pockets of prayers

we've been busy. yesterday we did a bunch of projects around the house--rearranging the furniture type stuff. now we have a dresser in the front room atop which sits our new family altar. rodney and i have been wanting to set up an altar for a long time. somewhere to lay down your problems and express your gratitude for the world. i am thinking of sewing a backdrop of pockets for it, to hang on the wall behind the altar. everyone would have their own pocket and there would be a pocket of paper to use. there would be a pocket for active prayers, worries, family concerns...if you had a personal issue or concern, wish or gratitude you could write it down and slip it into your pocket, no one would see it or judge it. i like the interactive idea, because it models for the kids that prayer is active...i think it will encourage use, thereby insuring that they notice results. whether that is that their prayer is answered or that the act of expressing and laying down your problems can shift your feelings about them. i want to sew a book, as well, for everyone to write down their gratitudes. i think it's important to pay attention to that which is beautiful in your life, even when things are hard or sad, your heart still pumps, dinner was still tasty, you still made a satisfying painting at school. etc. i want a pocket for ongoing prayers, too. my friend with cancer would always be in there, and by physically displaying my intention to send healthy juju his way, i will be encouraged to actively pray every day for his health and well being. it feels good.
we moved some shelves around, too, and my sewing desk is already twenty times more organized by having a shelf there right behind it to store my tools and works-in-progress on. i've been working on these pocket notebook covers for journals, drawing pads, writing/painting/coloring utensils. they're cool and easy to do. i've been covering them with this nifty oil cloth i found at the feed store, that is orange with a black grid background and flowers, birds, and a skeleton riding a bike. it's really weird. i'm looking forward to getting some more oilcloth soon--she has a few different styles there with big flowers and fruits and such.
oh! and the big news is i made my first gocco master screen! sooooo easy. the design didn't work out exactly how i wanted, as i scanned it into the computer, printed that up and photocopied it...it turned out a bit pixilated...so i learned not to do it that way again. but i did it! the instructions are all in japanese, as is the instructional video...but i was able to figure it out. hai! you get your design in carbon--either by drawing it with this cool carbon pen that comes with the gocco, or by photocopying it on a tonor based copy machine, then you load the little flashbulbs into the lamp-house, place your design right-side-up on the gocco pad (it's sticky so holds your paper in place), slip the master screen into its holder (it's like a screen-printing screen, blue with some sort of chemical that is activated by the light), then you put the lamp-house in place and press down. flash! go the bulbs, burning the image onto the screen (just like standard screen-printing, but you don't have to apply the chemicals yourself). the screens have this flap of clear plastic (like transparencies) that you lift up to plop the ink onto, then you slip the screen back in place, put your cards (or whatever you are printing) onto the sticky pad and press. voila! and you do it again and again. you can get A LOT of prints out of one application of ink. it's totally amazing. top ten non-vital inventions. so that was awesome and exciting. the only downside being that there isn't anywhere local that carries the screens, so you have to mail order them--and the bulbs and ink, etc. the gocco can be used for printing on fabrics, as well.
also the garden is amazing--really booming. i'm very proud since i grew most everything from seed myself for the first time (with a few exceptions). everything is big and vital and tasty-looking.
today i am grateful for:
1) ART!
2) the elements
3) sand
4) elephants
5) hope