The Box

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We’re excited about life. The pieces are all there. We have plans and everything seems straight and simple.

Construction gets under way. We’re moving forward. We know exactly what we want.

And then the Carver picks up an instrument and begins the work.

We hold tight. We think I can do this. It’s ok.

But then things change and we’re not so sure.

People are brought into our lives that make us uncomfortable.

The cuts get deeper.

Color pales and we get confused.

We watch as bits of us drop away.

We look down and see what is lost. We mourn what has fallen. We don’t want to part with things we think are important.

The Carver keeps the instruments sharp. Carefully honing the blade, we hear the swish of metal on stone and we’re afraid.

We no longer recognize ourselves.

There are strange steps. Odd bits of life, ragged and raw.

The gouges are deep.

We weep over the pile of loss from the past. We focus on what is gone.

What we don’t see is how the Carver’s hands firmly and lovingly hold us.

All we see is the pile of shavings that obliterate our view.

But the Carver sees. The Carver sees a beauty on the inside that we can’t see from the outside. The Carver whittles away, bit by bit, to reveal the treasure within.

We don’t understand the Carver’s dream. But we reach a point where we must trust. Even though we don’t understand, we let the Carver work. And we begin to let go.

We begin to trust that the Carver has a greater plan. It is too big for us to understand right now. But now we think I can get through this. It’s going to be ok.

And for the first time, we’re ok with it.

To be continued…

Mnemoniker – my son’s first music CD!

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We are so very proud of our son, Nathanael Monroe, for his first CD, Mnemoniker, by SoundsofNCM. It just debuted over the weekend and it is wonderful! We are thrilled! He is a very gifted composer and God has blessed him with so much musical talent. Here is the blurb from his album:

SoundsofNCM is a 21-year old electronic composer who incorporates aspects of many different electronic styles into his music, pulling from prolific dubstep, liquid D&B, and 8-bit elements, and tying them together in a unique blend.

I love listening to his music while working on my art. You can find the album online here.
http://soundsofncm.bandcamp.com/album/mnemoniker

Mnemoniker – by SoundsofNCM

Please join us in toasting to Nathanael – May his music career prosper and may those who listen be blessed.

Dessert Buffet

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Several weeks ago I catered a wedding rehearsal event – Individual size Southern-style desserts for 85. I was quite busy with the preparation so these are all the photos I took. It was my first non-wedding cake event. I will say, making individual size servings of seven different desserts for 85 people is much more complicated than making a wedding cake for 250! Whew! I was thrilled that it turned out so well. Three of my sons did a fantastic job helping the day of the event. So very thankful for their help.

I prepared 24 separate recipes for all the components. I didn’t have time to make the Silk Buttercream for the Pecan Tarts so I had to use a simple buttercream instead but everything else went according to plan. Not seen well in the photos: bowls of Peanut Brittle, Spiced Pecans, Fresh Strawberries. Also: Pink Lemonade, Strawberry and Orange stick candy.

Dessert Buffet

Dessert Buffet

One of the beautiful bouquets from the buffet table, given to me by my dear friend after the event. I was not able to get a photo of the table with the bouquets but it looked lovely!

Banana Puddings, garnished with a mini Banana Spice Cookie with Lemon Frosting.

Banana Pudding

Half-size Toasted Coconut Cupcakes, garnished with unsweetened Toasted Coconut and large Coconut Flakes.

Coconut Cupcake

Key Lime Pie Bars, garnished with a thin slice of Key lime.

Key Lime Pie Bars

Peach Melba Shortcake, served with Fresh Raspberry Mousse, a Cinnamon Biscuit and Vanilla Bean Cream.

Pecan Tarts – one sweet bite of Pecan Pie.

Petit Fours – Lemon Sponge Cake with raspberry jam and Almond Poured Fondant.

Petit Fours

Strawberry Trifle – layers of sherry-soaked Vanilla Bean cake with Italian Custard and strawberries.

The Box

I finally bought the board, drew the pattern and cut out the pieces. My old Dremel scroll saw was just as crummy as ever and I had to wrestle the board at an angle through the blade just to cut a semi-straight line. So there were a couple gaps in the joints when I glued the box together. But now that I’ve got all the pieces together and drew the carving pattern, and found the pearls, I’m starting to envision the end product. I’ll post later as it progresses.

