My beautiful sisters!
Been reading some blogs with beautiful handmade items! Ladies are so talented!
However, i wanted to warn about an idea that LOOKS adorable but is VERY VERY dangerous--lacing ribbon through the edges of crocheted or knitted blankets (or anything that a baby or child might use, to be honest).
While the idea is just as cute as it can be, these can create loops, just like how a drawstring purse works, and create a strangulation hazard for a child or baby! Even if a baby is not strong enough itself, the ribbon can snag on something, creating a loop.
One time I saw that someone said "Well, we will just watch the baby and make sure", but these blankets are usually so adorable that they are handed down to others...who might not be as vigilant. It is not work the risk. No amount of cuteness is worth danger to a baby!
Ok, soap box is off now :-)
Showing posts with label creative work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creative work. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Older Women Paintings
My Wondeful Sisters in the Lord!
I LOVE going to other women's homemakey blogs and seeing all the wonderful artwork. I think the pictures of darling young women in beautiful flowing dresses peeling apples or reading a book under a tree appeal to our longing for gentleness, for femininity.
But there is one thing I have noticed....where are the older women who are not the "supporting cast" of the painting but are the HEART of the painting, the subject of it? Where are the middle agers? Our society is obsessed with youth, and there is a lot to be said for the fresh face of innocence, the round cheek, the delicate features without spot or wrinkle. Youth is beautiful...but it might be only surface beauty. What about the beauty that comes from life, from wisdom, from being a Titus 2 woman, who has lived long enough and diligently enough to the Lord to teach the younger women?
For example....
Where are the paintings of a "just past youth" mother in glowing color in her late 30's who is repairing a beloved stuffed toy or watching the studies of the grade school children?
Where is the painting of a beautiful feminine woman in her 40's, shown leaning against a flowering plum tree, gazing into the distance with those wonderful laugh lines crinkling around her dancing eyes as she smiles at a long ago memory.
Where is the 50 year old smiling in delight as she races in flowing garments to embrace her weathered husband?
Where are the paintings of the noble, lovely, God fearing 60 year old, shown in beautiful feminine clothing with a look of sweet, knowing understanding on her face as she listens to her 30 year old daughter who has a troubled look on her face, trying to figure out if the baby is ok?
Maybe you have seen these paintings and I have missed them. If so, please link me! I look in the mirror and see a few sags, a few wrinkles, a few pounds and think "But I am still a woman". I look at my wonderful, blessed mother in her 60's who is the picture of tact and fact, southern grace in every bit of glory, who is beautiful and wonderful. Where is her painting?
I think of the poem my darling cousin wrote for her mother, about the loveliness of her mother's feet. Her mother is an old woman, but is one of the most genteel, graceful women I have EVER EVER met. Her very speech is warm, light, and languid, like a summer day with a gentle breeze. My cousin talked about the beauty of her feet, how the brought the Word, how they walked in soft green grass, how they are a treasure to her. Those are the paintings I long to see. I know what youthful beauty looks like--Precious heart is on the cusp of womanhood. :) I want to see femininity in ALL its ages, from toddling babies to wise old women.
I wish I could paint. I would paint these. But I must rely on those who can, as I do not have the ability to do so.
We women do not stop being feminine when we hit 30 xsmilex. Let us look for, and encourage others to look for, paintings that show that, while charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Let us find the art that shows women who have put on the beauty of the love of God, who might not be the newest peach in the orchard, but time has made the sweetest.
I LOVE going to other women's homemakey blogs and seeing all the wonderful artwork. I think the pictures of darling young women in beautiful flowing dresses peeling apples or reading a book under a tree appeal to our longing for gentleness, for femininity.
But there is one thing I have noticed....where are the older women who are not the "supporting cast" of the painting but are the HEART of the painting, the subject of it? Where are the middle agers? Our society is obsessed with youth, and there is a lot to be said for the fresh face of innocence, the round cheek, the delicate features without spot or wrinkle. Youth is beautiful...but it might be only surface beauty. What about the beauty that comes from life, from wisdom, from being a Titus 2 woman, who has lived long enough and diligently enough to the Lord to teach the younger women?
For example....
Where are the paintings of a "just past youth" mother in glowing color in her late 30's who is repairing a beloved stuffed toy or watching the studies of the grade school children?
Where is the painting of a beautiful feminine woman in her 40's, shown leaning against a flowering plum tree, gazing into the distance with those wonderful laugh lines crinkling around her dancing eyes as she smiles at a long ago memory.
Where is the 50 year old smiling in delight as she races in flowing garments to embrace her weathered husband?
Where are the paintings of the noble, lovely, God fearing 60 year old, shown in beautiful feminine clothing with a look of sweet, knowing understanding on her face as she listens to her 30 year old daughter who has a troubled look on her face, trying to figure out if the baby is ok?
