Happy Birthday America!

It's finally here. One of our favorite times of the year - Independence Day! July 4th is always an eventful day for our crew. Sometimes exciting, sometimes sad but never boring. We do our best to be together as a family on this most American of all our holidays.

Firework shows are carefully planned and weather reports are closely scrutinized. Everyone reviews their recipes and plans picnic menus. Lawns are manicured and flowers planted. We love the homes where people make the effort to hang bunting and fly flags.

Despite the critics both here and abroad, America is a very special place filled with very special people. We have a great deal to be proud of and shouldn't be ashamed to flaunt it once a year.

Our spelling might be iffy and sentence structure shaky but Americans are all poets in their own way. Travel about the country and you will find someone worth listening to on every street corner. Our greatest stories are our own lives.

We owe our present pleasures to our rich and varied heritage. People have believed enough in the dream of a free America to give their lives in it's pursuit and protection. We only have one big problem.

We have faulty memories. We have forgotten the cost of our free America. Most heinous of all, we have forgotten our God to whom our founders pled for guidance and inspiration.

This year, as you celebrate with fireworks, food and family, take the time to thank God for his provision and protection. Also thank those who are even now giving their lives to serve you.

Our family will be together this weekend with a few notable exceptions. We will be missing and praying for Ray who is serving his country in the deserts of the east. He is one to be proud of and we will tout his grand qualities to all and sundry.

We will also be missing so many who have left us in the last few years. But we won't be maudlin. We will be remembering and laughing at old stories and thanking God that we had them with us for a while.

We wish you all a wonderful and fun-filled holiday. Enjoy the sun (there will be sun, right?) and clap for the fireworks. Eat too much and laugh till your sides hurt. Win all your races and listen carefully to the old folks. Their stories are America. Your stories are America. Happy Birthday!!!

Hello from the other side of FAR in Canton Oho

Just wanted to tell everyone hi and of course say hello to my wonderful mommy and middle sis Evie.
As my mom said we are all artists in our own way. Some of us better than others. Evelyn is amazing and mother is a sewing genious. We have some over her pieces to prove it and on top of that she can paint too.
I am still struggling to find my niche. I tried jewelry and sold a piece or 2 but have not had much luck. If anyone has any good jewelry making tips..please let us know. I tried my hand at sculpey and I love it but $$$ is tight and it is hard to afford supplies.
Hope to be able to contribute more to our shop soon.
God Bless and Please pray for my daughter and I. Life has been pretty tough.

growing

Good morning America!

The sun is shining here as usual. We love it here and are not really looking forward to our probable move next summer. Oh, well. God has been good everytime with wonderful places and wonderful people to get to know. We know this move will be no different.

Some of you may have noticed a new contributer to the blog. Ray is Evie's husband and a US army sergeant. He is also an artist and some day we'll convince him to contribute to the Far Studios store on Etsy. Take a chance and read his blog "A Fight with Depravity". He works very hard to study and learn and to share what God is teaching him. It's heady stuff!

Well, the scout made it home safely and wasn't even that tired - wonder of wonders! He earned a whole chest full of merit badges and the admiration of his leaders, the respect of his fellow scouts! You should see the targets from his rifle test. He is a real sharpshooter!

We shipped him off Monday to Helen, Georgia. Helen is an Alpine lookalike mountain resort town that Evie says really looks like the villages in Germany. She should know. She and her family were stationed in Darmstadt (I think that's how it's spelled) for three or four years. They loved it there.

Orie is spending the week with a friend's family in their time share. He wasn't there two hours before he was tubing down the Chattahoochi (spelling?) river. This has sure been an adventurous (checked the dictionary on that one) busy summer for him. Oh, to be young and courageous! (Gramma says getting old and rickety does have some advantages, too.)

Elijah has been enjoying having his mom all to himself. We've dragged him everywhere with us. He has shopped, walked, explored, worked, exercised, and generally contributed with us all of the last two weeks. We've decided to keep a journal of all the cool things he says. A seven-year-old's perspective is really unique! Even when he's in trouble (not our Elijah!) he's entertaining. Gramma says one of the greatest things about living with her daughter's family is getting to know the youngest of her grandchildren.

Well, gotta go. Only seventeen days left to clean and sew and craft before the family arrives for a visit. Can't wait! Hope you are all having a loving happy day. Remember God in all you do. He never forgets you!

Bye

A Fight With Depravity:ISN'T IT ENOUGH?

Ray's newest blog.

Scouts abloomin'

Well, how have you all been? Read any good blogs lately?

Here's another.

Orie has been at boy scout camp all week (after helping with cub camp all last week). He comes home tomorrow. We'll see if he's glad or sad.

He went swimming immediately after arrival Sunday and promptly vomited his lunch. "I had french fries coming out my nose, mom!" Gross! He has had something go wrong everyday and has not slept well at night but he still was happy to be there Wednesday when mom saw him on parent's night. We can't wait to hear his stories tomorrow. Hope they aren't all gross!

Evie learned to sew this week. She made both Orie and Elijah aprons on her new sewing machine. She enjoyed it until informed that sewing needles don't last forever and should be changed every few projects. She's such a tightwad!

Evie is also working on another piece of papier-mache furniture. You wouldn't believe it but these pieces are really strong. Her first big piece, a small table, was really sturdy and very imaginative. It was a tree with gnome houses and mushrooms. The new piece is a toadstool stool. We can't wait to see the finished product.

Lena has promised us a whole box of her special ribbons. We'll be sure to get them posted to the FAR Studios store on Etsy.com as soon as they arrive. She makes the most beautiful bows with the most wonderful colors!

We may all actually be in one place the week of the 4th. Audrey and Lena will be visiting with Jordan in tow. We can't wait! We've planned all kinds of things to do and places to visit and, of course, we will work on making things for the store.

Mom (or gramma depending on your perspective) is sewing up a storm making quilt blocks to be made into custom pillow covers. She has decided to make one for herself out of her late hubby's old shirts. We'll see how that works out. She is also considering making computer monitor and TV covers. She things media screens are big ugly black eyes in the room and should be covered when not in use. Great dust blockers too.

Well, gotta go. Hope you all have a great weekend. We'll let you know what our Scout had to say!

May God bless you and may you bless Him. See ya.

blog blog blog

Howdy folks! Welcome to the FAR Studios blog. We are a group of craft artists who love color, fun and creativity. We invite you to check out our shop at FARStudios.etsy.com. We've been in existence for about nine months now and are still learning the ropes of running a business.

We are four at the moment - Evelyn (the brains of the outfit), Audrey (a genious in art), Lena (a crafter of unlimited imagination) and Colleen (mom). We each have a different area of concentration but love to compare notes and trade ideas. We also live in two different states which makes networking difficult sometimes.

Art and business can be a weird combination but it sure keeps the old brain cells firing. We can't make everything we would like to sell and we can't sell everything we make so compromise is the name of the game. Isn't life just like that!

Our art is closely tied to our faith. Hence, the name of our company - FAR Studios. The name comes from Proverbs 31 - the example all christian women try to emulate. God sees us as being worth far above rubies (FAR).

Three of us are moms. One of us is a gramma. One of us is a lady in waiting to be a lady in waiting. This blog will be about our company, our art, our families, our lives and our faith. We will sometimes be brief and sometimes wordy but, hopefully, we will not be boring.

Boy and cub scouts, preteens and teenagers, weather and worry, school days and PMS days, money and mayhem, etc., all will be orated here. We hope we've made a good beginning.

Talk to you later - Take care and stay steady.