"Oh gosh- what's going on over there!"

"We create because we were made to create, having been made in the image of God, whose first role was Creator. He was and is a million different things, but in the beginning, he was a creator. That means something for us, I think. We were made to be the things that he is: forgivers, redeemers, second chance-givers, truth-tellers, hope-bringers. And we were certainly, absolutely, made to be creators."



I LOVE to make stuff. When I'm at camp I wish I could teach all craft clinics. At school my students decorate their poems and design Starbucks cup. I wish I could sneak into the art room on my prep period. I color the envelopes of all the letters I mail. Next week will be the 2nd year kick-off of the friendship bracelet club- scheduled time every week for peacocks, diamonds, and 5-braids. I quilt with Mom and collage with Dom and take pictures with Sar and write with Casey.

Tonight this living room has become the craft room. Sarah brilliantly came up with the plan for all the roommates to craft "S"s in our own styles.





Jenna is working on one of her famous masterpeices for our wall of art from friends. (feel free to contribute your own artwork)



I remember during one of my field placements with a 2nd grade class in Holland I went to art with them one day and we got to fingerpaint. We were swirling and mixing and it was a wonderful escape from college papers and lesson planning. As we were about to leave the art teacher stopped by me and said, "Art is good for the soul."



"Get up. Create like you're training for a marathon, methodically, day by day. Learn your tricks, find a friend, leave the dirty dishes in the sink for awhile. This is your chance to become what you believe deep in your secret heart you might be. You are an artist, a guide, a prophet. You are a storyteller, a visionary, the Pied Piper himself. Do the work, learn the skills, and make art, because of what the act of creation will create in you." -Shauna Neiquist, Bittersweet (yes, again. I really love this book)