Supplies for the box include vintage lace, an old broken brooch, vintage beads and my carving pattern.

Drying ties

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Today’s creative activity – hand washing, drying and pressing disassembled men’s ties to use in my first Etsy project for All Sparkled Up. They dried quickly but I decided to leave them hanging up all day just because I liked how they looked in the breeze. Click photos to see a larger image.

Many thanks to my dear friend Janette and daughter-in-law Holly for helping me disassemble them all last night!

Ballerina Cake Pops!

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Here are more photos from my granddaughter’s 4th birthday party. This is a long post with many photos. Please click on a photo to see a larger version if you wish. I made Ballerina Cake Pops for her in her favorite colors, purple and pink.

Ballerina Cake Pops

I drew little ballerinas on white plastic cut from clean buttermilk jugs. Then I carefully cut them out using embroidery scissors. The cake balls were made and chilled and then I inserted the ballerina into the cake ball. You can see the feet of the ballerinas sticking out of the bottom of several of the cake balls. It would have been easier to just make picks but I wanted my Granddaughter to have a little plastic ballerina to play with when she was done eating the cake pop, so of course they had to have legs.

Since there was a ballerina in the cake pop, I could not dip it as usual. I spread the melted white chocolate around the ball with an offset spatula. These were placed in styrofoam and then placed in the refrigerator to chill.

The prepared cake pops were allowed to come to room temperature before piping rows of sugar ruffles using a small rose tip.

All the cake pops were placed on a stage made of styrofoam around which I pinned crepe paper streamers and gilded trim.

She loved the Ballerina Cake Pops. I was so happy!

 

I made a banner of ballerinas but forgot to take a photo of them hanging at the party. Here are photos of the construction.

Honeycomb Ballerina Banner

The ballerinas were drawn in Photoshop, based on a similar project in Marie Claire Idees magazine. I had to modify the Marie Claire version since it was flat, not with a full honeycomb skirt. Here you can see the honeycomb bridal shower garland from which I cut the skirts.

The ballerinas are drying after I applied glue and glitter to the shoes, bodices and tiaras.

The ballerinas are prepared for hanging. A single thin wire will be attached through a pinhole at the top of each ballerina and strung with crystal beads.

The ballerinas are hung temporarily in my dining room as I work on the hanging wires on each one They looked lovely at the party and I’m sorry I forgot to get a photo.

I just adore my granddaughter and there is no project too tedious or complicated that I wouldn’t do for her.


Post-it-Note Pocket from three sticky notes

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I’m forever losing small notes and scraps that are tucked inside book covers. Today I made a super easy pocket inside my notebook cover. It takes just seconds to create the pocket using three sticky notes.





Items stay securely in the small pocket.

Just a side note, this is my notebook for a creative class I’m taking online – Your Living Canvas – taught by Art McCracken and Christy Tomlinson. Art’s introspective journal exercises add a nice layer to the creative process and Christy’s wild and colorful artwork is so much fun! When I get a piece done, I’ll share it. For now I’m just writing in my notebook.

The notebook I made to use for an e-course online – Your Living Canvas – taught by Art McCracken and Christy Tomlinson.

Art tool bucket

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I’m much too tired to post more than a quick one tonight. Today I made an insert to put in a bucket to hold craft tools – knives, paint brushes, etc. I used the hard cover of a book and cut two pieces, fitting them to the tin and slotting them together. Then I painted the piece and wrote scriptures about creativity on it. I love the idea that there are scriptures about creativity hidden amongst my craft tools.


Catering!

That’s what’s keeping me busy the past week or so. The event is Friday night. 85 people, 7 different Southern Desserts, over 500 individual mini servings. I’ll post when I can after the event. But I want you, my dear readers, to know that I haven’t abandoned you. I’ll be back and I will have photographs.

Grow where you are planted.

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Sometimes we are where nobody else has ever been.
Sometimes the view is unexpected and we don’t have anyone to tell us what to do or how to do it.
Sometimes we don’t know how to put down roots.
Sometimes we are making completely new paths that have never been trodden before.
Sometimes we make paths that no one will ever follow. And it’s just a path for us.
And sometimes we’re scared.
But growth doesn’t stop. For now, grow where you are planted.

Grow where you are planted.