Blessing Blocks

What can you do with left over 2x4 wood scraps?....make a "Blessing Block".  These little guys were so much fun to make and all you need is some acrylic craft paint, wood blocks and your imagination. I went to my local Home Improvement store and purchased one 2x4 and asked them to cut it into different size blocks for me.  I sanded my blocks with a medium weight sandpaper to get off all the little rough edges and began to paint.  The ideas are unlimited.  For the backsides, I typed out a favorite Bible verse or quote, printed it out and then cut out the words or phrases and adhered to the back with Gel Medium or Mod Podge.

You can use any type of materials you have on hand and the possibilities are just unlimited.  I've even used scrapes of material, twigs, embroidery thread and torn pieces of paper.
Blessing Blocks make great gifts for adults and children.  You can use as bookends or just display on shelves.  They are so much fun to make!

Broken Branches

I grew up camping with Mom and Dad and was always connected with nature.  We camped in lots of different places but mostly in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Sticks, stones, leaves and moss have always fascinated me and were always in abundance on camping trips.   We usually camped with our best friends,  Lois and Rangely Price and their two daughters, Phebe and Carolyn.  Us girls would roam the mountain sides all day in search of the perfect tree vine to swing from and then return to camp to enjoy camp stew.  The simple beauty of nature inspires me and I love to transform a broken branch into art.  We are all "creatives" in some way or another because we were all formed by and serve a "Creative" God.   He breathed creativity into us.  These broken branches were collected from a very ugly place in my life with the intent of transforming ashes into beauty.

Beginnings

My creative journey began in 1999 with this little guy.  I had never picked up a paint brush in my life.  My grandmother had tons of artistic ability and could make a garden look like a masterpiece. Three days after she past away, I was perusing my local library and a book titled Painting Animals on Rocks attacked me.  Seriously, this book almost jumped off the shelf at me.  I instantaneously was fascinated and curious.  I took the book home,  painted this little guy and I haven't looked back since.  I painted cats, mice, pandas and houses.

Local businesses displayed my rocks and some were displayed at the Peaks of Otter Lodge on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.
This rock was painted in memory of my Granny Parker.  I've alway felt that when she passed away, God breathed her gift into me.

A New Journey Begins

Life really does come around full circle sometimes. I turned 66 on May 23rd and have retired and moved in with my parents to help them through the journey of aging. I'm an only child and single so this is just the next step in life for me....returning home after all these years. This has not been an easy move for me. I've been alone for quite sometime so sharing my life with my parents is far from ideal with no privacy but life is not always fair for me or them so we are muddling through this the best we can. I love them dearly and they have been the best parents anyone could ask for. They have supplied every need I had, taught me all the right things, let me fall and make mistakes and were always there when I climbed back up from the valleys and most importantly, they introduced me to Christ at a young age and taught me of His unending love for me.