Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Time passes

Wow, it's been a few weeks since I've had time to catch up here. This will be pretty long so bear with me if you can!

Last I wrote, I was getting ready for the boutique. I"d like to say I made a boatload of money but that would not be the case. Not much traffic at the boutique. Not a good venue for me. I will not be doing this particular venue again next year but will be investigating other places to sell my things. Now I need to get things listed in my etsy store. Unfortunately, I had planned to do that for things to be on sale for the holidays but my computer had to go in for repair for over a week. I just got it back. Thankfully, it broke down just days before my warranty was to expire so I did not have to pay the $700. bill! Thank you, Jesus, for miracles in timing!

The week after the boutique, I had my book event hosted at my friend, Martha's house. While it was not well attended, my sales were good and the book binding class I taught was much fun! We will be doing something similar in the future.

I found out I will be teaching one class at Art Unraveled in August, 2011 so all my other classes I proposed will be put in the book to teach locally, either at my home or at The Creative Quest! For AU, I will be teaching "Beyond the Bag". The website is up and running with registration beginning next month so go check out the line up! Here is a reminder of my class samples:
This one is also made from recycled plastic bags but has been stained with alcohol inks! These journals feel so awesome in your hands. Lightweight and durable. And good for the environment too! It takes 18 bags to make the larger size journal. That's a good number for a recycling project!
I have been slightly obsessed with taking pictures of the sky. Sunrise, sunset, moon... can't get enough. Of course, with a sky like this to look at, how can I not? These are from a few different days but most of the same sunset/sunrise! Unbelievable! Love the moon shots too! I'm in awe of a Mighty God.Hate all the wires running in the photo but I couldn't not take a shot of this sunset! Magnificent! Arizona has THE most amazing sunsets and sunrises.
Below are all part of the sunrise view from my front porch!


Here are a couple of cool moon shots. LOVE how you can see the texture of the moon in the close up shot! The glow in the clouds was so gorgeous that night.

My boys and I stayed up to see the eclipse only to be sadly disappointed when clouds completely covered the sky right at the point of total eclipse. I could NOT believe it. So sad....

A couple of nights ago, I attended a fantastic dinner with the gals from The Creative Quest. We ate at the Phoenix City Grille and OH MY GOSH! Amazing food! The company was, as always, fantastic! I LOVE the ladies I work with! And I was so showered with wonderful gifts! I felt so special!

For my gifts, I made fabric pocket calendars for 2011. There were a total of 4 but one still had some sealer drying on the button i stained with alcohol inks so it didn't get photographed. These are easy and fun to make and turned out really cute! I intentionally bound them with eyelets in the fabric so the old calendar can be removed and a new one sewn in future years.


Alisa Burke inspired me on her blog, reusing book pages. I have done this a lot but her recent post prompted me into these little bags sewn from book pages, sprayed with Adirondack inks, and tie closed with torn strips of sheer fabrics and finished with handmade tags! They were a big hit!Now this is something I had never heard of. Gnoming. One of our pastors, his family, and a few friends, dress up like gnomes and elves and go around delivering little bags of goodies to people who have really been through a lot that year. They come to let you know you are not alone, that they are standing with you, that God is with you every moment. Then they pray for you and off they go. I got a visit last week and this was the scene at my door! I was cracking up! It was so great! Once you have been visited by the Gnomes, you get invited to become one the following years and for the future. They gather before going out, read a gnome story, talk about gnoming events of the past, plan where they will go that night, and then meet back up afterward (there are now two groups that go out) and talk about what happened that night. How cool is that????? And I get to be a gnome next year! I'm already thinking of my costume....


Finally, my boys are now out of school. This is a special breakfast made for Max his first day on break! I love making special breakfasts and making the boys feel special!
Today, we are going to a movie, thanks to the generosity of a couple of my students who gave us gift cards to the theater! The boys will need to get up soon. They are sleeping in as we were up late again last night. At 11:00, someone threw something through Max's bedroom window. Thankfully, he was not in there because we had just watched a movie and he had not gone to bed yet. Now waiting to hear back from my landlord to get the window repaired. :(

Well, I'm almost ready for Christmas but wish I had another week! Still trying to figure out what to make my mom! Shopping for the boys is finished! Have some constructing stuff to do though. I'll be doing that this evening while the boys are with Chuck. I'll then stash things at my neighbor's house! I've done zero baking and want to do that tomorrow and maybe later this afternoon. Never enough time.

Well, gonna' run. If you are still reading this far, I thank you! Have a wonderful Christmas as we remember Jesus coming to us only to die for us so we could be restored to Him! Unfathomable love given to us!

2 comments:

Joanne Huffman said...

Oh my goodness, you have been through a lot. Your sky pictures are wonderful. Congrats on teaching at AU and I'm sure the local people will love your other classes. The gifts you made look great. Merry Christmas!

Cynthia said...

Wow! You are very busy. Loved the sunset/sunrise/moon photos. So beautiful. Also love your journals and calendar gifts. They look yummy to hold. Thanks for sharing. Gnoming is a very fun idea to bring cheer at a chaotic time of year.