Wedding cake ~ Pearl Floral Crown

The latest wedding cake in my collection.

Further details HERE

Wedding Cake ~ Floral

Floral wedding cake design.

More details HERE

Wedding Cake ~ Roses

Stacked wedding cake with rose layers and topper

Further details HERE

Wedding Cake ~ Crystal Crown Topper & Garland Band

A Crystal Crown topper and beaded Garland Band wedding cake.  You can see full details and further photographs HERE

David Wilkerson ~ A Life of service

Woke up this morning to see the sad news on Twitter that the evangelist David Wilkerson, a man who lived his life in service, was killed yesterday in a road accident.  His wife Gwen remains critically ill in hospital and their family have asked for prayers at this time.


Wilkerson served as a pastor in small churches in Scottdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until he saw a photograph in Life Magazine in 1958 of seven New York City teenagers charged with murder. He later wrote that as he felt the Holy Spirit move him with compassion, he was drawn to go to New York in February 1958. It was then that he began his street ministry.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book with John and Elizabeth Sherrill about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller. Included in the book is the story of the conversion of gang member Nicky Cruz, who later wrote the autobiographical Run Baby Run about his own life. The Cross and the Switchblade has sold over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. In 1970, a Hollywood movie based on the book starred Pat Boone as Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Cruz. The book was included on Christianity Today's "The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals" 
In 1958, Wilkerson founded Teen Challenge, an evangelical Christian recovery program and a network of Christian social and evangelizing work centers. In 1967, Wilkerson began Youth Crusades, an evangelistic ministry aimed at teenagers whom Wilkerson called "goodniks"—middle-class youth who were restless and bored. His goal was to prevent them from becoming heavily involved with drugs, alcohol, or violence. Through this ministry, the CURE Corps (Collegiate Urban Renewal Effort) was founded. It was intended to be something of a Christian version of the Peace Corps and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA).
In 1971, Wilkerson moved his ministry headquarters to Lindale, Texas, where he founded World Challenge, an organization whose mission is to promote and spread the Gospel throughout the world.
Wilkerson believed that In 1986, while walking down 42nd Street in New York City at midnight, the Holy Spirit called him to return to New York City and to raise up a ministry in Times Square. This resulted in the establishment of Times Square Church, which opened its doors in October 1987. The church first occupied rented auditoriums in Times Square (Town Hall and the Nederlander Theater), later moving to the historic Mark Hellinger Theatre, which the ministry purchased in 1989 and in which it has operated ever since.
From the 1990s, Wilkerson focused his efforts to encourage pastors and their families throughout the world to "renew their passion for Christ". In his own words:

"I've been an evangelist for 50 years, but I didn't want to preach to pastors until I had gray hair, until I'd pastored. Now after 15 years of pastoring, sharing the hurts, pains, and difficulties of the ministry as a pastor, I felt the Lord finally release me, that I might have something to say."

Wilkerson and his wife Gwen moved to New York City at the inception of Times Square Church in 1987, and in 2006 began splitting their time between New York and Texas. They have four children and eleven grandchildren. His son Gary Wilkerson has also begun to gain recognition as a Christian minister and evangelist. (source Wikipedia)

You can see The cross and the Switchblade here.

Wedding Cake ~ Crystal Spray

You can read about my latest cake decoration design on Crystal Velvet Weddings

Easter Live ~ See what a morning

Easter Live ~ Has has risen

He has Risen

He is risen indeed Hallelujah

Matthew 28

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
The Guards' Report

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
The Great Commission Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."


He is risen
He is risen indeed ..... Hallelujah!

BT ~ A Love Story ~ Vintage Tiara Style

 We've watched as two people embark on a relationship, we've watches as they got to know one another, met the family, moved in together, were seperated by work, had their up's and downs and now finally we see them marry in a truely beautiful wedding. 

 The wedding is ased around the vintage feel and is styled so beautifully.  Jane's tiara is a style that looks very flattering and stylish on dark hair.  It's encrusted with beads and crystals and sits on the side of the head.

 

Thisis my version of the BT Tiara.  I've also excentuated the tiara band with aditional crystals and added fresh water pearls.  This tyle of tira can be created in any colour you want, with or with out the band detailing.  It's available HERE.

