i forgot!!!

in the craziness of the holiday blur, i totally forgot to tell anyone (not even my family!) that two of my pieces were featured in the Jan/Feb 2012 Cloth Paper Scissors, since i was a finalist in two categories of their "Artisan Search"! here's my two little bios, one for art journaling, and one for my jewelry, with one of my pieces next to each :)

also, i have the cutest two-year-old kid in the world.

o come, immanuel

christmas tree and chai smells intermingle
and both are bettered,
if that were even possible
pungent fresh spicy sweet aromas
greet me as i come to this moment
of longing,
heart wide open,
hoping for a supernatural acquaintance
with him for whom i yearn every moment.
him who i push away in my moments
of deepest need
for him.
my senses of smell and taste, exuberant
as i tell him how much i love
what he made for me!

now i gently cup a little dead leaf
in my touch-sensing palm.
all browns, and a crack breaks
through the leathery loveliness
of life-veins now dry.
its top gathered as a stage-curtain
waiting to reveal the glory
and beauty of One
so deeply desiring of my own affection.
my gaze turns from the created to the One.
i adore him.
o come.

that was a couple of days ago. today, our advent calendar revealed the task to "read a Christmas book." i immediately went searching through joey's too-full shelves in search of one. i know he must have one or two, at least, right? i found one little dumb foam book called jingle, jingle, and then read him the nativity chapter in a bible stories book, hoping to unpack more as i get through the "christmas boxes". but as i sensed God inviting me to rest and read the next chapter of Beautiful Outlaw, to become better-acquainted with this Jesus, i was not expecting a Christmas story! but, on the second page, here is what i read:

No king has ever taken such a humble path. His first step was a staggering descent - the Son of God becomes a son of man:
Let the same mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient. (Philippians 2:5-8 NRSV)
"Humbled himself?"
"Humility" hardly begins to describe the incarnation.
That's like saying it would be a humble thing for you to become a goldfish, to live in the bowl, in a fishy world, trying to help those other fishies become something more like Phoenixes. It boggles the mind. The eternal Son of God, "Light of very Light, Very God of Very God...one substance with the Father," spent nine months developing in Mary's uterus. Jesus passed through her birth canal. He had to learn to walk. The Word of God had to learn to talk. He who calls the stars by name had to learn the names of everything, just as you did. "This is a cup. Can you say cup? Cuuup."
Or did you think baby Jesus came into the world with the vocabulary of Dictionary.com?
For ages upon ages, his generous hand fed every creature on earth; now it is he that has to be fed, spoon-fed, drooling most of it down his chin like every other toddler. The Son of God doesn't even know how to tie his shoes. Someone had to teach him how to tie those sandals John the Baptist said none of us were worthy to untie. "The rabbit goes around the tree and down through the hole...like that. Now you try it." Picture seven-year-old Jesus in the shop out back, learning from Joseph how to use a hammer and a saw. He who hung galaxies in such perfect poise, like a hundred billion mobiles, has to be shown how to nail two boards together.
I take my shoes off. The humility of this is beyond words.
John Eldredge, Beautiful Outlaw

i hope this speaks of christmas to you as it did to me. o come let us adore him, emmanuel, God with us, Jesus.

lately...

1)

 i've been making jewelry! despite the fact that i didn't win the cloth paper scissors artisan 2012 contest, i've been prolific in my jewelry-making! mostly motivated because of the boutique i'll be a vendor at in a couple of weeks (the Light of Christmas)! so here are the ones i spotlighted on my other blog last week: 1) green valve necklace, 2) buttons and lace ring, 3) found wood necklace, 4) yellow pendant necklace, 5) drill gauge/riveted flowers statement necklace, and 6) found melted chrome statement necklace

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

a bit of mystery...

before a couple of years ago, mystery drove me crazy. i wanted everything to fit into neat little black and white categories (that i understood). these last three years or so have been a journey (as if they rest of life hadn't been). of stopping. quitting my expectations of how life and God should work. of opening my heart to beauty and mystery. God has met me here so deeply. but i can promise that were i to tell the stories of these meetings to someone still in black-and-white world, i'd at LEAST get a raised eyebrow, if not a "where is that found in the Bible?" lecture. 

