Peach a summery giveaway

meet Peach.

i've dreamed her up for forever...but time seems so fleeting these days. Peach has the absolutely most gorgeous hair i've EVER put on a doll...and her dress is being gifted to you by the lovely Olivia from Olivia's Ultimate (because Olivia rocks. she really, really does).



Peach is finally here and ready to claim her new family. if you'd like to make Peach your very own, all you need to do is tell someone about Imogen's Garden. refer them to the Etsy shop, the Facebook page, or here. then, leave a comment ON THE BLOG...right here, you got it...and tell me which of the wonderful people in your life you told about our tiny company. you may tell as many people as you'd like...each person earns an additional entry, but do me a favor and make one comment per person you told. make sense? (sometimes i worry that my speech is not as clear as i'd like).



the winner will be selected by random number generator on Wednesday, August 1o, 2011.

blessings to you...enjoy the rest of your summer!!

Raven, Henny, and Starling

from left to right with their sweet CoolTricks birds
Raven and Soot
Henny and Penelope
Starling and Clarice


(isn't Toni's sense of humor fantastic?!)

available in the Etsy shop at 12:00p PST

Bird Girls!

in this crazy circle of online artisans, we often meet people who inspire us like mad...these people create beautiful words, magnificent dresses, cuddly creatures, and all manner of other goodness which speaks to some often untouched part of our insides and instills a sense of fulfillment, a sense of longing, or perhaps, a glimmer of hope.

every once in a while, if you're lucky, you'll find a person who reacts to your art or craft the same way that you react to theirs. if you're truly blessed, you may find that that mutual admiration and inspiration will work beautifully together.

Toni Swedberg is one of my artistic blessings. about a year ago, when my poor little creative spirit was under assault, and my sense of self-belief was at an all time low, Toni contacted me and asked if i might consider doing a collaborative project with her. she even called me an artist which was the highest praise i could hope to receive. it's taken a very, very long time, but *my life is nuts, as you know* we are FINALLY at the hour of our collaborative debut!

with GREATEST pleasure, i introduce to you the Bird Girls (and one Bird Boy), a short line (there are only 10 of these lovlies) of special edition dolls and artistic collaboration between Cool Tricks and Imogen's Garden!!

i selected 10 fabrics and 10 names then sent them to Toni. she made 10 sweet little birds with names to match the girls and sent them back to me. now, i've made (or am making) the Moppets...and i've had such a wonderful time!

this friday at noon (PST), the first 3 bird girls will be flying into the shop: Raven, Henny (that's short for Henrietta), and Starling.

here's Henny...isn't she the cutest??

(more low-down on Toni and her super-nifty Bird Girl giveaway tomorrow!)

*hangs head sheepishly*

as you know, my life is crazy. it's good, but slap nuts.

this week alone, we've had 5 squadron events and a school play. i still have several custom dolls in pitiful pieces lying around the studio, and i must confess, my school work is falling behind... but, i know it will all get done. the end is in sight!

we will be moving to Monterey, California, in the early spring, and i anticipate a fresh bout of insanity to begin around here just after the New Year. but i did promise that i would offer custom dolls in January.

here's the deal:
at noon today, i will list 4 custom doll slots in my Etsy shop. 2 Moppet, 2 miniMoppet... i will NOT be able to offer installment plans this time around...i am so very very sorry about this, but i am afraid that my organizational abilities will be maxed out with planning a cross-country move.
early next week, i will send out a custom form via email that will give me your basic preferences for your dolls' skin and eye color as well as a few other details. i will still offer the step-by-step hair and wardrobing that you all know and seem to love.
so...12:00pm EST...look for the listings. these dolls will ship in time for Valentine's Day...but i can't promise exactly when.

also...an embarrassingly long while ago, i introduced you to Elaine of GrannysKnits and promised a giveaway. since i dropped the ball, i am giving you another week to enter. leave a comment on this post or on the original. entries will be numbered by the order in which they were received...the winner will choose the sweater of their choice from my marvelous stash in either a 12" or 16" inch size.

and finally...Elaine is offering to you, dear readers, a 25% discount good on anything in her shop between now and next Friday!! you won't find finer work anywhere...i promise!

blessings on your weeks!
♥anna

Midterm

i think i may have caught up with my coursework. maybe. here's hoping it holds! this week we were to give a basic summation of what we've learned thus far in the course. we were to look at how our views have changed (or not), and talk about what we plan to do with the information in our ministries. i've still not figured out exactly what my ministry will look like when i finish this journey, but here's my reflection for the week. blessings!

