A New Flag To Fly

Prayer flags have been a tradition in Tibet and India for thousands of years.  I decided to put a little Ticklish Moose spin on convention and make a few of my own. 

 Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all.

Given the recent events in Aurora, CO I thought this idea I have had floating around in my head was apropos, but these can be used in so many ways- as a banner in a sick friends room, for good wishes to be written at weddings or birthdays, a project for kids to decorate at VBS.....the possibilities are endless.

 I did my project with simple machine sewing, but this could be a hand sewn or no-sew project just as easily. For no-sew just use steam-a-seam type products in place of the sewn areas. 

You will need:
Basic sewing supplies
 2 sheets plain cardstock 
Temporary adhesive spray like Easy-Tack
Laser or inkjet printer
Iron to heat set images
11 feet or longer rope, twine etc.
Fabric as detailed below 

 Woodcut Printables Freebie (click on links)

Prayer Flags Page 1  

Prayer Flags Page 2 

 This could also be old sheeting, broadcloth, lightweight cotton

 I upcycled mens shirts for this because the oxford cloth is pretty on both sides. 

Use whatever lightweight cotton fabric you have on hand. Also- I threw my shirting pieces into the washer and dryer after cutting to get a 'softer' frayed edge look- totally not necessary.

Spray the cardstock with adhesive spray and smooth your muslin onto the tacky side of the cardstock. Trim off the excess with scissors or rotary cutter.

 Print the Prayer Flag images onto your muslin, remove from the cardstock and heat set (press from back side!) and use a press cloth so the ink doesn't transfer to your iron and ironing board cover.  I use a teflon sheet for this purpose.....LOVE it!


Cut each image sheet into 4 equal individual images.

While your iron is hot, fold over 1 long side of the flag pieces by 1", press and pin.

I used a decorative zig-zag stitch to make the pocket for the rope/twine- here is where you can also hand sew or use a thin strip of steam-a-seam to create the pocket for the twine if you choose.

Select one of your images and center (mostly) on the face of the flag. Sew or use steam-a-seam to keep it in place.

Now the fun part- hand them out to family members or guests and have them add their prayers/wishes/hopes and dreams to the Prayer Flag with a Sharpie or other permanent marker.  String them onto your rope/twine and let them fly!

 

And help us, this and every day, to live more nearly as we pray.  ~John Keble 

If you make this craft, please let me know- I would love to post a picture of your project!  

Linking Here:

  An Original Belle
Serendipity and Spice 
Mad In Crafts 

One Extra Day- God's Day of Grace

Today I was asking myself- what would I do with one extra day?  

 

I stopped to admire the beauty of this awesome place I am blessed to live on a perfect spring day

 

 

Sitting in this place I contemplated grace.  Living in grace.  I thought about Marjorie Holmes's prayer 'Just For Today'

 

Oh, God, give me grace for this day.
Not for a lifetime, for for next week, nor
for tomorrow, just for this day.
Direct my thoughts and bless them,
Direct my work and bless it.
Direct the things I say and give them blessing, too.
Direct and bless everything that I think and speak
and do. So that for this one day, just this one
day, I have the gift of grace that comes from your presence…

 

 I had one perfect day.  Because this one day is all you have.

 

The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions?

Gosh.......I hope not!

Because lately it seems I have the best of intentions to get things done, and they just do not materialize.  I am still nursing a swollen spleen and the fatigue from chronic/remitting Epstein-Barr, but my spirits are good overall.  I do get somewhat depressed because I do not know how many times I can repeat this cycle before I become bedridden, but I do still have hope that the many prayers floating around out there will give me Divine strength and healing.  So don't give up on me just yet! 

Evidently- from several emails I received over the weekend- I did not get something quite right on my Linky and there was an issue with the hook-up, so I will try to remedy that this week and try again.  I had set it up ahead of time since my sister was coming to visit, and did not get a chance to check it out on Saturday as we were a little bit busy.  