part of this process has been realizing how uniquely God designed me (and you). that sounds obvious, but i'm pretty sure before, i understood my place to be as a part of a giant, undifferentiated blob. maybe each section with different "gifts", but not different in the way we relate to our Creator, to each other. how wrong i was! God's plan has been to take me down a path i would have never traveled if he had not hedged my way with thorns (hosea 2:6, speaking of how God gets israel to turn from other lovers back to himself, to his heart). toward creativity, toward knowing who i am, toward his deep mysterious heart of love. 

my world suddenly stopped fitting neatly in the boxes i had been given and so long cared for. life became messy. and i was finally able to be truthful down in my soul, about my searching, my longing, my desires. desire so fathomless it cannot be met, except for by the one who is also fathomless.

i have long been wanting to post these abstract shots that i absolutely adore! something about the structure of the grid, even though it's messy, and you can't quite tell what's going on besides it... and the color. so much beauty to my eye. and i'm sure not to everyone's! because God designed my creative soul to love rusty and torn and weathered. somehow that reflects him and how he loves us as we are, worn patina and all. 

the tree of life

come away with me...

be still, and delight in beauty...

my my grandpa passed away today. it was sort of sudden, and a shock, but really his health has been failing slowly as he's gotten older. i'm having a hard time processing it, with the suddenness of it, and how far away my dad's whole side of the family lives... joey got to meet him last year around this time, and that was our last trip up to northern california. i'm thankful that he (just in the last decade or so) chose to trust Christ.  never too late until it is. 

trying to process all this has reminded me of an amazing movie i saw recently that i've been wanting to recommend: The Tree of Life. it's an anomaly of a movie to me. super artistic, abstract, and spiritual, but has big (BIG) name actors in it, like Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and my current favorite actress, Jessica Chastain. as a friend described it, this movie is deeply Christian, as long as your idea of a "christian movie" doesn't stop at "fireproof". it's basically about grieving, learning to process with God all of life, seeing the bigger picture. as i said, it's really abstract, with lengthy sequences of creation imagery, and lots of whispers. dialogue between a woman and her God, a man and his brother. if you get annoyed by lack of plot, or feeling lost as to what exactly is going on in a linear way, be forewarned: this movie does not fit into any neat and tidy categories. but is a.mazing.

all these shots are from a day i spent alone (rapture!) at descanso gardens. a time to rest, be alone with my God, enjoy his created glorious beauty. he met me there and i danced with him. more glory in just these flowers and trees and SPACE than a soul can take in (in a day or ever!)... hope you can get a little taste of it here... and then go. - drive to pasadena (la canada flintridge, really), and take a breather for yourself. $8 for a day is so worth it...

"my spot"

handmade gifts

 the three little headbands i made for my sister for her birthday (i took pictures of me wearing them for the sole purpose of submitting as a possibility of something i could make for the upcoming Light of Christmas boutique... but someone else is already making flower hair accessories. so i'm gonna have to be more creative ;) i realized that i love making things for people as gifts! but not really just "crafty" things, where i can like, find a pattern and copy step-by-step instructions... i like to take things my own direction so that they end up not just being a labor of love & time, but truly an expression of me! so, as i have a couple of different "projects" in the works, i'm having a hard time figuring out ways to really involve others like i would love to... cause they're not me... but whatever "we" make will be an expression of us (and me)... sounds like a control issue ;) 

first of all is the ever-present "project" of the uptown aesthetics team... i have a bunch of ideas swirling around in my head (this being one of those sleepless nights), but i'm not sure how to implement them while still maintaining my (& my family's) sanity... i have GOT to learn to delegate, let go! ;) 

the second thing that i currently have on my plate is that i'm in charge of the gift bags & nametags for our november women's retreat... and i have a hard time not choosing to make something handmade to go in every single of the 120 bags... pretty sure that, not only will the nametags & bags be embellished, but there'll be something designed my yours truly in there... but again, how not to let that completely overwhelm my life involves a team working together... which means i need to come up with something easily reproducible (a "craft" project of my own design, i suppose?)... and a team ;)

and there are more... and i can't wait ;) to see what pours out of my heart in the form of creativity to serve others. so my heart's desire and a passion that is always resting in my soul, waiting for expression! wanna join me? ;)

