Relaxation

Lately, I have found hand embroidery to be very relaxing. It only requires a few supplies, it's cheap (wool is from an old scarf, hoop from the resale shop, threads  from my mother's stash from when she was young), I can embroider anywhere,  it's transportable and it doesn't take a long to complete a project.

I checked out a book by Aimee Ray called "Doodle Stitching" and was inspired to create the above piece.  I made it for my friend Karen for her birthday. It's just a little something, but made with a lot of love.

My New Dishes

Yesterday morning I went to a neighborhood garage sale with my friend Karen.  At the first sale, a lady was selling a set of ten dishes (dinner plate, salad plate and mug) for $10.  She also had a set of ten wineglasses for sale for $20.

Being that I am a dish-a-holic, I was immediately drawn to these, mostly because of the pattern.  My husband is from Mexico and we cook Mexican food often.  I thought these dishes would be perfect for us, because, as we all know, food tastes better on good looking dishes.

Karen and I were chatting with this lady and I was telling her how I love dishes and about my husband and how we love to cook.  I told her I would like to buy the set for $10.  As we were starting to pack them up, she said to me "I want to give you the wine glasses also.  I would rather give them away to someone who would use them and enjoy them then sell them to someone else".  Not only did she give me the ten wine glasses, she brought out seven more larger glasses that could be used for water and packed them up also.

Wow, that was a blessing and her act of kindness made my day.  What a great example of not holding on tightly to our possessions!

There are so many ways to give love away, and the neat thing about it is, having been blessed like this inspires me to bless others likewise.  It really does warm the heart to be the recipient of a gracious act, and it always warms the heart to be the one giving it away.

"And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed". Hebrews 7:7 NLT

Cut and Paste

This is a picture of a liluga I recently made, photographed, and then cut and paste onto a picture of my balcony during a snowstorm.  Kind of fun, isn't it?

Do you ever want to “cut and paste” yourself somewhere else?  I could easily cut and paste myself on warm sandy beach right now.  In the picture I would be sitting on my lawn chair under a big umbrella, reading a book and sipping a big glass of iced tea.  Oh, how I would just love to go away for a week or two and sit by the ocean and relax.  I could probably spend the whole day staring out at the ocean.  It sounds so peaceful! 

"Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you."  

1 Corinthians 7:20

The reality is, I am stuck in Illinois.  No cut and paste for me.  So I remain and seek to do what God has planned for me.  I recently made four new liluga's and gave one away to a friend from church who is going through a divorce.  Life is never easy, but we, as Christians, can at least be there to encourage each other and to help each other out.  Praise God we can do that wherever we are located.

Winters Here!

Bookmarks @ sewjamie.etsy.com

We finally got hit by winter yesterday.  It is now a winter wonderland outside, pretty to look at, but not fun to be out in!

My favorite thing to do on a cold winter day is to cuddle up with a good book and a good cup of coffee (very important!).  

I am currently reading three books, one on writing - "If You Want to Write" by Brenda Ueland.  I am absolutely loving this book so far.  It was originally written in 1938 and revised in 1987.  The author has a way of talking to the reader that makes me picture her as "granny" from The Beverly Hillbillies in my mind.  She says it like it is, but here perspective on writing is excellent.

Another is a novel I just started, "The Shack"  by William P. Young.  I have heard so much about this book in recent years and have finally gotten around to reading it.  So far, very good, but sad and tragic.  

Third, I am reading my Bible, but not for mass reading.  I am trying to focus more on smaller chunks of scripture and then meditating on it and writing about it.  Yesterday I read Job 40: 1-2 "Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? Or will you yield?  Do you - God's critic - have the answers?"  That gives me a lot to think about.  I know I do not have all the answers, even though sometimes I think I do!

I am also working on building up my etsy store (www.sewjamie.etsy.com), come visit me there.

Joy for 2012

Meet Norman the Bookmark

 Happy New Year to everyone!  We had a wonderful Christmas and I am ready for a new beginning.  As I think about the new year, the word JOY comes to mind.  JOY means “a very glad feeling; happiness; great pleasure, delight.”  I want to have a joyful, joy-filled year; not only as a follower of Christ, but in the work I do and especially with my family.   How do I do this?  Well,  I put together a few goals (I don’t like to call them “resolutions” because resolutions are hard to keep).  I know everyday won’t be easy, but I will earnestly work toward these goals.

Spiritually, I want to continue growing in love and joy towards God, others and myself.  The best way to do this is through reading the scriptures and through prayer, which I want to make a priority each day, not just something I do after I’ve gotten to everything else (the truth is, I never get to everything, even on the best days).  Also, I want to continue making and giving away my liluga’s.  I don’t think there will ever be a time when we don’t need to remind friends and family that they are loved and cared for.

