Perfection ✽ Picture Buddy

This is how my siblings play the game Perfection:
Josiah: "Can we play this?"
Me: "Sure, after we clean up."
Everybody: *cleans up and sits down with the game on our living room floor*
Andrew: *turns on timer*
Josiah: "NO!!!! It might pop!!!!" *turns off timer*
Josiah: *jabs a piece at about five random spots, asks me to put it where it goes, all the while with his left hand over the starter button so Andrew can't turn it on*
Peter: *systematically puts one in at a time*
Everybody else: *grabs pieces and throws them where they go like birds of prey*
Josiah: "NOW turn it on."
Andrew and Josiah: *try to beat each other at turning it on*
Everybody else: *throws hand over the gameboard* "Bri, put your hand over it! Come on, before it pops! Bri, hurry!!!!"
Me: *puts my hand over their hands*
Peter: *covers eyes*
Everybody: *waits*
Gameboard: POP!
Everybody: *Squeals* "We made all but (insert number) stay in with our hands! Let's play it again!!!!!"
Andrew: *turns on timer*
Josiah: "DON'T TURN IT ON." *click*
And repeat, haha :).

I was taking some pictures of recent projects earlier, and Noah was just soooooo cute rolling around on my bed that I had to share some pictures with you :). He's five months old now, it's so hard to believe!!!! 

Abbi-girl....

Happy birthday!!!!!!

Abbi is eight years old today :)!!! She had a very full day planned, with lots of food, and a lot of shopping with Daddy, haha :). When we found out we were moving from VA, Abbi was sad that we were leaving behind Five Below. She had first went to the store when a friend took her for her birthday last year, and she has talked about it constantly since then! During our house hunting trip, we discovered that one had recently been put in here! So that was definitely on Abbi's list today, haha :).

Abbi is very sparkly, or, in her terms, "colorful". It was cute, because she and Emmi got Mama cards for her birthday... Emmi's had sweets on it, and Abbi's sparkles. Today, Abbi brought back a coloring book for her, and one for Emmi, and Mama leaned over and whispered to me, "Once again, Abbi's is sparkles and Emmi's is food...". Heehee :). We went outside the other day and I helped Abbi and Emmi put glitter on some pictures for our Aunts, which was fun :). My Aunts used to do that with me all the time, and so it was nostalgic and yet a little different to be doing it for them, but not with them, and as the responsible person, hahaha ;). (The responsibility factor was why we were outside; my aunts were brave, I'm not; the deck looks as gorgeous as their pictures now, hahaha!) Abbi also recently discovered that she's a very good artist. We've seen it for a while now, but it was definitely confirmed a few weeks ago when she took especial care in her art because she wanted to see if maybe she could put it in the fair, heehee :).

Many people say that Abbi has a "mischievous twinkle", and her grin is adorable (and Noah seems to have inherited it) :). She's very passionate about pretty much everything, and loves people- and frogs. It didn't take our pastor in VA long to figure that out... she even talked about them in children's church, haha :). She got her first bible this year, and it's sweet to see her bring it to family bible time and read along :). The other day she even learned how to read a bible reference and then find it :)! She was so excited!

Happy birthday, Abbi! I love you, sweetie!!!!

Happy Birthday, Mama and Daddy :)!!!

The Lord has blessed me so much through my parents! They have loved me, trained me, and guided me to the Lord, and I love them so much! They have followed the Lord in tough decisions, and constantly seek His will for our family. They have always done all they could for me, and yet taught me how to do things for myself as well. Now that I am older, and looking at where the Lord wants me now, they are still right alongside supporting and encouraging me. Mama has done endless research trying to help me find ways that I could work with special needs children, and every time Daddy meets someone at his store that talks to him about their own work ministering to these families, he takes note or gets leads and shares them with me. They both encourage me in my craft work; Mama is my biggest inspiration for new items, and Daddy is my best critic, constantly working with me so that everything I do is the best it can be. They find ways to lead our family in learning the Word, and frequently ask about our personal bible studies and give us ideas to take it further.
Daddy is awesome at looking at a situation and knowing how it needs to be fixed, even if it's something like taking the washer apart to fix something he's never worked on before. The employees at his new store are astonished at his variety of skills and how much he can accomplish in a short amount of time, haha :). He pretty much knows the answer to anything you want to know, and he'll change up the way he explain it as many times as you need for it to "click".
Mama is constantly giving to others. She keeps up with the house and all of us, and still takes time to make every holiday, birthday, or family outing a memorable treat. She loves to bless people with food, she patiently listens to all our problems and joys, and is my go-to editor when I write anything important, because her eye for detail and how something will be taken are the best :).
Happy birthday, Mama and Daddy :)!!! I love you, so very much!