"happy pretty!" as joey says, in his attempt to say "happy birthday, kristi" ;)

couple of things to share

it was a good day for an estate sale... found some sweet vintage stuff, and some actual useful things that i'd had on my mental list of things to buy - but in way cooler form! like these awesome ramekin things (at least i assume that's what they are lol - couldn't resist the set for $4.50!) , and the turquoise vase :)

something i made this summer that somehow never ended up on here, so i needed to share it with you now... this piece i made for jason for father's day! i took a shot of jason and joey and used that for the imagery, and a poem i wrote about fatherhood. turned out fun, and he loves it, and it's hanging above his computer :) note: the last 2 pictures are more true to color - it's not as vibrant as it looks in this first one.

can you read that? if not, i can post the text...

oh, and i love my family....

some news (not pregnant)...!

omg!! 

i am a semifinalist in the Cloth Paper Scissors Artisan Search 2012! 

(my all-time favorite art magazine)

 i entered this last year in three of the five categories, fully expecting to be chosen... and was a little crushed when i wasn't. i didn't make a lot of art for a while after that, and didn't blog for over 5 months! blogged about it a bit here. i guess i need to learn how to deal with disappointment a little better... ;) but anyways, THIS year, i knew not to get my hopes up - a lot of great artists enter, and a lot of them have been creating much longer than me... but i'm in!! i entered 3 categories again this year: mixed media jewelry, art journal and bookmaking, and collage and assemblage. 

they posted the 5 semifinalists in each of the 5 categories today, and i'm in TWO!! WHAT?! so cool. 

you've already seen the art journal pages, since i posted them here earlier this year (the last two with the model girls, and the "known" one were my entry :) i'll keep you posted - i have to send all my six pieces (the other 3 are my flower jewelry - i need to do a quick photo shoot with them to post on my other blog before i send them off to massachusetts!) in by the first week of october!  exciting times! :)

why does lying in bed awake at night inspire me so much?! it’s then that so many ideas for creating and writing start pouring out! it’s not JUST the time of day, cause if i was UP during those hours, i would not feel the same… probably because i would still be trying to fit as many things as possible into my day – all the organizing, reading, sorting, cleaning, learning that’s been on my to do list all day. but once i’m in bed, i’m not doing my “to-do”s anymore. i’m lying still, resting… and i guess my inspiration has a chance to catch up with me (on those rare nights that i don’t hit the bed already asleep from the exhaustion of the day).

like tonight, my mind was just going wherever, and i remembered the fact that the only 2 doctors who have ever put a scalpel to me were both born in Colombia ON THE SAME DAY. weird. somehow they ended up here in the same practice. one did my c-section, and one released my gallbladder… so then stream of consciousness, i thought, “and my father-in-law’s Colombian”… and tonight when we were deciding what to do, we talked about the movie theater, and the movie Colombiana that’s playing right now, and i immediately remembered the “colombiana” soda we were drinking this afternoon! such a strange assortment of events to all come together in one night in one mind. after this, i also realized that this means my son is a fourth Colombian (my husband being half), a fourth Argentinian, and the other half (my half) EuroAmerican mutt… oh, my stream of consciousness (and, yes, even at this late hour, i do realize that this is probably not exciting to anyone but me ;)

and on that note, here's some shots of "the little details" of another time that i got to stop and relax and allow the present to catch up with me, take in life, enjoy beauty... our anniversary trip to catalina (if you want to see my outfits from that trip, and my handsome husband, go here)

don't you love the little details? a kiss, a silhouette, a reflection, an amazing compilation of color and shape and rust and sky in that last shot...
ps. i just discovered how to update to the new version of blogger, so post should be better formatted in the future :) it wouldn't let me fix this one though...