Ballet, embroidery, gifts, oh my!

This project doesn't have much to do with ballet technique...but it does have an image of pointe shoes on it, so it counts, right?   Anyways, this is a gift that I made for my friend Sarah.  She is one of my dance buddies and has inspired me to do my best in many areas.  Well, what better way to say "happy birthday" to my ballerina friend, than with the gift of an embroidered pointe shoe?

The shoe was from a template from A Dancer's Book of Ballet Crafts (by Christina Aleta Haskin), and I just drew the letters myself.  I popped the finished product into a wooden frame that I got from JoAnnes (for a very convenient price!)  I wrapped it up in a piece of grocery bag, wrapped in blue ribbon, and voila!  A great gift for my friend.

Happy Birthday Sarahlina!  May this year be filled with joy, peace and lots of dancing!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: rejoice! Philippians 4:4

-Pandy

The Bronze Bow

Now, this should be known to all of my followers and consumers of this post: I love to read. Yes, it's true. Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. Truly. I love to read. :)

As you now know, I love reading- and this is what I have been reading lately:

SPOILER WARNING!!!

"He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

The Bronze Bow By Elizabeth George Spear. This is one of my favorite books. Daniel is a young Jew who ran away to the mountains to escape the tyranny of the Romans, and his bad experiences as an apprentice to a blacksmith. There he joins a band of men who are making ready to fight to fight the Romans. Daniel works for this cause too, until his grandmother dies and he is forced to take care of his sister, who is possessed by a demon. Daniel begins his new life and prepares a group of boys to fight the Romans. He begins to hear about Jesus, and watches Him teach, wondering if He will deliver them from the Romans until he is convinced otherwise. After realizing that Rosh, the leader of his band from the mountains isn't the messiah he was looking for, Daniel relapses for a while, but continues to nurture his hate for the Romans. After Daniel's small band rescue a friend from the Roman's galleys, they don't try to reunite; the death of one of their members has convinced them against it. Daniel's sister Leah has made friends with a Roman and after Daniel's outburst at finding out, she relapses into complete silence and fear. The book ends with Jesus curing Leah and Daniel accepting Christ. It also has a romantic element to it, but I won't spoil it too much. It is an exiting book sprinkled with Spear's lovely description of emotion and landscape. I enjoyed this book immensely!

I'll try and keep an update of all the books I read. Happy reading!

The Joy of the Lord is my strength!

~Pandy

The Temperament Tangle

In the summer of 2011, a bunch of my friends and I put on the second anual basement play! It was called The Temperament Tangle. The plot consisted of six main super heroes, three good, and three evil. On the good side was, Miss Melancholy, an organized genius, with her good-natured sidekicks, Super sanguine Alyssa and Clarissa. On the bad side, Countess Choleric ruled with a firm had over the world and her side-kicks, Phlegmatic Phyllis and Phillipa.

The super hero's fight against the super villains ended in the conquering of Countess Choleric and her sidekicks, and all worked together for the better of the world!

I love putting on plays. This play took us about a month to put on (a very hectic month, I assure you!), and we all had a fabulous time! There were three songs, two of them to tunes from "Hello Dolly", and one a complete original.

One of my favorite preparations for The Temperament Tangle was making costumes. At JoAnns, I purchased a variety of colorful T-shirts, and cut and sewed away! Pretty soon, I had made two dresses out of two extra-large shirts, and ruffles and lace began to adorn all of the others!

The crown jewel of the costumes, however, was The Cape.

The Cape was modeled after a large apron that had been used for a cape in times before. With the help of my mom, we copied the apron pattern, and.......tada! An amazingly wonderful shiny red cape!!!

The great thing about "basement plays" is that we can be truly ourselves and shine for the Lord! We can sing and dance and praise God and easily avoid all of the bad stuff that it is all too easy to find in many other theaters. Of course, we aren't professionals, but this is still a way of glorifying Him.

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

~Pandy