Win a FREE item from my Shop!!

What: I made these curtains for my mother-in-law's dining/piano room. They're a little on the rustic side, and they need some embellishment. I'm thinking I'd like to embroider something up the right side (maybe silhouettes of birds, or flowers or just a design?), and maybe add some buttons? I'm not really sure what to do, and am looking for some ideas! I'm offering a free item from my shop to the person whose design my mother-in-law ends up choosing for her curtains!

When: You have until March 15th to submit all design ideas, suggestions, and patterns. We will make a decision by March 20th.

How: Go to my website, http://thingsthataremade.etsy.com and contact me there. (You will have to create an account) This way, if I know you, I won't recognize your username, and I can choose fairly between designs, rather than between friends!
Look on the right side of the page for "contact thingsthataremade." Click there and attach a jpeg of your design or pattern idea. Feel free to contact me or leave comment on my blog with any questions!

Thank you SO much! I can't wait to see what you come up with! Have fun!

Here are some pictures of the curtains, and a close-up of the fabric. It's almost like burlap, with flecks of browns and blues in it. Keep in mind that these curtains abide in a house on a farm :)

Bent Tree of the California Pinnacles

From the Pinnacles of California! My husband and I went for a hike there last June hoping to be able to explore their famous caves. We got there a week after the wildflowers were in bloom, and a week after they closed the caves for the bats' "pupping season." There's a whole "maternal colony" in the Bear Gulch Cave. Seriously! That's what it says on the Pinnacles Website. Anyway, we still enjoyed the hike, and I came away with this image, which I love. It seems to me this tree is bowing before its Master:

Etsy Treasury--Umbrellas & Parasols

Etsy has a feature called "Treasury". Each treasury is a member-curated art gallery! It's difficult to procure a spot, but praise the Lord, I did! Basically how it works is that I got a spot and picked items from OTHER people's shops to display! Sometimes these treasuries get put on Etsy's front page. My treasury has expired now (they last only 1-3 days) but check out the current treasuries on Etsy. 

winter through the almond trees

More proof that there is loveliness to be found in the valley! I went for a walk late one chilly winter afternoon (Me and four dogs), through the almond groves. You can see the buds, signs of hope for spring! (They are actually beginning to blossom now--photos of them soon!)

What is Love?

I am saddened by Valentine’s Day kitsch. It’s heartbreaking how our culture associates it with love. People throw the word “love” around like they’re playing catch with a baseball!
I hope to point out what God intended love to mean, and how very much He loves us:


LOVE COVERS ALL SINS ~Proverbs 10:12

BEHOLD what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! ~I John 3:1a

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ DIED FOR US. ~Romans 5:8

Greater love has no man than this: that he LAY DOWN HIS LIFE for his friends. ~I John 15:13

There is no fear in love; but PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because HE FIRST LOVED US. ~I John 4:18-19

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ~I John 3:16

Doesn’t sound too romantic does it? But how sweet it is to be so loved! My plea is that you consider then, His love for you, how you “love,” and what you mean when you say it.

My little children, let us not LOVE in word or in tongue, but IN DEED AND IN TRUTH. ~I John 3:18

Love suffers long (is patient)
Love is kind
Love does not envy
Love does not parade itself
Love is not puffed up
Love does not behave rudely
Love does not seek its own
Love is not provoked
Love thinks no evil
Love does not rejoice in iniquity
Love rejoices in the truth
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. (From I Corinthians 13:4-8)