A113 ✽ Chocolate Ice Cream

So, yesterday Daddy and I ran allllllll over trying to get me an I.D. card. Who knew that waiting to get your license until after you graduated could cause so many issues :P? Since I was homeschooled, I don't have a school I.D.; since I'm not attending college, I don't have one of those, either. Since I'm over eighteen, but didn't have an I.D., I couldn't open a savings account, get a job, a passport, or other proofs of residency to get an I.D.... It was a mess, haha! We ran all over trying stuff and getting papers, ending up in line at the DMV 3 times (third times the charm!). The supervisor finally allowed us to use several documents that we did have and pieced it together to sign off on my I.D., thankfully! So, now I have what I need to get a permit, savings account, etc. That's definitely a relief! Mama has vowed never to let another child graduate before they get their license, haha. When I decided that I was ready to start driving last year, we knew that we could be moving literally any time, but didn't know when, so I wanted to wait to take the test until we moved and I could take it just once... that almost turned into a disaster, but the Lord blessed us with people who were very helpful and it worked out :).Our ticket number the first time around was "A113" like the famous Pixar easter egg, which I thought was just fun, haha :). I wanted to bring it home to show Tori, but when Daddy set it down to pull out his card, the guy threw it away, and I didn't want to ask him to fish it back out of the trash can, lol...

And does anyone else like their chocolate ice cream only if it's mixed with some milk to make it a milkshake consistency?! Tori laughs at me, because I complain that chocolate ice cream melts too fast, so I put milk in it and stir it all up. She told me it's practically purposefully melting it. But I don't mind the taste of chocolate ice cream; it's the consistency of melted ice cream. If it's just melted ice cream, it's liquid with firmer chunks in it; if you make it into a milkshake, it might be softer overall, but at least it's smooth. I don't see how this solution goes against my complaints ;).

Last Day!

Under the Tapestry's 1st year anniversary sale ends tonight at 12:00 EST. You have until then to use the coupon code 1YEAR to get 15% off of your order!

Blessings,

Bri :)

1 Year!!!

One year ago today, Daddy sat down with his computer and asked me, "What is a username and password you won't forget?"

I was a little disturbed at what he could be doing ;), but after some persuading, I answered him, and the he asked, "Now what did you say you wanted to call your Etsy shop?"

I've considered opening an Etsy shop since I was about 14, but I always put it off as a "someday" project. Confirmed: if you haven't noticed, that's pretty much what I do with pretty much everything that I've never done before. A couple weeks before, Daddy had asked me, "Is starting an Etsy shop really something you want to do, or do you just think that you should because it's something we've mentioned you could do?"

"No, I really want to do it," I answered. "But you know me. I'll enjoy it once I'm started, and I want to do it, but I'm terrified of actually starting. I'm going to need a push before I'll do anything about it." So he set the wheel in motion. Yeah, he's pretty awesome :).

Selling on Etsy is fun, and challenging. It's challenging in that I do want to make everything I think of right away, but, you do have to sell some items to have the money to pay for others ;). And there was that one order I got that I was out of town when it came in, and in order for it not to be super late, I tatted 20 bookmarks in one day. A major victory and headache was gained that day. It's also a bit challenging in that I'm super un-techy, and everything internet side takes longer than expected.

But it's fun that I can be making money crafting, which is something I've always loved! I have a reason to make things that I don't actually have a designated purpose for, and I get to make things that other people get enjoyment out of, and it's really awesome to hear how much others enjoy using something I had so much fun putting together :).

