Check out all my new ideas at:

http://www.artanddesignbymelanie.com/ 

 And remember:

Think on these things

I can’t seem to get all of this Chick-fil-a stuff out of my head.  What gives me the right to choose which sins are the worst, the ones that will send someone straight to hell? God is not this discerning.

Galatians 5 (Easy-to-Read Version)

¹⁹ The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: committing sexual sin, being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, ²⁰ worshiping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups, ²¹ being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now as I warned you before: The people who do these things will not have a part in God’s kingdom. ²² But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things.

 

Right there in the list with “committing sexual sin” is “causing people to argue and divide in separate groups”. My daughter-in-law posted a beautiful article by Michael Paul Turner, “5 Reason Why the Church Failed Yesterday” on Facebook. This really hit home for me when he said, “By rallying behind CFA, Christians put an issue above people. And it’s impossible to follow Jesus when issues trump people.” By supporting a CFA Appreciation Day, Christians sent the wrong message. Some said it was supporting freedom of speech. Some said it was supporting traditional marriage. It certainly appears to me that it was “causing people to argue and divide in separate groups”.

My sins fall into the category of lacking self-control; eating too much, exercising too little, speaking before thinking. Do I get a pass because I have a traditional marriage?

^" Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8 NIV

So Excited...Shoe Bows

I just love my friends. They are always suggesting new things for me to make. Recently Julie said that she wanted to be able to add adornment to her flip flops. That got my brain to working. How was I going to temporarily attach something to her shoe? Then I saw "How to fix slipping bra strap" on  Absolutely Small. I decided that I could make a little strap to go around the "Y" of a flip flop.

So the Foundation Pair shoe bow with Snap Strap was born.

 

Look for more designs on my website. artanddesignbymelanie.com

New Jewelry

I have been working on my website. Check out all the new jewelry Creative Design Jewelry System

I also have a new Facebook page Creative Design Jewelry System

Sewing for my Granddaughter

A little over a week ago while we were Skyping with daughter, we decided she needed a break. Well, actually, we really needed to see granddaughter. They are stationed at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma and we live near Houston. It is just too far away. We had not seen them in 2 months. Brad had a $150 credit with American Airlines so He flew to Lawton on Saturday morning, ate lunch with them and flew back with the baby. He had a great time even with a 3 hour layover in Dallas.

When we found out she was coming, I began sewing. I made the sweetheart 3 outfits. The one she wore to church on Sunday included dress, panties, hair bow, pacifier clip and baby sandals.

Here is the cutie in her outfit:

 She is such a cutie. We had a great time.

By Wednesday, Momma and grandparents were ready to have the baby return home. We left Houston at 5 am and drove to Oklahoma. We visited with daughter and son in law. Brad took a nap. We ate dinner and then we, I mean Brad, drove back home. It was a very long day but rewarding.

The old saying is true.

God knew what he was doing when he gave children to young parents.

Our son and daughter in law will be giving us another grandchild in the next month. The particulars will be a surprise, but we are all excited.

Remember you can buy my creations at Art and Design by Melanie or if you are in the Houston area at The Funky Monkey in Friendswood.

Parties:
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Jewelry Fun

This week we hosted a demonstration and sale for the Creative Design Jewelry System at The Funky Monkey in Friendswood, TX. I had a great time telling about this unique and versatile way of wearing jewelry.

Everyone who attended received a free piece of jewelry. Here are some of the pieces we had to give away:

   

If you don't know about the jewelry, check out this video:

 

Visit our new website: Art and Design by Melanie

Our grandson comes to visit this week. 

Oh what fun we will have!

Link parties:
What's Shakin' Link Party
Topsy Turvy Tuesday
Diamond in the Stuff
Show Me What Ya Got
What's New Wednesday
Frugalicious Friday!

New Website

I have finally created a website for all of my creations. It is still a work in progress, but check it out:

Art and Design by Melanie

I feature plarn:

 

 and jewelry

 

More Words to Live By

I have collected some more words of wisdom.

Enjoy!

Plastic Grocery Bag Bags?!?

I have discovered PLARN!!!!

plarn [plahrn]
noun

1. plastic yarn
2. thread made of plastic shopping bags and used for knitting and weaving.
3. a continuous strand or thread made from plastic shopping bags

 I cannot remember where I first discovered my new obsession. But somewhere I saw something made out of plastic bags. Now my daughter-in-law really REALLY dislikes all of the plastic going to landfills. She thinks they should be outlawed. I agree that we, as a nation, send too many things to landfills. My mantra is "Never throw anything away."

Because of my daughter-in-law's thoughts, I decided to make her a plarn bag for Christmas. She liked it so much, she encouraged me to make more bags.

I looked at several videos and websites for making plarn. Some cut the bag into loops and tie them together. I tried this, but didn't like all of the knots. I prefer the continuous loop method.

I also looked at several patterns. This is the one I finally decided to try: Messenger Bag Crafted from Plastic Bags. Here are the first bags that I made.

Later I found a plarn pattern for a Plastic Fat Bottom Bag and so I made these

 

The bags take at least 10 hours to make and about 50 bags each. It has been fun, but they will be very expensive to buy.

Feathered Nest
Inspiration Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Shine on Fridays
Tickled Pink Friday