This just in . . .

My Etsy Shop is going to be featured by the Handmade Artist's Forum Members on Thursday the last day of the Decade. Check out the forum to see who else is being featured this week {link}. I better get busy and have something interesting to read here.

Fourth Advent 2009

Dearest ones,
As we await the coming of the Christ-child and the return of the risen Christ, we also await the beginning of the New Year filled with hope and new possibilities.

This has been a difficult year for so many people, and we were not immune. What started out as year filled with exciting opportunities and possibilities, ended with one less job in our household. Full-time and even part-time jobs are difficult to come by everywhere, but especially in a college town.

Don still serves one of the best congregations in the diocese (okay, I’m biased) as he has for the past 14 years. We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. And we took a wonderful two week vacation to the Netherlands. Those were the highpoints.

The low points included my lost job, the demise of my e-book deal (which was contingent on my teaching 600 students a year) and a months-long battle with depression.

What have I learned from these extremes?

I have learned to be open to the possibilities God has in store for me and for us, to simplify my wants and desires for the things that are really important, to watch my pennies and make them work even harder than usual, to give thanks for the things I do have and to not worry about the things I don’t have, and to cast off the “things” that are getting in my way (and I mean this quite literally).

This week, as we approach the manger to glimpse the babe who is God among us, let us adore Him. As we await the coming of the New Kingdom, let us seek hope in the New Year.

Best wishes for a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Emanda and Donald+

It is a week until Christmas.

It is a week until Christmas.

This has been a very unusual season for me. I am still unemployed, so my husband and I have not sent out Christmas cards, and gifts will be ones that I am able to make.

However, right now my time is dedicated to helping my father take care of my mother who had double knee surgery last week. It has been such a great pleasure to spend so much time and attention on her. We are enjoying a mystery of intrigue as I read to her chapter after chapter. Her recovery has surprised us all. It is especially wonderful, because she has been in so much pain for so long.

That’s my excuse for not posting in a while. But I do have something to share.

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY!!!

Kelly at Silver Parrot, who is the soul of generosity, sent me a huge package from her GIVEAWAY which arrived last week.

Inside was a box of the cutest art beads she de-stashed, some gorgeous hand dyed ribbons . . .

And . . . not one, . . .

not two . . .

but three –

THREE artist beading books!

Now I think I am going to make a couple of really cute necklaces for my nieces for Christmas with all this wonderful inspiration. Thanks Kelly!

Photos later.

Now in my Etsy Shop

I have just added this Salvation Bracelet to my Etsy Shop. I had a request from a friend of mine to make some for (private Christian school) teacher gifts. I did a little research and came up with something different from the other Salvation Bracelets I found online. I hope she likes them.

It is a bit outside my spiritual comfort-zone, but I hope that the bracelets can be worn and appreciated as pieces of art as well as an evangelism tool.

Now I REALLY need to buy a Lottery Ticket!

I also won Lynn Davis’ Braided Circle she created out of pewter. Isn’t it beautiful?

In other news, I have stocked my Etsy Shop with Rosary Bracelets of my own design. (Also, check out the little Etsy List to the lower right on this page.)

And now through the holidays, if you buy a rosary, you will also receive a matching pair of earrings. Just look for this holiday badge:

Oh, and the bindweed beetle bracelet is also listed, so if you want to wear a winner, here’s your chance.

Now in Etsy!

I am going to buy a Lottery Ticket!

My luck is turning and I need to cash in on it while the getting is good. I won the bug-bracelet challenge hosted by KJ at Silver Parrot.

My Bindweed Beetle Bracelet was selected to win a stash of beads and some art books, including GreenGirls Studio’s new Enchanted Adornments. I am so excited I can hardly see straight. And what is more, the company was pretty impressive, Lorelei Eurto did a couple of bracelets, Cindy Wimmer, and . . . well, the list is long and bracelets are gorgeous, so check out KJ’s blog to see the contenders.

