so i know what you're thinking

i've fallen off the face of the earth, right?

wrong. i'm still here, alive and kickin'!

i just got a little too busy to craft, and therefore too busy to post. even now, i should be sleeping. it's not that late, but i've been struggling to make it through the days awake this week, so i should be drifting off to Neverland right about now.

but, i'm not. i'm blogging. and aren't you glad? you want to see a picture, don't you? well, here's one from a month or so ago.

that's my little prodigy, not progeny. she's great at puzzles. not that one, in particular, although she really helped a lot with sorting by color. i gave her a 48 piece puzzle that she worked in about 30 minutes the first time she saw it, without help. now i'm bragging. no one likes a braggart.

this is the fort we built.

she called it a "forest" because she couldn't remember the word "fort."

also, i have three projects in the works right now. and i'm really pretty excited about them, so keep checking back. this post was just to hold you over until the real stuff gets put up.

also, if you want to know what kept me so busy that i couldn't craft, check out my friend JJ's blog to see what i was up to last weekend. and, if you like the taste of awesome, you should totally place an order.

a different kind of painting

tonight was a volunteer work night at my church.

i had planned to spend the weekend painting again, but what with the work night, i didn't think i'd have time to do much. i started another mixed media project and had to put it on hold as i headed down to the church to work my muscles. i started out the evening moving about a hundred chairs from a Sunday school room so the carpets could be ripped up. muscles, check. then, i got drafted into painting. so i did get to spend the day painting after all!

we meet in a decently old building with lots of beautiful wood accents and old things and interesting nooks and crannies. except some of the wood, not so beautiful. because it's wood paneling. and it looks like it's from the eighties. so we painted over it. being reasonably familiar with cutting in and trim work, i was given a brush and a bucket and told to have at it. three hours later, i was still perched in one of those crannies, a window sill, cutting in around the plethora of corners that no window should have.

but the evening was fun, and well-spent. i really enjoyed being able to do something for this church i have come to love. i became a member at the beginning of this month, and really love the people there. it was fun getting to know some new faces and work alongside one of my pastors as we painted. it really was a blessing to give back to the church i love. i recommend it to everyone!

sassacraft #10

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? i think this may be true. i know i'd feel flattered if someone imitated me, as long as they weren't mocking me...

anyways, you all, by now (because of the numerous posts just today that have said so) know that i love birds. i think i've said it enough for today.

well, last year, i found an adorable owl pin at a shop called the Makery here in Louisville. the shop moved, and i think their inventory is less than what it used to be, but one artist who sells there really caught my eye with her stuff. you can find Dearest Inez here. felt and leaves and headbands and flowers and cute! i love it.

so can you guess which one is mine?

sassacraft #9

like i said, i love birds. and, i love Scripture. and i love to mix media when making art. and i love the nations. you'll see all that in the next two pieces.

the Scripture inspiration for this first piece is Matthew 6:26, which you may remember i love from here. also, i used pages from the Bible showing Psalm 8:8, Psalm 11:1, Psalm 94:19, and 1 Peter 5:7. birds and cares and the Lord. i love how the Lord cares for even the birds, and how much more He cares for me.

i painted the canvas a light sky blue, and put a few fluffy clouds in the sky. i mod-podged the Scripture pages to the canvas, and then tacky-glued the felt birds on top. i finished the piece by writing "Look at the birds of the air...are you not more valuable than they?" it's a good thing to be frequently reminded of, at least for me.

this piece was inspired by another favorite verse of mine, Habakkuk 2:14. "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." Amen to that! so i used pages from Habakkuk, and also pages with Scriptures that talk about the Glory of the Lord. i'll have to look at the pages again to remember just what verses i picked. i made the pages into what i hope looks like waves in the ocean and painted white caps on the tops. i painted the sunset and the clouds. i think my skills in painting sunsets are minimal, as in i can pick the right colors, but have trouble transferring the idea of a sunset to canvas an making it look real. but i think the painting turned out pretty good.

i'm really enjoying painted the Scriptures. it helps me meditate on the Scriptures while I'm painting, and pray through them, and focus on God. i'm really enjoying the process, probably more than the outcome!

sassacraft #8

i love magnets! i love the attractive properties of magnets, the fact that they stick together or they repulse each other, and that there is no middle ground with them like there is with people. magnets are simple to understand. people are not. so i like magnets.

also, there are a lot of things that can be made into magnets, if you just glue them to a magnet. i've made bottle caps from African sodas into magnets, and knick-knacks for childhood into magnets, and pins into magnets. and i want to make more magnets. but for all my magnets to function properly, i need to have a magnet board. and, i do. two, in fact. but they are drab, silver metal sheets that are a little difficult to hang because they don't have holes or anything. at my old house, they were screwed into the wall with braces. four braces each for two boards. that's a lot of screw holes in the wall. and, that method isn't very attractive. so my sweet friend Emily let me borrow one of her sewing books. i used some great fabric i picked up at IKEA (best.store.ever) and followed the (mostly) simple steps.

disclaimer: i am NOT a sew-er or a seamstress, nor am i craftily inclined to sewing. i'd love to learn, but cutting and sewing in straight lines is a big obstacle in my way. i mis-measured or mis-cut or mis-sew-ed for this project about six times...