Maybe you have seen these paintings and I have missed them. If so, please link me! I look in the mirror and see a few sags, a few wrinkles, a few pounds and think "But I am still a woman". I look at my wonderful, blessed mother in her 60's who is the picture of tact and fact, southern grace in every bit of glory, who is beautiful and wonderful. Where is her painting?
I think of the poem my darling cousin wrote for her mother, about the loveliness of her mother's feet. Her mother is an old woman, but is one of the most genteel, graceful women I have EVER EVER met. Her very speech is warm, light, and languid, like a summer day with a gentle breeze. My cousin talked about the beauty of her feet, how the brought the Word, how they walked in soft green grass, how they are a treasure to her. Those are the paintings I long to see. I know what youthful beauty looks like--Precious heart is on the cusp of womanhood. :) I want to see femininity in ALL its ages, from toddling babies to wise old women.
I wish I could paint. I would paint these. But I must rely on those who can, as I do not have the ability to do so.
We women do not stop being feminine when we hit 30 xsmilex. Let us look for, and encourage others to look for, paintings that show that, while charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Let us find the art that shows women who have put on the beauty of the love of God, who might not be the newest peach in the orchard, but time has made the sweetest.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
SOAP!!!
My wonderful sisters!
Here are some pictures of the soap I made (yes I am pretty picture happy today, but with the strivings it took to get the white box set up, I figured I wanted to make the most of it!)
In the past, when I sold soap, I put the soap in muslin drawstring bags. I learned something very important this time: my packaging was all wrong with the bags! I was pretty much out of bags and decided instead to wrap the soap in wax paper. I thought it would make the bars look soft and pretty. I cannot TELL you how much I think that did to sell the soap. One person even said that they bought the soap JUST because of the packaging!
I needed a way to decorate the wax paper. Precious and I spent an inordinate amount of time in JoAnn's trying to find good stickers while TWS and Little Man had gone to the sporting good store. When they got to JoAnn's, they both helped us look for stickers and TWS found these! I should have made him go shop for stickers while I went to the sporting goods store!
This is a stack of the soap that came back with me. I sold out of one scent, so that is not in there.
A close up of the wrapping. Let me just say that wrapping these soaps was a BLAST! I have no idea why, but it just REALLY appealed to me to be making such delicate folds, smelling the sweet scent of the soap. Honestly I have decided that any soap I make I would like to wrap, even if it is for our family! I need to get more stickers though....
This is my "Kaleido-soap". I made the rest of the soap (4 scents) and chopped them down to size (at least 4 oz. Since my scale might not be precise, I add a bit extra, but the bars are advertized as 4 oz).
More soap
We had wonderful company over for shooting archery and eating on Sunday (we put a tiny little ten yard range in the garage). I wanted to put some decor in the bathroom, so I got this bowl, a bottle of crushed bath fizzie from a local lady (it smells like blueberries and just makes me happy each time I smell it!), as well as a locally hand made glass ball, and some of my soap. I thought it made a really pretty little bowl. I set this on the sink with some other pretties.
That was our day at the bazaar! I had a blast making the aprons, I had a blast making (and wrapping!) the soap, and I had a blast hanging out with Precious! I am thankful for the opportunity that the Lord offered us!
Here are some pictures of the soap I made (yes I am pretty picture happy today, but with the strivings it took to get the white box set up, I figured I wanted to make the most of it!)
In the past, when I sold soap, I put the soap in muslin drawstring bags. I learned something very important this time: my packaging was all wrong with the bags! I was pretty much out of bags and decided instead to wrap the soap in wax paper. I thought it would make the bars look soft and pretty. I cannot TELL you how much I think that did to sell the soap. One person even said that they bought the soap JUST because of the packaging!
I needed a way to decorate the wax paper. Precious and I spent an inordinate amount of time in JoAnn's trying to find good stickers while TWS and Little Man had gone to the sporting good store. When they got to JoAnn's, they both helped us look for stickers and TWS found these! I should have made him go shop for stickers while I went to the sporting goods store!
This is a stack of the soap that came back with me. I sold out of one scent, so that is not in there.
A close up of the wrapping. Let me just say that wrapping these soaps was a BLAST! I have no idea why, but it just REALLY appealed to me to be making such delicate folds, smelling the sweet scent of the soap. Honestly I have decided that any soap I make I would like to wrap, even if it is for our family! I need to get more stickers though....
This is my "Kaleido-soap". I made the rest of the soap (4 scents) and chopped them down to size (at least 4 oz. Since my scale might not be precise, I add a bit extra, but the bars are advertized as 4 oz).
Anyway, that meant that I had lots of different colored scraps. I put them in some more soap to get a multi-color effect.
