Category Archives: A Little of Everything

Play with Your Cousins

Before it gets too far past Christmas I need to post about some hand made gifts. These are the only thing I managed to get made this year. After seeing Amy’s Aunt Sarah Dolls I’ve had this idea in my head and finally got it out this year.

play with your cousins play with your cousins

 

They are hilarious. I drew the bodies, then had the kids color their own. I just used our printer to copy them onto the injet iron on stuff I found at Hobby Lobby. Simple enough. It did take me quite awhile to get them done, though. I made 4 sets, so that was printing, ironing on, cutting, sewing, stuffing (my mom was visiting, so she actually did that part),and closing up– times 16. Anyway, I don’t think about things that way when I embark on a project, so things always take me longer than I think they will.

 

I kept a set. It is pretty funny to see Ian chewing on himself!

flickr favorites

looking at my favorites

1. INK+WIT Letterpress Valentines, 2. Pose, 3. stones in my space, 4. flower,made of stone, 5. thin ice, 6. crabby is a state of mind, 7. hive, 8. fog, 9. still life, 10. spirals, 11. sand dollars, 12. urchin shells, 13. stone arches, 14. blue door, 15. ethereal, 16. bedside bird press

Having a new camera has made me quite a flickr addict. It seems that my favorites have doubled and tripled and quadrupled in no time. They look so pretty together I thought I’d post some of them here.

I just can’t get over the mini printing press in this one, and there are so many bird photos that make me wish that I had a lens with more zoom so that I could share my window visitors with you all because I love them so. That, and to have a record of them after we leave this house. Today I had a pair of house finches, a pair of red-breasted nuthatches, a pair of cardinals, and about 8 juncos in my little tree all at once! That was such a good start to the day. So, so good.

Here’s our friend Nutty the nuthatch. After some cropping this photo’s almost kind of good.

one little nuthatch

His wife is perched up on the fence. He’s very domineering and won’t let her eat at the same time. He won’t let anyone else eat with him, for that matter. Even the much bigger cardinals get out of the way of his pointy little beak. He’s mean, but we still love him.

Look, Mama

Look, Mama-- shellLook, Mama-- mossLook, Mama-- cedar

 

On a hike, finding treasures.

 

I love my life. There is so much beauty in the world, so many things to look closely and discover. I love being a mother and seeing things through new eyes– adding treasures to treasures. And I love having a partner that reminds me of the things I love to do and helps me overcome inertia when I feel stuck.

 

I love to just look.

Sharing

This week I listened to Elder Ballard’s commencement address at BYU Hawaii about using new media to join the ongoing conversation about the Church. He encourages us to have blogs and use them to share our testimonies, answer questions, and work to dispell misconceptions about who Mormons are and what we believe.

So, I’m going to post a talk I gave a little over a year ago. Elder Eyring came to our Stake Conference in November 2006 and I was asked to speak in the Saturday evening session. The topic I was assigned was “There is no Substitute for Personal Righteousness” and I had just finished reading and writing about and discussing Jane Eyre.

I love Jane. Small, quiet, plain, and all alone– she knew herself and what resonated with her soul as good and right. And when the promise of pleasure and even love seemed hers, it just didn’t sit right. Charlotte Bronte’s story illustrates the profound truth that there are universal principles that apply whether we acknowledge them or not– and when we live contrary to truth we can only be miserable. Joy comes in doing what we know is right no matter how hard it is.

If you want to read it, here’s my talk: Plant Your Feet

Happy Sabbath!