Spring things

I’m loving the perfect California Spring weather, blooming Amaryllis and little hummingbirds that visit our yard.  Last week I put up my new SPRING banner to welcome the season. It ended up a bit different than my original computer sketch. I wanted to use a new shape for the background and then I found a new font (Sancreek Regular) that reflected the budding life of Spring.

They were created in Adobe Illustrator and cut out using my Silhouette Studio software. Silhouette Studio can do a lot more than the older Craft Robo program, but I still prefer drawing everything out in Illustrator, since I know it like the back of my hand. The letters are popped out with foam tape to add dimension.

I also made these little cuties for my girls recently. I used a free pattern and tutorial, called Fluffy Stuffy Bunny, from a blog called Allsorts. My friend introduced me to this blog, and it’s so inspiring for someone like me, who once wanted to be a children’s book illustrator. I love how she makes everything so colorful and fun.  How nice it would be to have time to design cute projects like this! For now I am still busy changing diapers, wiping noses and sweeping under the kitchen table several times a day. But, yes, my kids are totally worth it!

I didn’t follow her instructions exactly. Not wanting to buy any new fabric, I used what I had – no fuzzy material, just cotton prints. The dresses are reversible and my kids have fun changing them every so often. I also wanted to make each one to fit the unique personalities of my girls (as much as a little stuffed animal can) so I added an embellishment to each head and let them choose the dress fabric.

For the face I didn’t want to embroider much, so I only stitched the mouth. I hole-punched a brown scrap of heat transfer for the eyes, and used a heart punch on pink heat transfer for the nose. No Silhouette needed for cutting this time! This was a great way to use scraps of heat transfer. My girls were excited to take these to school for Stuffed Animal Day. And my little one sleeps with hers every night. Priceless!

Today my kids and I were talking about all of our fun Easter traditions and how it wouldn’t mean much if we didn’t have faith in Jesus. Isn’t it nice to know that Easter is about more than just plastic eggs, Spring flowers, and fuzzy bunnies and chicks? It’s about the new everlasting life we can have in Jesus Christ. What hope! Here are some Bible verses I like to think about during this season:

“Come now, let us settle the matter,”says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“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. 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.” Isaiah 53:5-6

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” Mathew 28:6a

If you want to know more about new life in Jesus Christ, click here. Happy Spring and Happy Easter!