nesting dolls

I still have a set of nesting dolls that my Uncle Mark gave me while he was studying in Europe. I always loved playing with them... opening them up, finding the wee baby one in the center, re-nesting them together. I was always afraid of losing the pieces, luckily I still have some of my doll intact. Hopefully with this card, you'll never lose one of the dolls.

Unfortunately when scanning this card in, it washed out the pink cheeks on the dolls. They are much brighter in real life.

I think I'm going to try and get this design printed off into multiple cards before it goes onto etsy, it took a good bit of time to make so I'd like to have more.

When you were a kid, what toys were you worried about losing the pieces to?

trains

Yesterday we went to our nephew's 2nd birthday party. It was all about trains! He received lots of Thomas the Tank Engine trains and tracks with a table for his birthday. I must admit, Tim and I want to go back over and play with his new toys, they were pretty cool.

At the risk of giving away what his gift was, I made this card for him. Hopefully I will be putting up some cards like this in the shop soon!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend!

the question you're never asked

Tim and I like to give each other quizzes, interviews you might say. We think up questions for each other that we want to know the answers to, simple, complex, silly, or deep.

Here are examples of the type of questions we ask:

Would you rather live in a houseboat or a treehouse?

What kind of neighborhood would you like to live in someday?

If you could take lessons to learn any skill, what would it be?

When you were a kid, what was your favorite thing to do outside?

What makes you feel most loved?

Questions like that. Questions that make us think, questions that help us continue to grow in our relationship. It's fun and eye-opening to know those things about your husband, and interesting to learn things about yourself that you never knew until you were asked.

One question we asked each other recently was what question do you wish you were asked more often? That might sound like a strange question, but think about it for a second.

Have you ever walked away from a conversation, feeling like you didn't really talk to the other person at all, feeling like they didn't listen, feeling like you didn't get to express the things on your mind and heart?

I know that I love it when people ask me about my art endeavors, ask how I'm feeling and wait for the real answer, and ask me about my faith.

What do you wish people asked you more often? What do you want to share with your family, your friends, the world?

I'd like to hear about it. Write me a message, comment on this, send me a text. I'd love to know what question you are just dying to be asked.

to write a novel

I have been thinking about writing a novel. Problem. I don't know what I'm going to write about. I dream about the day I will be struck with that golden idea.... an idea that has the depth to last for two hundred or more pages.

I have had thoughts on what to write a novel on, and sometimes I think they have potential. But I worry that its me, not the idea. I don't know that I will ever have the skill or stamina to write an epic story. My efforts have been short and brief at best. Probably two pages.

How do I become Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ernest Hemingway, etc.? Maybe by not watching television, wasting time on the internet, etc. Regardless of how I currently spend my time, how I can I shape my mind to think like a novelist?

I like thinking about the book Les Miserables for the purpose of novel idea formation. This story has one of the best redemptive story lines, ever. It paints a beautiful picture of the human condition and the effects of grace without being heavy handed. I would love to write a story like that... a story that is full of grace, true to life (Flannery O'Connor-esque if need be)... real.

I want write about characters that are full, so well-developed that they rise from the pages and permeate your imagination. They stay with you, you reference them, you admire them, you loathe them, you love them.

I want to write a story that is familiar, in that it reminds you of life, of people you know. But it is unexpected, it looks at things from another viewpoint.

Les Miserables is a masterpiece, as well as all the other books by the authors I have mentioned. I doubt that I could ever light a candle next to those brilliant fires. I do want to try and write one good story before I die though.

Just writing this now brought to mind an idea I had long forgotten about... maybe I'll kick it around this time, sketch it out. You never know.

mittens

Here is a new design I've been working on... mittens! I love mittens, they remind me of the years my family spent in an old farmhouse. When I was a little girl my brother, sister, and our neighbor friends would all spend hours in the snow. Making snow forts, piling up snowballs for a fight that never came, making snow angels, and so on.

It's crazy to think about how long we used to play in the snow, and hardly seemed to suffer at all from the cold. My aged limbs now freeze at the first chilly days of fall. Ah, youth.

My mom used to let me borrow her ski mittens to play in the snow, a lovely black pair. They were fleecy and warm on the inside and black suede on the outside. They were definitely superior to mittens I have tried on since then.

One of my goals for November/December is to find a decent pair of mittens for my wimpy hands. The quest begins!

hat

The hat:

I want that.

new in the shop

I added a few new cards to the etsy shop today. A couple for Christmas and one birthday card. I'm hoping to work on a few more tomorrow. If you have any design requests, send me a message!

I hope you all are having a lovely Sunday afternoon!

hancock

In the last three days I have been to the John Hancock's observation deck twice. At work a couple groups needed an extra person to go on their field trips downtown and I got to go. I was pretty siked.

Monday I turned my camera on and it was dead. Today I was prepared, battery charged and ready. I also took some shots with my Diana. Both days were a little hazy and not the best for photographs. But I still loved the view.

