The Gingerbread Cottage
The Nutcracker Ballet
What are your favorite holiday traditions? When I was a child, I loved decorating fancy cookies with my mom. We shipped cookie tins to both sets of grandparents, as well as giving plates to all our friends. The funnest part was decorating gingerbread cookies to look like the recipient! When I grew up, Grandma Helen gifted me a gingerbread cookie cutter that her father had made. It's one of a kind and I treasure it.
I have a funny memory of dressing as angel for a Christmas pageant when I was in first grade. I remember the costume my mom and grandma made for me, and the lights onstage, but funny how I forgot everything else.
Do you have a special place you go to see HUGE trees dressed up with lights and decorations? 
What other traditions does your family have? What ways did your grandmother decorate and your own mother? What do you do that's a tradition? Does anyone make gingerbread houses?
We started a new tradition five years ago, we took up skiing. It's wonderful to book a cabin in the snow for a visit just after the holidays. It's a special event we look forward to. We all learned to cross country ski that first year, enjoying a groomed trail through the woods and along the lake. Last year, the boys tried downhill skiing and I was sick....... so now I have to get caught up and try it this time around. I'm a little nervous..... I hope I don't have to design special charm for some sort of downhill skiing failure! :-) 
Parent Dish interviewed me about designing charms and what makes this style so hot. Check it out here.
Hi, if we haven't met yet, I'm Aly, head designer at Ohm Beads. Charmish is my little corner of the world, where we can chat, preview my new designs and you can get your Ohm Beads directly from the designer. If you we are familiar, hello and welcome to the purrrrfectly delightful release party!
Introducing the new Halloween Flip Bead exclusive: Puuuurfect for the occasion, Ms Kitty and her Bat buddy adorn one side, flip to the other side, for the Halloween spider web. Don't worry, Ms Spider will be your new friend. The edges are adorned with orange glittery bling. Want to see this in 3-D ? Only 50 of these were produced, and I have 10 for sale. Be the only ghoul on your block to have one!
Guan Yin is depicted sitting on a lotus, holding her vial of healing water, in quiet contemplation. Guan Yin is one of the most universally beloved of deities in the Buddhist tradition. Also known as Quan Yin, Kuan Yin, Quan'Am (Vietnam), Kannon (Japan), and Kanin (Bali), She is the embodiment of compassionate loving kindness. As the Bodhisattva of Compassion, She hears the cries of all beings. Quan Yin enjoys a strong resonance with the Christian Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the Tibetan goddess Tara.
And our second "goddess" in the series is the ancient image of feminine divine referred to as the Venus of Willendorf.
The real Venus of Willendorf is a small statue found in Austria, along the Danube river, in the early 1900's. The material she was carved from doesn't come from that region, so she was clearly carried to that location. She dates back to 24,000 - 22,000 BCE, which makes her the oldest representation of the human form. She's paleolithic. We don't know if she was ever considered a "goddess", but her mystery, age, and beautifully rendered braids, and abundantly round form have made her famous.
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