Rhythms

I should explain something.

I promise you, I'm not hyperventilating. (I suppose it might look that way if all you see is, "Breathe in, Breathe out, Breathe in, Breathe out...)

I also promise you that my actual respiratory rate is not that low. I take more than one breath every day or so. :-)

Last year, I made an attempt at participating in one of the many 365 photo projects floating around the web. It seemed all well and good - an opportunity to look at my world through a creative lens on a regular basis - however, the pace was not sustainable. I got behind, and then I gave up. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was just one more thing to do. After a while, it felt forced, ingenuine. If you know me, you know I hate that.

There had to be some way to incorporate the looking and listening that I was hoping for with 365, without the frantic, guilty feeling I'd get (give myself) for skipping days.

Last month, I came across a blog that captured this, and I love their description:

"welcome to habit. a place to capture and celebrate the bits of our daily lives. it is our intention to make this capturing and celebration a habit, so we will be here regularly.

we'll be inviting friends to join us here. and in some small way, we are hoping to capture the collective life of a community of women who are artists and writers, photographers and bloggers, mothers and sisters and daughters and granddaughters, and thinkers and seers and wonderers.

we believe that there will be something extraordinary about holding these pieces of life together in one place."

(habit: about)

I may never be invited to participate in the habit postings (one can be invited as a guest contributor), but I see great value in the rhythms of the project itself.

After some thought, I decided to adopt it as a discipline, of sorts. My hope is to capture the rhythms of my own life and experience - to listen to the Lord and to listen to my heart more gently. I've spent far too much of my life tossing it around senselessly.

SO. I want to give credit where credit is due. Go visit habit, and maybe dive in yourself.

A little mischief...

I was making some Christmas presents this afternoon and got a little carried away.

The result was this:

Meeple Madness

The Meeple is a piece from one of my favorite boardgames - Carcassonne. I'm pretty sure I have solidly stepped into geekdom by pasting one on my shirt, but that's alright with me. :-)

Absence makes the heart grow...

Fonder, right?

(By the way, that's a really funny looking word. Fonder.)

Actually, it doesn't. Just for the record.

I mean, my fingers miss Facebook... every time I open my browser I start down the familiar path of check email, check Facebook, check blog-reader, check news (yes... in that order, it's sad, i know) & I come to a screetching halt on the second step.

But the rest of me has been breathing a great big sigh of relief and diving into the rest of life.

In lieu of Facebook & far too many hours of internet-based procrastination:
- I've begun to deal with some skunkiness in my own heart that I would've put off at least until Thanksgiving & possibly Christmas
- I've finished and sent off a paper two days before it was due
- I've done some much needed apartment cleaning
- I've been considering painting projects again (and actually done a little one!)
- I've gotten to work more on my sister's baby blanket

...and I've gotten up the courage to talk to God again (at least once)

These, my friends, are very good things.

season(ing)

hint of fall at end of summer,
hint of summer in midst of spring

welcome change of something other
gives me hope for better things

'cause i've been stuck in ruts and gutters
for longer than i care to say

but i know that a time is coming
when all these things will be
washed away...

this isn't to say that i'm not trying
or wrestling it out for all i'm worth

but more to say that i've been rescued
by One who knew me before my birth

hint of fall at end of summer,
hint of summer in midst of spring

welcome change of something other
calls me to a life that sings


(E.Rand, September 2009)

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Strange Poetry

Strange poetry
creeps around corners
and follows me with stealth
and ease.

It whispers in the steady hum
of an underground train,
laughs
as its rhythms reveal
all the loose places
on tired bodies.

It sings
accompanied by a symphony
of take-off
and eventual landing.

It shouts
as weary travellers
remove their inhibitions
and return
to woodsmen roots.

It beckons,
invites me to listen
for the distant echoes of Creation
and join in.

(E.Rand, August 2009)

* * * * * * *

unsettled

colorful,
joyous,
hopeful.
songs.

warm,
encouraging,
spoken.
words.

and yet,
my corner is dim...
my bones, rattling.
my muscles, tense.
my companions, just an arm's length
but a thousand miles away.

and You...

present,
listening.
veiled,
unseen.

please open my eyes
and rescue me.