On Friday we set out on our annual trek to an event called Antique Alley about an hour South of where I live.  We had a VERY strong cold front blow through on Thursday evening that missed my area, but hit the Cleburne area quite hard.  A lot of vendors get set up the evening before the event, as you can imagine, and they sustained quite a bit of rain and hail damage.  But, to add insult to injury on Friday the winds were exceptionally strong- with gusts to 40 mph!- and we witnessed whole tables being flipped over and numerous glass breakage and VERY frustrated sellers. We did take refuge for awhile at Whipp's Farm that did provide some breaks from the wind and got some great deals as well!  Here are a few pics from Whipp's:

I got several nice items from Whipp's Farm!  My favorite was this sweet little box for $3

The best part came when I opened it!

 Surprise!  It was filled with Bible verses!!

This is the first one I picked out of the box:

   

I also got some awesome antique books and one new hymnal.  Most were from 1902-1903.  This sheet music is from 1940..Use as ephemera for your craft projects, or just print it out and frame- but this is especially apropos!

Remember the 'reason for the season'.....I consider Easter the holiest day!  Christ is Risen!!  

Have a Blessed Easter holiday! 

God Loves Handmade!

Some days you just get a revelation, or as Oprah would say, "your ahh-ha moment".  I've had one that I would like to share with you. 

First let me say, I am not here to debate God's existence with anyone, talk about any particular religion, or sway anyone's beliefs.  I feel like we all have a personal spiritual journey, and I am just talking about mine.  I do welcome comments on your "ahh-ha moment"- in sharing we grow.

I was standing out on the beach of La Push on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.  Let me tell you, I have been on probably 50 different beaches in my life, but never on one so raw and wild.  The pounding of the surf is deafening.  The beauty is overwhelming.  Here is a glimpse:
(click on pics for close up)

Everything there is HUGE!  And that is saying a lot from someone that lives in Texas!!  We do *Big* here quite well, but *Huge* is not something I had encountered in any other place.  Look at the size of the 'driftwood' on the beach!  Really now.....

So- I was walking along, taking it all in.  Looking for shells, rocks, sea glass, treasure....just marveling each thing.  How each and every rock, tree branch, shell, person, cloud...you name it....is all different.  Even twins do not have the same fingerprints.  Then came the revelation: God loves handmade!!

He loves the imperfections, and sees beauty in it.  He could have easily copped out and carbon-copied or cloned things, but instead he chose to make each one different in some way.  A lot more work, but like what I do as well, a labor of love.  And that is when I realized that is how I am a child of God!

I have for years, looked at the Omni-presence of my God in awe.  How could I be a child of God, when we are not the same?  He is great, I am small.  He is all-powerful, I am always asking for help.  But in our creativity, we share a love, we have a bond.  

Take a look at this tree:

I can honestly say I have never seen a tree anything like that!  It was more like a cactus that had gone crazy!!  If you know what it is, please leave a comment....my sister and I are still wondering.

On our visit to the Olympic Peninsula we had the pleasure of staying in Sequim (pronounced *skwim* by locals) in a darling little cottage, in an area of town called 'Happy Valley'.  And it was  :)

This was the inside:

There are many lavender farms in the area, and the following weekend of our stay was the annual lavender festival.  It was so clean and fresh there, the air smelled like lavender and lemon verbena.  It energized me, and intoxicated me all at the same time.

Here are pics from the Port Williams Lavender Farm:

The man that owns the lavender farm was so nice, even though we had shown up right at closing time.  He was kind enough to tell us about all the different types of lavender, their uses, and I bought some lavender honey made from the happy bees they have there on the farm.  

I have a craft tutorial that came from the inspiration of this trip, which I hope to get up tomorrow or Tuesday.  

I will leave you today with a picture of one of the sunsets we saw, which when you think about it, are different each and every day as well.  The differences are what make it (and us) great, and as we embrace the differences in small things like a sunset, and ooh and ahh over it, I hope we can remember to do the same with our friends, our family, and our fellow man as well.