This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

via Soule Mama

Kim @ Life in a Shoe is having a giveaway of these cute hair clips.

Lilla Rose has a lot of cute stuff, so it's hard to chose, but if I won I think I would like this one:

https://secure.lillarose.biz/MemberToolsDotNet/(S(qyp5at4eim5obtff1ucw4yqq))/ShoppingCartNew/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=17981&CatalogueID=204&PartyID=-1&PartyGuestID=-1&InternalUse=1&ProductGroupString=67.72

Simple and sweet and not too hard to match. :)

New in the Shop

Lemons on a Blue Cloth

I feel like I ought to say something about Easter, but since I spent the day sleeping while the family had dinner at church, it didn't feel like it happened. I'm still feeling a little under the weather-ish today. Hope nobody else in the family gets it. 

So I hope you had a happy Easter! 

Cheers! I'm going back to bed. 

Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended

Ah, Holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided by Thine own rejected,
Oh, most afflicted

Who was the guilty? who brought this upon Thee?
Alas my treason, Jesus hath undone Thee.
Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee,
I crucified Thee

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered
For man's atonement, while he nothing heeded
God intercedeth

For me, kind Jesus was Thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life's oblation
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion
For my salvation

Therefore kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee
I do adore Thee and will ever pray Thee
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving

New in the Shop

Bleeding Hearts

I love the bleeding hearts that grow in my garden. They come back every year in the spring to greet me, they are amicable and get along with everybody. But they don't care to be picked much. So I painted some so they could be brought inside without harming their sensibilities.

Etsy is an amazing place really. It's an absolute maze of people, all different types doing all different kinds of things. From grandma types crocheting Barbie doll dresses to fine art going for thousands of dollars. It's easy to get lost in the sea. But after a while, you start to recognize people, know where they hang out and what they do. It's just a wild, vast community.

Anyway, I came across these gals who are on a treasury team I'm on. (Actually nonteam, to be technical, but that's an Etsy fine line thing.) Anyway, I thought their name was kind of eye catching and fun "Drapes of Wrath". Doesn't that kind of make you want to put on an apron and beat up on some eggs? Heheh.

 Aren't these adorable? But my favorite was this:

Hows that for barbecue with style?

If you want to make your own they have the instructions here: 

http://drapesofwrathaprons.blogspot.com/2011/04/goodwill-to-good-lookin-lions-club.html

Too Fun! :)

Artist Statement Revised

"All my life I have been blessed to live in the Pacific Northwest. Everywhere I go I am always inspired and exhilarated by the beauty that continually surrounds me. Desire to give voice and thanks for that beauty through art wells up inside me. 
I believe art is important. Through art we surround ourselves with images that contribute to influencing our hearts. I believe that surrounding oneself with pictures of beauty, strength abundance, grandeur and joy contribute to building those qualities in our own lives. I want to create art that assists us in focusing on what is real and good and true in this world. 
I am also a believer in the Living God of the Bible. I hope through my art to give thanks to Him and also to remind myself and others of His goodness, promises, and commands whether through image, symbol, or word. I believe art is an act of worship. I like to work with different mediums depending on the message or image I am attempting to portray. The vast array of materials to artists in these days are a constant inspiration and temptation to me.
"O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, fear before Him all the earth." Psalm 96:9"

I revised my artists statement on Etsy today. I don't want to come across as "preachy" But I do want to accurately portray who I am as an artist and why I chose to paint the things I do and where I am coming from.

Thoughts?

Well, I did finally experience that Portland oddity otherwise known as VooDoo Doughnut. Everyone lately has been going to VooDoo Doughnut. I tried to go once before but the line was down the street and around the corner, so I had to wait for a more opportune time. So when we saw there was one right by the church where the kids were having the speech competition, we (Elisa and I) decided to give it a whirl. May I say? I don't get it.

Now, I don't think I'm all that thin skinned. I was fine with the whole horror flick sort of aura, the voodoo jelly doughnut, coffin maple bars, etc. All just for fun, and of course it's a pretty eye catching sales gimmick. But I'm not into upside down crosses and pentagrams and there was a lot of that there. But not only that, it stank. And it was scuzzy. And my apple fritter was doughy and undercooked. And for the rest of the day, no matter how many times I washed my hands, I could smell it. All in all, it was just plain gross. Yuck. So I can cross that one off my bucket list, and I will never do it again. I'm sure they are really sad and will miss me frightfully.

