46 Fireflies!

I concluded making crosses on the day before Easter. On that day I had crafted a total of 46 crosses since Ash Wednesday. I have mentioned before that our family have been members of churches of different denominations. Most of those denominations have not observed Lent. Not long after I first learned about Jesus and how God had sent His son to die for me, I was sitting in a Sunday School class in a Baptist church with other 7th and 8th graders. Our teacher suggested we give up something in the time leading up to Easter. This was an unusual suggestion for a Baptist Sunday School teacher to make. She explained that by giving up something we could more fully focus on the sacrifice of Christ. Ideally you would take the time you usually spent doing whatever it was you were giving up and you would read your Bible and pray. I remember struggling with which thing I should give up. The three that I struggled with the most as a 7th grader were giving up watching television, giving up talking with friends on the phone, or giving up drinking coke. And what is very strange is that I do not remember what I chose. Making the decision seemed to be the most difficult part because I couldn't imagine my teenage life without those things.

Since that time I have gone for years without doing anything special for Lent. But over the last few years I have either given up something or made a commitment to do something like read the Bible for an hour every day, etc. Making crosses has been the most meaningful of all the things I have done over the years. I think there are many reasons for this. I could not make a cross without thinking about Jesus and His sacrifice. Most of the crosses took time to plan and make which brought a greater level of devotion than I have given in the past. Making crosses involved community. By posting the crosses on Facebook each day I had the pleasure of sharing something very meaningful to me, in return many people were supportive and encouraging. One person often shared a verse in the comment section, several people commented that the cross reminded them of something. The firefly cross reminded my friend Susan S. of the lightening bugs from her past and that is exactly what they reminded me of. I was flooded with memories of running barefoot through the Saint Augustine grass and chasing lightening bugs, carrying my glass jar with holes punched in the lid. Later that night I would watch the lightening bugs in the jar before I went to sleep. My mom would then release the lightening bugs back into the night.

 Isaiah 28:16 “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”

My dear friend Denise gave me a bag of buttons to use in making crosses. I made two crosses using her buttons. This experience reminded me and other Facebook friends of being children and playing in the button box or the button jar. I remember sitting on the floor amongst all the buttons, counting, sorting, letting them fall between my fingers. We (me, Denise and Shirley) were thankful in those memories for the kind of childhood that allowed time for creative play and for the leisure and joy of an abundance of buttons. 

Palm Sunday Cross

 As I drew closer to Easter I wanted to add more overt meaning to the crosses. Until this time I had let the crosses speak for themselves but in making the crosses I began to want to have a theme. For these crosses with the fish my theme was the feeding of the 5,000! I like to think that just from examples from my life alone that God has a sense of humor. I hope He thought my little fish were funny. I used a rubber stamp and then colored each little fish with Prismacolor markers.(John 6: 1-15 Jesus feeds 5,000!)

 Making crosses: day 42
His eye is on the sparrow...

 The yellow cross was very special because my friend, Tiffany, gave me the wooden cross that I painted yellow and then "aged". He father made the cross, he works with wood to make beautiful things. I was honored to have his lovely cross as a base for mine. I love the artist David Arms; many of his paintings have musical-bird themes that speak to some aspect of faith. His Eye is On the Sparrow is a beautiful hymn that I had someone sing at my mother's funeral. I wanted to make a cross that honored my mother, Tiffany's dad and the joy we have in knowing that His Eye Is On the Sparrow....and I know He watches me. 