This luck comes on the heels of an intense weekend. I was hostess for the regional chapter of Studio Art Quilt Associates . I was nervous about this because I am a relatively new member and I was concerned that we would have a light turn-out. We did, but it was great because several of my fellow guild members showed up and filled out the ranks.

After the meeting I went to the local arts center to hear an artist talk about her show she just installed. The artist is Susan Lenz, and she is one to watch! Her installation is titled “Blues Chapel” and it is a mixed media installation piece (the whole exhibit is considered a work of art in and of itself). Textiles, graphics, sculptures, found-objects all represent some aspect of the early female blues singers who, for the most part, are forgotten. It is a very moving show.

In her talk, Susan also showed us another body of work that is taken from an unusual source. She makes small, beautiful, hand-embroidered quilts that began their lives as silk fabric grave-rubbings . I saw her blog and read every word about this second series and was just over the moon to get to see it in person in her artist’s talk. She has been kind enough to let me use this image here in this blog.

One of the loveliest things about this weekend is the openness and encouraging spirit I have encountered from KJ, my guild friends, the SAQA members, and Susan Lenz. I feel the “reveal” for the next part of my life/career is just around the corner and it is going to be artistic and wonderful.

Bracelet Challenge

When I saw KJ’s Bracelet Challenge with the beautiful bug photos I kne­w in an instant that the bracelet I was going to make would have to be from those beautiful beads. I purchased these beads over a year ago because their colors took my breath away. The round beads are resin and the ovals are stone, but I never found out what kind. The golden beads are AB faceted Czech glass and the leaves are dyed mother of pearl.

I choice this photograph for my inspiration.

Not only was I thoroughly inspired by these really cool bugs, I found more information about them. They are called Tortoise Beetles or Bindweed Beetles and this particular variety is found in Nicaragua (LINK ).

Here’s my bracelet for the challenge.

I love a challenge, don’t you?

Bug Bracelet Challenge

Found out from reading Lorelei’s blog that KJ of Silver Parrot Designs is having a Bracelet Challenge on her blog this week using one of these bug pictures as inspiration.

Check out KJ’s Blog for the rules and details and leave a comment there.

I happen to have the perfect beads for a bracelet inspired by those gorgeous beetles!

I "Heart" Fall!

I love this time of year, when the leave change colors and the air is crisp. In North Texas, we don’t get a real fall, but I will gladly accept this brief transition.

I was washing dishes the other morning and looked out to our vine-covered arbor. Our backyard is a wild mess, but the arbor is beautifully decked out in its fall colors. I went out and snapped a couple of photos and was reminded of my first visit to the UK, to York, specifically. There I visited a woolen shop and was told that both sides of my family had surnames that were “septs” or protected families under Clan Buchanan. I also was told that the tartan for clan Buchanan was “one of the jazzy ones”.

Well, it is.

Don't know why it is rotated. Go figure!

That was 25 years ago. Since that time, I have visited the UK about seven or eight times and at least four of those times were month-long stays in Scotland. You might say I have fallen for Scotland in a big way!

In the Woolen Shops, especially in Scotland, there is always a wide array of tartans made up in several different forms: Kilts (for men), Kilted Skirts (for women), scarves, ties, caps, jackets, vests and so on. Some of the tartans are “jazzy” – even more so than the Buchanan tartan! And some are rather muted.

What most non-Scots do not know is that most tartans actually come in three forms: ancient, modern, and hunting. Ancient tartans tend to have a more muted tone because of the use of natural dye-stuff. Modern tartans have clearer, bolder colors because of the use of synthetic dyes. And Hunting tartans are a lot like the ancient tartans in that the colors are muted – sort of Scottish camo, if you can imagine that.

I have seen the “Bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond” – Buchanan stomping ground -- adorned in the colors found in my tartan. The Buchanan tartan is no more jazzy than Mother Nature herself.

Welcome to a Brand-New Blogger

Please welcome to the blog-o-sphere, Sandy -- my mom! We just set up her new blog and she would love to have some visitors. Please follow this LINK to her blog and leave a comment.