(E. Rand, September 2009)

* * * * * * *

Note: Who knew that this poem, written last Tuesday, would end up describing this whole week? Prayers can be answered in the strangest ways...

Project Sparrow on Etsy

Since community is such a huge part of my life and the birth of Fishes N' Loaves and Project Sparrow, I wanted to provide those around me with an opportunity to participate as well.

A collection of sparrows will be posted on Etsy in order to share the project and also to raise money for its completion. Proceeds from these little sparrows will go toward the making of more to give away, and any additional funds will go to support Fishes N' Loaves.

The sparrows are intended to be a tangible reminder - not just for those of us who are noticeably poor and broken, but for everyone. In sharing this project in the wider community, it is my hope that the sparrows will be a link and a call to prayer, relationship, and action.

Visit http://lizzleisalive.etsy.com to view the sparrows available in my shop. If none are available, send me a message on facebook or through Etsy to request one (or several)!

Artist Statement: Project Sparrow

This project is an extension of another one, a set entitled "His Eye Is on the Sparrow"; it does not stand alone, and this is why...

God has used several gatherings of his larger church as he has moved in my life to bring about major growth and change. These gatherings are each a little different from the other. There's Downtown Community Fellowship (or DCF) - a gathering of mostly college students in Clemson, SC. There's "Little Church" in Littleton, CO - a group who comes together each week to work out what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit. There's Wellspring Anglican Church in Englewood, CO - a body of believers from many different walks of life who have a heart to engage their community in real ways. Finally, there's Fishes N' Loaves.

Fishes N' Loaves is a gathering of broken people who want to love others in word and action because of the way that Jesus has loved and rescued us. We meet each week in a local park in Englewood to share a meal, some music, some fun, our life stories, and the good news about what Jesus has done. A lot of the people who participate each week, leaders included, have histories (and even realities) of addiction, homelessness and heartache, but this is not the point. The point of this gathering is to share the love of Christ regardless of past or present, to break down walls, and to give and receive as equals.

The little sparrows were created with this amazing group in mind: to give God the glory for our very existence and to pass along the message that we are never too small or too broken to receive the love of the Father which has given us by his Son, Jesus.

My hope is to create a collection of these little sparrows and to give them away one Sunday this fall. If you would like to support this project, please contact me.


Artist: Elizabeth Rand
Media: Acrylic paint & paper on canvas

Artist Statement: "His Eye is on the Sparrow"

The inspiration behind this work comes from two places: Scripture and my experience of community. In two places in the book of Matthew, Jesus points to "the birds of the air" (6:26) and the sparrows (10:29-31) as he speaks of the way in which God cares for his people. In chapters 5-7, he speaks to the crowd gathered on the mountainside about many things, including worry. Jesus instructs the crowd to look to the birds and the flowers, to observe how God cares for them, and to consider how much more God will care for them, his listeners. When it comes down to it, he tells them (and us!) to "seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Mt. 6:33). In these verses, the birds are a constant and visible reminder to me of how God calls us to actively seek him and trust him.

In chapter 10 of Matthew, Jesus sends out his twelve disciples with some harrowing instructions. He tells them that the way will be difficult - they will be hated by some, arrested by others, and even persecuted and killed. But he also tells them not to be afraid of the things of this world... they don't change God's character or his heart for his children.

So our call is to seek God and to trust him even when our circumstances seem to say otherwise... and we have not been called alone! We've been made a part of God's family through his son, Jesus. This family is not just some nebulous concept either, but rather something we can see and touch and wrestle with as we join together as a church. To quote my friend Stuart Hayes (and many others throughout history), "the church is not a building." It's the body of Christ gathered together - locally and around the world.

The birds are each sparrows, as a reminder of how God cares for his children. Together, they point to the community that God has given us in the church. Each bird is a little different, too, because God has lovingly created each of us to uniquely portray a piece of his heart and his story.