In all the making of crosses I tried to stay away from secular themes. I wanted the crosses to be about Faith and not about any other things. I love to run and I had the thought of making a cross that celebrated the joy and the gift from God of running.  But when I do something that is for God, dedicated to Him I want to make sure that my own stuff doesn't get mixed up in it. It never felt right to make a cross centered around running even though running is a very spiritual experience for me. I did possibly dip into my own bias when I made the cross with the star. I found the star in a store and wanted to use it on a cross. I searched my yard for something weathered to make the cross out of and found two landscaping stakes in the back of the property. It was all coming together and then as I began to paint it --clearly it became a Texas themed cross. It is hard to suppress TEXAS! I did not want the cross to be just another symbol of Texas pride. I remembered that I was first drawn to the star and then I remembered the verse: "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright Morning Star." Revelation 22:16 

This was my favorite cross of all the crosses. I painted the base cross, then found some tiny pictures in Dr. Stanley's InTouch Magazine. I cut them out, glued them in and then used gesso to cover them. You can't tell from the picture but I also sprayed on an iridescent paint that makes the whole thing shimmer. I mixed some paint to make some colors that would go along with the mood of the pictures. I outlined some of the detail of the pictures beneath the gesso. I glued on the words "through a glass darkly". This has always been one of my favorite verses. 

‎"We know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away...For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.(1 Cor.13: 9-10, 12 KJV)

 My friend Don Soula added the following verse in the comment section when I posted this cross on Facebook: ‎"They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again." - Mark 10:32-34.

The interactive nature of the project, the comments, memories and encouragement of others added so much more to this experience than I would have found if I had made the crosses in my little office and they had never seen the light of day/internet. Sometimes I was afraid I was calling attention to myself, 'Look at me, I'm creative!", or "I'm spiritual!" but that is not what my heart felt. When I had doubts I thought about all the times I am encouraged when someone posts a Bible verse on Facebook. I am bombarded with shocking and disturbing images in music, books  on the internet, on television, on billboards, in stores, everywhere. I am always thankful for the glimpses of grace and for other believers who humbly share the Light.

This was my Facebook Post on the final day:  "Making Crosses: 46th and FINAL day! I just finished the last cross. I will post it tomorrow for Easter! I just want to say that the cross of the crucifixion was horrific. I have tried to make attractive crosses in recognition of the beautiful gift Christ has given me. Anyone who accepts Christ is given eternal life but also (if we let Him) He will make all the unlovely parts of us beautiful. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ , he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." 2 Cor. 5:17"

 He is risen, just as He said!

I will be looking for a project like this one to do again. I am thankful to Janet Elmore and the Making Crosses book by Ellen Morris Prewitt for the inspiration to start this project. It has blessed me and I hope others. I most hope that the crosses have been like the little fireflies released into the night from their jar to shine a small light into the darkness.

 

Making Crosses Outside!!!!

It is a beautiful day here in Texas! We began our day in worship, then I taught the third graders (they were happy today), we went out for wonderful Mexican food and dined alfresco, and returned home. It was so pretty outside I was not ready to begin a project inside.

A friend (Janet) who helped inspire my cross making project sent me a photo a few weeks ago of 6 people's hands. They had joined their hands together in such a way that it made a cross. Someone got underneath their hands and took a photo looking up at the sky.

I thought this was a great idea. This picture was originally posted at Jesus Loves You. I did not have five or six friends nearby so I improvised. I enlisted Parker to be my assistant.

We got carried away and took other pictures in addition to the original sky idea.

This is my favorite son and loyal assistant, Parker! There are so many things I would not be able to do without the extra hand and the extra brain power of Dean, Bailey and Parker!

Just a thought on the first picture of the cross and the sky (even though there was not a cloud in the sky today): "And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.". Acts 1:9

Making Crosses- 32 Days and Counting

I continue to enjoy this project. Here are my thoughts so far. I am posting each day's photo of the cross on Facebook. This has been very helpful because people seem to enjoy seeing them and many people say kind and encouraging things. This is very helpful with the perseverance and accountability needed to do something every day even if you do not have time or don't feel like it that day. I do need to make sure that my focus stays on Christ.

