July 20, 2008

Just Run To Him

Click Play for a beautiful reminder.











Have a Blessed Sunday!


God's Mercy, Grace and Peace,

♥ Melissa
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"Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?

(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, Who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

-Romans 8:35-39

July 18, 2008

my Big fat summer vacation

We saw lots of big things on our vacation.  It seemed to be a recurring theme.  Here are some of them:

Big basket

A Big grocery basket that is actually a race car! (St. Louis Children's Museum)

Big truck
A Big truck. (St. Louis Children's Museum)

Big dino
A Big dino. (Wisconsin Dells, WI)

Big dino bones
Big dino bones (Field Museum, Chicago,IL)

Big banana
Big Banana (Ella's Deli, Madison, WI)

Big little O

Big Little O (St. Louis Children's Museum - Optical Illusions room)

Big food

Big lumberjack

Big Lumberjack food (Paul Bunyan's - Wisconsin Dells, WI)


and my favorites:


Chicago globe

Big Pink Globe (Museum Campus- Chicago, IL)

Wisconsin dells flamingo

Big Pink Flamingo Motel (Wisconsin Dells, WI)



Big stuff....good times.


Have a great weekend guys!  I'm hoping to do some blog hopping this weekend so I will see you around!

God's Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"You're well-known as good and forgiving,  bighearted to all who ask for help. Pay attention, God, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help. Every time I'm in trouble I call on you, confident that you'll answer."
-Psalm 86:1

July 17, 2008

mug heaven

I have no time to blog today* so instead you get to see a snap of my new favorite mug. 

Hubby bought it for me on our trip to Austin and I *love* *love* *love* it.

It is just the right size and heaviness and I adore the handmade shape with all the little crooked spots and dimples. 

The pink flower and "inspire" sentiment make me smile every morning...

Inspire mug


And it's pink inside!

Inspire mug2

What more could you ask for in a mug?  Pink, flowers, inspiration, handmade...it's mug heaven!


Do you have a favorite mug?  I would love to see it!  Blog it and leave me a comment!



Hope that inspires you a little today.  See you tomorrow!


God's Grace and Peace,

♥ Melissa~



*interpreted: I wasted my blogging time today looking at crafty stuff on the internet.

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"Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your wonders.  From where the sun rises to where it sets, You  inspire shouts of joy."
-Psalm 65:8

July 16, 2008

ten on tuesday (on wednesday) - the crafty vacation edition

ten thoughts on tuesday

(or wednesday...or...you know...whenever I can grab my laptop and hide in the closet for long enough to post something)


one

I've already told you about Red Lead, the wonderful paper art store in St. Louis owned by sisters Chris Schwartz and Sharon Wisely, but I wanted to show you more photos and say again how amazing this store is! 

If you have a minute you must go take a peek at the online shop.  They have a unique line of stamps that are all so charming.

Here are some more photos of their inspiring space (click on them to see a larger image).

I want to bring a sleeping bag and live here!

Rldressform 

Rltagskirt

A tag skirt with silk ribbon ties!  I really need this in my house!

Rlcounter 

Every display in the store is so clever and unique.  I love the umbrellas hanging from the ceiling and do you see the ATC cards dangling in the back?  There's a close up of these later.

Rlfurniture

Sharon and Chris hand pick all the old furniture and display items at antique shows and flea markets.

I am crazy about the collaged chair and the paint-chipped red table!  The postcards are displayed in old drawers!


 Rlframeshelves

Aren't these frame shelves amazing?  What a creative and crafty idea!


Rlglassjar 

Art in glass jars.  Breathtaking.

Rlroundtable 

Oh, this round table and all its goodies just makes my heart sing!


Rlslidenecklace

Love these microscope slide necklaces. This one is made with their queen bee stamp.

Rlbuttons2


RLbuttons 

Buttons!  The texture and colors of all these make my eyes tingle!  Don't you just love that big button frame full of buttons!!?


RlATCs

A display of rows and rows of beautiful ATC's pinned together and hanging from the ceiling... stunning!

Rlchristmas

In this corner of the store it's always Christmas!  How lovely! (A red Christmas tree!)

For those of you lucky enough to live in St. Louis I hope you'll visit Red Lead soon and think of me here in Texas being super jealous of you!


two

In Madison, Wisconsin we stopped for lunch at Ella's Deli.  It is such a neat place full of creativity and craftiness (not to mention delicious food) so I just had to show you some pictures!

  Wisellasdeli

three

Outside of Ellas's is a restored Parker carousel from 1927.  Little O wanted to ride, but only on the bench, not on the horses.  Apparently they looked a little wild to him.


Wisellasdeli2 


Wisellashorse
The wild carousel horse.

