Adoption is Everywhere!

...and I'm happy about knowing that more children will be with loving families.

It feels like everyone I know is adopting, fostering, or giving money to those who are. It's exciting, and I'm a tiny bit jealous too. I'm still waiting to hopefully have a family of my own someday, but until then I can make fun things for them to give away.

I wanted to craft not too long ago because I had borrow a Cricut from a friend, and I was able to cut all sorts of festive shapes and letters from scrapbook paper with ease. Hooray! However, there is absolutely no more space in my room for any more stuff. There's no current wall space to display what I already have, so I did the next best thing.

I made something to give away on someone's adoption blog; I just assumed it would be my friend Cole. I have yet to frame it and give it to her though.

Until then, here's what it looks like, and maybe you can win it on her blog sometime in the near future.

From My Sketchbook: Shine

I have a confession to make...

I doodle in church. I know, I know, but don't judge me before I explain myself.

Sitting still and staying quiet does not come naturally to me. I have NEVER been know as quiet...EVER! When I was a kid, I would marvel at how people could keep their eyes closed for the entire invitation time; I certainly could not.

You can imagine that if the 3-5 minute invitation was a stretch; the sermon was like a marathon for me. One where I usually got in trouble for talking and then eventually punished for talking too much.

I have never known my life without drawing; it is part of who I am. It's only fair that it seeps into ever area of my life...even church.

I'm proud to admit that I still draw in church. It actually keeps me focused, quiet, and more attentive to what is being said. It has a way of quieting my soul to allow me to hear God, instead of noticing that someone else has just gotten up to make their way to the bathroom. :)

I used to just draw on whatever scrap paper was available and ended up tossing most of my artwork when I would clean out my Bible. Thankfully, I started bringing a sketchbook with me each week, so I can hang onto the creations that are birthed during the sermons.

I wanted to begin sharing some of them with you. Here's the first one. It was originally just a swirl, which looked more like an "s" and turned into the word shine.

Shining is such a positive thing; no one wants to be dull, right? Enjoy.

Collage Finished: Check

I started this collage back in December with my friend McKenzie. We had good intentions of doing the whole project in one evening. Clearly, that didn't happen, since I just completed mine yesterday. After six months, success!

Fleur de lis images have become icons in New Orleans; they're everywhere. I'm sure you've seen them. It took me almost four years to even begin to accept the prevalence of this image in my city, so I'm still a little surprised that I used a fleur de lis in this collage. I'm not sure why....it just happened.

Enough talk...here it is. McKenzie, if you're reading this, I'm ready for a new project. :)