It is challenging to make a cross every day that is interesting with the things available. I can see where I might later want to do a project where you make something once a week. Then you could use a day to plan and get ideas. Another day you could go out and search for materials or buy supplies that would leave 5 days to paint on a layer, let it dry, mold something, bake it, paper mache one day- paint the next, etc. Some of the things I wanted to do involved supplies I do not have on hand.  I want to buy a white paint pen and a white marker to use on black. I also want to buy a small box of crayons to do one of those pictures where you color very hard with the crayon in color, then you color over it with black - then you scratch away the black to reveal the colors below. When I was in elementary school we colored orange onto paper in this way, covered it in black crayon and then scratched on a jack-o-lantern. Is it strange that I remember that?

The two crosses above were made using Prismacolor markers. I love Prismacolor markers! Many years ago I noticed and liked the artwork of Mary Englebreit. One of her famous greeting cards pictures a little girl in a chair, I think she is surrounded by toys with a crown on her head and a royal cloak about her shoulders. The caption says "It's good to be Queen!". I read an article about Mary Englebreit and her work, she often uses Prismacolor markers. So I bought some. I love them! They make me happy. I have used them over the years to make three little pig birthday invitations, Christmas cards, newsletters, illustrations for an enrichment program and many other alien, cowboy, construction, pirate, dinosaur, Medieval,  Egypt, China--themed kid projects and decorations.

Below are the other crosses created this week. The "remember" cross is made from a post card mailed to me by my  friend Nanette from her Spring Break trip to Paris! Parker said it looked like something from a scrapbook and that's because I used scrapbook paper, scrapbook embellishments and scrapbook techniques to make it. There are two Zentangle crosses, an origami heart cross  (Instructions here) and a cross made by using the technique of quilling. The origami cross was very time consuming because I wanted to make an origami dove. I tried for at least half an hour to fold several sheets of origami paper into a dove. I could not figure it out. I was using instructions from an origami book, I then went back to the easy origami site and checked to see if Nancy Jenks had dove making instructions, alas she did not, but she did have heart instructions, so there it is. I am often constrained by my artistic limitations, the key is: Do not give up and make substitutions with skills you already have when necessary!


Bailey will be here this week. I plan to have her collaborate with me on some ideas and cross making projects. There will be another post today. It's a long story but it has to do with not being able to get Blogger to do what I want it to. In this case I would like to add text and some more pictures below the pictures at the bottom of this post...it won't let me. Bailey will be here soon to solve all my Blogger problems. continued!

Making a Cross and Pancakes on St. Patrick's Day

I'll begin with the St. Patrick's Day portion of this post. In honor of St. Patrick's Day and all things GREEN I made green pancakes! I have mentioned before that Parker has an aversion to all things green, this only applies to food. Green is actually his favorite color. Anyway, he enthusiastically began to eat his pancakes but I could tell by the surprise in his voice when he said, "These are good" that he suspected I had put vegetables in them. I made them with Bisquick mix and added vanilla and a little bit of sugar and also green food coloring. We loved them!

Now for the cross making part of the day! The internet is filled with inspiration and sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes something kind of ordinary will jump out at you. Perhaps on another day I would have passed it by but today I took a closer look. This is the graphic that caught my attention this morning:  from Clay Pot Ideas on Facebook.

 This picture gave me the idea to arrange the names of Jesus in the shape of a cross. It would be like a "things to remember" board, where you  tape up the names of who He really is so you don't forget. This week I needed to remember that He is the Prince of Peace, the Bright and Morning Star, He is wonderful, He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.He is The Corner Stone.

 

The names of Jesus with scripture references are found here. I did not use all the names. Around the edge of the project I wrote the lyrics for the chorus of the Casting Crowns song, My Savior Lives. Video with lyrics are here on You Tube. I have this song on my nano and I love to listen to it while I run. Jesus is so many things to me, Savior, Redeemer, Counselor but the one thing that matters most is that He Lives! He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the END.

So Far So Good, 24 Days of Making Crosses

something green and glittery!

Making crosses every day has become more challenging this week. A trip to the ER for a pill stuck in my throat did not help. I know this is TMI (too much information) but you will wonder why one of the crosses is made out of hospital bracelets. Wonder no more!

