Saturday 19 June 2010

CRAFTING ON A WHIM: New Zine Rack

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So I wake up this morning to a little packet of plastic wrapped papers left on the couch by Rob as he left in a hurry for work. He's been working at a university and got this packet of flyers on campus. The cover was this cute red and white hibiscus pattern with black squares... I was desperate to find a way of using that paper!

I found myself a few hours later reading through a zine we picked up at the London Zine Symposium last month. We've had a stack of zines from this year and the last just sitting around with no real home... very sad really.

Cue brain wave. 

We've got an extra glass box from IKEA, the free thing you get to carry your glasses home from the store. We already have employed one in holding a lot of lose paperwork as the dividers can be folded down. I thought that this just might be transformable into a new zine holder.....

An hour later, paper scraps littering the flat, my fingers glued together, viola- new organisational solution (and you must know that I LOVE those)!

      

Friday 18 June 2010

LOVE.

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I was just getting an address from the only place we've got all our addresses consolidated right now: from our wedding guest list. I've got an idea about how to change that without going the dull address book route, but I'll fill you in on that another time. I rediscovered this poem that we had put in our order of service. It speaks so well of unconditional love: the kind we should have for God and one another, romantically or otherwise. Bringing out the best in one another. I hope you dig it too.


"Love"


I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;

I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I Love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good,
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

© Roy Croft (1907 - 1973).

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Agents of Future: Because life, love and faith are messy

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I had the radical privilege last summer to spend some time with Portland, Oregon's Agents of Future. The band is facilitated by Todd and Angie Fadel who have become awesome friends who I wished lived closer, and they've really inspired Rob and I in our living and our worship. They're part of a killer church family in Portland called The Bridge.

When they were with us last August, the band did a collaborative worship thing with our collective (also called The Bridge). There were balloons being pulled out of a refrigerator, toilet paper enveloping everyone in the room, buckets and pots and pans serving as instruments, children playing, and a genuine 'I have no idea what's happening but it's marvellous' feeling amongst all of us involved. Things like that just don't happen in London. You can check out the videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/thebridgecollective#p/u/1/B3-4a3uVYgk and here http://www.youtube.com/user/thebridgecollective#p/u/2/dmGUMFURdmU

Anywho, why bring this up now? Well I was just sitting and listening to the chunk of their material I've got on my iTunes and this group makes me love Jesus more like few do. They're so honest and so real and so raw. No worshippy BS that ignores the real life muck. True, real, gut-wrenching faith. I love it. And you should too ;0)

You can download a lot of their stuff on Soundclick  but I would totally recommend getting a CD or two or ten off of them. If you happen to be one of my real-life friends, ask me next time you see me and I'll give you one as they gave us a few to hand out. If you happen to be at Greenbelt this year, I think they just might be there again. Do come along and expect anything to happen.

Friday 11 June 2010

A year half over or half to go...

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I think I speak for us all when I say that I cannot believe it's June!! The weather in London the past couple days actually reminds me a bit of Oxnard with the June gloom. I kind of feel like I'm already staring December in the face and I don't like that. Yet I know that the remainder of this year is already looking a few shades brighter than the past six so I'll do my best to drop the reservations and embrace the possibilities.

I thought that this would be a good time to revisit those 'resolutions' I made earlier on in the year to see how we're progressing. To recap, I decided to pursue the following in 2010: Fun, creativity, relationships, less time online, Shalom, a haircut & real job, and finally, reading more. So how has the first half of twenty-ten faired?

1. Having fun: Well as I mentioned, I applied for a sweet job at The Fun Fed, went through a two-hour audition playing games and acting like a buffoon, and I didn't manage to secure a post as a facilitator. However, the group was generous enough to give me a year membership to attend any session at any time for free. I've only had that come through in the past couple weeks and haven't taken advantage of it yet but you know I will! It's funny actually since writing that resolution and feeling it very strongly, that life has changed so much with some things dying. Yet people have come through with one resounding word of wisdom: Have fun. It's wild that God would be instructing us to do this in life during this time and what a great bit of guidance to be given to follow! We're working on it and hope to enjoy an even funner end to 2010.

2. Creativity: Well I've not done the best job with this since the whirlwind of activity that began the year off. But since setting my mind to complete a few crafty tasks before... well, we'll get to that later... I've managed to do quite a bit of creating in the past week. I'm tuning into the rhythms of my body more with this as well, which I'll blog about in the near future, and this is very helpful in creating and not becoming frustrated if it just isn't happening. Current project: working on a skirt I bought that was wayyy too small and customising some shoes.

3.  Relationships: Why is this such a struggle in London!? It's freakish in a city of 10 million to not be able to get together with people regularly! Yet with the understanding that it is difficult and it's not just us, I think we're managing to tackle that one fairly well. One way of marrying resolutions 1 and 3 is to have people around weekly. We've been hosting wine and cheese parties, breakfast cereal-athons, film nights, all in an attempt to welcome people to our space and to have fun and build relationships. As we're still struggling financially, it's still difficult as most people are accustomed to going out rather than having people over, but we're managing to do a bit more on that front, thankfully.

4. Less time online: Fail. Between escapism, looking for work, looking for a new flat, and trying to keep in touch with folks back home, this has not worked. And clearly I've not been blogging very well. Yet, there are still six months with which to work on number 4!

5. Shalom: While I'm more aware of the pursuit for Shalom, I can't say that I'm implementing the necessary practices to see it happen. I know that spending time meditating, reading and in contemplative prayer are requirements to see this happen in my life and I'm crap at these things. I still need a rhythm in life which has been difficult to find with everything being up in the air. Yet, as we'll see in the following point, that rhythm is coming... so hopefully too will the Shalom.

6. Get a haircut and a real job: Well the haircut would probably get a gigantic wince from hairstylists around the world, but I have managed a new style between Rob's and my endeavours to trim my do. The exciting part B of this point however is the real job! I begin my first 'real job' on the 21st of the month with the Speak Network. I'm so excited and it just feels so incredibly right. It also allows us the freedom to move to a larger flat outside of Camden, which we can't flee quickly enough these days. I cannot possibly begin to tell you what a blessing it is to have this provision! Thank you Jesus!!!

7.  Reading more: In direct opposition to point 4, I've spent far too much time reading online, but most has been in an applaudable effort to learn things, which has been successful. I've managed to get a few books under me though, including the long read Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. I'm presently planning on finishing by next week Making Room by Christine Pohl  about Christian hospitality practices. That one keeps kicking me in the gut it's so freaking good yet challenging.

So yeah, I guess it's good that there're still six months ahead with which to engage these resolutions more fully. I think with number six accomplished, the other six will be more easy to achieve and I look forward to that happening. 2010, may it live up to its reputation of the year of fun!

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Craft Update: Black Jewellery Set

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FINALLY after months of delay and picking it up and putting it back down, the black jewellery set I've been working on for a friend is complete. It was made with beads from old pieces she was tired of plus a couple large beads I bought to revamp the bracelet and necklace. I'm sure she'll be relieved to finally have some black jewellery to wear! Viola!