A VERY MERRY!!!

WHEW!!!

it's over!!!! the kids, congregation, staff, and pastors all had fantastic things to say. i'm so happy and so thankful that it went well! i really felt the power of the Holy Spirit today, honestly, in the support and encouragement of everyone in the house. it was so fun to see the church packed to the rafters and to hear the crowd reaction to the kids as they played their roles. yay!

now i just get to enjoy christmas like a normal person. i don't even have to repair the star again this year! since we made a new one last year, it's holding up a lot better than the first one. it's construction foam (the pink stuff) which i painted with two coats of primer then decopauged with gold tissue paper. the old one was just painted and dented/scratched a lot quicker. the gold paper gives this one a nice crusty shell that is almost un-scratchable!

if you want to be moved to tears by a story of what freedom of religion can look like, go here now. i have been reading her blog for several months now and i feel like peaches is my sister from another mister.

the week's big chop...

you know it's time when pencils and knitting needles substitute for hair bands and a hat substitutes for a shower. when you wash and dry it and that's it. it's time to give your hair to someone else who will make better use of it that you will. it's time to chop it off for locks of love.
three pony tails worth of boredom will be packed into a padded envelope and sent off to do something for a change. the longest one is destined to be made into a kid's wig, and the two shorter ones will be sold for toupees and the like, and the money will go back to LOL.
i feel SO much better with short hair again. it's been years since it's been this short-and people's reactions are hilarious. 'You look younger!' 'You look older!' the head pastor at work keeps calling me the 'new becca' which i think is hilarious since i've worked there off and on going on 18 years now.
tomorrow is the pageant rehearsal and sunday, it all goes down. due to snow and kids being out sick, we've only had one day of actual song rehearsal and only one day of rehearsing the lines with the kids, and i'll never have had the 'adult' cast together in one room before we perform it DURING WORSHIP on sunday. OH and Mary has to take her ACT's tomorrow since they got snowed out last weekend. it's fine, not like she has a huge role in the whole thing......... i'm terrified. if this pageant is a disaster i fear another big chop this week......

Owls and Snowmen

As the storm of the 21st century blows into MN, I'm delighted to spend a third day in a row in my studio. I actually took a sick day from job numero uno on Thursday, what a treat!!!!

The Bibelot has placed a final pre-Christmas order, and my wintery stuff is selling well at I Like You so I'm in a mad frenzy to re-stock for all the non-big-box shoppers out there in the world. Thank you for supporting local artists!
The owls pictured are going to the Bibelot, they have four locations so check each one. These are ornament sized-they fit in your hand. I loves them! Each one turns out cuter than the last!!! Bigger owlies are also available at their stores, and ILY will be getting medium-sized ones (photos to follow). Find snowmen like these at ILY.

my monthly gift...no...not that one!

ah ok so this whole regular blogging thing is not working out so great now is it?

if you'd had a glance at my calendar you'd see why.

highlights since we last spoke include (but are not limited to) the green gift fair at the midtown global market, the annual i like you ornament sale, then thanksgiving with a visit from my cousin jay and his family and a trunk show at the bibelot. oh and then that whole night in bethlehem business.

videos and photos follow. animal and ornament construction continues unabated.