 

“But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith.  And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.  Live in such a way that God’s love can bless you as your wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you.”  Jude 20-21 NLT

As for my career and business,  I want to focus more on my writing and to start submitting devotions and articles to different publications.  My goal is complete one piece of writing a day, however, I’ll be happy if I get three done a week!

 In addition to that, I am in the process of developing a line of journal and Bible covers.   As an avid journal writer, I am having fun creating and sewing these.  I suppose you could take notes in a plain spiral notebook, but it is much more joyful to journal in a pretty book.  Add a hot cup of coffee (in your favorite mug) and a comfy chair and it’s the perfect setting for a time of reading and journaling.  I have several items listed at my web-store at Etsy.com (you can visit me there at www.sewjamie.etsy.com – visit often, I’ll be adding more items weekly). 

“My heart is overflowing with a beautiful thought!  I will write a lovely poem to the King, for I am as full of words as the speediest writer pouring out his story”.  Psalm 45:1  The Living Bible

For my family, I want to be more joyful, loving and peaceful towards my husband and the children.   Sounds easy, but it’s a big challenge for me, something I will have pray for and work at daily.

"You haven't done this before.  Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy."  John 16:24 NLT

I pray each of you has a blessed and joyful 2012! 

Merry Christmas!

It has been a busy November/December for me.  I have been busy sewing for a craft market I participated in and for Christmas gifts. One of the things I have been hand sewing are ornaments out of felted wool sweaters.  I also have been making journal covers and a couple of tote bags. (Any tips on taking better photographs?  I just can't seem to get it right!)

As the new year is almost upon us, I think of new year resolutions, and how they only tend to last a short while.  Last summer, I wrote about the word "promise", which kind of reminds me of a new years resolution.  We say things we intend to do, then never follow through. 

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PROMISES

Having children has taught me many things I could have never learned in school.  One of those things is to never make a promise I cannot keep.  “But you promised to take us to Dairy Queen!” If I do not take them, not only will the kids be angry with me, but they will soon stop believing in my promises.  I came to the realization that it is so much easier to not promise anything, ever.  Instead, I tell my kids things like “perhaps we’ll go to Target on Wednesday.”  They hate when I use the word “perhaps”, but it keeps me out of trouble.

As a lover of words, I will often look up a word in the dictionary to get its true definition.  It’s fascinating to find the real meaning of the words we often use, and to see how the culture has altered their meaning. In my copy of Webster’s New World Dictionary (a 1998 edition I found at a garage sale) the word promise is defined as “an oral or written agreement to do or not to do something; vow.”   A vow is defined as a “solemn promise or pledge.”  Pretty serious stuff. 

I have a feeling most people today use the word  without much thought to its true meaning.  I think the current definition of the word promise should be “a word to use to get someone off your back or to win favor from someone; a light, fluffy word, not to be taken seriously.”

If my kids are bugging me to go somewhere, and I say “not today, but I promise I’ll take you tomorrow,”  I get relief for the day, but come tomorrow…  the kids do not forget.   Men promise to call a girl after a date, even when they have no intention of doing so. It’s a wimpy way to act, in my opinion. As for winning favor from people, think of politicians and their campaign promises.  And, of course, the wedding vow; words spoken without much thought to their true meaning.

I believe in saying yes when I mean yes, and no when I mean no.  It’s as simple as that.  Unless I am willing to stand by my promise and fulfill it, I won’t even go there.  As for my kids, they are learning to adjust to my non-committal ways.  Perhaps they too will learn to take the word promise a little more seriously.

“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’  Anything more is from the evil one.”  Matthew 5:37

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 Merry Christmas to everyone!  May the peace of the Lord Jesus be with you always!

Contentment

Looking out my window today, it is rainy and cold. The wind is blowing the leaves off the trees and  I have a chill in my bones that will stay with me until the first warm days of spring.  Having grown up in the suburbs of Chicago, I always loved winter.  I loved falling snow, warm sweaters, and curling up with a good book and a cup of tea in the warmth of my home.   It’s not that I no longer love these things, but now I understand why older people retire to Florida.  Sunshine and warmth!  And as I get older, I need both more and more.  So, why do I stay living in the Chicago area?

It’s where I was born and grew up.  Where I went to college, got married, had my children, and sadly, where I got divorced.  Still, many people move from the places they grew up.  So what else keeps me here?  My extended family, good friends, my job, a town we love and schools my kids are happy at. And I’m not anywhere near retirement age yet. 

Contentment is the word that comes to mind when I think about why we stay.   According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, content, as an adjective, means “happy enough with what one has or is; not desiring something more or different; satisfied.”  Contentment is the state or quality of being content.  Instead of wishing for something I don’t have, or can’t have (such as Florida weather in Chicago), I need to be content, and HAPPY with what I have (including a forecast for a brutally cold and snowy winter).

So bring on the warm wool sweaters!  I’ll wait until spring to cut them up into liluga’s.

“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything.  I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want; for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me strength and power.”

Philippians 4:12-13 NLT