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once upon a time, a clutz was born.
{me.}
this clutz buys pretty shirts and then…without a doubt… spills, splatters, or drops something on the pretty shirt and stains it. this particular story includes a shirt that somehow got bleach splatters on it.
how you ask?
the clutz pleads the fifth and refrains from commenting.
see that stain on there?
the lighting is bad in this photo.
i mean right there:
and a couple other places that we don’t need to point out..
ahem.
so needless to say, this shirt hasn’t been worn since the clutz saw that spot because it’s points out what a clutz she really is.
doh.
so anyway, one day this clutz had an idea:
cover up that spot… and others… with a little ruffled lace! all she had to do was cute a little lacy fabric in a straight(ish) line, ruffle the edges and sew it on! easy peasy.
it was an experiment, and I’m not at all sure I love it… but here’s the final result:
and yes. apparently when trying to take her own picture, this clutz likes to throw her hip out awkwardly to one side. but other than that, this shirt is kind of fun! and now it can be worn again. it may have been a better idea to do a couple smaller ruffles instead of one fat one… but oh well. this shirt will at least be worn now!
today’s sketch was totally a little last minute.
it was… what in the world am i going to sketch at 10pm on a monday night? why, o why, do i wait until the last possible moment when i have an entire week to do one meesly little sketch?
sigh.
so luck would have it, the latest j.crew catalog was sitting on our coffee table. tada!
and…another distraction from sketching for a few minutes while i flip through the pretty pictures…
i love looking at this catalog. not that i can afford anything in there. but it’s pretty and the poses that the models do for it cracks me up. they’re so… what’s the word… trying to be posh. is that a saying? does that even make sense? not really. but they’re so fashionable and they know it.
even the kids for the crewcuts section.
it cracks me up.
so…inspiration!… i had to try to draw some of these smarty-pants kids:
{ya, i know, the one with the paper airplane looks-in my sketch- looks like an old man… whatcha going to do about it?}
so there ya go. for this week’s sketch for tuesday, i sketched some cute – slightly posh- maybe looking a little stuck up-but know they look good- kids.
maybe some day i’ll be convinced that my own little boy needs to wear a bowtie.
i probably won’t buy it for him from j.crew though. just saying. :-p
xoxo.
ps. what normal person could possible afford to spend this much on a piece of clothing that their child is going to grow out of it a month?????? i’m a little amazed.
we went for a little drive this weekend. it started out with Husbuddy asking if I wanted to go for a ride to go exploring since it was so sunny.
the problem was that when you say, “want to go for a ride?” puppycakes gets a little excited.
I wish I had the forethought to think of capturing his dancing excitement on camera. it’d be impossible to catch to though. it’s just something you’re going to have to come visit us to see in person.
it’s hysterical.
then puppycakes spends most of the drive either: a. pawing at the window button to get it to open(because, yes, he has figured that out) or b. with his nose out the window in typical dog fashion:
and in case you can’t tell what’s going on from the above picture:
haha. I know. we all have dogs who do this and we all think it’s the cutest thing and I just shared one of the most ordinary things about having a dog.
but I’m still thankful for that little guy and his cute little excitement about going for a ride.
part of what “going for a ride” means for me is to find new streets and get lost in new parts of Princeton that we haven’t seen before. it’s so fun to see where you end up! and I just LOVE sitting in the passenger seat while Husbuddy drives and we talk or sing along to the radio. it feels like we’re dating again when we used to drive from Spokane to Moscow together. it’s just one of our favorite things. :)
so on this little adventure we found some pretty amazing houses. the only one that I “HAD” to take a picture of is this one:
I know, it’s impossible to see past that huge gate, but basically, it’s a really interesting house that has taken an old stone barn and connected it to a modern farmhouse with a really contemporary-glass entry. le sigh. I wish I had the guts to knockon the door (or gate) and ask for a tour. it would be fascinating!
and then of course, we had to find a park for the puppycakes to run around in because he was just too excited to pee before we got in the car…
hee hee. he’s so funny looking.
one of my favorite things is enjoying a quiet morning with the sunshine coming through the window, a puppy cuddling in my lap, and reading my devotional or a good book. add to that a husbuddy-made chai tea and gluten free blueberry muffins, you get the best morning ever!
since going gluten free a couple weeks ago we’ve been doing a lot of experimenting. one of our new cookbooks is by the writers of this awesome blog: noglutennoproblem. the recipe included dairy, so we had to work around that… we were a little nervous but determined to try it out this morning.
let me tell you, these gluten free/dairy free muffins were a winner! (because trust me, there are plenty of losers in this on-going experiment!)
we’ve lived in apartments now for years and years, it can get kind of depressing when our apartment doesn’t face the right way to get any sunshine. (this colorado girl needs her sunshine, people!) luck was with us when we moved into our jersey apartment. i was so excited to find out that the sun shines through our bedroom window in the mornings. GLORIOUS! o the simple joys of life.
it’s that simple fact, sunshine coming through my window, that makes the weekends so wonderful. see, on most weekdays, I don’t get to see the sun coming through the window because we’re usually on the way to work when the sun really comes up. but weekends are fabulous because I get to spend a little time, sitting on my bed, tea in hand, with a puppy in my lap, reading the word or another soul-encouraging book and just enjoying the sunshine. it’s a beautiful thing.
this morning was peaceful, and i’m thankful for those moments. i’m thankful for the cuddly little guy who keeps me warm. i’m thankful for the sunshine that makes me smile. and i’m thankful for a real word being spoken into my life. the word this morning was about being thankful for the simple things in life, and this thankfulness leads to contentment (consequently, my word of the year!). i can’t give away the whole book, but it is so good and i’m so thankful for everything it’s teaching me in the little weekend moments
here’s a quote from the book to finish off today’s post:
“The only real prayers are the ones mouthed with thankful lips… Prayer, to be prayer, to have any power to change anything, must first speak in thanks: “in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (phil. 4:6 NIV)…Prayer without ceasing is only possible in a life of continual thanks. How did I ever think there was another way to enter into His courts but with thanksgiving?”
Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts {pg.60}
i love watching my puppy look out the window. he gets so excited to get a chance to look and he loves just watching the world. since our windows on this side of our apartment are high he has to get up on a chair to look out. it really kills him when he sees one of his little puppy buddies, either Muffy, Charlie, Henry or Patience. He goes a little crazy and thinks they’re coming to see him! Other times he sees his “enemies” and thinks he need to bark them away. But he wasn’t quite sure what to think when he saw his reflection this morning. i’m not even sure he saw it, actually, he probably didn’t, but i pretended that he did… :)
if he didn’t see it, was he just too focused on the world out there and all the things he wanted to do? that tree that needed to be marked or that corner where he last saw one of his buddies? or did he see his reflection and get focused on his own image and how sad he was that he wasn’t out there?
it makes me think about how we look out the window. do we get excited when we see the world outside, waiting for us? do look out and see opportunity to live and love? or do we look at the window, catch our own lonely reflection and get caught up in self absorption? are we inward, self focused or are we outward focused on others?
just some random reflections for your Saturday.
:) hee hee. pun intended.
a little sunshine for a really really dreary day. i can’t believe they’re blooming already!
3 days down. 43 to go! :)
this photo a day thing is going to be a little hard… but i’m really excited about it. this lily is sitting in a vase on my desk at work. isn’t it just beautiful?
last year at this time, I decided to spend 40 days(well, actually 46 if you count sundays) taking 1 picture a day. this was to help me focus on the beauty and gifts around me that God has given. You can read more about it HERE. anyway, I found it very fulfilling and it was really cool to see, through the lens of my new camera, something new every day. it also was to help me get better at taking pictures :)
So, this year, I was sitting here thinking about what I wanted to focus on this year for lent. you see, rather than give something up for lent, it seems that lately I’ve been adding something to my every day routine. as usual, I have the option to make life easier (one less thing would be easier, right? ha) and I go and decide to complicate life by adding something. this is what I was thinking, do I give something up? or add something?
or how about I just do the exact. same. thing. as last year?
um… LAME you say?
yea, that was my first thought too.
But then I thought back to how interesting that experience was for me. I really was able to focus, even if just for a moment every day, on something artistic. I was able to see how I got better at using my camera. AND I was able to give thanks to God every day for something…through my camera.
and you see, this may come as a shock to you… but I’m still not very good with my camera… (I know, gasp!)
so I could really use the practice ;)
ha.
and I could really use the focus.
does anyone else seem to be running around like crazy these days? I really notice how out of it I am when I’m wandering around the house, trying to clean… I grab one thing, get distracted and set it down someplace else to be lost to the mess… somehow, next thing I know, I have a sponge in one gloved hand for cleaning the toilet and in the other I have the nail polish because somehow I’ve decided that it’s time to paint my nails! eek. out of control spaz over here!
so I feel like a routine like this would really help me to focus. to focus on God. to focus on thanksgiving and joy and what that means in this season leading up to Easter.
the other day, I shared this post with a quote from a book I’m reading. I’ve read two chapters of “one Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp and I’m hooked. Anyway, in the second chapter she talks about the meaning of life. ha. yup, just the second chapter and we’re that deep. hee hee. hang with me. She talks about seeing someone reading “1000 places to see before you die” and wonders if maybe that is the point of life… 1000 things by going to 1000 places, then you will have a full-filled life. But that can’t be it. What about all of us who will never go anywhere? Will we not have a full life? Then she says this, and I love it, "
“The only place we need to see before we die is this place of seeing God, here and now.”
And I’ve been asking myself… how am I seeing God right here, right now? Do I live in Thanksgiving for all He has done for me? Rejoice in the Joy of all He is doing? Do I see His GRACE around me every day and in every thing?
thought provoking, no?
And that’s kind of what I’m stumbling at here. Through these silly little pictures I desire to see more of God in everything, HERE and NOW. This Lent season my focus(as really, it should be all the time) is going to be on Him.
{so yes, it made perfect sense to take a picture of my amazing birthday “cake” because that is what I’m thankful for today :) hee hee. thank You, Papa, for providing me with such a thoughtful Husbuddy who picks out just the thing to make me smile}
awe, the valentine’s day roses are getting all big and beautiful. Love that.
for today’s sketch I just focused on the roses themselves and left the stems and leaves as outlines. i think this kind of makes for an interesting study.
at least that’s what I tell myself. it’s really probably just me being lazy. :)
what have you sketched recently? I really would love to know!!
***
in other news: and thanks to everyone who’s been praying for little Owen! Thankfully, he’s doing a little better and is on a new ventilator and is off the paralytic. I really don’t understand enough to explain it all to ya though, so just go check out his blog: owenestes.wordpress.com
God is good! always keep praying. :)
I’m reading Ann Voskamp’s book “one thousand gifts” and I was struck by this sentence:
What do you think about that? I’d love to hear! Or have any of you read this book?
