Fifth Prayer Flag

Just a quick post to share my latest prayer flag for our earth.  I fused the basics together before our trip and worked on the hand stitching while we were away.  Happy September!

Mid-Month Catch-Up

It's hard to believe it's already the middle of August and my busy summer schedule is starting to wind down.  July is a very busy month at the library because we do programming for school-age children as well as the preschool programs we do year round.  This summer, as in the past several, I co-taught a craft class for elementary age kids as well as a "Dangles and Bangles" jewelry making class for  the middle and high-school crowd.  Not only do I have more classes to prepare for and teach, I also have my own girls at home that need to be dropped off at camp before work and picked up afterward.  Now all of that is done, so I can breathe a huge sigh of relief and pat myself on the back for surviving another season!   Although I didn't have a lot of creative time or energy for the past month, I did manage to whip up some new polymer clay earrings for myself and my co-workers.  We end the library's summer reading program with a big ice cream party so I thought these would be fun to wear.  My partners in Youth Services got chocolate and vanilla soft serve cones (but I was in such a hurry I forgot to photograph them!).  My favorite (obviously) is mint chocolate chip!

Even though I didn't have energy for creating,  I managed to get into a few great summer books after work.  Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews was one of my favorite books this summer.  It's about a group of women who've known each other since grade school, but now, in their thirties, rent a house on the Outer Banks for the month of August.  I think I chose it because I most desperately wish I could spend the month of August on the beach!  This book has a little bit of everything - mystery and suspense as well as humor and romance.  A very nice virtual escape!

I also enjoyed How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue, below, about a young woman opening a cupcake bakery with a childhood friend, who is financing the new store.  The two have some past history to work out, which adds some drama and holds your interest throughout the story.  Another nice diversion. 

Cupcakes really seem to be big these days, so for my middle daughter's birthday yesterday, we baked these for dessert.  Chelsea loves color and when we opened the box of 4 neon food colors to tint the frosting, she wanted to use them all!  She also has lots of fun experimenting with our makeshift pastry bag and tips, as you can see.  She is having a full-blown teen party on Saturday evening, complete with special-effect lighting (a strobe light AND a black light!), neon paints on tee-shirts, trampoline jumping, and maybe even hot-tub dipping.  (Hope we survive...!)

 Finally, I created one more prayer flag this week.  I had to work another Saturday at the library and I anticipated it would be a slow day, so I gathered some scrap fabrics we had lying around and came up with this:

 Now there are four:

 I hope I have time to make one or two more before the summer officially ends.  For the rest of the month I will be spending a lot less time at work and a lot more time at home getting organized!  We've also managed to squeeze in a beach vacation to the Jersey shore the last week of the month, so I have that to look forward to!  Thanks for stopping by!  Leave me a comment and let me know how your summer's going!

Third Prayer Flag

 Pictured is my latest prayer flag for Family.  We visited with extended family last weekend and it was another reminder of the important role families play in our lives.  The definition of family has changed enormously in the past 20 years, so much that it makes me wonder whether we realize how vital the role of the family is in society.  I live in a very family-oriented community and sometimes I get to know whole families who bring their children there for books, DVDs, and programs, which is very encouraging.  But from what I hear in the news, it seems the family has taken a back seat to the individual.  While individuality is important, we all start somewhere, and usually it's with people who love us and are willing to make sacrifices for us.  So this week I created and hung my prayer flag to honor and value the Family.  Below is a close-up of the flag so you can see the heart-shaped stitching to reinforce the fused appliqued letters and shapes.

 Now I have three!  Don't they look happy hanging together in the backyard?

Morning Glory

 Morning is my favorite time of day.  The day stretches out ahead with all kinds of possibilities and my energy level is always highest then.  I usually get outside with Cassie first thing, and we walk around the yard for a short while before we take our morning jog-walk.  This morning I was up especially early, before the alarm and even before Cassie.  I took advantage of feeling wide awake two hours ahead of schedule, so I crept downstairs to play with some art supplies.  I have to work my first Saturday at the library tomorrow (I love my job, but a Saturday???? In July????), so I thought I'd seize the moment and get in some creative time while the house was quiet.

Since I had already cut a few prayer-flag-sized rectangles and had them laying on the table, I decided to stitch up another one.  This time I used the sewing machine as well as a variety of scraps.  With all the green everywhere all around us this time of year, I decided to work with various shades to spell out the word "life."  It's so easy to take all forms of life for granted, so I thought this flag would be a little reminder about what a miracle life really is, from the littlest green bug to the tallest trees to the complexity of a human being.  So here is my prayer flag for Life.

 Now I have two hanging over my (somewhat bedraggled) collection of potted herbs.  I'll try to do one a week for the summer, so I can fill up the whole line!

While I was out with Cassie, I couldn't help but admire the gorgeous lilies that have burst into bloom this week.  Their color is just brilliant, even in the dimness of early dawn, and their perfume just fills the air.   What's even more miraculous about these, and gives me another opportunity to pause with awe over the miracle of life, is that I never planted these!  I'm not sure where they came from - maybe a neighbor's plant produced seeds that settled here behind the deck?  Wherever they came from, they sure are beautiful!  

 Here's a close-up:

Hope your morning (and day) is glorious!

A Little R&R

 On Wednesday, my family traveled to our vacation home in the Poconos at Masthope Mountain Community.  We've been spending July 4th there for years and it's become kind of a tradition.  Last year there was a whole crowd of people at the house, but this year it was just us, so we got in some much needed R&R and family time.  We spent time relaxing at the pool and swimming in the lake.  Usually the crowds this time of year are horrendous, but it didn't seem as bad as usual, maybe because the 4th fell on a Wednesday and the crowds came more on the weekends.

 Part of my R&R included reading (nothing better than digging into a juicy novel on the screened-in porch after a day in the sun!) but I also brought along some hand stitching.  I added some highlights and details to my seahorse tee shirt.  It's kind of hard to tell in the photo, but I think the metallic thread adds just the right amount of definition and sparkle.  Can't wait to wear it to work this week (I can't believe my summer programs begin on Tuesday, as does camp for the girls!).

 I also brought along some rectangles of fabric and pre-fused prints to make a Prayer Flag.  These are a variation on the traditional Buddhist prayer flags, which are solid-colored fabric flags symbolic of the 5 elements (yellow-earth, green-water, red-fire, white-air, blue-space).  These flags are hung outside to help bring harmony and balance to the world as the wind blows through them and the weather eventually wears them down and carries them away.  Vivika Hansen DeNegre took off on this idea to start the Prayer Flag Project in June of 2011.  "She invited people from around the world to join her in making Prayer Flags.  Each flag is created in the artists' own style, then hung outside for a while, its words and sentiment dissolving into the wind and being spread to all whom the wind touches. They are a living, breathing, kinetic journal of our hopes, dreams and concerns."  I made one for my FANE group a while back, (see it here)  but hadn't made any more.  I thought a small, hand stitched project like this might be a good thing to do while away; I came up with this Independence Day-themed flag, below.

More and more to me, it seems our country is being pulled apart by too much selfish dissension.  While I value and respect all our differences, as Abraham Lincoln said, "a house divided cannot stand," so during this week of celebrating our independence and many freedoms, I will hang up my flag praying for Unity.