As I was thinking about my shop's one year anniversary, I asked Tori, "Do you remember the craft shop I ran behind the couch when we were little?" We used to have this corner couch, but because of our fireplace, it was set up so the couch created a walled-in corner in our living room, rather than fitting into it. Mama kept an extra end table behind it, and I would take a small chair, put up an "open" sign on the window behind the couch, and wait for business- usually making hats or diapers for Tori's and my care bears. I also read back there, or watched the hummingbirds that visited the feeder right outside the window. I actually kept a "humming bird sighting log"... for about two days. There were so many that I just gave up. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that I pretty much lived back there for about a year, haha!

"YES! I had forgotten, but YES!", Tori answered. "I would come and ask you if you could make something, and you would say "Let me see what I can do". And if you didn't have time to make something, you would just make a paper pattern and sell me that. I always just glued the patterns together, I didn't actually make anything."

"And you paid with printer paper money," I remembered. And all of the hats fell apart, because I would cut holes for the Care Bear ears, not knowing how to bind off and then recast on in later rows, haha. It's fun to think back on, now that I'm doing it "for real". I'm looking forward to continuing to grow my Etsy, and I want to thank all of you who have supported my shop. Whether it was by teaching or encouraging me in a craft technique, or sharing or liking my shop, giving me your leftover crafting supplies, or in actually buying an item (or, in the case of my Mama, not banning me from crafting when those chopped up hats shed yarn ends all over the carpet for months), thank you!

And to celebrate Under the Tapestry's 1st year anniversary, all customers from August 10th to August 12th, 2016, may use the coupon code "1YEAR" in my shop to get 15% off of your order :)!

Crocheted Hammer Applique

Don't you just hate it when a Pinterest idea you're really excited about dead-ends? Haha :). Early this year, I was making a baby hat for my newest step cousin, and wanted to make a little hammer to put on it like I had seen on Pinterest. But all of the "patterns" lead back to the same prepaid pattern set. I didn't want to pay for the whole set to use only this one. So, I decided to make my own. It took some trial and error, and it didn't turn out quite like the one I had seen. But it was a lot of fun to create it myself, and I think it did turn out well :). I've been meaning to share it for a while... but y'all know how my intentions usually turn out ;).

You'll need a  
Crochet hook of your choice (bigger the hook, bigger/looser the applique)
Brown yarn
Gray yarn

This pattern is worked on both side of the chain for the hammer handle, and back and forth for the head.

Chain 8 in brown.
Second chain from hook, sc; sc in next st; 3hdc in next 2 st; 3dc in next st;
Other side, hdc in first 3 st; sc in next 4 st.
Sc 7 st; 2sc in next 2 st; sc to end;
Sc around once more; fasten off.

Join gray at top; slip st two across; chain 1, turn
Sc two across, chain 1, turn. Repeat for three rows.
Chain six; turn; dc in 2nd chain from hook and across
Sc in last st; chain 2; hdc in first st on side; 2dc in next st; hdc in next st; sl st in next
Chain 1; turn; sc in first five; sl st in next; hdc; dc; hdc; sl st next five; fasten off.

And I Will Praise Him

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you."

Everything.

This verse has, so often, been used to remind us to give thanks in trials. Because "everything" does include trials as well. We are to give thanks in all things. We have a children's cd that teaches bible verses to a tune, with a short explanation of the verse before each song (Steve Green's "Hide Them in Your Heart"), And at one point it says 'Don't give until it hurts- give 'til it tickles!" We could change this to, don't give thanks until you get to a tough time when it doesn't come naturally. Give thanks through the trial until you are truly joyful despite your circumstances!

A joyful heart will be at rest. Bitterness, discouragement, fear, will all bring turmoil to the soul. But when we praise the Lord, He starts to fill our hearts and crowd those things out, leaving his perfect peace in its stead. There might not be anything about the situation that we can find to be thankful for. But we can be thankful that God will carry us through it! Or for the blessings he will reveal later that were included in it! Or we can be thankful for the lessons he will teach us through it. This is something I had to thank him for a couple weeks ago, because the conviction he brought me to through the way I was acting was the only thing that redeemed the situation! I'm so glad nothing we can do can make us lose our salvation when God has claimed us as his own!

