A walk on the beach is where I feel free to pour out my heart, listen to God and sing into the wind with the crashing waves playing the music. Walking, I was challenged to shake off the weight of the world and all the unrest. Sadness had crept in and I was feeling discouraged. I came across this small stone trapped between the large boulders and it seemed to echo my feelings. I noticed the beach was strewn with
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Sometimes our heart knows things ahead of our experience. The calendar and journal pages in this post were made and written in April through the first week of May. With what is going on in the world now, including my home city of Portland, Oregon, the messages and prayers are more relevant than ever. The first of June is also the reveal of the new Stencil Club Mash-up set with Mary Beth Shaw. Here's the stencils and some ideas of what you can do with them...
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It has been said of the time we are in, and I agree, that we are all in the same storm, but not in the same boat. It is a storm none of us have faced before. Our polarization only adds to the problems, causing the divide to widen. Fear and faith struggle for control, and we choose. Our experiences are different and are expressed in different ways. The right answer may be different for different people in different places and at different times. What to do?
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As I was making my monthly calendar page, I was reminded how each day and how we live it is still important.In our Living Your Word of the Year facebook group, Bernice put out a challenge that seems just right for this month. As usual, I'm adjusting it to my own liking, and am finding comfort in the simplicity and the daily exercise of looking back on the day, and responding with a simple symbol, drawing or words.
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Today as I took some time to consider the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, I picked up a book that reminded me of the treasure it holds inside: Celtic Daily Prayer, Prayers & Readings from the Northumbria Community. The words through the Spirit infused sweet words into my soul, which is much needed right now. We have a house full during this quarantine, and being an introvert and needing quiet time to go deep has been hard to find and I feel frayed around the edges.
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What on Earth is going on?Here we are, currently in worldwide quarantine during this Holy week. It seems like there are too many things happening together to be just coincidence. What does it all mean? I’ve been wondering…This year Jewish Passover is different. It involves a quarantine of people staying in their homes for safety. I haven't heard of that happening since the original Passover 3000 years ago, when the Angel of the Lord passed over the homes of those who had applied the blood of a lamb over their doorway as God commanded, so death would pass by, and their first born children would be spared. This marked the beginning of the first Passover, the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt, which ended 8 days later in the crossing of the Red Sea.... How am I to respond?Here are some things I'm doing this week...
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“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee,because he trusted in Thee.”~ Isaiah 26:3 KJVThat verse hangs on the wall directly across from my bed. The picture (not shown due to copyright) is an original illumination, given to us as a wedding gift over 40 years ago. At the most difficult of times, I would look and say that verse over and over until it sunk into my heart.The amplified classic version gives more insight into what that means: Isaiah 26:3, saying of God:You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mindis stayed on You,because he commits himself to You, leans on You,and hopes confidently in You.
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The people I've talked with and stories I’m reading on social media are encouraging and empowering. There are also the opposite harsh messages. In art terms, they provide contrast, but also brings sadness. I'm not denying or minimizing the difficulties we are facing in the world, but I believe we have power and what we say actually can create good or ill in the spirit realm. Making Art with meaning is important to me, and art reflects life. Make an acrostic poem with meaning.
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Obviously I planned the Keys to drawing Celtic Knots & Illumination course to be offered as we Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. What I didn’t expect is for it to coincide with the pandemic of the corona virus, limiting our in-person interactions and activities. An online course makes sense and can give some personal interaction around some common ground. If you're like me, it helps the stress level to do something creative and rhythmic with my hands, and the spiritual encouragement helps keep my thinking positive and fosters emotional well-being.
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One of the ways to focus on and contemplate my word of the year is through visually designing the word itself. If you aren't interested in doing that, you can always look for a font on your computer and print out your word in the font, adding color, definitions, quotes, symbols etc.Each year I dedicate a page to this in the journal used for everyday things, but you can also post it where you can see it each day.
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After I realized fear of failing was keeping me from hearing God clearly and taking positive action, I found the inspiration and motivation I needed. This post shares what I found. I am already stepping out with more confidence and intentional action.
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Only a week into the new year and decade and I was feeling overwhelmed. Not good. Numerous 'opportunities' were coming my way in addition to the already scheduled commitments and events on my calendar. As I wondered what to do, and not do, confusion started swirling in my head. My thoughts were not linear so I decided to do a mind map. This post shows the process I went through and three easy steps to make your own mind map.
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Whether you are researching your Word of the year or any word, these online research steps can help you grow in understanding of your word. In this post there is listed step-by-step process to explore the meaning of a word and find Scripture and quotes to add to the meaning. Examples of visually expressing words are also given.
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Introducing four new Celtic stencils inspired by Celtic illuminated manuscripts. Spark your creativity with four videos and inspiring examples.See what you can do to make a bullet journal come alive with using stenciled letters that don't look like stencils, and beautiful Spiral and tile patterns. Use a Gel Press to print shimmery papers with metallic Pan Pastels and acrylic paints.
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