Artist: Elizabeth Rand
Media: Acrylic paint & paper on canvas

Before we begin...

Sooooo... over the next few days, I will begin sharing a creative project that has been coming to life over the past month or so. Before sharing it, though, I figured I would give a little bit of the context.

Jeromie & I have had a pretty low-key summer - a trip to Alabama to see Danielle graduate, one online class each (though mine crammed the entirety of church history into 10 weeks), a little hiking, some visits from family, a few trips to Nebraska, and a whooooooooooooooole lot of cook-outs! There's always a lot more to life than events though, and I can attest to the fact that learning is not constrained to classes.

This year, at least thus far for me, has been one of listening, and with more than just my ears. I've been trying to figure out what it means to listen with my heart - to be present to God, my husband, myself and my community. I had hoped that this listening would create space for creativity, and I got impatient when that didn't happen in my time frame (last semester).

I've learned that such listening comes first. And the mess & mercy of community in Christ. Oh, and a time of rest helps. :-)

These things came together a month or so ago, and I'd like to share the result with you...

(but you'll have to come back tomorrow!)

* * * * * * *

Some links to check out in the meantime:
- A challenge: ("Do Something Brave" @ Evening Soultide)
- A community or two: (Wellspring Church & Fishes N' Loaves)

Recognition

Body in morning
fumbles for coffee and keys -
urban habits in a rural skin -
considers time found,
time lost,
and listens as nature procures
a home-made breakfast.

Body in morning
finds old roads etched into her bones,
old trails whispering their welcome.

Refusing to burn the day with regret,
those bones strike out for home
and find themselves in a world of green,
of galax and mountain laurel -
the faint smell of Christmas.

Water and soul rise,
journey upward in a haze of remembering,
then descend in joyous song
on ancient boulevards
of stone and psalm.


(E.Rand, August 2009)

* * * * * * *

Creating again...

So, I'm thinkin' the key to being creative is to quit grad school... just kidding. This past week has been host to a new adventure in painting, some handmade baby gifts, and a handmade wedding present. I'm still working on something with the paint-project, so a post about that will have to wait, but in the meantime...

The Date Jar...

Sometime last year (before we moved), Jeromie & I decided to make a date jar. I found a cool, old beat-up container at a local antique store & we filled it with fun ideas for dates. Why? Because we have a slight tendency to take life and ourselves too seriously sometimes. :-) In fact, the date jar has been in hibernation since last spring because we let that happen. And we moved (three times! once half-way across the country...). And we both started grad school. Yeah. We're reviving it. Point taken.

Soooooo... when it came time to make a present for my friend who got married this afternoon, I decided to make another date jar. She and her husband are both in grad school at the same time too, so it just seemed appropriate.

I apologize for the poor picture quality, but I didn't have time to wait for daylight & Jer's off-camera flash thingy is out of battery. :-\

Ingredients:
- one sweet container, preferably old or with a story behind it
- three colors of scrapbooking paper
- one lighter, contrasting color of scrapbooking paper
- some scissors
- some glue
- a pen
- a few fun ideas!!!!

Outcome:

Some ideas to start on...


Some blanks for creating their own ideas

Photo-op with the original date jar :-)

Finished product!

Inspired.

LottaJansdotter.bikes.katieherzig.buttons

* * * * * * *

Lotta Jansdotter - After hearing much buzz in the general sewing community about her various fabric designs (which are quite cool!), I came across a book at work that she'd published about printing. I borrowed the book for a few days, then purchased it because I'd pretty much fallen in love with the printing process. I'm now eyeing some of the sketchy potatoes in our pantry in a more friendly manner. :-)

Bikes - I *love* my bicycle. I've had it for about 10 years now, though I've sorely neglected it in favor of the mountain variety (or other pursuits) for most of college & post-college. Well, the bike is back, and the Liz is all the happier for it! I think I'm addicted... which could be a good thing, since it'll be my primary source of transportation in Denver. :-D

Katie Herzig - So, I got an email from the Derek Webb mailing list about NoiseTrade, headed over to check it out, and found out about this phenomenal and fun singer/songwriter. Her Apple Tree album has been constantly spinning in my head & cd player, and I'd like to listen to more of her work.

