teacher gifts

I started crocheting three months ago just to barely get four sets of these

teacher gifts made, and voila! Here they are (Whew!). To get the lovely little

watermelon dish scrubbies, I modified this pattern at LittleBirdieSecrets.com.

I used her dishcloth pattern straight up. The watermelon is actually easier

than the dishcloth, as it is just a circle folded in half and sewn around the edges.

I figure everyone has dishes to scrub, right? 

And watermelon is just so summery.

Ashton is delighted to give these to as many teachers as possible, 

but Elliott is in no way eager to claim them as his own -- 

"You can just give it to her yourself, Mommy." 

 Maybe I should have used camouflage-colored yarn for one of them!

sabbatical musings

As some of you know, my husband Eric and I have been gearing up

for a two-month sabbatical this year. We're nearing the birthday of

the church we planted with other dear friends almost eleven years ago.

As a pastor, Eric has always planned to take a sabbatical on the tenth

year, and things have fallen into place beautifully for that to happen.

In two weeks, we'll be heading off on a road trip to Oregon with our kids.

Friends of the family have graciously offered us a place to stay while we're there.

After that, we'll be back in town but not living at home for the rest of the summer.

In the midst of that time, we hope to make good headway on Eric's book,

spend a lot of time as a family, and see where the adventure takes us!

I'll be packing my paints, my Bible, and my guitar (along with the aforementioned

husband and children), and hope to return freshly inspired in many arenas.

So don't go away, folks -- I'll be posting updates as we travel along!

 

hello again

Hello, friends both near and far!

I am not sure how I have managed to be

absent since mid-April. The garden, as you

can see, has kept growing. We have eaten 

two salads out of it and have harvested 

a good amount of cilantro and some peppers.

The summer is coming fast, and I hope

to dive back into painting. I usually spend 

the summer in a sleepy stupor, but I have been

wide awake since I started taking fish oil three

weeks ago. I feel hopeful about the possibilities.

I hope May finds you well and delighted.

epic fail x2

 I'm making dessert for my husband's birthday celebration,

and these are the 2 chocolate cakes that just didn't work!

The top one usually has chocolate chips in it, but he 

requested butterscotch chips instead... which all fell

to the bottom and adhered to the pan!
I would have served it anyway, but the texture
came out odd -- almost watery. Blech.

This is a flourless cake that I overbaked.

I realized afterward that I had also omitted the BUTTER.

Aaaack! Totally dry and disgusting.

Fortunately, there was enough chocolate around

to remake them both, so now we're sittin' on

one gluten-free chocolate cake,

one double chocolate chip cake,

one dairy free angel food cake,

and one dairy-riffic sour cream cake. 

Whew! Now for some sauces...

(and hopefully plenty of people to share these with).

zucchini plant

Things in the garden are a'flowering!

watercolor, 6"x6"

tiny teacup

I'm particularly fond of this little teacup

painting by my daughter.

1.5"x 3" watercolor

tiny tea pot

Painting with the kids -- it's spring break!
Watercolor, 2"x2"

gift wrap

 I just love the look of a gift wrapped in pattern paper....

It also seems to lend a vintage touch to a hand sewn gift.

Here's the sign I mentioned working on previously. 

 

It's painted primarily with Golden brand Fluid

Acrylics, which were a nice consistency for 

the flowing lines and small brushwork.  

This brush, which I bought on clearance several years

ago, came in very handy. The store display had it labeled

as a sign painting brush, and it turns out to be just that!

The brush is cut at an angle, so it holds an adequate amount

of paint while coming to a precise and swirlable point.

baby plants

Some of our veggie garden is planted from seed 

and the rest from seedlings. Aren't they cute?!