Easter Live~ Still

Still ~ Reuben Morgan

EasterLive ~ Loss

When Jesus died it was the Jewish day of preparation (the day before the sabbath ~ on the sabbath, Jews do no work ~ including burying the dead) Jesus' body was taken down from the cross and because there was no other tomb near by they laid Jesus in a tomb in the Garden belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph was a secret follower of Christ because he feared the Jews.

Matthew tells us that Pilate ordered guards to seal the tomb and to stand guard. He had heard that Jesus has said "I will rise again in three days" Pilate did not want the disciples to take the body to make it look as though Jesus had risen.

I wonder how Jesus friends and family felt. Over the last few days they had watched Jesus endure horrendous treatment and then to saw him die on the cross. They witnessed his anguish and pain. They'd barely had time to put his body into strips of cloth and into the tomb before the sabbath.
They must have been afraid that Pilate, Caiaphas and the other chief priests and people of the law would not be satisfied with having "got" Jesus. What if they came after the followers of Jesus too. Perhaps they hid away keeping a "low profile"

To loose a friend is a very painful and hard event to go through. To see the empty place at the table, to think ' I must tell him, about it' an then realise that you can't.
We are not told what the disciples did over this time. We do know that Mary the mother of Jesus went with John and was then cared for in his home. I think this must have been a comfort to both of them. When you loose someone it's always a comfort to talk to other people who also knew them and share your loss.

Although Jesus said he would rise again in three days time, and they had witnessed him giving life back to Lazarus and Jairus' daughter and Peters mother in law they would have had doubts that a dead person would rise on his own. On the third day women went to the tomb to anoint the body with spices and if they were expecting Jesus prophesy to come true they'd have had more expectation and wouldn't have felt the need to spice the body.

Father God
To loose a loved one is a devastating experience
Facing each new day is so difficult when you feel the pain
Let the void they have left in my life be filled with happy memories
Wrap your loving arms around me
With your help I can get through each day
Help me let go of the pain.
Amen

Easter Live ~ The Wonder of the Cross

May I never loose the wonder, the wonder of the cross
May I see it like the first time standing as a sinner lost
Undone by mercy and left speechless, watching wide eyed at the cross
May I never loose the wonder, the wonder of the cross.

Vicky Beeching ~ The wonder of the cross

Easter Live ~ You Chose the Cross

Easter Live ~ The Crucifiction

Adrain Snell~ The passion

Easter Live ~ The Crucifiction

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
The Death of Jesus Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."

Today is Good Friday. In many ways it's hard to understand the "good". The son of God killed as a common criminal having endured torture and humiliation and the pain of Crucifixion. For the disciples it must have been very hard indeed. Their leader and friend whipped, tried and crucified. Unlike us, they hadn't the chance to read the end of the book. How much easier for us who have read the end and know the wonderful things to come.
Many Christians world wide will be gathering today to celebrate the death of Jesus, looking forward to Sunday when we can celebrate his Resurrection.

Just imagine the hammer and the nails. The clang as metal connects with metal. That clang representing our reasons for Jesus being nailed to the cross. Because without our sinfulness, the cross would not have been there. With out our wrong doing, the need for this perfect, blameless sacrifice would never have had to be made.
The sacrifice that Jesus made on that cross bought each and everyone of us from the claims of hell.

Thank you Jesus that you died for me.
Thank you that you took my sins on your shoulders and subjected yourself to the nails and the cross.
Jesus, with out you I am nothing. With out you I am lost and wretched.
You died for me because you love me.
Thank you Jesus
Amen

Easter Live ~ The trial

Jesus Christ Superstar

Easter Live ~ The trial

The trial by Adrian Snell ~ The Passion

Easter Live ~ The Trial

We often read of mistrials and miscarriages of justice. If the judges and lawyers looked into the trial of Jesus, then it might be headlined as the Biggest misscarriage of Justice ever...
Having been passed from pillar to post, he is finally taken to Pilate. Pilate can find nothing worthy of the punishment of death and tries to set Jesus free, But the crowds who days before shouted "Hosanna" shouted for hs crucifiction and when Pilate tries to offer them a murderer "Barabas" they choose the murderer in exchange.

