1950s & 1960s Dresses
I want to live in the country
- Farmhouse
You may not know this, probably because I never told you, but I love the country. As a child, my family would drive to Olympia to see my Aunt Laura and my Grandma. I remember gazing longingly out the car window over the Nisqually Basin, dotted with abandoned sheds and stables and laced with low, marshy streams. Probably from books I read around the age of 10, namely the Mandie series, I envisioned living in a weathered gray farmhouse, surrounded by wisps of dry grass and nearby a trickling brook.
I forgot about that for about 10 years, and I’ve recently discovered how much I am drawn to older, found items – whether it is a house or a pot or a pair of boots.
So, as Zach and I have discussed our thoughts about buying a home in the future, these are the things that I envision. We won’t be in England or on the East Coast, but I do know that nearby Woodinville, WA offers lovely farmland.
too dreamy to sleep
I lie awake at night and visions of birds, lace and newsprint draw all over my mind. The cards make themselves and appear before me, saying, “hey, how about me?”. I wish I could make all of them, and I dream of custom-made machinery that would stamp out bird silhouettes twenty in a second. But then, I reason, that’s not really handmade. No, that’s not handmade at all. Now, that’s a path of reasoning to stumble down. To be honest, the cards don’t make themselves, and they aren’t all my own ideas.
True, I gather inspiration from everyday objects and the work of others, but I am just as baffled as many people are, who say, “I didn’t know you were artistic!”. Several years ago, I sat down alone in a prayer chapel at church, having no real skill to play the piano, but lots of desire. I made a few pretty sounds and usually stopped playing, depending on who walked in. I knew that I felt connected to God when I heard or played music, and I didn’t want to invite anyone into those private moments for us. Over the months, I began to play by ear, and could pick up any song I heard. Then I learned how to read chord charts. It all began by just really wanting to spend time with Jesus through the medium of music. So when people say, “Wow! I didn’t know you played the piano!” the story that I tell them is “Jesus taught me how to play.” It’s a similar story with the cards – I made cards for friends several years ago, and even worked a year in a scrapbooking shop. But nothing truly materialized until early last year, when I remembered that I had coined the card company name “Edenology” seven years previous, and had the fleeting thought “maybe I can sell these in stores.”
The cards have been nudges from Jesus. Through this entire restorative process, emotionally speaking, brand new things have emerged. These card designs, many of which are in journals and aren’t even prototyped yet, thrill me and make me stay up at night. I write down the descriptions of what I see in my phone so I will remember them later. I am just really happy that Jesus put all these gifts inside of me.
Early 2010, I was hurting in many ways because I was allowing my personality to soften; my hard protective front was cracking as I took more risks and took less control. God spoke to me this phrase: “This is the Springtime of your life”. Early that spring, maybe even late winter, cherry blossoms were flooding every tree I saw, and every other type of flower was sprouting up everywhere I looked. Later that summer, my husband took me to a community farm and flower garden, and as we walked the rows, I felt like God was kissing me. I felt nature agreeing with God.
Gray and Yellow Ornate Bird Card available in my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/edenology
Home in Bloom
Pretty things to look at! And maybe buy…from the Etsy community. Click on each item for all the details. I love these pieces. Especially the upcycled table. My birthday is June 3rd!
Lovely, aren’t they?
-Wendy
Edenology 