Madison ellas deli

four

Inside Ellas' is even more whimsical and fun with all kinds of handmade animated characters, displays and dioramas created by local artists and the owners themselves!


Wisellasdumbo 

Everyone's favorite elephant.

Wisellasfeet

Teen O found the feet faces a little creepy.

Wisellashotdog 

This ketchup bottle jumps over the hot dog and vice versa. Pure genius. heh-heh

Wisellasmoon

Wisellasrobot 

This robot has a camera in his face and a monitor on his belly so when you walk up to him you can see yourself on the belly monitor.  Little O *loved* it.


five

Even the tables get in on the act at Ella's.  Each table has a glass top with a themed-shadow box underneath.  We sat at the origami table.

Wisellastable2

Wisellastable 

This table was filled with mini instruments.

six

The other fun and crafty thing I did on the trip was to go to a small town "Strawberry Festival" art fair.  It was really neat.

I met lots of talented crafters and artists.  I wish I could just tour around the country going to these types of shows.

Wissf


seven

The first was a gentleman who owns American Forging.  He crafts beautiful pieces from recycled aluminum cans!  You really won't believe they used to be cans when you see them.

eight

Next I met Jody Avery and Tammy Mueller of Squiggles and Squares.  They make super cute collaged scrabble tiles and dominoes.

I just loved them and bought a scrabble tile necklace with a little piece of the Bible collaged on the front!  Go check out their etsy shop to see their jewelry & key chains.

Wissfetsy

nine

Finally I met Gisela Magdalena Moyer.  A paper artist that creates the most amazing paper sculptures. 

Her work is bright and beautiful and full of life. The pictures don't do it justice at all.  I just couldn't stop looking at each piece.  She also has a fascinating life story (don't all wonderful artists?) that you can read about on her website.

I'm saving up for one of her tree pieces, they just make me smile.

Wissfgis

ten

That's it for today, I am out of computer time!  Hope you enjoy some of those websites and maybe buy some art!

More photos tomorrow!


God's Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~
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"Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got...God's works are so great, worth a lifetime of study—endless enjoyment! Splendor and beauty mark His craft; His generosity never gives out. His miracles are His memorial— This God of Grace, this God of Love."
-Psalm 111:1

July 14, 2008

Back in Crafty Action!

Ack!  I'm finally back!

Vacation was wonderful and I'm relaxed and refreshed and ready to get crafty again!

{I love typing Ack!  It's so descriptive and you really can't get away with actually *saying* "Ack!" out loud can you?}


So how about some photo happiness to start the week off right?


Here are some of my faves from the trip:

St.Louis Union Station

St. Louis Union Station is so gorgeous.  We stayed in a hotel across the street that is a restored YMCA built in early 1900's.

Inside Union Station is even more gorgeous!  I wish they still designed buildings like this:

Union Station

I love the ladies holding the globes at the top of the arch. 

And look at the stained glass:

Stained Glass Union Station


When we arrived in Chicago this is what we saw sitting outside our hotel room:






Mattresses

I should have known that was a bad sign of things to come.

The rest of the Chicago leg of the trip was fabulous though! 

Shedd

We visited the beautiful Shedd Aquarium.

Sheddshow

Sheddkids

And learned lots about dolphins and penguins and whales and lizards! 

In fact we arrived at the lizard exhibit at feeding time much to my boys delight (and my horror!). 


Sheddliz

Lizards eat some pretty gross stuff...I'm just sayin'.

Sheddlizeatsm

Yes, that is a big, fat, green caterpillar-wormy thing in his mouth...and he swallowed it whole (while it was still squirming!) right after I took this shot..*eww*...



After Shedd we hopped on the train to Chinatown for lunch at the Three Happiness Cafe and some shopping (sorry to mention lunch so soon after the whole caterpillar/lizard thing). 

Some students had a haiku exhibit in the station and it was fabulous! 


Chipoetry


I also enjoyed this warning sign in the station (affixed with duct tape):

Chiholdchildren


And just in case you weren't sure *how* to hold on to your children the diagram shows you with a little highlighted circle for emphasis...I guess so you don't try to hold on to them by their hair or something which would be much less effective I'm sure...


I really fell in love with Chinatown.  It just had so much charm and character. 

Chicago chinatown  

Chicago chinatown gate

Chicago chinatown lampost

I loved the dragon lamp posts!



And this was my favorite sign in all of Chicago:

Chicago chinatown church sign

Okay lots more to show you tomorrow including a tuesday ten of crafty things I saw on my trip with more photos of the fabulous Red Lead Paperworks!

Hope you're all having a fabulous summer!


Grace and Peace,

♥ M~
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"You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.You know everything I do."
-Psalm 139:3

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