There is one thing, though, that I think we often forget when we are thinking of this verse, just because of how it has been "programmed" in our minds to think of it as touching trials. And that is that it doesn't just mean "in the hard things", it literally means in everything, even the small, often un-noticed details, things that appear insignificant! Picture frames and paper. Heaters and fans. Coffee. Blankets. Socks. A letter in the mail. A hug, and a friend's prayers for you. Even an act of kindness from another person, while we should thank them for it, ultimately comes from the Lord!

So we thank God for everything. The big, the small, the eternal. Salvation. His unchanging word. Our hope. The refinement going on in our lives. That he is ready to bear our every need and except our humble offerings.Whatever we can find to thank him for in whatever we are going through, he deserves that praise! And we'll never run out, for the Lord has been so good to us!

How badly do I want to be grateful? How much obedience do I want to show my Savior? I know it's important. I realize it's critical in my walk with the Lord. But it can just be head knowledge that I agree with, or I can give myself over to it becoming my lifestyle.

It's a choice we have to make. It's like cleaning our room. While it might be hard, or we just might not feel like it, we'll be miserable if we don't make that choice to get things tidied up. (Incidentally, it will be more pleasant to clean said room if we make the choice not to grumble over it ;).) We can choose to be grateful! Each choice will make it more and more a habit -which we can thank God for. But it does have to be conscientious decision made to lean on the Lord's guidance and strength rather than our own. We must replace complaints with thanks. Discouragement with prayers. Be generous with our thanks, to both God and others. Study what the bible tells us about gratitude to keep it close to our hearts. Thank the Lord for the blessing of opening our eyes to this command and giving us the strength to obey Him for his glory. And we will praise him.

Gratefully,

Bri

How Can I Say Thanks

*A continuation of that thankful series that I started and kind of left hanging when blogging slipped to the back burner...again ;)*

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When Jehoshaphat was king, the armies of the Moabites and Ammonites, and the Meunites, were invading. The people of Israel heard of it beforehand, but not with enough time to spare to make an effective counterattack, by the world's terms. But King Jehoshaphat knew the Lord was on their side. He called for fasting and prayer, and they sought the Lord's power to save.

And the Lord gave them an answer through one of his priests. In essence... they didn't need to make any battle plans, because the Lord had them. They just needed to take their army to the appointed place, trusting in the Lord, without fear, and watch him work. He promised salvation to the nation of Israel.

I don't know about you, but I would probably ask for a clearer plan for that. And I would probably give in to fears about how everything was going to work out. But what did the Israelites do? They worshiped the Lord. They praised the Lord "with a very loud voice".

And the next morning, early, promptly, they headed out to do as God had told them. King Jehoshaphat reminded them to keep trusting in their Lord. And then he chose a group to go ahead of the army, singing praises to God for his steadfast love.

"And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another." 2 Chronicles 20:22-23.

At the moment that they began to sing of the Lord's love, He set other armies against those coming to destroy the Israelites. Maybe they thought the Moabites were coming to get them, rather than the Israelites. Maybe they just simply hated these armies, or loved the glory of winning a war. Whatever their human reasoning was for going out to meet this army was, the truth was, the Lord stirred them up to go save his people who were trusting and praising him.

And the armies of Israel went home, praising the Lord, and came into the city with trumpets and praise!

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The Psalmist says, in Psalm 34:1, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth."

A grateful heart spilling over, bringing an offering of praise to our Lord. But how important is it that that praise be voiced aloud? 

Think of all the ways that telling of the mercies of the Lord will benefit all of us; speaking them will solidify their memory in our mind, and make us more mindful of the blessing they are. Sharing them will encourage other believers to praise Him with us, and to give thought to the blessings they have been given. It will be a witness to unbelievers that our God is powerful and worthy to be praised, that we delight in being His.

Think about times you have been grateful to someone for something they did for you. Did that thanks do them any good before you voiced it? How about the last time that someone gave you a thank you? Do you really wish that they would have kept it to themselves? Why should we not give our Lord the same kind of honor, just because, "Oh, he reads my thoughts. He'll know I was grateful, anyway." "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:8), but he still wants us to come before him and admit that we have a need only He can fill. He wants our praise, as well, even if He already knows we appreciate the gifts.