Christmas is one of my favorite times of years.  It is a time of being with family and friends.   There also seems to be a sense of hopefulness around this time of the year.

Christmas is important to me because of my faith.  When Sandra asked me to be a guest on the Muse I  had the perfect idea of what I  wanted to make.    I love to make and create ornaments to give to my family especially my wife and daughters.  I had seen a couple of new releases that I knew I wanted to utilize to make a Christmas ornament.  This Chiristmas ornament will not be given away. It will be something  that I will save for myself.  It will be a reminder to me about the true meaning of Christmas. 

I chose one of the Cathedral windows to use for my piece.   These windows remind me that the past always holds the keys to the future.  The windows can be a shining light illuminating the future by looking at the past.  I used water colors in shimmering platinum and and grey. On the roof I added a touch of green to help create a patina.  I then took granite pencil over all the raised areas so that the texture would be exposed.  I used swarovski crystals and pearls  to give the window a sense of opulence 

I also chose the crown from the Mini Santos collection.  The crown is a symbol of royalty and power. I colored it with watercolors in gold, yellow and pewter so to give it depth.  I then embleshied it with Swarovski chrystals and pearls.  

I then used a star stamp from Tim Holtz set Christmas Time 2 CMS 389.  I embossed it on Yupo paper with shimmering gold embossing powder.  I cut it to fit the window pane and adhered it with glue.  

I then took the smallest doll in the tribe series and wrapped it in Tim Holtz Mummy cloth and glued it so that it looked like swaddling cloth.  

I attached the crown to the bottom of the window upside down and then glued the baby to the bottom of the crown.  I then attached a gold ribbon to the back of the ornament so that it will hang from the tree.  

I love the symbolism of this piece.  As a follower of Christ I am constantly reminded that Jesus came to turn power upside down and is a reminder to us that love, hope, compassion are the way in which people will know who are true followers of Jesus Christ.  I hope you have the merriest of Christmas and a hope filled New Year.