Isagra Naglia

The only commissioned piece I managed to create this holiday season was for my friend Sarah to give to her husband Dennis. She said his favorite hymn was Come, Ye Disconsolate and was wondering if I could create something from that. I gave it a shot. At the end of the second verse, there's a line that goes, "Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying, "Earth has no sorrow that heav'n can-not cure." That line spoke to me and I tried to create something from this, using part of this line and depicting a sphere inside of a more celestial orb. They both said they were happy with the results!

I remember when I started really falling in love with the music of Brasil in the late 90's this was one of the first LP's that made me a big fan of 70's MPB. This one is the Japanese remaster from the short lived Forma label. 11 tracks that spin beautifully at 32 minutes. This one just breezes by. My favorite record of the Forma imprint hands down! Not one bad number on this masterpiece. One can easy see why this band was Jorge Ben's band circa 1969-1971. There are many things in common with this band & Os Originais do Samba who also backed Jorge Ben during the same era. I adore this recording, but also really enjoy the 1975 LP which has a slightly better sound then this set. I find the LP cover of this record kinda funny. Look closely at their faces. They seem to be looking out at a mass of screaming girls and the two guys on the ends seem a little worried about pleasing all those girls while the guy in the center looks ready to jump them all. Very funny! I had this up on this page a few years back, but decided to post it again. A very solid spinner. For those of you who are just discovering the charms of 70's MPB, enjoy.

P.S. Some words that I can add to describe to this excellent session are, funky, soulful & rockin'. So don't miss this gorgeous listen. If I have to sum up what I think of this recording I would say that it spins so well that one could easily spin it twice.

I'll bet you were thinking, "There's no way Cindy's going to do another template, she doesn't have any of her Christmas shopping done. How can she have time?" These are valid thoughts, but I created this last week at the same time I created the other one. Two birds with one stone!

Christmas day is almost upon us. My bishop requested that all the members of the ward read the 4 gospels and 3rd Nephi in order for us to gain a greater knowledge of Christ this Christmas season. So far I've read Matthew and Mark. It's been a wonderful refresher of who exactly He is and what He has done for us. I hope we can all get to know Him a little bit better this season.

This is what the template looks like. Be careful around the star! Cut the gray areas out first!
Download here: Creche

1975 must just be the most perfect time for Samba Pop in Brasil and this record is proof of that fact. What a great band! At the peak of their powers and amazingly recorded by RCA Victor studios. I'm very impressed with the way RCA Victor records its artist like this group and others on that label. Such depth of fidelity here that it's slightly mind-blowing. This may or may not reveal itself on the first listen, but after a few spins it really opens up sound-wise. 1975 is a peak year in MPB. Grab this and see what I speak of. May this put a smile on your grumpy butt. A big, big thank you to Zecalouro @ Loronix for this share. Since Loronix seems to be out of business, then I'll host those posts that I've suggested at this point. R.I.P. Loronix.

P.S. Since these guys sing in six part harmony they kind of remind me of "The Beach Boys", just a little more macho.
For those that get what's going on here in this era of Brasilian popular song, this record is "The BOMB". The cuica player of this band is rough and ready and the choral singing here is super outstanding. The engineers over there at RCA Victor are Albert Einstein brilliant. So says my ear.

If any of you are interested in a beautiful nativity that will last for many, many years, check out my friend Valerie Atkisson's work made out of precious metals. These nativities are for sale right now and the perfect gift for those créche collectors out there or to have in your own home.

Valerie Atkisson Design

Every year for Christmas, I have this grand ambition to cut out a life-sized Nativity silhouette from wood and place it in my front yard. I sketched out a possible Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus scene in church and that's about as far as I got with it this year. It's closer than I got last year! I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season and for those of you who believe that our Savior was born a little over 2,000 years ago, that you are remembering Him in your hearts at this time. Merry Christmas!

Above is what the template looks like. You can download the pdf of it here: Nativity. Remember to try and cut out the inner parts first. For the halo, cut from the inner points of the stars, outward. Enjoy!

I don't know if I'll keep this up, but I'm gonna try. I have quite a few extra super talented friends with extraordinary skills that I would love to share with you.

I'm going to start off by showcasing my friend Cory. The name of her company is Songs of the Sea and she does hand-embroidered pieces of clothing and accessories. I have a skirt she made for me that is one of my most favorite skirts ever. Here is her blog: Songs of the Sea. She has an etsy store that doesn't have anything in it right now (I can't critique because mine is currently blank as well).

Take a gander!

Look at this! Two Template Tuesdays in a row! I was actually going to make this one as a wallpaper, but December 1st happened and then December 2nd happened and then it was the second Template Tuesday of the month and I thought I would just use it for today. Maybe my goal for next year will be to actually do calendar wallpapers a month ahead of time. What I wanted to do was make a bunch of people smooching under different mistletoe, but I only got around to making Santa and Mrs. Claus (in their lean years).


Here's hoping that some of you get some mistletoe action because heaven knows I'm not getting any as of yet. Christmas is still a little bit away, so there's still time! Here's what the template looks like. It's moderately simple. Just take it easy on the faces. Try to cut from the inside crooks of the face out towards the negative space. It works better for me that way.
Download your free template here: Mistletoe Santa