My Granddaughter

Something tells me Homegirl didn't want her picture taken. She probably wanted her binkie. She's a binkie kinda girl, through and through. Her momma and daddy don't dare leave home without a stash of pacifiers.

Isn't she beautiful? This picture makes me smile, from way down deep inside.


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Latest Addition to the Art Studio...

...is a beautiful chandelier, made by my daughter Hannah, over at Daughter By Design. She finds old-but-working light fixtures, and she blesses them with her eye for design, painting them, and adorning them with real crystals - either clear or of various colors. Then she sells them for a pretty penny. But this one, she made just for me...for my new art studio.

Gorgeous much?

 I knew you'd agree.  I think so, too.  Ignore the art journaling going on at the table (the beautiful leather bound book with the hand-edged watercolor papers, a gift from my other daughter, Sarah)...

...it has been a rough couple of weeks, here at the cottage.  I'm emoting on paper.  I've heard it called "Praying In Color".  It's cheaper than therapy, healthier than meds, and much easier on all my friends.

I'll fill you in on whatever it is that is going on later....whenever I figure out what is going on.  This could be a good thing, or it could be a very bad thing.  Youngest children tend to give their parents a run for their money like that.

And the nest?  Well...it may or may not be empty.  We shall see.

I know, right?  Pray for me, friends.  God, grant me the serenity.  Help me, Rhonda.  Jesus take the wheel...

...and I am so grateful for wild sons and stable daughters.  Both are a blessing - just in different ways.  One tends to be a happy sort of blessing, the other a blessing that deepens and strengthens you.

You know.  "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

I say it again - by faith, before the outcome can even be seen:

Grace will accomplish what the law could never do.

W.E.L.L. Being (A Video Weblog Series) : Humility

Sold Before I Could Put It In The Shop...But!

The original sold before I could list it in my shop.  But!  But prints are available in my shop.

Also, this is now available:

 My new design, called the "66/1".  (66 books in the Bible...only 1 message, and the cross is the key to understanding that message!)  I'm so excited about this long, lean, ultra-creative design.  The necklace has been test driven by my daughter Hannah and I both, and we love it...and it gets compliments.  It is an unusual design...not for everyone.  But I don't pretend to design for everyone - just artsy, creative Jesus freaks.

Yeah.  Pretty much, that is my demographic.  We're a small demographic, but our destiny is world domination.  (Cue Handel's Messiah..."and He shall reign forever and everrrrrr!")

You think I'm kidding.

 I'm stinkin' proud of it.  So proud to be serving the King with my gifts and art and life and blog...and stuff and things.

Goodnight.  It is late.  Amen.

Can Anyone Say It Better Than The Grace-Man, Spurgeon??

(clipped from the devotional "Morning and Evening" by C.H. Spurgeon, that Prince of Preachers...)

September 18 — Morning

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. {#Ga 5:25} The two most important things in our holy religion are the life of faith and the walk of faith. He who shall rightly understand these is not far from being a master in experiential theology, for they are vital points to a Christian. You will never find true faith unattended by true godliness; on the other hand, you will never discover a truly holy life which does not have as its root a living faith upon the righteousness of Christ. Woe to those who seek after the one without the other!

There are some who cultivate faith and forget holiness; these may be very high in orthodoxy, but they shall be very deep in condemnation, for they hold the truth in unrighteousness; and there are others who have strained after holiness of life, but have denied the faith, like the Pharisees of old, of whom the Master said, they were “whitewashed sepulchres.” We must have faith, for this is the foundation; we must have holiness of life, for this is the superstructure.

Of what service is the mere foundation of a building to a man in the day of tempest? Can he hide himself in it? He needs a house to cover him, as well as a foundation for that house. Even so we need the superstructure of spiritual life if we wish to have comfort in the day of doubt.

But do not seek a holy life without faith, for that would be to erect a house which can afford no permanent shelter, because it has no foundation on a rock. Let faith and life be put together, and, like the two abutments of an arch, they will make our piety enduring. Like light and heat streaming from the same sun, they are equally full of blessing. Like the two pillars of the temple, they are for glory and for beauty. They are two streams from the fountain of grace; two lamps lit with holy fire; two olive trees watered by heavenly care. Oh Lord, give us today life within, and it will reveal itself to your glory.

My First True Abstract-And My Personal Interior Design Style

Above the sofa, is my first large canvas - 4 feet long - and my first abstract mixed media piece. I painted it "on commission"...my daughter Hannah asked me to paint a large abstract for her as a housewarming gift.  This is it, hanging in her new living room. (if you click on the image above, you can see it, slightly enlarged...)

I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. I was also surprised at how difficult it was, yet at the same time, how fun it was to paint!

You can't see it, but I embedded an antique key onto the canvas...a gift from my neighbor Earl. I also stamped all the special dates that the McConnell household has experienced in its short history...their wedding day, Timothy's birthday, and the day they closed on this, their first house. You'd find them, hidden all around the canvas, if you could see it up close and in person. You'd also see vintage and antique book, hymnal, and wallpaper scraps in the background, giving this painting beautiful depth and texture. Heavy-bodied acrylics in shades of salmon, coral, orange, navy blue, turquoise, yellow, and slate gray were used, along with inks of black and yellow ochre.

I finished it off with daubs of white plaster, applied randomly with a palette knife.

Cannot wait to paint another, for my own living room, in calm, cool shades of orchid, eggplant, gray, misty blue, and putty colors....very Restoration Hardware.

As I renest, I have arrived at a very precise description of my personal style...I love Swedish/Gustavian flavors, but those words are too wide...too sweeping. I have long thought of how to describe the design I am going for - the quirky house-beauty
I see in my addled imagination.

Instead of merely "Swedish-Belgian-Gustavian" or "French Country", my style is precisely this: think Restoration Hardware meets Granny Chic.

I know. It has never been done. Y'all watch this...

...I am about to do it. I promise, over the upcoming months, to share photos. Leave it to me to pioneer a whole, new design aesthetic.

Now to give it a name...

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Soon To Be In My Shop

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