Light from the Darkness: Day 32: Lent Journey

^“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”-John 1: 1-5

As we draw nearer to Easter our focus tends to shift towards how we will celebrate Easter day.  We see the light and joy to come.  While there is still darkness to journey through, it is nice to see the light breaking through.  We are reminded that darkness has not overcome the light.

I used to be a nanny.  One of the perks of my job  was getting to play with the kids and be creative.  Same perks as a stay at home mom…who knew?

This was a creation from my nanny days.  I had not painted since I was in Mr. T’s (no, not that one) art class in elementary school, and I surprised myself.  While I am not about to enter this in an art contest, as a self-described drawing deficient, I was quite pleased with my efforts.  I’ll let you interpret for yourself.  I’ve included some more angles of the painting. It was done as Easter art, so I thought it was time to dust it off and share it again.

Hope you enjoy it for what it is.  (I do not plan on pursuing a career in art, so don’t ask or beg me to!)

Light Overcoming the Darkness2

Light Overcoming Darkness3

Light Overcoming the Darkness4

Art (even poor excuses for art) is a great way to look into ourselves on our journey.  Give it a shot!

Gracefully~~Heather

Shiny New Custom Banner

Did you notice anything new about me…well my blog anyway?

I feel like a kid at Christmas!  I opened my email and saw a new post from my new blogger friend, Ellen Crawford, from Practice Makes Perfect.

She has been working on a custom banner for my blog all last week, and she finished it!  Squeeee!

I LOVE it!

I happened across her creative little corner of the world when I was Googling Photoshop tutorials.  At the time she was in the midst of a series of posts about her learning process with a trial of Photoshop.  She has some really awesome and eye-catching projects on her blog….you should click on over to Practice Makes Perfect and check them out!

One day as I was checking her latest post, I saw that she was playing around with banners and I commented that if she wanted some practice, that my poor blog needed some new life.  I did not think she’d be interested!  She was!  She very kindly created this banner for me with just a few suggestions of what I might like, and she did it for practice!

I feel so grateful and wish I could repay her with something as equally great.

Since I cannot afford to buy her Photoshop, or any other photo editing software, (at this time), I can promote her awesome blog!

So make my day and hers, and stop on by, check out her fun projects at Practice Makes Perfect, and say hello for me!

Thank you again, Ellen, for all your amazing work!

What do you all think of the new banner?

Gracefully~~Heather

DIY- Spring Styrofoam Art

Ever had a project idea that took you forever to get around to?  I have had several, and thanks to Pinterest, I now way too many to be reasonable.

I actually came across a DIY project for easy, inexpensive art at my cousin’s house way back in 2009 and stored it in my mental to-do list.

Guess what?  I finally did it myself (DIM!)

I completed this project before I got my awesome DSLR, so I didn’t have any step-by-step photos, but I have some great afters.

Easy Easter Art for Kids

I’ve been eating up simple craft and art ideas lately, tucking them away in my Micah file.  I know they will come in handy when Kasen arrives and I need something easy and quick to divert Micah’s attention and energy.  With Easter just around the corner, there are tons of Easter and Spring crafts floating around.  I saw one on Pinterest recently of a hand-print turned Easter bunny, and I was inspired.

While we include the Easter Bunny, eggs, candy, and all that jazz in our celebration, we also make sure our emphasis is focused on the real reason for Easter; Christ’s resurrection.  So, I thought, how can I put a faith spin on some fun and easy Easter art?  I only had to look as far as my hand!  Micah loves to have his hand traced and has a blast creating art from his handiwork! (Get it?!) =)

Here is what I came up with:

Micah gladly lent me his precious hand to trace and he enjoyed helping “color” with mommy’s paint pens.  (Markers would have been easier, but I could only find the crayola wonder markers!)

I only traced his 3 middle fingers creating the 3 crosses, and the base of his hand for the hill.  We decided the grass covering the dirt was a fun way to show new life springing forth.

Simple, easy to do on a large scale (Sunday School), and a fun craft to remind our kids that Easter is about Christ first!

Given the place of honor on our kid-friendly fridge!

What fun Easter art have you seen floating around?

Gracefully~~Heather