Gilead

"This is an important thing, which I have told many people,
and which my father told me, and which his father told him.
When you encounter another person, when you have deal-
ings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you.
So you must think, What is the Lord asking of me in this mo-
ment, in this situation? If you confront insult or antagonism,
your first impulse will be to respond in kind. But if you think,
as it were, This is an emissary sent from the Lord, and some
benefit is intended for me, first of all the occasion to
demonstrate faithfulness, the chance to show that I do in
some small degree participate in the grace that saved me,
you are free to act otherwise than as circumstances would
seem to dictate. You are free to act by your own lights. You
are freed at the same time of the impulse to hate or resent
that person. He would probably laugh at the thought that
the Lord sent him to you for your benefit (and his), but that
is the perfection of the disguise, his own ignorance of it."

from Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

accidental collector . .

Really and truly, of all the things I collect, I never started
out by thinking, "Oh, this would be fun to collect." The
stuff just wandered my way, looking for a good home--
Nemadji pottery, luncheon plates & cups, coats, purses,
rocks, old Christmas ornaments, Bibles, dictionaries--
seriously, would anybody INTENTIONALLY collect
DICTIONARIES???? What is wrong with me???

found my inchies!

Made these a long time ago for a swap, and was inordinately
fond of them. Then they were off in the mail, and every
time I read about inchies, I think of these little guys, out
in the world, all alone. Does someone love them? Or were
they thrown out like yesterday's junk mail? Why do I
like them so much, that's the real question . . . do other
people get weird about the stuff they make?

heart necklace for Valentine's Day

Here's an example of the cute heart necklace dear Jennifer is
GIVING AWAY at http://mommynecklace.blogspot.com/2008/01/heart-necklace-giveaway.html

Very fun, a little twist on the old ID type thing. Valentine's Day is
ridiculously close at hand, and I still have Christmas-on-the-brain!
Seriously, just got back some pics the other day. Still have a few
lights up inside, and the gingerbread village is still on the mantle.
*sigh*

swap charms

charm2
Originally uploaded by gshstrisha

Did three charms for a swap; they all incorporate shrink plastic, vintage chenille, and beads. These were great fun to make, but since I'm not exactly familiar with jewelry making, it was a little more challenging than anticipated. The link is for the other two charms . . .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74724352@N00/sets/72157603781336348

ATC swap book

atcbook cover
Originally uploaded by gshstrisha

Collaged/stamped ATC book with embossing powder paper beads
(very fun trick I learned from cloth, paper, scissors!) This is on its way
to Italy; I hope the swapper likes it! Here is a link to the rest of the book--maybe it will work, maybe not. I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing. *sigh.*

(okay, the link isn't here, because of a submission thing. ah, the power of the internet--the little book is in Italy, and yet, it still helps me out right here in the good ol' US of A! :)

mail art alice

mail art alice
Originally uploaded by gshstrisha

Since I'm not computer savvy enough to figure out how to post more than one flickr pic at a time, here's the other art card. I REALLY like the Alice in Wonderland stamps. Really really.

swap-bot mail art

mail art2
Originally uploaded by gshstrisha

Here are two of three post cards made for a swap.
Collage, stamped, inked, a little bit of paint--the
usual! The dragonfly was stamped on vellum and
cut out, with his wings colored a little and embossed
with clear so they'd be shiny. Well, they're shiny
in person, anyway.

the Christmas book is finally finished . . .

Lots of pictures. Lots of grandchildren. Click
on the book to check out the "album." The
only thing is, a lot of the pages have a lovely
iridescent quality in real life, due to using
Twinkling H2Os. Unfortunately, that doesn't
read in the pics. Just imagine the glistening
goodness . . .

All My Grandchildren

I hope the in-laws like it . . . by the way,
they're All My Children watchers for
forever, so thus the title . . .