Another selling gaffe: I ended up with a lot more soap in this batch, so I cut the bars into different shap (thicker and narrower), but they are the same weight. However, I think people saw the difference in size and thought it was smaller than the other bars. Oh well, live and learn :-)
More soap
We had wonderful company over for shooting archery and eating on Sunday (we put a tiny little ten yard range in the garage). I wanted to put some decor in the bathroom, so I got this bowl, a bottle of crushed bath fizzie from a local lady (it smells like blueberries and just makes me happy each time I smell it!), as well as a locally hand made glass ball, and some of my soap. I thought it made a really pretty little bowl. I set this on the sink with some other pretties.
That was our day at the bazaar! I had a blast making the aprons, I had a blast making (and wrapping!) the soap, and I had a blast hanging out with Precious! I am thankful for the opportunity that the Lord offered us!
God bless you!
PS Again with the formatting! Those soap pictures have a whole nother third that is not showing in the blog. I also put "small" pictures as a choice, and it made big huge ones. I have NO idea what the deal is...I have not done anything differently than when I have posted pictures in the past. xsighx. Well at least you get the idea!
APRONS!
My beautiful sisters!
I FINALLY got pictures taken of the aprons I made for the bazaar! (Actually these pictures are the ones I brought home--I sold out of other patterns I had brought).
I got out TWS's light box thing. I must say that it was a bear to set up! I would have liked a LOT more light, but this will do for now :-). I would love a plexi set up where the walls of the box are actually brightly lit. Sounds like a job for Super Sweetie!
I am not trying to brag, but I REALLY love these aprons. I have two that I have kept (plus one for Precious) and they just always look nice. I can throw them in the washer and dryer with anything (no special washing) and they come out looking beautiful! I feel very pretty in them when I am cooking or scrubbing out the bathroom or whatever :-).
This is the size of the adult aprons. That is me, but I had not done my hair, so I did not let Precious take a picture of my head hee hee!
Here is Precious modeling the little girl's aprons. She is tiny, but the aprons are tinier!
Here are some adult aprons
I FINALLY got pictures taken of the aprons I made for the bazaar! (Actually these pictures are the ones I brought home--I sold out of other patterns I had brought).
I got out TWS's light box thing. I must say that it was a bear to set up! I would have liked a LOT more light, but this will do for now :-). I would love a plexi set up where the walls of the box are actually brightly lit. Sounds like a job for Super Sweetie!
I am not trying to brag, but I REALLY love these aprons. I have two that I have kept (plus one for Precious) and they just always look nice. I can throw them in the washer and dryer with anything (no special washing) and they come out looking beautiful! I feel very pretty in them when I am cooking or scrubbing out the bathroom or whatever :-).
This is the size of the adult aprons. That is me, but I had not done my hair, so I did not let Precious take a picture of my head hee hee!
Here is Precious modeling the little girl's aprons. She is tiny, but the aprons are tinier!
Here are some adult aprons
More adult aprons
Here are the little girl aprons.
They sold very well at the bazaar. I definitely cannot complain! The hardest thing was convincing customers that these were to WEAR EVERY DAY to keep their clothing clean :-).
Here are the little girl aprons.
They sold very well at the bazaar. I definitely cannot complain! The hardest thing was convincing customers that these were to WEAR EVERY DAY to keep their clothing clean :-).
I am grateful to the Lord for how much ended up selling! It makes you feel good to know that people like what you have made.
I also brought soap, as my one loyal customer convinced me to. That also sold well! I will post pictures of the soap in the next entry. I sold more with the aprons and the soap than I used to with soap and other things (milk bath, bath fizzies, etc), and it was a LOT less work.
Did I tell you that Precious made earrings to sell at the bazaar? She used sculpey clay and baked it and made adorable earrings which she sold for a dollar a pair. I think she must have taken over 70 pairs to the bazaar! (She hand lettered a sign in crayon and put each pair in a little baggie and everything. She was ready for the bazaar DAYS before I was!) I praise the Lord for His kindness to her! At first she was not selling anything--just one pair--and she was SO upset. We had a talk, and I prayed that the Lord would allow her to sell more, and suddenly she was swamped! She ended up making about $40!!
Anyway, thank you for your prayers and well wishes for the bazaar! It was a blast and I kinda wish I had made more aprons and signed up for another bazaar. The season here is short. This bazaar was a great one--low table fee and pretty well visited. There are other bigger ones that I would have liked to have tried as well just for grins. Maybe next year!
God bless you my sisters in the Lord!
PS, the formatting on this post is atrocious, but I cannot figure out how to fix it! The top photo is supposed to include my other arm AND there are supposed to be spaces between the paragraphs! Sorry about that!
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