The most radical change in my wee brain is the thought and feeling surrounding the people portrayed in Genesis. As a child, I was taught in Sunday school to revere the “fathers of faith”. They were glossed over versions of themselves, and we only spoke of the good things. They became unreachable in my mind…I am certain my teachers were attempting to instill respect, but instead the shiny, infallible men were so slick and unreachable that they had no real impact on my faith. In college, we covered the entire Old Testament in one semester, so no real attention was focused on individuals. We paid more attention to sweeping themes.

It was not until this course that I really looked at these characters and saw their humanity…warts and all. I tried to imagine these men in the 21^st century. I am certain I would not be able to tolerate Jacob’s tomfoolery for long. Abraham is so thickheaded that at times I want to shake him a little bit. Isaac seems to be such a wallflower. Yet, God called each of them for a purpose. God asked that they be faithful. God gave them the strength and the means to follow God and to do what God asked of them. It did not matter (and does not matter still) that these people are fallible, warty, and rough. God chose them, real people no more equipped or worthy than I am, to bless, to lead, and to receive God’s promise.

The idea of God’s promise and plan has not changed for me, but it has been underscored in a new way. This happened just last week as we read the Joseph narrative. God was at work behind the scenes in the story all along, but it took the humans years to be able to see it. God has a promise and a plan for Israel, for humanity, for creation, and for me. We goof it up plenty, but God uses our mistakes and our evil doing to push us along God’s path and plan. Undoubtedly, it takes longer this way, but God does not revoke our free will. God allows us to be, and God works with what we give God.

The Bible is not just a moral guide full of interesting stories and weird rules. (However, its value as moral code should be neither dismissed nor assumed). The Scripture is vital to our understanding of where we have been and where we are going. The texts help us to understand that we are not the only ones to be called by God for God’s purpose and plan and yet who are so utterly unworthy.

Genesis is a microcosm of the Bible in its entirety. All themes of humanity, Christianity, creation, and life are right here. Even some of the very words Christ uses are found first here. Yet this book has been treated as an afterthought in Christian education for years…something to be dressed up in finger paints and glitter and to be talked about on rainy days. My personal challenge for ministry will be to pull these themes of relationship, off the shelf and into the light in a way that makes the people in Genesis seem real and relevant to God’s people today. No need for such good news of promise, blessing, and relationship to be hidden behind rainbows and elephants.

meet Elaine of GrannysKnits

i've struggled with writing about Elaine for an embarrassingly long time (this feature should have run in early September). it's a tough one for me not because i have to dig to find something to say, but because i have TOO MUCH to say.

i *met* Elaine about 2 years ago through Team EtsyBABY on Etsy. she seemed like a nice enough lady, and she surely was passionate about her work. so, when my 6th nephew was born, i ordered a sweater for him in black, gray, and gold (only time i'll say *Go, Army!* is for my brother-in-law's children). when it arrived, i was BLOWN AWAY. see, my guilty pleasure is knitting...and Elaine's knitting is the finest i've ever seen. nary a stitch out of tension. all ends invisibly woven in. absolutely incredible. then, i found out, Elaine does all her knitting...wait for it...WITHOUT A PATTERN!! she pulls this stuff out of her head! seriously.

read this interview. then read this article from the Storque (Etsy's blog). then, go to Elaine's shop. purchase warm wooly goodness with abandon. you won't regret it. i promise.

and when you're done with all that...leave a comment on this blog post. i'll use a random number generator to giveaway one of Elaine's superb doll sweaters...i'll show you 2 tomorrow...if you're the luckiest gal/guy on the planet, you can choose which one you'd like.

~When did you begin knitting?

I was six, and bought needles, yarn, and a "Learn How to Knit" book.

~Why did you choose your type of knitting to work with?

until Jordan and my grandson were born, I made a variety of sizes and items.

When I became mom to then 2 year old Jordan, my knitting time was sharply cut!

I started making baby sweaters here and there, and then decided to try to get enough together for a craft show.

That didn't happen, then five years ago I found out my older daughter was pregnant.

OK, GrannysKnits started to take shape.

~Do you have a favorite design of your own creation?
the blankie that I made four years ago, when my grandson was born.....it's his FAVorite!

~Do you also collect dolls?

I have a collection of one; my sweet sassy Willow!

