CUPCAKES and GROOVY GIRLS...

Little pin cushion from Deb that I bought at the Antique Show in June..... I bought three and gave two to my little grand daughters..... A practice dress..... A dress with a Tutu for special occasions..... A practice mermaid out fit... each girl will make one at the girl's club on sewing nite for their Groovy Girl Doll....I bought shimmery much more sparkly material for them..... Next week!! A happy girl with her dolls..... The Dress the girls will make on the third class ..... What do you do when you can't paint or go out and have to sit with painful feet propped up!? Well, you have some cupcakes with the Groovy Girls!!! OK, I'll explain.... it all started when we bought the first "Groovy Girl" Doll for Pilar and one for my Grand-daughters, Olivia, Peyton and Elena .... and a little precious pin cushion (the little tiny one) from the Antique Show in June ....... and some little girls at church bored with hot summer life with not much to do ....... SOOOO.... after not being able to sleep one nite, I was "GIVEN" this idea to have a Girl's Club at Church once a week learning the basics of sewing. They (18 to 20 girls) have pinned and cut fabric to sew on a bag and sewn buttons on a felt bracelet for practice, using felt for simplicity..... then they will start to cut and hand stitch their first little doll dress this week..... like the pink one with dots around it. The other dresses came about just for fun at home. NOW.... where did the pin cushions come in?!.......well, I've had to prop my feet up for some days and that is how the pin cushions got made..... sitting and doing nothing.... I HAD to do something!! Well, they got bigger and wider, so I decided they would be cupcakes!!! The colors were fun and the stitching which came back to me from childhood sewing...... inspired by the little pin cushion I bought from Deb. I decided I would make as many as I can while I have to rest my foot and then sell them Antique week for purchasing more felt and goodies for the God's Girls Club. Five to seven Mom's have come to the Girls Club to help and we have had such a fun time for two hours with a snack at the end. I am thankful for such enthusiastic little girls!! They are preparing to be God's Women "....she makes coverings for herself and her clothing is fine linen and purple...."......like in Proverbs 31....where it describes the woman, buying land, sewing, "making" her home. Now the boys want to do something..... I'm tempting Dick to do the Paper Airplanes with the boys. He is hoping to start that next week for around six weeks. A good time to sit and converse and just have fun building the airplanes from Fiddlersgreen.net. In the meantime.... right about now I'm wishing one of those pincushion cupcakes was real cake and icing!! ENJOY!!

JUST FUN.....

Finished ...... It can be easy ..... Growing instructions ..... planting seeds.....love these ....good advice...plenty of room apart so they can grow tall...... Guaranteed to grow ..... What a joy to just get to spend a day in the studio. No plans.... I just played and they came to me. As I told a friend ... "it is expressing my soul to paint".....good or bad .... all to Him. I've been called a "goody-two-shoes" for sharing my faith ..... truth is.... I'm as big a sinner as there is with things in my past I would be ashamed to share. So there, I'm not so good ..... just forgiven and full of joy because He loves me, gave me a second chance, helps renew me each day, helps to heal me, helps me love the unlovable .... even myself. Maybe you don't believe in Him, that's your choice, but I do believe in Him, and I'm not ashamed of it, because He gives me worth, I am eternally grateful. He says.... "You are worth it,......what I did." So much that I try to say sometimes is mis understood, .... I hope this is not.

JULY HAPPENINGS....