I like the shadows in the picture above, the view of Lake Shore Drive, and that I can see where Tim and I got engaged... almost two years ago now.

I went up the Sears Tower in high school... and it's funny the difference the years have made. Back then, I lived in California and didn't have any idea what I was seeing. Now, every where I look is full of memories.

I love this city.

lion of judah

"And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals." Revelation 5:5

I love thinking of Jesus as the Lion of Judah. I think the contrast between Him being the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah is beautiful. His strength and majesty, contrasted with the humility and sacrifice of His earthly ministry is so different than anything else on earth.

I love how magnificent the Lion is as a symbol. It's strong and powerful, and strikes fear into our hearts. And yet we wish we could be close to it, pet it, caress it. But it is untameable....

No one illustrated this better than C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia. He created Aslan, who is all at once feared and loved, strong and gentle. A wonderful picture of Christ.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

I like how this describes how I want Jesus to be. I want Him to be "safe." I want to be able to tell Him what I want to do. I want to make Him promise me that I won't get hurt if I do what He asks me to. I want Him to not ask too much of me, just enough so that I will feel good about myself... not so much that I would actually have to give up anything I care about. Safe, tame.

But He isn't.... but He is good. He is the King, from the royal line of David. He can ask me to do anything, no sacrifice would be too much for Him to ask of me. He has already done everything for me.

I don't completely understand what it means that Jesus is the Lion of Judah, but I do love thinking about it.

Lion of Judah. Powerful, strong, and good.

pre-christmas thoughts

This post suddenly seems a bit ridiculous on a beautiful sixty degree day in November. Still, it is one thing that has been on my mind lately. Christmas.

I'm indulging this year in early Christmas planning. I'm hoping this will make me a bit more organized in December and allow me to make more things by hand (gifts, cookies, cards, etc). December budgets are tight and I need to be careful and wise.

More importantly though I want to prepare myself for Christmas this year so that I don't miss Jesus.

I don't know what it is about December, part of it could be having my birthday and Christmas in the same month makes me self-centered. Maybe its all the parties that create organized wrapping paper/cookie chaos. Maybe it's Santa.

Whatever it is, I struggle to focus on Jesus. I experience sadness on December 25th too often. I realize that day that I have once again wasted an advent season and missed the Christ Child.

I worry that this is a symptom of my everyday, all year. Missing Jesus.

In church the other day I was thinking about all the awesome names that Jesus has. King of Kings, the Good Shepherd, Water of Life, Emmanuel, Lamb of God, Lion of Judah. I want to know this Jesus.

Jesus. His name is filled with power, grace, and love... and I pass over it daily, tacking onto my prayers "In Jesus' name, Amen" hardly giving a thought to what it means. We pray, "In Jesus' name" because Jesus became our High Priest, our Mediator between us and the Father through His sacrifice on the cross. And it all started in the stable. The Kings of Kings in a manger. And I forget that all too often.

I want to focus the next couple months on Jesus... learning more about Him. Learning about His attributes, His names. Falling in the love with Him. Getting ready to celebrate His birthday with joy and love.

This next Christmas I may experience some sadness. Sadness because Christmas changes each year as our families get older, traditions vary and change. Even though I may feel down, I don't want to be sad because I missed Jesus this year.

Jesus, please meet me, not just at Christmas, but every day of the year. Teach me Your ways, You are Truth, You are Life, You are the Way. You are amazing, and I love You.

beautiful gifts

Two beautiful things from today.

The rain on our car as I waited to go into training for work. I love the sound of rain on the car and seeing the droplets accumulate on the window. I've always loved being in the car while it rained, taking long drives especially.... watching it stream down the windows, feeling the cold glass against my hand, my cheek.

The pink sunset sky. Tim and I ran downstairs to get a picture of it before we ate dinner. Within minutes it was gone. Glorious.

God's gifts to us are many, and beautiful.

our weekend

We had a very fun weekend. I realize it more and more as I look back on it.

Saturday we:

• Baked banana muffins
• Watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"
• Took a nap
• Attempted screen printing for the first time (definite fail, but we will try again!)
• Watched a movie
• And ate ice cream sandwiches.

Sunday we:

• Went to church
• Painted signs and carved a pumpkin
• Dressed up like we were tailgating
• Walked to Starbucks with Anna (pumpkin spice latte for me and a mocha for Tim)
• Hung out at Trunk or Treat
• Admired the cute costumes (personal favorite: triplets dressed as dalmation puppies)
• And went to McDonald's with Pete and Rachel. As Rachel said in her sweet blog, we got to see God's love at work. Though I was reluctant to go to McDonald's at first, it was clear that we were meant to be there to help a sister in need.

This weekend was short, this weekend was good. Thank You Lord for friends, rest, and love.

*Photo courtesy of Anna Bobalik