John 19
Pilate gave orders for Jesus to be beaten with a whip. The soldiers made a crown out of thorn branches and put it on Jesus. Then they put a purple robe on him. They came up to him and said, "Hey, you king of the Jews!" They also hit him with their fists.
Once again Pilate went out. This time he said, "I will have Jesus brought out to you again. Then you can see for yourselves that I have not found him guilty."
Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, "Here is the man!" When the chief priests and the temple police saw him, they yelled, "Nail him to a cross! Nail him to a cross!"
Pilate told them, "You take him and nail him to a cross! I don't find him guilty of anything."
The crowd replied, "He claimed to be the Son of God! Our Jewish Law says that he must be put to death."
When Pilate heard this, he was terrified. He went back inside and asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus did not answer.
"Why won't you answer my question?" Pilate asked. "Don't you know that I have the power to let you go free or to nail you to a cross?"
Jesus replied, "If God had not given you the power, you couldn't do anything at all to me. But the one who handed me over to you did something even worse."
Then Pilate wanted to set Jesus free. But the crowd again yelled, "If you set this man free, you are no friend of the Emperor! Anyone who claims to be a king is an enemy of the Emperor."
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out. Then he sat down on the judge's bench at the place known as "The Stone Pavement." In Aramaic this pavement is called "Gabbatha."
It was about noon on the day before Passover, and Pilate said to the crowd, "Look at your king!"
"Kill him! Kill him!" they yelled. "Nail him to a cross!"
"So you want me to nail your king to a cross?" Pilate asked.
The chief priests replied, "The Emperor is our king!" Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be nailed to a cross.
Jesus was taken away.

Easter Live ~ With Friends like these, who needs enemy's?

Artist unknown

Can you imagine the scene.  You've got to the pinacle point of your life, you've taught your freinds so much, shared their grief and their joys, their highs and lows, healed their relatives and friends, shown them true enlightenment and love and now, just as you are facing the biggest, most horrific moment of your life, they all seem to be failing in their loyalty and friendship.

That's exactly the situation Jesus was in as he approached his human end.  He knew who was to betray him, he'd even made a point of telling them all, and yet to his friends there was something unbelieveable about that possibility.  "Surely not I" was Judas' response when confronted, and when the disciples are told "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written "I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered"  Peter then replied, Even if all fal away, I will never" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, this very night before the cock cries you will denigh me three times"  Peter and the other disciples said "I will never disown you"

And then we find Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.  He's asked his friends to stay awake and to pray with him as he's troubled.  t this stage Judas has slipped away to go and bring the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus.  The other disciples probably start off praying, but fall asleep.  They are woken by Jesus, but again fall asleep and after that Jesus leaves them sleeping.  How alone he must have felt.  His cry to God to release him from the path he's on and the desperation he must have felt are byond human understanding.  As the morning light starts. Jesus wakes his friends again knowing that Judas is on the way and that with in hours, Peter also will have dealt him another blow.

Easter Live ~ Take this cup away from me

Jesus Christ 1973 version

Recipe ~ Easter Egg Nests

Ingredients

5 Shredded Wheat
75g milk chocolate
75g plain chocolate
50g butter
3 tbsp golden syrup
Smartie eggs (yummy!)

Method

Break up the shredded wheats. 
Mix chocolate, butter and syrup in pan.

Grease baking trays.
Stir the Shredded  Wheat into the chocolate mixture ashape into nests.
Place in fridge to chill.
Add eggs

Enjoy!

Easter Live ~ Gethsemane

Adrian Snell Gethsemane ~ The Passion

Easter Live ~ Not My Will But Yours

Today we look at the Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. It is night and Jesus takes his disciples to the garden. He leaves them and takes his three friends James, John and Peter further into the garden. He asks them to wait before going further on his own. He is displaying real human emotions. Those of distress and troubledness. How would we feel knowing that a death sentance was hanging over us with a cruel and horrible death awaiting us. But worse still, what if it was your own Father who'd organised it?

Mark 14 32-42
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, Sit here while I pray.
He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, he said to them. Stay here and keep watch.
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.
Abba, Father, he said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Simon, he said to Peter, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing.
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!

