Antique "Xmas" Greeting from Santa?

Perfect for last minute Christmas projects, here is a lovely antique Santa Claus.  I love old Santa postcards.  He was certainly a popular subject for Victorian Christmas cards -- we have over 200 Santa images on my Lunagirl Victorian Holidays Vol 1 CD!

This particular card is especially interesting because of its greeting:
"All Xmas Joys Be Thine."

You might be surprised to see "Xmas" on an antique Victorian-era card, but actually the use of Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas goes back to the Middle Ages.

The "X" is a CROSS and is a symbol or abbreviation for "Christ."  It's not a modern invention, and it was definitely not an attempt to "take religion out of Christmas" as some seem to believe.  It's just an old traditional abbreviation.

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this lovely old image of Santa!

New Collage Sheet: Maps!

Yet another brand new Lunagirl collage sheet design!  This one is created with fabulous fascinating maps adapted from antique books.  There are maps of the Eastern and Western hemispheres with illustrations of the signs of the zodiac and angels in the corners, a map of the ancient Mediterranean world, an ancient map of the ocean currents with Latin text, an 18th-century map of Nova Scotia and the St. Lawrence River with lovely calligraphic writing, plus "London and the Suburbs, Seventeenth Century". These are carefully restored and enhanced to be just right. Fascinating images and aged paper make beautiful backgrounds for altered art projects of all kinds!  Click on this link to be taken to a page to purchase and download: http://www.summertownsun.com/lunagirl/W-Lunagirl-Collage-Sheets-NEW.htm

New: Rossetti Charms collage sheet ... and Jane Morris

I can't believe it's March already! Here is a new collage sheet featuring women from paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the best-loved Pre-Raphaelite artists. These gorgeous, richly colored images are already sized in 1-inch circles and squares and 1x3" microscope slides, perfect for charms, pendants and other jewelry. Also nice if you just like some small images to embellish your altered art cards and crafts. Purchase and download "Rossetti Charms" and other Lunagirl collage sheets here: http://www.lunagirl.com/W-Lunagirl-Collage-Sheets-MINIS-microslides.htm

The face in most of these paintings is that of Jane Burden Morris. Jane was the daughter of an English stableman and a housemaid, and grew up in poverty with very little education. Rossetti and fellow PreRaphaelite Burne-Jones "discovered" her while she was attending a theater performance.

She was model and muse for Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris (whom she married). After her engagement to William Morris, Jane obtained a private classical education and basically reinvented herself. She was highly intelligent, a voracious reader and accomplished student of languages and music, and moved with ease and grace among artists, philosophers, political activists, and the upper classes. She and Morris lived an artistic, bohemian lifestyle at Kelmscott Manor in the Cotswolds. She may have been Rossetti's lover as well.

You'll find some interesting information about Rossetti and his work at this website by the Walker Art Gallery: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/rossetti/works/