 

 I made this cross by painting card stock with watercolors. I then wrote the Armor Of God verses (Ephesians 6:10-18) on the cross, then I used watercolor crayons to write "Faith" and accentuate the edges. We are memorizing these verses with the third graders in my Sunday School class. They  have such quick memories. I am struggling with the verses. The first four were great, but now my slightly older than third grade brain is rejecting any further verses. It's a battle I must win!

The hospital bracelet cross!

"And God said, Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to it's kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:20-21 :)

Even though this has been a challenging week, I still find peace in knowing that God is with me. I especially enjoyed drawing the little animals on the cross I made today. I love to think about the vast variety of creatures that God has made for us to enjoy and be fascinated with. I think I enjoy trying to create pretty things because I am made in the image of the Great Creator. It doesn't matter what the finished "product" looks like, it matters that I find joy in the process of making it just as God must have when He created the world and all that is in it and then pronounced it was "good".

Making Crosses Continued

Making Crosses: Day 11

In the past when I have given up something or added something for a set time I typically lose focus. I may keep doing whatever I have said I will do or not doing what I said I wouldn't do but these things become another thing on my to-do list, something to put a check by and move on. Making crosses has been different. I look forward to making the crosses every day and so it becomes not just another thing that has to be done but something I am excited about. I think God would be pleased if I approached all my commitments this way. I have to say that I have not brought the same enthusiasm to my reading in Numbers and Deuteronomy (for the read-the-Bible in a year plan)!

Making Crosses: Day 12

I "tangled" this cross using Knight's cross, Mod Box and some other Zentangles. I love tangling the crosses because it is very relaxing. I have been playing my Bible reading for the day in the background from You Version while I tangle. Once I get into the groove of making the particular pattern it is easy to focus on the scriptures playing in the background. I have to pause the reading when I begin a new pattern but soon I can begin it again.

I made these crosses for the Awesome Bible Study Ladies to commemorate the end of our study of James! These, too, had a meditative quality once I memorized the folding sequence. After the first five or so, they were easy to make. I found the directions for these crosses at Easy Origami Crafts.

Making Crosses: Day 14

Making Crosses: Day 15

Making Crosses: Day 17

I used a stamp of the mason jar and then cut out crosses to go inside. I thought the crosses were like us, little fireflies caught in a big world. Because of Christ we can shine our light in the dark mason jar of our world. I loved catching fireflies when I was little, we called them lightening bugs!

Making Crosses: Day 16

The white base puzzle cross was something I purchased from Michael's or Hobby Lobby. I found it in the craft cabinet and decided to do a different Zentangle pattern on each piece. I tried many new patterns and made lots of mistakes! I enhanced the photo by taking it with a phone app called Awesome Camera. Awesome camera allowed me to add the border and darken the picture.

One of the choices on the app is to "awesomize" your photo! My photos (and my crafts) need all the awesomizing they can get!  There are lots of jokes about "there's an app for that", I can understand why. It would be great to be doing something and then press the awesomize app and suddenly whatever you are doing is hazy in a moody and exciting way. I would really like to walk around with a soft focus lens app for my appearance! I know I would look amazing softened by a fuzzy glow! Or better yet, there could be a "What Would Jesus Do" app that would change my demeaner and my words into something that really does shine a light in our world rather than the complaint, the grimace or the irritation I was about to display.

The problem with an app like that or with the "easy button" is that if we use it we do not learn or grow. I use many iphone camera apps to enhance my photos. I have not learned how to take better pictures, how to use lighting properly, how to use my photo software on my computer or added in any way to my knowledge of photography. If  I had to learn how to enhance the photo through time and effort I could build a base of knowledge and skill that I could use again and again, preparing me for future picture taking. My words and actions are often incorrectly lit and poorly staged; if there was an app for that I would not give the time and effort to God's Word that is needed to grow and change. Convenience and efficiency are wonderful but sometimes quality and depth require that we give time and effort.