Buttons - I would just like to take this opportunity to tell the world that I like buttons. In the semi-words of my lovely friend Jen: it's my blog, i do what i want. :-D Seriously though, there are some very cool buttons floating around, and I'd like to find a use for them. Even if it's just to make my own 'pieces of flair' board with buttons. But I'd rather knit sweaters. Which reminds me that I need to block the one I finished last week. I should get on that.

i did it.

I did it. I'd been thinking about the possibility for a while, but now I've finally done it.

What is this "it" that I've done??

I opened up shop on Etsy. Etsy is an incredibly awesome online marketplace specifically for people selling their own original, handmade goods. It's one of my favorite places to browse... there's some really cool stuff up there! One of my favorite shops on Etsy is Block Party Press - Jeromie got me a pendant for my birthday, and I promptly order 2 more with some birthday dollars. Oh, there's a lot of fun stuff on there. And now the fun stuff includes something of mine!

I wrote a blurb for the shop bio about how I arrived at this spot, but the basic gist is this:

I've spent most of my life not living,
and God has changed that.
Because of Jesus, He's rescued me and is redeeming me.
After many years of denying any sort of value or gifting, I finally realized that God *has* given me a voice, and something to share with His world.
If I really believe Him, then it's time to stop hiding and start celebrating.

The shop name: lizzleisALIVE

and I am!

DCF Film Festival 2008 : Little Worlds

So, here is the outcome of a lotsa hours of drawing and taking pictures!

Over the past week or so, Jeromie and I have spent most of our truly spare time working on our submission for the DCF Film Festival. The overall film was Jeromie's idea, and I did the drawing. Last count, the 2 minutes of filmy goodness took ~10 hours of drawing & editing and more than 1600 frames. Twas much fun though!

Craaaaaaaazybusy.

I can't believe it's April. Contributing to the disbelief is the fact that no one pranked me on April Fools (phew.), which is a new concept for me. :-D Normally someone pulls at least *one* over on me. April looks like it will be quite a trip though... and May.

Potential Spring Shenanigans
- Cooper River 10k in Charleston (this Saturday!)
- Taxes. Taxes taxes taxes. (by April 15)
- Projects for DCF Film Festival & Gallery (now til then)
- DCF Film Festival & Gallery weekend (April 15?)
- Bookfair numero A (3rd week in April)
- Bookfair numero B (4th week in April)
- DCF Yard Sale & Silent Auction (May 3! Come out!!!)
- Bookfair numero C (in-store May 10 & probably HUGE)
- Sneaky-plan thing that might be unveiled in mid-may...
- Finishing & submitting Mars Hill application; going out for interview (May)
- Registering for classes (?!??!)
- Family trip to Montana (!!!!!)

I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation or something! :-) Hopefully I'll be able to carve out a little more time for sewing & knitting. Both have been neglected these past few weeks. :-\

Even in the face of a busy spring, these past few weeks have been good. Not a crazy woo-hoo(!) good, but good in a God-is-moving-and-i'm-not-being-blind kind of way. As always, He is faithful; He's been digging around in my heart and bringing me to a place where I can see and embrace Him & Life (with all its many facets) instead of retreating or hiding. Most of my life, I've been prone to that... to retreating & hiding.

So in response to Michael's request for a one-word update: WOO-HOO!!!! :-D

And that's because God is faithful.

Spiffy Bloggy Goodness!

My friend Michael is incredibly thoughtful! And skilled, in my opinion! He remembered that I expressed an interest in an actual banner for my blog a few months back, and sent me a really awesome one.

Who needs sleep??? I have Grace Incarnate, a fantastic husband, awesome friends, and a cool banner for my blog!


Well... I might be exaggerating. I need sleep anyway. So thats where I goes... right about... now.



Thank you, Michael!!!

