|
Snipping
For
Deeper Meaning
By
MARIAN DOZIER, Sun-Sentinel
12/25/00
Like rock 'n' roll records spun backwards, there is a subliminal message in
the paper snowflakes that hang on Sarah Keith's Christmas tree. The subtext is
way different though: Keith's intricately cut message is all goodness and
light.
Keith,
of Lake Park, is the creator of the Chrismon Snowflake Ornament -- Christmas
ornaments symbolic of Christ or Christianity. She sells her patterns on her
3-year-old Web site, christiancrafters.com, on which she shares advice, crafts and classroom
techniques with the world's Sunday school
teachers.
The 16 ornament patterns -- crosses, crowns, doves and stars, for example --
are meant to telegraph faith, Keith said. Each comes with a corresponding
Bible scripture. A booklet of 32 patterns sells for $16.
"What's neat (about the snowflakes) is two things," Keith said.
"They remind you of the reason for the season ... Plus, they're just a
lot of fun to make."
Keith, the craft director for a children's ministry at First Presbyterian
Church in North Palm Beach, discovered the idea of religious symbolism in
cut-up paper by accident. In 1993, she was making traditional paper-cut
snowflakes with her three children, when, she said, "I thought it'd
really be cool to figure out a way to cut into the snowflake symbols of
Christ."
She indeed figured it out. That year, she created 12 designs and, in 1994,
added four more.
Keith, however, did not coin the term "Chrismon," an amalgam of the
words Christ and monogram, nor the art of intricate paper cutting, called
Scherenschnitte. The skill was brought to America by German and Swiss
immigrants during the late 17th century. Faith symbols were common.
|
Peeking
Messages: Sarah Keith's snowflakes from her book
Chrismon Snowflake
Ornaments hold Christian meanings.
Staff photo/Hilda M. Perez
Keith published the workbook on her own in April and began selling it
on the Web site in September. She's the entire operation -- artist,
writer, publisher, shipper -- and has sold about 300 of the books in
the past two months alone.
Besides her Web site, the workbook is also available through Amazon.com,
Borders.com
and Barnesandnoble.com, and she is looking for
an "on the ground" distributor.
Kit MacLeod, director of children's ministries at First Presbyterian,
said Keith's work at the church is a real gift; Keith plans crafts for
the Kingdom Kids evening program on Wednesdays, and teaches Sunday
school to elementary-aged boys.
"It is her God-given talent to take spiritual themes and be able
to illustrate them through crafts," MacLeod said. "I really
think this book is a real blessing for people who happen upon
it."
Marian Dozier can be reached at mdozier@sun-sentinel.com
or
561-243-6643
|