3:30am

In the townhouse at MACU, I could just make-out a light pitter-patter when it rained.  The night storm over Carrollton fills my small home.  The lightening breaks through the edges of my eclipse curtains.  The thunder is boisterous and not concerned with my 7am alarm.  The rain wavers; it soothes as it trickles slowly down the windows and then pounds with fury against the roof.  According to the clock I have only been in bed for three hours and asleep for fewer.  With the storm in my ears, I flow between consciousness and the subconscious state just before sleep.

Reflecting on friendships, new and old

Praying prayers of thanksgiving, worry, and deliverance

Dreaming of a better me

Creating check-lists for tomorrow

Listening intently 

Being distracted

    at times accidentally

    at times intentionally

The storm moves on, rumbling in the distance, and eventually sleep creeps in.  Will tomorrow morning bring a more motivated, determined, organized, grace-filled me?  Or just sleep deprivation? 

Blessed to Bless Others

While I was mourning my kite shirt, I reflected on those in Japan who have lost everything.  Corey and I have been watching videos of the destruction and it is heartbreaking.  I can't imagine watching my possessions, home, town, and entire way of life being washed away.  To be surrounded by such magnitudes of destruction and devastation as waves of helplessness and hopelessness drowned me.

And here I am bawling over one shirt.

Then I began to think about all the people in the world who don't own a single shirt let alone a favorite one, families that have no home to lose.  There is need around me all the time.

And I have a home full of favorite things.

I am blessed. God has given me much.  Do I appreciate His gifts?  What am I doing with what He has given me?  How can I help those in need in Japan? In Nicaragua? In Georgia?

More Foam Board

Here are some other projects I worked on for Southern Hills.

On Wednesday nights we are doing a series called "B."  Jon Day, the Executive Pastor, asked me to make a gigantic letter B for a prop.  He bought 5 pieces of insulation foam board each 1 inch thick.  I drew the original B, cut it out, and then traced it on the remaining sheets.  After cutting out those, I glued them all together with insulation foam board glue and voila- an 8 foot tall, 5 inch thick, self-standing B.  Jon paints it a different color each week.  Again, you can't see the depth of the B in the picture, but you get the idea.  It looks awesome on stage!

For the Sunday morning Heroes series, we transformed the entire stage.  I created the word heroes, making 4ft high letters out of 5 pieces of 1/2 inch thick insulation foam board glued together.  I painted them with a high gloss white and added some grays for a grunge effect.  Here's some pictures without any lighting effects.  (For those who would like to know- the hanging windows are 2x2 boards nailed to create a frame with thin fabric stretched over it and stapled.  A frame with a t in the middle was made and then laid on top of the fabric frames and sprayed with black spray paint to create a window pane look.)

Add some LEDs and projection and here's the result.  Very cool!

Fail

Yesterday was a total fail for me in terms of t-shirt making and feeling confident in my crafting abilities.

I've been working on re-creating my first original shirt for my online shop.  This design involves bleaching in three different stages.  I began working on this shirt a few days ago and it didn't go well.  Yesterday morning was terrible.  I won't get into all the boring details, but to get right to the point this shirt will not be for sale.

It was very discouraging.  And it gets worse.

While re-thinking this project, I created a small addition that was not on the original.  Frustrated with everything going wrong, I desperately wanted something to go right.  So I dug the original out of the hamper and set out to add this adorable addition.  I could tell almost immediately that it wasn't going as planned.  Luckily I was able to stop the bleaching process with minimal damage.  Later in the evening, I decided to give it another go.  I had worked with this shirt before; I knew how it would react to the bleach.  I was extra cautious when laying out my stencil and I bleached wisely.  Everything seemed to be going great... until I removed the stencil and it revealed a large, unwanted, bleached spot.

My first original t-shirt ruined.

I did everything right!  Why did this happen?!?

I cried.
A lot.

Not just because one of my favorite shirts was now my favorite dish rag, but mostly because of how discouraged I felt.  I wanted to forget the whole online shop idea.  But by the end of the night I was thinking rationally about the pains of the creating process (and the money I already invested) and was ready to try again.

So what did I learn?

1- Bleach is not easy to work with and will not be my medium of choice in the future.

2- I like to see results; sometimes I need to wait for them.  Allow the bleach to react, let the paint dry, wait a moment while he digests the idea, sleep on it, give it time.  The results will be much more satisfactory.

3- Somethings are good just the way they are and should be left alone.

4- When everything is falling apart and frustrating the mess out of you, set it all aside and come back to it later.  Working on something you love is NOT the answer.  Curling up on the couch with your man is.

My Online Shop

Friends have often recommended that I take my crafting hobby to the next level and sell my creations online.  I appreciated the compliments, but never moved forward in creating pieces I could sell.  My insecurities got the best of me and I didn't think what I made was good enough for retail.  My lack of time gave me a viable excuse for not starting an online shop.  When discussing this with one of my friends, he said that in this instance, my opinion was the only opinion that didn't matter.  He has a point.