Jesus asks his Father to let him escape the death, but in doing so he also acknowledges Gods power and control over things.
Jesus returns to Peter, James and John to find them sleeping... this must have added to his hurt. Coudn't they see what he was going through, how could they sleep at a time like this?
He wakes them and then goes off to pray again, but on returning find them sleeping. The disciples can find no words for him.

God gives a great big No to Jesus' request to "take the cup from him". Jesus returns to his freinds, wkes them and stands to see the soldiers and his frined Judas coming into the garden....

Mutant Flowers

 

A weed is just a flower in the wrong place!

My garden is bursting with the colour yellow.  It's a beautiful bright sunshine yellow and it's not from the daffodils as they've all died back and have been deheaded.  This current flourish of yellow is from the Dandelions.  I know I am not alone, on recent journeys I've been thrilled to see carpets of dandelions.  Now I know they are a weed and a very invasive weed, but aren't they beautiful,, their tiny snipped petals taking in the suns rays. 

When we first moved into our home 11 years ago, We dug up the back and carefully removed all the tap roots, one by one tracing them through the soil and taking them out.  We sowed grass seed, sat back and waited for a beautiful lawn to appear, it did.  Somehow, dispite all our efforts we had daisys and dandelions galore.

Over the years I've ignore them, pulled them out of the flower beads and the veg garden, but on the lawn and the weed border (for wildlife) they remain dancing in the breeze.

It's nice when the lawn is first cut as you just have the green  for a few days.  However, my clever dandelions have fought back and used their mother nature powers to flower right next to the ground and they have done their maths correctly, because when I mow the lawn, the lawn mower simply skims accross the top leaving the dandelions still intact and dancing in the sun

Easter Live ~ Kneels in humility and washes our feet

Kneels in Humility and washes our feet ..... Bow down and worship for this is your God

Easter Live ~ Sculptural story telling

This stunning sculpture depicting John 13 where Jesus washes his disciples feet stands outside

Dallas Theological Seminary. The image was captured by: Resclassic.

I have shown this photo in the past and throughout the years, it's been one of the most visited images on my sites.

Easter Live ~ Not to be served, but to serve

I'd imagine that many people taking part in the Easter Live (see the button on the right hand side) will be focusing on the footwashing story tomorrow, however I have other plans for tomorrow and so I'm going to break with tradition!

John 13 1-17
Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet

It was just before the Passover Feast.
Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"Jesus answered,
"A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am.
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Washing feet was an honor that a good host awarded to his guests. Sandals were the standard foot wear and the dusty roads meant that people were often glad to have this service offered to them. It was a refreshing thing.
When Jesus offered to wash his disciples fee, he was met with horror. Peter could not imagine Jesus washing his feet. But Jesus explained that he had come to Earth, not to serve, but to be a servant. Of course, we know that he then goes on to offer the most subservient service of all and give his life for us.
Although he'd predicted his death to his disciples, I'm sure that none of them fully understood.
Jesus says "I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you" What we do for others, we are doing for Jesus.

Colours of Spring

Fresh, vibrant, electric are words that spring to mind when thinking about spring colours.
They are literally a burst of change from the Paynes Grey and zinc white palate of  winters.

 Spring sees vivid green buds on bare twig, bold yellow and green daffodils, white apple blossom and yet it's not the white of winter.  This is a warm white with a bit if a blush.  Then the purples appear  and pink and they are not subtle in anyway.
They make their prescene known, drawing your eye to them.  Spring colours are invasive. One day the tree stands bare and the next it's burdened under the fresh leaves.

Easter Live ~ Forgive

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.  I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."

 Last year during lent I collected together stories about forgiveness:

Simon Weston

Gordon Wilson

among others, these stories were about people caught up in extraordinary situations.  They were monumental decisions to forgive in situations that can't have been easy to handle.

It's the small things in life that often prove more marked and difficult to forgive.  The hurtsthat happen to us, the anger wrongly or rightly directed at us etc.  Sometimes it's so hard to let go.  How often do we really let go. 

Corinthians tells us that "love... keeps no record of wrongs"

Who can you forgive today?

