This Day Foretold

 ¹ Who has believed our message 

   and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot, 

 and like a root out of dry ground. 

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, 

   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind, 

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. 

Like one from whom people hide their faces 

   he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
⁴ Surely he took up our pain 

   and bore our suffering, 

yet we considered him punished by God, 

   stricken by him, and afflicted. 
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, 

 he was crushed for our iniquities; 

the punishment that brought us peace was on him, 

   and by his wounds we are healed. 
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, 

each of us has turned to our own way; 

and the LORD has laid on him 

   the iniquity of us all.
⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, 

   yet he did not open his mouth; 

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, 

   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, 

   so he did not open his mouth. 
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away. 

Yet who of his generation protested? 

For he was cut off from the land of the living; 

   for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, 

and with the rich in his death, 

though he had done no violence, 

   nor was any deceit in his mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, 

   and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, 

he will see his offspring and prolong his days, 

   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 
¹¹ After he has suffered, 

he will see the light of life and be satisfied; 

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, 

   and he will bear their iniquities. 
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, 

and he will divide the spoils with the strong, 

because he poured out his life unto death, 

   and was numbered with the transgressors. 

For he bore the sin of many, 

   and made intercession for the transgressors. 

Isaiah 53 (NIV)

Jean Cards

I am always on the lookout for unique ways to upcycle. repurpose. recycle.

Today I found a company that is recycling jeans (and other cool materials) into cards. Paperworks Studio.

from Paperworks Studio

Here's what Paperworks Studio says about themselves.

"Paperworks Studio is a successful mission-based, market driven social enterprise. We've doubled in the last two years and are on pace to double again this year. Our production team of artists are people with special needs and disadvantages. They are a great team and while working at Paperworks Studio, learn valuable life and work skills and gain self-esteem. This allows them to obtain more independence in their lives.

The artists make beautiful handmade cards, one-at-a-time,no-two-are-alike, from recycled materials and lots of LOVE!"

I encourage you to check Paperworks Studio out and maybe even make a purchase.  I know I will be.

Daddy Let Me Drive

I was picking up hay this afternoon and Alan Jackson's Drive came on the radio.  Every time I hear it I think of my dad and learning to drive.

I must have been twelve or thirteen years old when he started teaching me to drive.

Sitting beside him in the truck, he'd work the clutch and I would operate the shifter.  First gear, second gear,  third gear, second gear, stop, start over again.

Driving the old tractor around the pasture while my sister rode our horse Komoko.  Then we'd trade and she would drive the tractor and I would ride Komoko.

And finally driving the truck around the pasture.

By the time I was sixteen I felt like a pro.  And I was on top of the world when I took his 1969 Mustang Grande to DMV for my driving test!

Thanks Daddy these are great memories.

I'm Published in Haute Handbags

I submitted a handbag to Haute Handbags last fall and have been so excited to share with you that they selected it for publication in the Spring 2012 edition. 

My issue of the of the magazine arrived today!  On April 1 you can get your very own issue.  

It is filled with lovely handmade purses, market bags and clutches.

And the cutest little coin purses made from fabric yoyos.

You will be inspired.

My bag, Out of Africa, can be found on page 135 in the Gallery section.  

I paired cheetah upholstery fabric with black leather from an old jacket and lined it with a wonderful batik my sister brought from Africa when she returned from her Peace Corp adventure.  

A vintage red button and vintage red silk tie on the straps add a much needed pop of color. 

Finally I embellished the bag with pompoms I made from a vintage mink stole that had seen better days.

What I Learned This Week

My mother loaned me her awesome embroidery sewing machine :).  This week I spent several days test driving it.

My test drive was on a rocky road with lots of pot holes (like California's freeways) and frustration...the thread knotted up, the thread broke, the material puckered......

I was not happy, all I wanted to do was try out some stitches and make the eyeglass case from last Saturday's 101 list.

I called my mom to discuss the problems and possible solutions...change the bobbin thread to lighter thread, make sure the needle is the right size for the material, use different top thread.  I tried them all with minor success, sometimes the stitches looked good, sometimes the problems were back.  Hum.

So I pulled out the instruction manual.  I was doing what it said to do but wait...what's this...different stitches take different presser feet!  I changed out the presser foot and I was test driving on the Autobahn.

It was time to make that eyeglass case.  I took out all of the green threads in my stash and used them to create a background of vines using a different embroidery stitch with each color.  On top of that I hand stitched flowers using torn strips of lightweight silk.  I'm pleased, my glasses are pleased.

That's what I learned this week.

How about you, did you learn something new this week?  Leave a post below and share what you learned (and it doesn't have to be about sewing).