Days to Remember

My thrift finds

Buttons in a bathtub. My Mom frequented a fabric store when my sister and I were young. It had an old fashioned tub in the corner filled with buttons; man did I love sitting there and digging for little round treasures. Such great memories.

As my son gets older I often worry about the memories he will take with him, because I know too many don't include me.

I work a lot, not because of choice, but out of necessity. I know that I'm not alone in this plight, but knowing that doesn't change the fact that I have missed so much.

I know that I can't fabricate memories for him, but I do hope the fun times we spend together are more memorable than our times apart.

Boys thrift finds

I hope that today will be one of those days he recalls with fondness. We went thrift store shopping. We searched for treasures and then hit Taco Bell for lunch, I know unhealthy, but it's our thing. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to have an "our thing".

You never know, maybe, just maybe, today will be a day he remembers.

Crazy shoes we found

The Color of January No.3

What I have come to realize during the start of of my "Color of Life" exercise is that I have no talent for arranging photos. I love to capture beautiful things I see in everyday life and would love to create my own beautiful moments, but as of yet, that ability escapes me.

After arranging and rearranging this tea cup and shells, I decided that the only thing that was going to make this photograph interesting was editing. Lots of editing!

So what's the trick? I would love to hear if anyone has tips they would like to share for setting up a great still life.
Kristen

32 Hours in Portland

Yesterday I took a quick trip to Portland for work. As you can see it was rather wet, but provided an excellent excuse to buy a new hat. Hooray! (pictures to come) I am feeling ever so confident in my traveling abilities as I not only drove a rented minivan around in the rain, I navigated downtown Portland, without killing a single person.

I didn't end up getting much sleep, but it was a fun time and I had a fabulous lunch at Pine State Biscuits. Yes I realize that it might be a heart attack between two pieces of buttermilk heaven, but it was oh so yummy. I loved the decor and ambiance. I have always heard that Portland has the best food and I'm glad to report, that it seems to be true.

Here are a few pictures I took to document my trip. I was parking my minivan outside the restaurant when I noticed this cool ring attached to the curb. Perhaps these are common around Portland, to tie up ones horses and such, but I had never seen anything like it. It screamed photo op.

Kristen

One down...lots to go

With much excitement I would like to share my first completed project of 2012!

"Geisha Girl"

Last year I saw the cutest collection of Geisha Figures at a local coffee house. I carried one around for the 20 minutes I was browsing and then I put her back. This being something I do often, my Husband grilled me as we left. "Why didn't you get that? I know how much you wanted it." My answer of course was, "Well is was $39 and I could totally make that."

So out came the Sculpy and the creating commenced, but did not come to compleation, big surprise.

After posting "Start to Finish" I have really wanted to start checking things off my "Half Done" list and after reading a post over at "Life is A Beautiful Place to Be" I was inspired to post my projects as they are finished. So here you have it and yes I am patting myself on my back right now. :)

Love Incorruptible

I had a rough morning. Nothing was going quite right. With so many things on my "to do" list before heading to work, it would have been so easy to skip my time with God this morning. I'm so glad I didn't.

I was just finishing the book of Ephesians when Paul's last words rang out like a gong. He was closing out his letter by imparting grace to all who love Jesus with love incorruptible.

Wow! How does one obtain incorruptible love? There are so many things in this world that sneak in to our love and corrupt it. The definition of incorruptible is "not subject to decay or dissolution" what kind of love do you know that is capable of that? I think there is only one possible answer, it must be love not of this world. That's the kind of love that I want.

Lord grant me love incorruptible. May the troubles of this world not take hold of me. Let my love for You never decay. Today I pray for a love that will conquer all.

The Color of January

These are some pictures I took over the weekend. The boys were shooting cans and milk jugs and I was shooting the landscape. It was a cold and windy day, but it was great to be outside. I encourage you to take every opportunity during the winter months to get out in the sun. No matter how cold it is, I always feel so much better when the rays hit my face.

Greatest Artist

When was the last time you had one of those unexpected moments of gratefulness? I had one this morning on my way to work. I was listening to a CD that I haven't played in years and was overwhelmed by the words to a song entitled "Greatest Artist". Here is the chorus: 

Take my life

Paint it right

On your canvas display the beauty of your light

’Cause I’m your tapestry

And your love covers me

You’re the greatest artist there will ever be

 Ayiesha Woods

I am so grateful for a the love of my Savior and that He choose my life to create a masterpiece. I pray my life truly reflects His beauty. 

The Color of January

The Color of Life

The wonderful thing I have discovered about blogging is the sense that my artistic endeavors seem to have more purpose. Having a place to share what is important to me and people to share it with, has been an unexpected delight.

This venue has inspired me to give focus to many things that I have previously put on the back burner, like photography. Although I have always enjoyed taking pictures, I find myself full of new found excitement and motivation.

I have little experience in photography so please bare with my experimentation. Any helpful suggestions you wish to offer are welcome.

I thought it would be fun to have a theme to focus on as I learn. With that in mind, I have decided to choose a color scheme each month to work in. I will choose three colors that I feel best represent the current time of year. Let the clicking commence.

Cheese in the Middle

What could be better than cheese in the middle of meat? We tried these Cheddar-Stuffed Mini Meatloaves with Chipotle Glaze for dinner tonight and they were fantastic. I found the recipe in the February issue of one of my favorite cooking magazines Eating Well.

Not only are the recipes great, the magazine has a very reasonable price point at $4.99 and the Eating Well web site is a fantastic resource.

One of my favorite things about this magazine is the diversity of the recipes. I have found myself acquiring ingredients at the grocery store, I never thought would grace my pantry shelves. Sorry Mom, I really thought you had ruined me for Lentils forever, but I used them in a vegetarian Shepherds Pie recipe and they......weren't to bad at all. I'm working into it what can I say.

Start to Finish

Oh how I LOVE to start projects. As a creative person, there are few things in this life I enjoy more. A new skein of yarn, just the perfect color. A blank canvas, although terrifying at times, holds such hope. The fist few stitches and strokes are by far the best.

Of course it's no wonder that my mind keeps lingering on new projects, it's the start of a new year. Life and Art seem one and the same. Will it be the masterpiece I see on my minds eye? Will I impress even myself with the way I execute it? After all, the years past have taught me so much. I surely won't drop as many stitches this year.

Truth be told, as great at I am at starting things, I am equally as bad at finishing them. Why is that? Sure I can list a number of reasons right off the top of my head; time, motivation, money, life. It just, something tells me there's more to it then that.

I Just stopped typing to ponder this and the answer hit me upside the head (or maybe that was my hand). The answer, at least for me, is it stops being fun. I get to that point that it's work. It takes effort, both mental and physical, to see it through to the end. Wow, that was freeing and humbling all at the same time.

So why am I driven to create? If the answer is just for fun, then it wouldn't matter if I ever finished a single project. As soon as it ceased to be fun, I could put the project down, no problem. It would have served its purpose. Yet all the unfinished projects laying around my house won't let me be fooled.

Creating is apart of me. I feel it at my core. I know the Creator Himself put it there, and I think I'm beginning to understand why. Although starting a project may increase my creative skills and abilities, finishing a project impacts me on a much deeper level. Even if the finished project never sees the light of day, I know I am better for it. I come away with a little more patience, determination, and self assurance. Even if I see all the flaws, I know I found inside myself, what it took to make it to the end.

This process, start to finish, is how God is molding me into the person He wants me to become. Maybe I should stop standing in His way.

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Phillippians 1:6