Moving to Georgia, I have found a lot more time for crafting and, with the encouragement of my husband, I am beginning to take the next steps towards posting my creations online for purchase.  Every week I try to create a few new pieces for my online shop and am brainstorming how to market my "brand."  I'm excited and enjoying the creating process, but I am also very nervous.

I fear rejection.  What if no one buys my products?

I fear not being good enough.  What if someone buys something and then sends it back?

I fear failing.  What if I spend more money on this than I make?

And if no one likes my stuff, is that some sort of reflection on myself?

You know those singers on American Idol that are terrible and delusional?  Most are auditioning because someone told them they could sing and they bought into the lie.  Am I doing the same thing?

Despite the quiet lingering fears, I am moving forward once more.  I have several pieces of jewelry ready, a purse done and another almost complete, and several shirts at varying stages of the creating process.  I have found a model for my jewelry and will start taking photos this week.  Now I need a name...

So if you have any ideas for my brand name, please share!

Or if you have a computer you are willing to part with (or sell for dirt cheap), I could also use that.  Seems to be an essential component for an online business...

Check back in for more updates on my online shop (along with contests and discount codes!).

If I hear that pig one more time...

Ever since I was little, I have considered myself something of a commercial critic.  I would commentate with my dad about the quality of the commercial and if the marketers were accomplishing what they had intended.  At a young age, mostly we were discussing the level of annoyance.  Now that I am older, have some knowledge about "branding," and am married to a man with a marketing mind, my commercial critiquing has reached a whole new level.

Chic-fil-A are marketing geniuses.  The slogan and the mischievous cows are clever, but the manner in which the company uses them is utter brilliance.  I cannot recall a single advertisement for Chic-fil-A that does not incorporate the cows.  They have cow plush, cow calendars, cow table decorations and cow ads throughout the restaurant.  When Chic-fil-A introduced the new spicy breakfast sandwich, they didn't draw up a whole new marketing plan; they gave the cow a coat.    They have truly branded themselves and their marketing techniques.

Geico on the other hand... how many mascots and marketing schemes can they create?!?  First it was the gecko- a good idea I thought.  Then they introduce the caveman with new slogan.  I was not a fan particularly because they already had a marketing plan, but I also found these commercials annoying.  I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe they were introducing a new advertising strategy and phasing out the gecko.  Nope.  Next thing I know, they release another commercial series with the man in a suit and cut-aways.  Seriously?  To give Geico credit, the Abe Lincoln ad was entertaining and the piggy going wee wee wee all the way home was funny.  But it diverted from their original branding strategy.  Now I find that all the gecko commercials with the ignorant old man indicate the company's own ignorance, I rarely see a caveman commercial, and if I hear that pig one more time I'm going to choke somebody.

Has my dining at Chic-fil-A increased because of their marketing?  Probably not, but it does cause me to give their billboards a second look.  Will I ever switch to Geico?  Not on your life.

Heroes: Stage Design

This past Sunday was the first of a 9 week, church wide series at Southern Hills called "Heros."  Each week we are looking at a hero from the Old Testament leading up to Jesus on Easter Sunday.  Several weeks ago I began building the stage set for the All Stars, our children's ministry.  After the volunteer's banquet on Saturday night, I began setting it up.  With a few hitches, help from Corey, and some much appreciated insight from Kevin Jarrett, it all came together.  Here's a few pictures to give you an idea, but the depth of the set is lost.  To get the full effect, you'll have to come check it out personally!

For those who might find it helpful, here are the logistics of the set- The Pow, Bam, Boom, and Batman logo are made of insulation foam board.  I used foam board because it is light, easy to work with, and adds a dimension to the piece.  You can purchase this at Lowes or Home Depot.  It comes in varying thickness.  Your project (and budget) will determine what thickness will be best.  For these pieces I used 3/4 inch foam board.  I projected the images onto the board, traced it, cut it out using a hot knife and jig saw, and finally painted it with your basic acrylic paints.  (Most insulation foam board has a plastic sheet on it that needs to be peeled off prior to painting.)  Pow, Bam, and Batman are hung with fishing line from the frame of the ceiling.  For the Batman logo, I simply used duck-tape to attach the fishing line to the back of the foam board.  The Boom is actually 3D itself, with the "Boom" and yellow explosion each being two pieces thick and the black background is one (which I should have also made two thick so that it would be more stable, but hindsight is 20/20).  Foam board glue must be used with insulation foam board; other adhesives will eat through the styrofoam.

The city silhouette is cut out of thin plywood.  (I believe it's called polywood, but that might not be right.  It's whatever the cheapest 4x8 sheet of wood is at Lowes).  It is 10 inches away from the wall, screwed into a 2x4 that we nailed onto the floor.  It stands on its own fairly well, but to add stability we added a 10 inch piece of 2x4 towards the top and middle.  The lit windows of the city are mailing labels that we printed all yellow and cut into squares.  The starburst behind the city is the back of a canvas we used for a previous series.  It is hung from its grommets with picture hooks.  Behind the city is a rope light that adds another dimension to the set and makes the city "glow."