Thursday, April 29, 2010

"I am a little teapot short and stout"...



"I am a little teapot short and stout"...

Do you remember singing this little song in school and acting out the gestures? I do...and when I received this email story this morning, I immediately wanted to share a sweet little story that reminded me of this childhood memory:

"I'm a Little Tea Cup

Love this story or not, you will not be able to have tea in a tea cup again without thinking of this.

There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups.
Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beauthiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone," but he only smiled, and gently said, "Not yet."

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was made to suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, "Not yet."

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought.

But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Oh, please, stop it, stop, I cried." He only shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Then suddenly he puts me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering, "What's he going to do to me next?"

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That's not me. That couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!"

Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember. I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind
When I first began with you."

The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect.

So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.

Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Pot."

Friday, April 23, 2010

MY SISTER'S EBAY AND AUCTIVA VENTURE:



COPIED FROM AUCTIVA ARTICLE:
"Lori Ford never imagined garden gnomes would help fund her eventual retirement. But after listing one on eBay, "just to see what would happen," she was surprised to discover an enthusiastic market for the peculiar little yard creatures.

More than a decade later, business is still booming at Chosen Treasures4u, the eBay Store Ford now operates with husband John Harrison. Known as the "Harrison Ford team," the two have had a blast while building a nest egg out of gnomes, fairies, porcelain dolls, hand-carved wood spirits and other fanciful garden décor.

"It all started 11 years ago with a handmade angel," Ford muses. "I researched for about three months before putting my first item on eBay and I had a bid within hours. So I thought, 'There's definitely a market out there.'"

"After I started focusing on gnomes, business just grew and grew," she says. "Until the recession hit about three years ago, we were selling $250,000 a year doing this in our spare time."

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.auctiva.com/edu/landing.aspx

SEE GNOMES, PIXIES AND MORE HERE:

http://www.gnomespixiesandmore.com/

Friday, April 16, 2010





The bunny teapot is my own 'goofy' design...sort of surprised me when this idea 'hopped' into my head.
(C:
(...sorry for over exposed photo; if you click photo, photos will display larger).

The top cross stitch is a mystery stitch along I started in 2008. This mystery project was Pam Kellogg's design, and I am very excited as I am almost finished this project. I substituted the butterflies for the honey bee and ladybug in Pam's original pattern, as I have a very sentimental and symbolic LOVE of butterflies and wanted to convey this in my stitching.

Have a wonderul weekend everyone.
(C:

QUOTE:

“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you”

Wednesday, April 14, 2010


I received an awesome email today from this website:
and wanted to share with you. Sorry it took me so long to update my blog, but my computer has been in for repair for over two weeks...thak you for your patience.

Friday, April 2, 2010

STILL HE WALkED


STILL HE WALKED

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"...
He could hear the hatred in their voices,
These were his chosen people.
He loved them,
And they were going to crucify him.
He was beaten, bleeding and weakened... his heart was broken,
But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as he came from the palace.
He knew each of the faces so well.
He had created them.
He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear,
But now they were contorted with rage and anger...his heart broke,
But still He walked.

Was he scared?
You and I would have been
So his humanness would have mandated that he was. He felt alone.
His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him.
He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few.
Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered

And he knew that he would never be alone.
He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting
At him, throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew
That because of him, they would never be alone.
So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through
The crowd. The sounds of his cries echoed even louder,
The cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet
Were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow.
Loudest of all was the still small voice inside his
Heart that whispered "I am with you, my son",
And God's heart broke.
He had let his son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering,
But instead he asked God to forgive.
Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him.
As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death,
He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,

But also, the face of every person yet to be,
And his heart filled with love.
As his body was dying, his heart was alive.
Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us.
That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me,
I remember his walk.

When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
I remember his walk.

When I need reminding of how to live like Christ
think of his walk.

And to show him how much I love him,
I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him,
And I walk.

-Author Unknown
"HAPPY EASTER"

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"Quilting is my passion...chocolate comes in a close second."

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