Beautiful Things

Week Two

Creating Sacred Space

Unpack Your Heart by Phillip Phillips

To me, the song Unpack Your Heart by Phillip Phillips, reminds me of prayer. It reminds me of bringing myself to Jesus. To me, the song represents the essence of a sacred space... a place to bring all of me and unpack my heart. So, I share it with you...

A Bit of Earth

Secret Garden Thoughts

Sculpey Clay:

Several of the projects we are doing use Sculpey Clay. I recommend starting with an 8 oz. brick in white. Sculpey does not dry out with exposure to air. You must bake it for it to become hard. Start out with warming it by squeezing it in your hands so that you can shape it into a shape about 1/4 inch thick. Cookie cutters, rubber stamps, leaves, feathers, and patterned surfaces can all be pressed into the clay. Once you are ready, bake it at 275 degrees F for 12 minutes. These directions are also on the package. I purchase Sculpey Clay at Michael's.

Other materials in this project:

20 gauge wire or twine

alphabet stamps, other rubber or metal stamps

sticks about 5-8 inches long

acrylic or craft paints

paper towels

varnish spray

Making Secret Garden Signs

Painting Secret Garden Signs

Finishing Secret Garden Signs

Walking On The Prairie

Collecting Field Journal Photos

In this video, I take a walk near our home on the prairie and share white yarrow, the yellow flower called goatsbeard (salsify) which makes a big dandelion-like puff ball, and the yucca plant in bloom. In a quick web search, I found that the yucca roots are from 5 to 20 feet deep.

A short week later, the yucca blooms are all gone. A reminder that calls us out to enjoy the blooms while they are there . . . to take a few moments to marvel at their beauty. They also are a reminder to me that much of our own lives are not always in the blooming stage. Though we are not plants, our lives do have seasons of growing deep roots, being nourished, maturing, blooming, bearing fruit, and producing seeds for the future. All seasons are important parts of life. . .

WHITE OWL WINGS

BY JODENE SHAW