The past couple of months have been wonderful. It has been sooooooo nice to be able to take it easy and just work on projects that interest me. Much of my recovery time was spent crocheting and once I got started it seemed that I couldn't really stop! I did dozens of cotton dish rags in every color imaginable. It feels great to have so many Christmas gifts done early.
I did so much crocheting that it made my arm ache. I had to broaden my ideas so I started doing a little painting...
This was the wax resist class I took this fall. I decided to do a painting of something I love - the temple - and share it with others who I know also love the temple.
I finally finished another encaustic painting, not a new one, but one that needed the final touches. Here is how it turned out. It is titled 'A Time and A Season' because it depicts the need for change and the beauty that comes with it.
One morning I was taking the kids in for early morning seminary and was delighted with the spectacular sunrise. Such a pretty town in the morning... Sunrises always remind me of paintings. I can't help but think that Heavenly Father loves to delight us with his unique uses of color each morning and evening as the sun rises and sets. His love for us is so very evident in each beautiful skyline!
This year I decided to make special ties for the men in the family that are reminiscent of their missions. This was a fun project because each tie turned out so uniquely different! I couldn't believe how easy it was to do either...
These are five of the finished projects. I love how they turned out!!!
Here are the last two I did later. I love the bright colors.
This year I did a temple block for a special person. I love the teal and purple combination that came together in the finished project!
This year I did a temple block for a special person. I love the teal and purple combination that came together in the finished project!
Every year we like to make Christmas tree decorations. This year we made beaded ones...
One last beaded project finished 3 snowflakes ready to hang on the tree. I love the blue and white combination!
Christmas is that wonderful time of year when it is so appropriate to express our gratitude for others with the gifts that we share. I have found that we only enjoy the things that we allow ourselves to enjoy. It is uncanny how many wonderful things we participate in only to discover in retrospect that we didn't enjoy them to the fullest. Why not? We just have to want to.
Christmas is about putting irksome little things aside, bidding them goodbye and good riddance forever and then delighting in the moment each and every second of our lives. For me, sparkling ornaments remind me of this principle. The light cannot hit all the surfaces at once, but the more light, the more sparkle there is. If each sparkle depicted joy then it only makes sense to open the way for more light. Allowing light into our lives allows the sparkling aura of joy to radiate through us and extend to those around us as well. This is what makes the holiday celebrations with family and friends so memorable because it is the Spirit of Christ that instills the joy that reflects off of us as we let light radiate through our beings.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year. May we all radiate the joy that comes from our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment