Good Friday...

A blessed Good Friday to you.

One of the church kids made this and gave it to me last Sunday (Palm Sunday).  It's a cross made from a palm leaf.

(Warning...I'm going to get all "Christian-y" here. If you read my blog just for the fun monsters, that's fine. If "religion" freaks you out, you can skip this if you want. But this is a big part of who I am and I'm not going to hide it.)

I'm trying to be mindful of what today means.  "Good Friday".  When I was little, growing up in a Christian household, I always wondered why it was called "Good" Friday. It was the day Jesus died, so wasn't that bad? But as I grew up I understood more of why it was good. 

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—

though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

(Romans 5:6-8 ESV)

It was good because Christ died for us as an ultimate sacrifice for our sin. Back in the Old Testament, they sacrificed animals who were flawless, "without spot or blemish". But they had to do it all the time. Jesus was our once-and-for-all sacrifice...flawless, spotless... sinless.

But the best part is that Jesus didn't stay dead.  He rose from the dead on the third day.

I feel like there is so much to be said and explain. I grew up learning all the "Christian-ese" language and learning the Bible verses, so it's hard for me to step back and see if my words could make sense to someone who isn't a Christian or has never read the Bible.  My best answer is to go ahead and read it. (I'd start with the New Testament. The book of John is usually what is recommended to start with.)
 Those who seek Him will find Him. I'm not one of those people who will try to ram my beliefs down your throat or argue with you if you're not interested. 

God is sinless and just and Holy, but God is also Love. He loves the sinner and wants to see them turn away from their sin. I may be a Christian, but I am still a sinner.  The difference is that I am constantly repenting of my sins and realize that I can't do it on my own. I realize that I need Jesus.

And the reality is...we all need Him.

Too Cute Tuesday: Bunny Nubbins!

Bunny Nubbins are in my Etsy shop!

Sorry that it's SO close to Easter that I'm getting them listed, but if you order by Wednesday (maybe even Thursday) you should get them by Sunday for Easter. I have the white bunny variations in stock, but if you order the Ninja Bunny, it may not get to you in time, since I have yet to make more

Bunnies!

Flower-Ear Bunny Nubbin

 Sprinkle-Ear Chocolate Bunny Nubbin

The sprinkle-ear Bunny Nubbins come in 3 different "flavors" for the ears..."Mint" (green), "Strawberry" (pink), and "Blueberry" (blue).

Nubbin Bunnies!

I made these Nubbin Bunnies back before Easter...

I made them in order to add to my inventory for shows (which is why they haven't been listed on Etsy) But surprisingly enough, as cute as these little guys are, no one has bought any! So I am planning on listing them in the shop soon. But for now, you can enjoy the adorableness through pictures. I couldn't decide on what mouth design to do for them... so I ended up with 3 different varieties...

Happy...

Indifferent...

and Grumpy.
Back view for the puff-ball tail!

Images of Faith...

Happy Easter.

‎"...The sun as it rises,

The stone that's rolled away

The dancing of the faithful

On resurrection day!

The leaders and the spirit,

The gardener and the vine,

The breaking of the holy bread,

The drinking of the wine.

Images of Faith,

Pictures that run deep,

Within the hollows of our hearts,

And in the dreaming of our sleep."

- "Images of Faith" by Marty McCall

Easter Hunt Cookies

I've been busy tidying up my house today, since my Grandma is coming to visit tomorrow. It will be her first time seeing our house since we moved in (she's seen it once, but it was before we moved in) so I want it to look nice for her. But in the midst of cleaning today, I got the urge to bake. (I don't like to cook, but I like to bake!) I found a recipe for these cute "Easter Hunt" cookies the other day on the Made blog. The idea is that they look like easter eggs hiding in the grass.

Butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, peanut butter...and green food coloring...

Add in the oats & flour mix...

And...last but not least...the best part!...M&Ms!

Before baking...
After baking...

Mine didn't turn out exactly like Dana's. Hers seem more flat. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that I used regular flour instead of grinding oats into flour (because I didn't have enough oats on hand). I also used less peanut butter. Oh well...they're still delicious!

