OPA!

We're off early tomorrow!

Probably won't post while I'm away on a tour bus.

Will be back in 2 weeks with

plenty of inspiration and stories

- talk to you all then!

Cheesy Trip Project.

Let's be honest.

Sewing: Not a skill that I possess.

You know where this is going... right?

So, I think I've mentioned before that we are leaving for our trip to Greece and Israel with our church tomorrow. Pretty exciting (except I get travel anxiety, so I've been super anxious and weepy - so silly). The trip is organized by Ultimate Journeys, a Seattle based travel company. They seem to have everything under control, and I guess to be nice gave us these little gems:

There are about 300 people going. 300 people with black and grey "Ultimate Journeys" travel bags. Doesn't seem like it would be too easy to find ours in that sea of black and grey. SO. I embarked on a "maybe I can just sew some things on them to make them different." Sew... Some things. I don't sew. And "some things" doesn't sound promising either. But for some reason I was pretty set on it. I went yesterday to get some fabric and fabric glue and other "things."Cut out some fabric. Glue it on. "Sew" some little doo-dads, and Ta-da:

New and improved travel bags. Kinda Cheesy. I asked Daniel what he wanted on his. His request was camo, which was 14.99 a yard - way too much for an experimental project. So green and plaid would have to do. Then I asked if I should write our names on them... decided, "Why don't I just SEW our initials?" I don't sew. But, I tried. And, he wanted the initial parts of our bags to match. Um, how CUTE is that?! I just love that man.

Ok, so... Final thoughts: We could have just used other bags that we have in order to find them in that sea of black and grey. But I worked hard on these cheesy little bags, and Daniel is proud of me, so we are going to ROCK these bags from Seattle to Greece to Israel and BACK. You better believe it (HA!).

Moral of the story and one you may need to remind me of again some day: I do not sew.

Creative Minds! I Need You!

I am stuck. I've literally been working on this painting for my friends, Travis and Tiffany, for months! They wanted a 12x12, red and orange tree painting with Psalm 34:5 woven in. Simple enough, right? Wrong. I've worked and worked, and still feel like it's just not quite popping like it should! I even painted a completely different piece to try and get something, anything cool... Nada. I'm kinda thinking it's because reds and oranges and browns are too similar... but I know that can't be an excuse.

Anyways, you're all creative in one way or another. And you are other eyes - that's what I need! Thoughts? Suggestions? Any new ideas to make this piece really super great? I'm open to anything!

Boast In This

This is a project I've been working on for my friend Josh. He commissioned me a while ago, but wasn't sure what he wanted. Once he decided he wanted this verse, he kinda left it up to me. His only request was no brown! So, on I embarked. He told me he wanted this verse to be reminded each day of what he really has to boast in (or something along those line, but put much more eloquently)! I like that idea a lot, and I think I like how this turned out...

Ahoy Matey

My friend asked for a few more accessories and some background sets this morning, so here is what I've been working on... I'm having so much fun! Maybe I should think about getting into children's books or something along those lines.

Shameless plug.

I'm so glad I have 9 faithful followers of this blog... BUT I have had others confess that they read too! This is a shout out to you all who are secretly following my blog and I don't know it:

Please follow publicly, comment,

question, interact, and spread the word

(this means YOU, Katie)!

If you have a gmail account you can use that, or I think you can just make one up slash use whatever account name you have in order to be in the blog world. I want to know you - don't be shy!

Arrrrg.

A friend e-mailed me today about drawing some cartoon pirates for him! He's creating an iphone app and needed some original artwork for the beginning layouts and such. Even though I've never really done cartoons before, I draw funny pictures for my nephews all the time, so I figured I might as well try... I had so much fun! Just black ink on white paper, and then of course, I got really excited about using some of my ol' Crayola crayons. I just love to color in the lines of coloring books, or in this case, my own drawings.

He's already responded and told me they are just what he's looking for. How fun! I'm going to do a few more details just so he doesn't have to work with my rough sketches, but I'm excited to see how his project ends up....and if nothing else, these little pirates sure entertained ME for the evening!