Anyway, on to the speech tournament. Are you down? Do you need a bit of encouragement for the generations to come? Go hang out at a NCFCA speech tournament.  Wowzers. You can hear the gospel presented from 50 different directions. You can listen to debate on whether or not we should change nuclear policies dealing with Russia. You can hear how to solve world hunger. (Plumpy Nut. It's the best thing since sliced bread.) You can hear Natural Law debated. Golly, it was fabulous. I love this sort of thing. I felt like my mental muscles were weight lifting all day long. And as that kid in the suit two sizes to big for him is calmly and rationally discusses the effect of Natural Law on the Nuremberg Trials you kind of have to pinch yourself and remember, he's maybe 15? 16?

I'm so glad Elisa is excited to do this. I wish I had gotten my older children into it. No matter what field of study they may want to pursue in the future, being able to present yourself, speak easily and think on your feet will be an asset, whether artist, teacher, scientist, lawyer....Hey,  even auto mechanics need to be able to talk to their customers clearly and inspire confidence!

It was so interesting to be able to judge at this event. If you live near a tournament they always really need judges. They let the parents judge, but if you come in as a community judge (with no kids competing) they give you first pick of the events you want to take. They feed you good food all day long and there was coffee with real cream (Not just the powdered creamer stuff.) and candies on the tables. And you get to watch future leaders in the making honing their skills. You will feel very appreciated. It was a really quality event put on by good people.

Well that's my sales pitch!

The last couple of days have been such a whirlwind of activity for us! I have been judging at the regional finals for the National Christian Forensic and Communications Association. (Mercifully, usually abbreviated to NCFCA) It was a wonderful time, really, with a lot of thinking involved. But of course with me gone for two days the house is an absolute disaster! So I will write more about the event later. For now, I will post a picture if my latest addition to the shop:

Sunflowers

Hope you have a great weekend!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

from soulemama's blog

New in the Shop

Grape Hyacinths 

Grape Hyacinths. They are such a lowly common flower, but they are so pretty when you really stop to look at them. I like to showcase less showy flowers and show them in a different light. Often they are like the people we meet in real life, they may seem common, but if you stop to look at them they are beautiful and sweet in their own way. These rewarded my efforts with a sweet fragrance to accompany me as I worked.

I was featured in this treasury today!  And I'm also figuring out Craft Cult.... :)

"Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition."                                                                     

                                                                           -Jeremiah Burroughs 
                                                    "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" 

New in the Shop

Summer Abundance 

10x14"

Every year my family tries to get out to a farm to pick peaches. The trees are so heavy with them that they seem relieved to be freed of their burden. Then we bring these juicy treasures home to store up and enjoy over the winter, so we can remember the abundance of summer.

What we're up to....

Not much swinging, but still a lot of puddles. The last picture is of a "creek" that flows by our house. In that picture it's pretty sedate, on rainy days it can be quite the babbling brook. The boys and one of the neighbor boys are always building dams and floating boats on it. Either that or scooping up the algea and throwing it at the girls that reward them with screams. What is it about the masculine psyche that finds such satisfaction in a blood curdling feminine scream?

It's also the time of year that I start talking about moving to Texas. Everybody knows that and so they say to themselves "Just hold on, summer will come and then she'll forget all about it."

Well it would be nice to be DRY for a while!

What's going on at your house?

New in the Shop

Trillium Spring

Modern Relief

I thought this was very cool and just wanted to pass on the link. Modern Relief, a group of modern style quilters is selling raffle tickets for a chance to win one of their beautiful quilts and then giving the proceeds to Mercy Corp for Japan aid. I just thought that was a neat way to raise funds.




Neat.

Link via Sew Paint Create.

New in the Shop

Spring Magnolias 

11x14"

I was doing the classic science experiment of putting eggshells in vinegar to demonstrate what sugar does with a person's teeth with the boys. All day they were impatient to check it and see what would happen to the shells in the little cup on the counter but I made them wait until after dinner to give the vinegar time to work. Finally the dinner dishes were cleared away and it was time to view the results. I got the shells out, showed them how they were all dissolved and crumbly and Noah and Zeke were looking but Owen started getting restless and retreated to the background to pace and mumble as he does when he's feeling disgruntled. Finally I look up from my lecture on tooth brushing to ask what ever is the matter with him. "Oooooo," he puffs. "I thought they were going to explode or something."

!!!

Does he really think I would let him have sugar ever if there was a chance of his teeth exploding?  I can tell he's going to be a tough one to sell on science experiments.