Productive monday morning… Wedding platters, devos, mugs altered by baby K, a walk with Hazel and my camera led to this beautiful poppy flower. Just look at those cute baby feet smooshed into the clay – she wasn’t as big of a fan… oh newborn baby feet.
Natures gift today… I LOVE opening things especially gifts. Today my lovely peonies decided to open on their own! It really feels like a monday after the holiday weekend. We had a wicked cool storm last night, now a cool sunny morning – just they perfect way to start the week.
For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:15
Last week we traveled to celebrate a milestone birthday for my father-in-law. He has had a tough year so I wanted to encourage him in a special way. I love that both my family and my husband’s family are loyal Nikon users… that pretty much leaves me with boxes upon boxes of photos. I have spent much of my time this summer combing through those boxes to put together some of his best shots. It is so hard to choose photos and I was totally unprepared how emotional it would be to see them enlarged and framed. I am so happy with how everything turned out, the light pat on the back and smile told me he was too. It was a great celebration!
* this last photo he took of my hubby slalom water skiing. I think I married into a talented family.
Thank you cold front – this Michigan girl is not conditioned for the long-suffering of heat. I have been wrapping up journals in painted silk-scarves and was running low, these are an easy activity for any temperature. I paint on 21 inch silk squares and use a japanese wrapping technique called furoshiki. Feeling a bit adventurous these wild prints remind me of July fireworks and the milky-way.
Lord of all creation
of water earth and sky
The heavens are your Tabernacle
Glory to the Lord on high
God of wonders beyond our galaxy
You are Holy, Holy
The universe declares your Majesty
And you are holy holy
lyrics from Third Day song God of Wonders
I am not a hand model…
tangible things I touch include water, clay, paper, computer keys, fabric, dishes, laundry, kids, hair, food, chickens, dirt, door handles, steering wheel, bike handles, phone, mailbox door, bleach wipes… these hands are not pampered, lathered or manicured, they are hardworking, agents of change. I am proud of the nicks, dings, and strength from use. May my hands be ever ready to serve, share, create, embrace and hold.
Not to hide their work but adorn their beauty, I have made my first set of rings which I will be posting in my etsy shop. I hope your hands tell such a story and create beauty in a meaningful way.
Yet you, LORD, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8
These are some of my sample scarves for the workshop at the women’s retreat this weekend. I try to do them all in different styles so participants get an idea of how versatile silk painting is. It was super windy the day that I took these photos, I love how they dance around in the series of shots, so light and airy. If I had to give them titles they would be “April showers” and “spring paisley”. These plus any demonstration scarves will be sold at the end of the weekend to raise money for camper scholarships.
While I had all my supplies out I also painted a few squares to make some furoshiki – a japanese wrapping cloth. These squares of cloth were traditionally used to carry bundles of clothes to public baths but are now are used to transport goods or bento (lunch) boxes. They are also becoming very popular as an environmentally friendly alternative to gift wrap. The wrapping is a gift by itself, to be reused or as these silks can be used as a scarf or headband. I have wrapped two of my journals below – I am pretty thrilled how they came out!
GIFT #1: I LOVE mail, especially when it contains something lovely from a friend. Thank you Melissa for my new cowl, its beautiful and one of my favorite colors. We still have snow here believe it or not, so it will be perfect as we transition these next few weeks. I walked in the sun today to pick up my kindergartener from school. Yea!
GIFT #2: A successful first bisque fire in my new (to me) kiln. I am excited about all these new book covers, mugs and other goodies. I foresee a weekend of brushes and glaze…
GIFT #3: Snow melting enough to see signs of spring … daffodils, tulips, iris and hellebore were all spotted today in my garden. The herb bed is still completely covered in over a foot of snow. It is amazing to me that we go straight from winter to full on spring. The earth is just as ready as we are for the warmth.
Every once in a while I dabble in bookmaking. I used to make my own journals all though college, just little ones that tucked just so in your pocket and weren’t too daunting to fill. I still have them all, they full of thoughts, memory verses, sketches, ideas, remnants of daily life. Most of them are stained in some area with coffee and I keep them together in a burlap sack. I still like making small journals, lately I have been trying to take my craft to a new level.
Before Christmas I posted about a trip to Hollanders here, I would love to take one of their many classes in bookbinding or printmaking. Last time I was there I bought new text blocks to make journals but hadn’t done anything with them. So it dawned on me to combine book-making with my passion for clay – Here are my first round of ceramic book covers I made just before Christmas. I was so excited to see how they turned out, if they warped in the kiln and their shrinkage rate.
A few months later I finally have completed my concept idea. They indeed shrunk quite a bit more that expected so I had to make my own signatures (papers inside) for them. I used leather for the back cover for durability, cutting, tooling and staining them. They are bound with a Coptic stitch binding, created with wax linen thread, sewn with a curved needle. Thanks mom for the new bookbinding book for my birthday, it has already come in handy. I love the variety in materials and the overall texture and rich feel. I am so thankful to have the ability and control to choose materials for every step of this process.
To complete these books I figured I used these FIVE artisan skills:
- ceramics (for the top cover)
- painting ( color selections/ glazing)
- paper crafting (to make the inside signatures)
- leather working (for the back cover)
- sewing (for the hand-bound edges)
I hope you all enjoy these as much as I do. I don’t know if these two will make it into the etsy shop, I think I am quite attached to them. I will definitely make more…
** now availabe in my etsy shop, click on the link for more designs and colors!
Of all the school parties they have, Valentines is my favorite. As I dropped my little student off this morning, excited chaos was happening all around. I was happy to make a prompt exit as sugar treats, boxes and cards entered in with their excited little humans.
As predicted this weekend we were busy preparing for the special day. Heart rice crispie treats were made along with 24 new heart shaped crayons and cards made from a template found here.
And to top it all off, we lost tooth #3 last night. Here are excerpts from the conversation:
S (6 years old): (in a very sad voice) ”Just pull it out daddy, I don’t want to worry about it tonight… (pouty lip, hides tooth) plus it hurts.”
A friend of mine gave me an Amaryllis bulb for Christmas, after I asked about her collection of bulbs. Red is her favorite and I was lucky enough to receive one. They take a while to get started but these large bulbs often produce 3-4 blooms. I was thrilled that this little beauty decided to open on my Birthday! A special little surprise that brightened my weekend.
I love watching the process with plants, I wouldn’t say that I have always have had a green thumb, but it’s growing on me. It is quite magical to garden with children, my kiddos are quite involved watering and watching for blooms. They love the vegetable garden and picking beans and tomatoes. Makes me long for warmer days but for now we’ll enjoy our little flowers inside.