Kindling

I just finished this painting for my friend Chloe. She asked me a while ago to paint something along these lines after she heard this sermon (click on this blog title for the link):

Perseverance Until the New Creation from 2 Peter 3:11-13.

"We are all worshipers. We either worship God and enjoy him, or we worship the things he’s created—this is idolatry. Most people don’t realize that they worship things like cars, clothes, kids, sports, hobbies, and houses—but they do. They make sacrifices for them and find their identity in them. This sermon helps remind us all that besides Jesus, everything else is kindling."

I was really excited to work with her idea, and after listening to the sermon myself, thought her idea was fabulous! I really enjoyed working on it. Thanks for the idea, Chloe!

Busy Busy

I'm painting a ton today and

am super excited about it!

I'll post stories and pics soon.

In the meantime, we've started a website for our remodel. It's suppose to be danielandbrittany.com, but that's not up yet,

so until then, you can find it here:

Our Ingram Family Blog

In Him all things hold together.

Sigh. There are so many things I could blog about, but today my heart just feels heavy and burdened and sad for so many people so dear to my heart. There are too many crazy things going on in the lives of those I love to even focus on our silly remodel or the laundry or getting groceries... I just read another friend's blog and she posted these - they bring me encouragement and remind me of the One who is in charge in times like these:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings,so also you share in our comfort.”

-2 Corinthians 1:3-7

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

-Romans 8:26-27

Happy 100th Post!

100 things that make me so happy (and grateful):

Grace

My husband

Friendship

My parents and their 30 years of marriage

Coffee

The cute things my nephews say

Family vacations

Giggling

Girl talk

Good wine

My brother’s musical theater talent

My other brother’s composition talent

My home in Seattle

My home in Ventura

College memories

My high school art teacher

My grandparent’s legacy

Commitment

Other artists

The video and photos of our wedding day

Sleeping in

Volunteering

The kindness of strangers

Feeling contentment

Rain

Fires in the fireplace

The opportunity to paint whatever I want

God’s redemption in the lives of my family members

Comfy pants

My grandma the prayer warrior (she has a direct line)

Love

Childlike wonder

Music

Trees

A great writing pen

My sister and her adorable family

Friends all over the world

Sleeping babies

Stories about past generations

Holding hands with Daniel

Girl friends I can talk to about anything (and I mean ANYthing)

Scrapbooks

The funny faces only my siblings know how to make

My dad’s silly songs

My mom’s heart

My nephew’s baby accent

Cool texts

College friends who I can pick right back up with

Chocolate

Freedom

Family in Ohio

Fresh flowers

Love notes

Road trips

Seeing others I love, find love

Swing sets

Books that make me cry (I’ve only come across two so far)

Snail mail

Weekends away

A nice blank journal

Hume Lake summer camp

Mentors

A good cry

Hugs from my dad

Lazy days

A pair of super cute shoes

Traveling to other countries

Goofy dancing

Antiques

Catching up with old friends

Grand Lake

Picnics

Learning new things

Education

Early morning quiet times

Brisk walks

My husband’s cute smile and crinkled eyes in the morning

Revelations and inspirations from Scripture

Friends who are having babies

Deep conversations

Looking back and being able to see God’s hand at work

Home decorating

Fresh fruit

Funny blogs

Dressing up

My sister’s ability to...make me laugh

Wearing a huge sweatshirt when it’s cold

Weddings

Guacamole

Reading in the park

Puffy vests and scarves

Sunsets

The house quote book

Opening window on a nice day and seeing my curtains blow in the breeze

Painted toes

Supporting a good cause

Sending cards to loved ones and strangers

Hymn lyrics

Using my gifts and talents

Looking forward to the future

Tarah and Kyle

Just got back from our fabulous trip to Colorado for my cousin's wedding. I will post more photos soon, but for now, here is their wedding gift! They loved it, and I'm pretty excited about it too.

Congrats Kyle and Tarah! We are so excited for you!