Currently

Drinking:  Lavender lemonade.  The temperature is slowly rising in Oregon.  I've been looking for yummy drinks to cool me off.  My mom and I both enjoy lavender, so we thought we would make our own lemonade.  Plus, it helps get rid of stress which is a huge bonus.

We took 1 cup boiling water and mixed it with 1 teaspoon lavender.  Let it seep for 20 minutes.  Strain into two cups and fill the rest of the way with regular lemonade.

Listening to:  King of My Heart, Peter Pan, H.O.L.Y, Gracia Todopoderosa

Praying:  For Fun in the Park, VBS, and youth group.  This weekend there is an outreach event in the community where we will be sharing about our church.  I'm praying that God opens up doors for new people to come learn about Him.  Next weekend we have... VBS!  We are in full throttle planning mode.  We turned the church into a cave yesterday.  I'm praying that the event would bring new people to the foot of the cross and glory to Him.  Tonight we have youth group.  I am praying that God would be planting seeds in the heart of the middle and high schoolers.

Eating:  Downtown Portland has the most wonderful place called Waffle Window.  They have amazing waffle concoctions, and they just opened a cart 20 minutes from my house!  Yay for not having to find parking downtown to eat a yummy waffle.

Creating: These simple picture frames.  15 boxes of old books sit in our entryway as I type this post.  We cleaned out the attic space at my grandma's old house.  We can't quite bare to get rid of them yet, so we decided to put them to use in a cute craft/gift.  I made two, one for me and one to send to a friend for her birthday.

I found a book full of old maps, and since I love traveling I used pieces from those pages to collage my picture frame.  I stuck a picture of me and my world traveling bestie when she came to visit me in the DR last year.

What are you eating, listening to and praying about this summer?

Con mucho amor.

Stained Glass

What I'm creating-stained glass:  This was seriously the highlight of my beach vacation this weekend, besides getting to spend time with my wonderful aunt, uncle, cousin and sister.  We got to meet my uncle's mom, Pat, who has been making stained glass for over 30 years!  Here are some of her past projects.  And these are just some of the ones they have up at the beach cabin.

They also had these cute little hummingbirds up everywhere.  My cousin, sister and I decided to ask if we could make one, and Pat said yes.  Here are the steps and the final project.  :)

Step 1: Pick out glass for project.  I ended up leaning towards pinks, purples and blues. 

Step 2: Cut out glass into the shapes you want.  For the hummingbird we used five shapes: the head, two wings, a body, and a tail.

Step 3: Grind the shapes so they fit perfectly together and have smooth edges.  This part was difficult because the pieces need to fit together like a puzzle.

Step 4: Copper foil and burnish the edges of each indivdual piece.  The copper foil is how the whole thing is held together.

Step 5: Lay pattern pieces together and saughter.  The saughter is basically a fat wire that you melt and spread along the copper foil.  It cools quickly.

Step 6: Add hook, hang and enjoy.  I am going to hang it in my dorm. :)

What I'm creating-projects:  Today was my best friend's sisters birthday so I made her this photo collage frame as a present.  I love making presents like this because I believe time is a much more meaningful gift than spending a million dollars on someone. 

What I'm creating-ICAD: Here are my index cards from the past few days.  I cannot belive the project is almost over.  I love watching the cards change with my mood throughout the summer.

What's inspiring me:  STAINED GLASS!

from: here, here, here, and here

Enjoy tomorrow and make something pretty.

Much love.