Order From Chaos

This last weekend, my parents gave me a huge chest of pine draws. 
Now anyone who knows me knows I live in a creative environment.  I am not a tidy minamalist type of person.  I hoard, be it magazines with pretty pictures, fabrics, shells, glass, twigs and logs etc.  To me everyting has a potential.  In my workroom I have floor to ceiling shelving filled with glue, paints, cardboard, beads (of course) tools, papers and cupboards full of fabric, buttons, ribbons, threads and oter materials for creating.
There are of course also my completed projects, necklaces, tiaras, paintings, bracelets, sock monkeys and many more bits and pieces.
Our house is not big, perfectly adequate, but certainly not big.  A family of five can produce quite a bit of mess with their clutter.
Having the draws has meant that I have to fill them.  I've begun to organise things.  The lounge is now looking more streamlined and as a result, it's enabled me to empty the collapseable book case and to use that to order my kitchen store under the stairs.  (now my kitchen really is tiny.  It's actually in the old coal house!)
I pulled out loads of stuff and had a good clear out.  now I can access  the pans and their lids easily and it's enabled me to have more order in there.
The knock on effect is also great as it 's making me tidy through the other rooms too.
I doubt I'll actually throw much out, but I may put it in a more apporachable order and may be inspired to create as I discover lost treasures!

Easter Live ~ In The Temple

Jesus Christ Superstar

Easter Live ~ Turning the tables

Jesus and the Moneychangers (Boris Olshansky, 2006)

 

This temple is a real business opportunity, I was on the waiting list for years before I got a pitch.  It took a few bungs in the right direction as well, but here I am with my prime position stall. They come in to pray, they come in to make their offerings and that's when they realise they simply have to stop at my stall and partake.

It's a licence to print money!

Praying on the vulnerability, the insecurities and the needieness of these....... these ......pilgrims.  I'll always take good care of them, put their needs first, like their need for forgiveness (need sufficient offerings for that and my doves are the best you can buy, they'll guarantee forgiveness).

Their need tto feel that God can see them (why would God not see them if they are offering my classy offerings!)

I make a good wage packet here, no need for advertising, the crowds simply flock through the gates.  I couldn't be set up in a better place.

Yesterday everyone that came in seemed to be on a real high.  Not drugs, this was something different, something altogeher stranger.  They'd all been running up and down and singing and shouting about this Galilean bloke, I think Asher was on about him the other day, apparently he's a healer and tells the crowds what they want to hear.  I 've even heard that he's got the ability to make excellent wine.  Sounds like someone I should be getting together with to network.  Could go into business together.  I wonder what the going rate is for wine and healing these days.  I fancy a bit of diversification

Blimey, it's a bit noisy today. who the heck is banging around like that.  They are making my doves all nervous.  People won't buy them if they don't look good.

It's a mad man, they ought to call in the guards, he's just chucked James' table over and now he's heading my way.  Wonder who upset him?

Bugger he's looking at me, now he's walking towards my table.

"This should be a house of prayer and yet you have made it a den of theives"

A trip to the seaside and cake jewellery

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day.  It was the perfect day for a visit to the seaside. I packed up the car and put on my sunglasses, wound down the window, turned on some nice music and set off to Cleethorpes.  I crossed the Humber bridge with the sun dancing on the river below.
Going on the Road into Cleethorpes itself, I joined the steady stream of families off to enjoy the beach, Pleasure Island and the other attractions.  I was almost sad to turn before the sea came into view.  My trusty Sat Nav took me straight to my desination and there a car parking space awaited me.
I wasn't going to the beach or to Pleasure Island, I was going to a church hall to demonstrate cake jewellery to the ladies of the Cleethorpes and Grimsby British Sugrcraft Guild.

Out came my boxes and I was really pleased to be greeted warmly and made to feel relaxed from the beginning.
I laid out all my samples, materials and some jewellery creations and then I set up my fake cake.  By Fake cake, I mean two polystyrene round cake shapes.  I had meant to ice them, but a busy week meant it didn't happen and I could have been severely embarrassed if I'd tried and not got it perfect.
One by one the ladies and a gent trouped in.  there was an amazing turn out and the ladies were of a very wide age range which was lovely to see.
After an introduction, I explained how I'd developed from an interior designer ino a jewellery maker and how a chance "meeting" on the Crafts Forum had introduced me to the art of cake jewellery.
It would have been extremely boring for the ladies to sit and watch me make a whole piece.  The monotony of watching me twiddle wire would have sent them to sleep!  Instead I showed them how basic techniques could be used to create different ideas.  It's amazing how once you are in the flow, the time flies by.  An hour and a half later I was gasping for a cuppa and drew the demonstration to a close. 