July has been HOT and DRY, but full of friends, family and fun ..... and a little art..... finally!! The beautiful grapes were given to me by a friend who grows them beside her porch! Aren't they gorgeous???!! They were also delicious, and best taste I've ever had! I have a dozen or more photos... for art... of them! Then my beautiful but small caladiums on my porch that have survived this heat.... they are one fourth the normal size , but beautiful color with the sun (Son)..ha... shining through. Isn't everything? Then a spattering of Art at play.... the three-in-a-row ones are kid's stuff painted on "paint chip" cards you get at the paint store....I have a stack of them.... good for practice....maybe a little booklet for my kids to add stories to.... these were done the way my friend does with smearing on the paint and then letting the picture come out.... anyway a lot of little girls (Peyton, Olivia, Pilar)and their favorite playhouse comes in the background ..... the boy (Eli) or (Tito) with the fish was fun....anyway, then an unfinished zinnia one and then the larger "Where is home?" one with the contemplative half faced woman..... there is a story with this one (painted on the back of a fudgecicle box) .... it represents places lived or living in.... and which memory is home.... I lived in Spain as a child and must say it was one of the true highlights of my young life ..... then I love my present home, but struggle to keep it all it needs to be .... then there is the last home ..... in heaven with our true Father, one I think we can't even imagine how wonderful ......! This art style and some ideas come from a friend and friends I follow on blogs who have a few sharing and teaching videos....they are listed on the left side of my blog....check them out....thanks you guys!!! OH!! Then the Fourth of July with my sweet and cherished church who came, a longhorn, our old (they are not all old!) friends and lots of kids who enjoyed the water slide....Dick who enjoyed spraying them with water from the old firetruck .... stinker! Blessings ......sherry

"ABIDE IN ME"

Melissa and our Carrie.... Our daughter-in-law is beautiful, even when she sticks out her tongue!..... Karen (Janel and Carrie's Mom)....where were you when I needed you!? Corie and Janel..... happy faces..... Grace seriously looking for the right scriptures.... Amy's hands working her artistic talent ...... Amy 's end result of going a step further with her bird's nest ....... These look like bees!!..... Now the "LOVELY" results of each one........plus the first one at the top! Janel, Melissa and Amy with their necklaces...... Corie, Grace and Carrie with their creations...... These cloth pouches for their necklace charm were made with ideas I gleaned from Deryn, and other artists I have gleaned from on the super creative blogs I find.... and in books........ The bird's I purchased from a collage artist recently .... sorry I can't remember each person I have gleaned from..... I'll try to add them.... but all you have to do is go to Deryn's blog and start clicking on the blogs that she recommends.... beautiful blogs to inspire your creativity ... I got a piece of jewelry from Deryn in one of her sewn pouches.... which gave me the idea....of adding sparkles and the netting..... Just Wal Mart fabrics, twigs from my peach tree, purchased birds and nest paper, brite cut felt pieces (vintage from Great Grandma's bag) and the little piece of crochet..... then I printed and added a scripture I picked for the girls..... because they are so valued by the Lord .... and lastly a ribbon with brite felt sewn on the ends for a little punch. These were fun, fun...... my grand- daughter, Olivia and daughter, Kellie helped me design them while she was here from out of state...... my other JOYS!! We had the pleasure of hosting a small retreat group of young women this last week. They are the Bible Study group of my my awesome daughter-in-law, Carrie, the beautiful one with her tongue sticking out ..... a joy! They had personal study, prayer time, great food and some fun time as well!! My email friend Deryn Mentock gave me the "blessing" of letting us use the tutorial I bought from her of the "bird nest charm" to do with the group of girls, so here are the photos, Deryn .... Thank You!!! They each picked their "nest eggs" .... and then after twisting the wire and adding beads they searched for the scripture or words they wanted to add to the leaves ....each one with their own "heart reasons". As I photographed each one, I came across one that said "Abide in Me" ...... and I thought about what a bright future this country, their children and friends have because of "THEM ABIDING IN GOD'S LOVE". Just to watch their faces and experience their faithfulness to a God that will never fail them. They think and prepare their lives with "Eternal Purposes" and results that can't help but make a Nation have Hope for the Future ...... Wow,..... we know they have not had the perfect life without great hurts or disappointments, but we see where they have turned ...... to direct their lives and in whose hands.....they put it all..... the Living Word. Dick and I .... being older relished the fellowship, faithfulness and friendship we saw, not only with each other but their personal relationship with the Lord. I don't know what their study was on(to see what they studied, see Carrie's comment below, click comments), but I know when I saw the words of Christ to us on one of the necklaces that said..."abide in Me" .....John 15:9 and John 15:5 ..... "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love." and "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." ...... I knew I had evidenced it in them and it gave us joy and hope for the future of our grandchildren and beyond! Thanks girls for blessing us with your presence!!! Come back, ANYTIME..... OH!!!! I MUST thank and praise some husbands and Dad's who took care of things and the children so these awesome women could get a break!!! THANK YOU..... YOU AWESOME BOYS!!!!!