Recreating

(Before I get started, Jeromie's home!!! I am so incredibly excited! :-D )

* * * * * * *

Recreating, re-creating, creating. Either way, I've finally been doing a little bit of it lately. :-) I am a much happier creature when I can run, which means I've been a much happier creature lately. It's less than a month til the Cooper River Bridge Run, and I feel like I can maybe, just maybe, make it without getting injured. 'Tis a good thing.

Craftwise, I've not been knitting at all, but I have been cursing at making friends with my sewing machine. Okay... so I haven't been cursing at the sewing machine... if anything, I've cursed at myself & my extreme lack of skill in the sewing arena. Last night, I decided that the average 8 year old could probably sew better than me.



Jeromie: Wow, you must know some 8 year olds.

Me: Yeah, in my mind 8 year olds have some mad skillz...



So perhaps not. Maybe an 8 year old with the right training.

Anyway, these were my projects for this weekend:
(sorry... originally started the post last weekend, slacker me)


I found a cute teal skirt on a recent thrifting trip... but it was way too big for me (22/24w), so i...


...made it fit me! (and removed the beads... i might put some different ones on it... I haven't decided yet)


I painted on some shoes.


I made some fun slippers... our floors are COLD! And tweaked a curtain for the front door, too!


I ventured into the world of applique. Learned the ropes, and then...


... made a design of my own!
(it's my "signature" birdy!)



*sings* how much is that biiiiiiiirdy in the windoooooooow?


I've had a lot of fun just daydreaming & sketching & doing lately. I feel that being back *in* community (as opposed to skirting it...) has something to do with this. It makes me hungry. Hungry for God, hungry for real connection. It makes me want to "seize the day." More days than before, at least. I've definitely had days (and some this week) where I just wanted to withdraw, and I did, but there's a whole lot of pursuing going on around here. God never lets me stay that way. :-)






p.s. I didn't exactly get a good picture of the birdy. I used my favorite fabricky Christmas present for the body... it had a faint blue leafy/viney design on it. One of these days I might post a good picture of the bird itself. :-)

Wardrobe Refashion

In the past year, I've become quite the blog fiend. There are a handful of blogs that I've subscribed to & read regularly, one of which being Wardrobe Refashion. Needless to say, I've been inspired. :-) I've already tried my hand at refashioning things a few times, so I decided to take the plunge during the last round of sign-ups.

The past month has been a little more eventful than usual (see Jeromie's post), but as things settle down, I intend to devote some of my time each week to refashioning & generally being creative... making a priority a priority again. :-) Here goes!!

* * * * * * *


I pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!

Signed: Lizzle

Creating & Resting...

This week has been a bit of a whirlwind, and today was no less so... but more in a restful way, I guess. This week at work, I pretty much officially took over responsibility for scheduling & coordinating bookfairs & signings. No big deal, just a few new things to learn & process. Today's whirlwind was more of the creative sort.

I got up to my alarm clock (!!), checked email/blogs, ran an errand (in case it *actually* snowed significantly... it didn't really do much), and spent the rest of the day in the craft room sewing and knitting. I managed to alter a wool skirt I found at a thrift store a few weeks ago, finish the curtains for the room (long time coming), and finish the fingerless gloves I started earlier this week.

It felt good to finally seize some time to exercise a bit of creativity. Working on projects tends to get me thinking about new ones, and it seems that the energy I spend making something just brings more energy with it. Unless I'm burned out. Running does that to me too. :-) Today was the first day in a while where I felt alive and resting ~ full of growing and mending and dreaming and resting and hoping, connected to my soul. As opposed to alive and wrestling, I guess, which tends to feel more like dying sometimes.

I don't really want the day to be over, but I won't cling to it and ruin the grace that it's been thus far.

*******

Kindling Fingerless Gloves


I think this experiment turned out pretty well!



A note: The fingerless gloves are my first real attempt at putting together my own pattern for something other than a scarf or a simple tube. The process was so much fun that I have to resist the urge to start working on another one right away!