step one: glue metal (make sure it's magnetic first) to a sheet of foam core that is one inch longer all around than the metal.

step two: duct tape the edge of the metal, overlapping the metal by no more than 1/2 inch, and wrap excess tape around back of foam core.

step three: cut fabric to be two inches* longer than foam core on all sides. (* this is what the book said, so it's what i did. however, it left a lot of excess fabric and the finished product isn't quite as snug-fitting as i'd like it. but i don't have enough sewing knowledge to tell you how to fix this dilemma.)

step four: cut ribbons to desired length and pin to the right side of the back piece as shown. (i made the ribbon loops, but the book used longer ribbons to make bows. i'm not too big on bows, so i made loops. it's all according to your personal preference.) double-stitch at least once over each ribbon to secure them to the fabric.

step five: (not pictured) pin the right sides of the fabric together and sew a seam around the top, bottom, and one side of the fabric, using about a 5/8 inch seam allowance.

step six: turn the fabric right side out and iron down the seams to make them lay flat. fold the open side in and iron to crease. i folded it in about an inch, but make sure you measure so that the ribbons remain centered.

step seven: slide the metal and foam core into the pocket and blind stitch the open end closed.

step eight: hang on wall. use magnets to attach pictures and notes. enjoy!

sassacraft #7

this past Christmas, i wanted to give Christmas gifts to my boss and my co-workers, but i didn't have the money to purchase nice things for them, and i didn't want to go down to the dollar store and buy some knick-knack that they were sure to effusively thank me for, then throw away after a week of guilt-keep. so, i made something.

these bird plaques were inspired by a favorite verse of mine: Matthew 6:26. "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

artistically, birds are probably my favorite thing to depict. i wish that i could paint them better. i love to look at paintings of birds. some of my favorite bloggers are artists who also love to paint birds, like Sandi and Jennifer. i get inspiration by looking at, gazing at, taking in their work.

these were so easy to make. i used some scrap plywood that i had my daddy cut down to boards measuring something like 9"x13" (i no longer have any in my possession, or i would get the exact measurements). then i had him drill two holes through the top to put the ribbon through. when that was finished, i brought them in, painted them a base color, and then cheated a little. my mom and my sister-in-law and i sort of mass-produced these one weekend, so we had bought a stencil for the birds. we chose complimentary colors for the backgrounds and birds, sponged on the stencils, and set aside to dry. we printed the verses on sheets of white cardstock, and tea-stained some of them tan. (the ones below were both left white for better contrast with the colors of the plaque). when the paint was dry, we mod-podged the verses on, and coated the whole board with mod podge for a uniform matte finish. last, we strung ribbon, or on some others, twine, through the holes for a hanger. and voila! a bird-themed plaque! we made eight for a gift exchange party, and five for my bosses and co-workers. and they are just so pretty!

In which my heart's desires conflict with reality

it's official. i've grown up. and what do i want to be when i grow up? well, when i was a kid, the list was pretty long. astronaut. pilot. gymnast. teacher. rancher. missionary. writer. editor. baker. pretty much anything within a very wide range from possible and likely to impossible and unlikely. but what i found out as i got older is that i want my life to mean something. to be of value. to leave a legacy. that leaves only three possibilities in my mind. teacher. missionary. and the one i want more than anything in the world, the desire of my heart, the thing i pray for every day, the only possibility that makes me smile immediately: mom.

what i want to do more than anything in this world is raise my own children to love and honor and glorify Christ with their lives, and teach them how to servants for His Name. this is my deepest desire and my most poignant yearning.

this is also the one thing that i cannot achieve on my own. for obvious reasons, but also because i have to trust God to provide me with a husband and bless me with children. husband first, then children. one step at a time. but there is absolutely nothing i can do. no amount of "making myself desirable" or "putting myself out there" will give me a husband. sure, these may prerequisites, along with more important tasks such as nurturing my relationship with Christ and becoming a student of biblical womanhood, but these tasks cannot give me a husband. only God can incline a man's heart toward mine. can make a man want to make me his wife. love is a gift from God. and all i can do is pray and wait and listen and learn and pray.

and i am praying. a lot. like, multiple times a day. sometimes, multiple times an hour. i am seeking this with my whole heart. i am a student of waiting. i would love to be a student of answered prayer.

in the mean time, i've grown up. and i live in world that, through sin, must labor for its daily needs. and as a person blessed by God with a body able and willing, i have the responsibility to support myself financially in this world. not rely on my parents, because i am an adult. so, i must seek gainful employment.

i feel placed in this city in this country for a divine purpose, but i don't know what that is. my heart is on the mission field, but right now it is there in prayer and support for friends serving God in foreign lands.

educationally, i cannot be a teacher. i don't have the credentials. and i am in the middle of prayerfully discerning whether or not it is God's Will for me to seek these credentials, or pursue another path.

so, for now, i am unable to do any of the three things i desire to do. what do i do in the mean time? i would like to do something that i can put my heart into, not just another job.

dear reader, would you mind to pray with me that such employment would be found? that i would receive clear direction about how to continue my education? that i would wait honorably for the Lord to provide?

it would mean a lot to me. it really would.