I had some really interesting chats with the ladies and had a lovely cake and a cup of tea before packing up for the return journey.  I was privaledged to see some of the ladies hard and intricate work for a forthcoming show they are attending.  I think the content is probably top secret, so I won't divulge it here, sufice to say it's an impreesive exhibit!

Photo's of examples of my work (sugar craft people by Lorraine Mackay)

EasterLive ~ Palm Sunday ~ Hosanna

Jesus Christ Superstar

Easter Live ~ The Triumphal Entry ~ Palm Sunday

A modern church window from  Capitol Drive  Lutheran Church depicting the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Easterlive ~ Palm Sunday ~In the crowd

We are all very used to crowds, they seem to be everywhere: Sports events, concerts, school, shopping etc We are always witnessing crowds on the news too.  Sometimes its poverty stricken people waiting for aid.  Sometimes it's chanting crowds screaming at dictatorships, demanding change.
Sometimes it's crowds of people lining the streets at Wooten Bassett as our dead hero soldiers are repatriated and then in contrast, at others, its celebratory scenes. Cheering people celebrating an event (I imagine this will be the situation later this month as people celebrate the Royal Wedding).

 There were crowds in Jerusalem on the day we now celebrate as Palm Sunday.  Crowds who were no doubt going about their business, carrying on with their daily lives, the shoppping, the carrying and general hubub of life.
There was no announcement that the day would be any different from normal, no email, letter, poster, news flash.  The people were just carring on as normal.
Outside the city Jesus and his friends were approaching. as they came near to Bethphage, Jesus told a couple of them to go ahead into the village. "just as you enter, you will find a colt tied there, no one has ever riden it, untie it and bring it to me"
Now I imagine that in a time where punishment could be very hard, they were a little reluctant to approach a strangers place and untie his prized posession and take it, but Jesus said "if anyone asks you why you are doing this?, tell them that the Lord needs it and will send it back shortly"
They went and fetched the young donkey, they were stopped, but spoke the words they had been told and were allowed to take it.  Then they put their cloaks onto it and Jesus sat on it.
Back in the city, the noise and bustle continued. As the people went about their daily chores, they would have been chatting, or totally lost in their own little world, but somehow, through to their consciousness, would have come a sound, the sound of joyful chanting and shouting and they'd have stood up and looked to where the noise was coming from.
As a school child I remember sitting on the school firld eatting my lunch when something suddenly drew my attention, was it the flow of people changing, was it the change in noise, I don't know, but a fight was happening and it was as though everyone had to be there, I think this would have been similar, people all going in one direction, surging forward to see the "God Man", this Galilean, this man who spoke such amazing words, who healed the sick and raised the dead and promissed wonderful things.  There would have been conversations, stranger talking to stranger, "who is it?",   "what's happening?" and then as they found out, they'd have wanted to be part of the celebration too.  Palm fronds were hasily cut down and laid on the road, (a jewish sign of victory) people took their coats off as a mark of honor and laid them to be trampled underfoot.  Loud chants started up too.  "Hosanna", "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"

But, there were those to whom the celebrations brought chills of fear,   this was dangerous, this sounded like rebellion. They told Jesus to tell the crowds to "shut up" but his response to them was "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out"
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Plans For Today

It's a beautiful sunny day.  The forecast however is not likely to remain so nice as it's been widely reported that Easter will be wet and rainy.
I am going to be taking advantage of the sunshine and on my list of jobs today are:
Cut the lawns
Plant out: Carrots, parsnips,salad greens, lettuce, Kale, garlic and squash.
Sow Runner beans
Empty the compost bins and spread
Cut some of the hedges, some of them have nesting birds in and so I'll leave odd bits untouched.  (have been studying whose living where for the past few days.)
And then if there is any time left, I shall be getting ready for my demonstration for the British Sugarcraft Guild this coming weekend.  (just hope the postie arrives with some bits and bobs I ordered!)