I put some of the remaining dough into my mini bar pan. I put the pan in the fridge and am going to bake it off tomorrow before my parents and grandma come over, so they're nice and warm. The cookies, I'm planning on bringing to our friends' house on Easter when we go there for dinner. I'm sure their kids will love them! :)

Good Friday...

I have a vague memory of when I was a child...hearing about "Good Friday" and finding out what it was about...and wondering why they called it "Good" Friday when that was the day Jesus died. As a child, I recognized death as a bad thing. And Jesus was so good...wouldn't the day he died be a bad day? It wasn't until I was older that I realized why Jesus' death was a good thing. A needful thing. He died for us. A picture of the spotless lamb sacrificed for Passover. But instead of sacrificing a lamb yearly, He sacrificed himself once for all of us. We just have to accept Him.

I know some people don't understand or accept this. And I pray that if you are one of those people, that you will understand someday.

(image credit: Ashley Clark)

These are the words of an old hymn that I love. The words bring me to tears because I feel so unworthy of such love and so many times fall prey so much to "all those vain things that charm me most." and yet, Christ loves me anyway and gave himself for me.

When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the Prince of Glory died;

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

save in the death of Christ, my God;

all the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,

sorrow and love flow mingled down.

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,

or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were an offering far too small;

love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all!

There is a Celtic Christian band called Iona that does a version of this hymn with a different melody than the original. I am usually resistant to musicians messing around with the arrangement of classic hymns, but their version is beautiful. I also like the contemporary version "The Wonderful Cross" by Chris Tomlin, which has the same melody as the original, but adds on a chorus. It's just a wonderful hymn...no matter the arrangement.

Woodland Creatures Series: White Rabbit

Easter is coming, so of course I had to make some bunnies! First off is a white Sweater Rabbit to add to my woodland creatures series...

A fellow RNEST artist gave me a white sweater a few months ago, and it's gotten a lot of use (and I still have a lot of it left!)

Here he is at my table at UBCon. Surprisingly enough...no one bought him. Maybe if I'd given him little happy anime crescent eyes. I might make another one with those kind of eyes.

I've also been making Nubbin Bunnies. I couldn't decide which kind of mouth to embroider. I got votes for both, so I did some of each.

Raffle Basket

First & Last Arts & Crafts is having a raffle this weekend to raise money for us to advertise the show more. This is a picture of the prize basket. And guess who's in there! My Easter Nubbins!

Easter Nubbins: Chocolate Bunny Nubbin

So, I know I've been neglecting to do some plush/nubbin updates lately. But, y'know, life gets in the way sometimes. Here are my completed Easter Nubbin prototypes. These particular little guys in the first picture below are now temporarily residing at Moonflower awaiting someone to purchase them and take them home.

The Chocolate Bunny Nubbin above was one of two prototypes I made for the Chocolate Bunny design...

I ultimately decided to make them with the felt ears and buck-teeth (the one on the right) but to make the ears a dark brown felt instead of the lighter brown. The bellies are done in the light brown, but are heart-shaped instead of square...

Keep your eyes peeled for them to be listed in my Etsy shop soon!

More Sneak Peeks

All these sneak peeks...I'm just such a tease aren't I?

I've come up with ideas for Easter Nubbins. But they're going to be a bit different than my typical Nubbins. Originally I was just going to do egg shapes on the bellies (which I still might do)...but I wanted to do something different...

So I came up with the chick and chocolate bunny Nubbins.


And here's some shots of some in-process sock monsters

Happy Easter...

Nothing very "Eastery" to post for today...but I do have another butterfly painting and a picture of my "workspace" (aka: our dining room table-turned-massive coffee table).

So, even though it's not "Eastery" (ie: chicks and bunnies and eggs), it definitely gives a "springy" feeling. It makes me think of beauty and color and new life.

And Easter is about new life...and not just in the general, nature sense...but new life in the sense of Christ's resurrection and in the sense of having new life through trusting and loving Him. And I know it might sound hokey to those who aren't Christians and don't understand, but you end up seeing the true beauty of it all when God reveals Himself and you learn to trust Him.

I keep learning how to trust Him more every day.