~At what point did you realize your gift was more than a hobby?

Probably in the 80s, I was doing a few craft shows while raising my two girls.

~Describe your workspace.

oh boy, that's funny! ;)

You name it, it's a workspace. I carry knitting in my purse!

~What is your favorite part of the process.

Choosing what I'll make from a particular yarn, and the actual knitting!

~What is your least favorite?

finishing, finishing, finishing!

did I say finishing? ;))

ANYthing that requires me to sew, I'm NOT good at it.

~What inspires you?

yarns~

more often than not, I buy a yarn, and then later decide what to knit from it.

~What is the best time of day for you to create?

morning (as long as I have enough coffee!)

~Tell me about your biggest fan.

at this point, I'd have to say my 4 year old grandson.

He loves the sweaters, and other items I make him, and since he's 3000 miles away,

I love that I'm the person who knits for him.

~What is your strangest request?

I was knitting at a craft show, years ago, and a woman stopped to ask if she could borrow my pattern.

I explained politely that I was using it!

she told me "Well, I'll photocopy it, and mail it back to you in a few days!"

(She was not nice about my turning this request down, either!)

~What is your favorite request?

Any request that Anna makes!

~Which similar artist do you most admire? Why?

Wow, there isn't just one. Anyone from whom I can learn .............

and grow, but not copy.

The late, great Elizabeth Zimmerman is a perfect example.

~What do you know now that you wish you knew when you began? (Or what piece of advice would you give to someone first starting out in your field?)

When I actually decided to try to sell my creations?

I wish that I had the time/ability/brain power to learn the world of cyberspace, and how to take wonderful photos ;)

~Tell me an artist you’d like to have subjected to these questions (someone you’d like to know more about)?

Jackie of Totzhatz

~What is your favorite flower? Why?

LILAC

I love the color, and the fragrance ;)

you can see how snowed under i've been by the lack of posting here. last week's topic was about Genesis chapter 34. if any of you are just dying to hear what i think on the subject, let me know, otherwise, i'll spare you.

week 6 of coursework, "What is the theological assertion of the Joseph narrative?"
the reading was Genesis 37-50

blessings!

As I read the text for the week, I kept coming back to a quote from John Lennon. “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I know that Lennon had no real theological implications in mind as he made this statement, but I wonder what he would think if he realized the Biblical value.

“…God sent me before you to preserve life. …God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Gen 45:7,8a Joseph’s words to his brothers effectively bridge the story of creation to the Gospel. God has been with us all this time. God called us into being and deemed all of creation “good”. God has used evil to advance God’s plan for creation. God has gifted Israel with life while Joseph’s brothers had planned evil. This story is repeated in the Gospel as the Romans plan evil with the crucifixion of Jesus but God uses this plan to give us life eternal.

This theme of work vs. grace is seen repeatedly. Humans choose hard work to force things to be the way they think they ought to be. We see this theme in the stories of Isaac and Ishmael, Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve, and here at the end of Genesis in the story of Joseph and his brothers. Humans attempt to bend situations so that they make sense to limited minds, but God gifts us with goodness and life in ways we are unable to imagine.

Brueggemann says, “Neither the freedom of the creature nor the gracious sovereignty of God is cancelled. They are not in conflict. Nor are they to be equated. God’s will makes use of all human action but is domesticated or limited by no human choice.” p.347

How marvelous is God that God is able to us our shortcomings, our failures, our sinful natures, and our disbelief to give us life! Surely, we do not deserve such goodness.

This calendar year has been a tremendous struggle for me. The height of the difficulty was revealed this summer on a Tuesday evening as I prepared to lead a small group in Vacation Bible School. I did not even want to be in the building that evening for I was certain I had no joy to share with my small charges. As I passed into the narthex, someone handed me a small plastic coin with the day’s Bible verse printed upon it: “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29 This message, so timely given, has buoyed me through the turbulent times since that sour day and has allowed me to cling to the certitude of my faith.

“Realism taken alone leads to despair, for then we only know about the danger but not about the outcome. Certitude taken alone leads to romanticism, for then we only know the victory but imagine we are immune from the battle.” Bruggemann p.375 Joseph is an admirable role model. He does not expect life to be simple or easy. He is not dragged down to the pits of despair. He knows that God is faithful, and he waits patiently for the outcome while he does what he can to further God’s plan for good within the limits of his situation. Joseph does not struggle with plans and schemes; rather he chooses life through the grace of God.