas) story in the Netherlands. As children we learnt that he would come with a switch in one hand and a sack of goodies in the other. If you had been bad, you would get the switch and in worst cases you got taken back to Spain in the empty sack. Nowadays it is not pc to tell the children this so it is now omitted from the story.
Your water colours are beautiful. You have improved so much. I hope you will also start making water colours of the places you have visited, rather than places you would like to visit.
I haven’t got my decorations out yet. I haven’t used them for years, as we always go to Holland to visit my mother. This year we are staying home, but we haven’t been able to find them. (yet)
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
Love this art today. Your details are so good. I would love to watch you create. Yuuummm peppermint chocolate. Have a great day today.
I have a few favourite decorations, some that were given to me and some that were handmade, some that have been in the family for years and years and possibly don”t look so good anymore but we still put them up. Chocolate and pepperment go so well together, I bet that tea tastes delicious. Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx