Eight Nights of Lights 2011 - Night 8 - Penance

Tonight's topic is Penance - thinking reflectively about your life's path--and what changes you might want to enact. 

Penance is defined as a feeling of regret for one's wrongdoings. 

The Psalms tell us "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."  And only as I have aged have I learned the true meaning of that statement.  It is only as I study scripture that my path is illuminated.


Tonight's video is so much fun.  I'm showing you such a simple easy way to make gorgeous tapers!

Kathy was here today and we hung a hat rack on the wall for the tapers.  I think it looks great under this oil painting of the Western Wall that mom did back in 1985.

These are full 12" purple tapers

These are the pink - full and the creme 6" tapers that I made in the video

The glitter isn't photographing very well....but they are completely covered.

Pink glitter over pink wax

Now, for this last pair I did an interesting experiment. That broken brown beeswax in the video....I used it to cover a pair of candles and then poured turquoise glitter over the brown wax.  They came out looking more like a pine color - but they sure are beautiful!!!  It took a 3" wide strip of beeswax to go around the candles.  I melted it very soft.  Worked great!

Every year, on the last night, I share my favorite Hanukkah song.  In Exodus, it indicates that there were about 3 million Israelites who left Egypt. And it tells us that they sang a song unto Jehovah. They sang in unison.  Without knowing ahead of time - the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit ever!  Now, can you fathom a choir of 3 million people singing in the desert?  I went to the desert in Israel.  And I sang this song while I was there.



Make my life Your temple
L-rd at this season start
To pull down every idol I have raised up in my heart

On this Chanukah
On this Feast of Dedication
I dedicate myself to You

Take my defiled altar
Come and cleanse and come repair
So every time I falter I can run to meet you there

On this Chanukah
On this Feast of Dedication
I dedicate myself to You

And with every candle on the menorah
That illuminates the night
Comes a prayer You'd kindle
In me, Yeshua
A desire for Your fire, for Your light

Make of my mortal body
A house worthy of Your name
Rid me of what's ungodly and every hidden thing of shame

On this Chanukah
On this Feast of Dedication
I dedicate myself to You


And with every candle on the menorah
That illuminates the night
Comes a prayer You'd kindle in me, Messiah
A desire for Your fire, for Your light

Take my supply of oil
Not enough to burn long I fear
But, oh, how I pray I may one day say,
"A great miracle happened here!"

On this Chanukah
On this Feast of Dedication
I dedicate myself to You
My Yeshua, I dedicate myself to You.

by Marty Goetz (he played in Denver this morning and I had the thrill of hearing him live!!!)

Hanukkah - my Eight Nights of Lights. Jehovah Jesus Messiah - the Light of the World. This is my way of spreading a little light into the night. I hope you have enjoyed it all. May Jehovah bless you richly in the year to come.

Oh Holy Nights of Lights......

To me, the holy nights are the Festival of Lights.  I believe this is when the Messiah was conceived.  He is the light of the world.  And what a great celebration of that light.  I think I'm going to have more than enough lights!  But I am hooked on candle making and decorating at the moment!!

Poured more candles today.  These are from yesterday.  Paper with silk ribbon around it, then raffia on top of that.  So easy.  Even if you just buy the candles, you can decorate them quickly.  

Swarovski crystals and sterling silver charms.  Gosh....if you bought anything like this in a store it would cost you a fortune!  And because I'm melting wax from candles in a thrift store....and using scrapbook and jewelry making stuff I already have....I'm putting these together for a dime or two!

I just wish they set up faster....I am so impatient!  But I love the finished look!  My first attempt at a flat top candle.

And why not use my cricut?  Cut out the star in paper.  Pasted on some adhesive, then gold metal flakes. Stuck a Jolee's sticker on top of it.  Simple, easy, elegant....perfect!

Like I said, it's good to create.  The Star of David, the shield of David, may Jehovah provide me a shield as I go through every day of life.




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My ebay auctions

Hanukkah Lights

I love the Festival of Lights. OK, I just love lights!  And this year, I decided to decorate candles. Cheap candles from Walmart....with leftover fabric from the dressforms that I did earlier.

It's amazing how a simple candle can so quickly turn into a gorgeous show piece.

But beware the hot glue gun on a candle!  LOL!  I quickly learned that I have to work fast and in very small amounts.  Melted candle wax in melted glue - not so great!

I used another 125 swarovsky flatback crystals with my adapter.  I just love these crystals. From Creative Crystal.  I could use them on everything.  And I had this piece of silk ribbon embroidery work that goes just perfect over a remnant of that old wedding dress I'd cut up.

Just click on any photo to enlarge and see the detail!

Now, consider this.....nearly 40 year old fabric with a hot glue gun or the heat applicator for the crystals. It seemed to dissolve the moment it got touched.

I love the reflection of the candles in the mirrors......

but placing them next to the dressforms is where they will stay.

Jn 10:22-23  - the feast of dedication is the feast of lights

Col 2:16-17 - we are told that the Jewish feasts are a shadow of the things to come.

Be sure to check out these links:
My Etsy Store
My ebay auctions   New items listed this week.

The birthday of Jesus - the real story

Imagine that you are alive in the year BCE4....

Everyone who is an Israelite is required to travel to Jerusalem (probably called Ierousalem in Greek at that time) to attend a 7 day festival in the fall of the year called Sukkot. In addition, the Roman Empire has ordered that a census be taken....and you have to travel to the town of your ancestors to be counted as part of that family's descendants.  There are thousands and thousands of people in Jerusalem for the High Holy Day which starts tonight.  Each family is required to build a sukk'ah, a temporary dwelling, a booth, a temporary tabernacle, and live in it for the 7 days of the Feast of Ingathering

These booths are erected to house families with some bare comforts and food for the eight days.  (It would be like us going camping for a whole week these days.)  Food is placed in a food storage crib in these temporary tabernacles - sukk'ahs.  The King James Bible has translated the word for food crib as "manger".  After the 7 day long feast, there is an additional Sabbath Day on the 8th day called the Shemini Atzeret Sabbath "The Last Great Day" because it is the final annual Holy Day that was God-established.  The next Holy day (on your calendar) is the next Passover.

It is the fall of the year as the harvests are being brought in (gathered).  Shepherds are in their fields watching over their flocks.  Jerusalem isflooded with people as everyone is required to go there for this Festival.  Everthing is full.  And there are sukk'ahs everywhere.  Perhaps thousands of them!  Overwhelmingly massive crowds of Hebrew Pilgrims attending this High Holy day, this first day of the Feast.  Crowds have previously arrrived (to build their temporary tabernacles to stay in) and crowds are still continuously arriving, to lodge through the entire region.  By sunset, Jerusalem and all of the surrounding villages are completely full.  Even the nearby city of Bethlehem is full. It's just 4 miles away.  Not a place to be had anywhere.

Two young Hebrews, Yos'eh bar Da'vid and Miry'am, need to do 2 things.  They need to go to Jerusalem and they need to go to Bethlehem because that's where Yoseph must go to register for the census.  It is literally just 4 miles from Jerusalem.  A "stop on the way."  Miry'am is pregnant.  They get to Bethlehem.  She goes into labor.  No place to stay.  She is offered a sukk'ah (not a stable) as a place to deliver her baby, and she then placed her baby in the food crib (not a manger).  It was October 4, BCE4

Christmas is NOT the birthday of Jesus (Ye-shu'a)!!!


IF that is in fact what happened, consider these possibilities:

The Messiah was born on the first day of Sukkot - The Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Ingathering, a High Holy Day,  this day is a Sabbath.

He was born in a temporary tabernacle, a sukk'ah, because he came to tabernacle withus.

He was place in a food storage crib because He is the "bread of life".

As in Hebrew tradition, He would have been named and circumcised on the 8th day which would have been a Sabbath.

9 months prior to Sukkot is Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.  The celebration of the dedication of the Temple. He would have been conceived during this holiday because He is the Light of the world.

Zechariah 14:16-17 says that one day in the future all nations will be required to honor the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukk'ot). For no greater reason, than it is the birthday of the King of Kings!!!

The Messiah was born in the fall of the year, when it was warm, in a temporary tabernacle, on a Sabbath that was a High Holy day, on the first day of the Feast of Ingathering, and was placed in a food storage crib because He is the bread of life.  He was conceived during the Festival of Lights because He is the light of the world.

Jn 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."

For more information, see http://anitpas.net/2faq.htm or http://if-isms.blogspot.com

May you be blessed, may your heart be softened, may you come to know that your questions can be answered - all one must do is study the Word.

Notes:

There is no “J” in the Hebrew language and there was no “J” in the English language until the 1400s. 

Christ is greek Christos -actual meaning= Messiah

Jesus Messiah:  Yeshua HaMashiyach

God:  YHVH Elohim

YHVH is pronounced yeh-ho-vaw’

Elohim - plural, meaning GODS

Jerusalem - Ierousalem

Bethlehem - Beit-Lechem

Joseph - Yos’eh bar Da'vid

Mary - Miry’am

To print this as a brochure, click HERE

or click to enlarge and print:

On this Hanukkah....

if the videos do not show up in your reader, just go to http://jen-lowe-designs.blogspot.com





A little bit of light dispells a whole lot of darkness......

Has it really been 525,600 moments since I lit my last candle?

Will you light a candle tonight?



Can you hear tradition call?  Was it right to believe?



With every candle comes my prayer for you (my alltime favorite)



My prayer for you is that the next 525,600 moments will be incredible!!!

The Real Story

My gift to you - feel free to print and hand out. Simply click on the image, then file and print.

night 8 - Eight Nights of Lights 2009

Tonight's topic is Penance - thinking reflectively about your life's path--and what changes you might want to enact.

Penance is defined as a feeling of regret for one's wrongdoings. Last year,I talked about making penance art. But it was penance for what happened to the Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. My feelings of regret for what someone else did that was wrong.

Several months ago, I started tonight's project. There's over 80 hours tied up into the making of it. Not something you can do in a day. But I think huge, time-consuming pieces of art are necessary every now and then in order to make us stop and give thought to what we are trying to accomplish.



Notes of Hope - my gift to Amaco because of their generosity in supporting the Holocaust Museum in Houston. If you read my blog, you know that they have sponsored a contest for the second year - making butterflies, 1.5 million of them, one for each child who died in the Holocaust.





Notes of Hope - is a collaborative piece. While the design and majority of it was completed by myself, I have contributions from Linda Peterson, Jana Ewy and Liz Welch. And we all 4 have signed the canvas. It's big. 20" x 16". Considering that strips of Friendly Plastic are only available in 1" widths.....just imagine how much product was used to create this!!! And in the process of making it, I've spent many hours thinking about the art the world has lost in the death of all the children...and the children's children that they might have had.



Notes of Hope - why the music? In Exodus, it indicates that there were about 3 million Israelites who left Egypt. And it tells us that they sang a song unto Jehovah. Now, can you fathom a choir of 3 million people singing in the desert?

And they sang: Jehovah is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father's God, and I will exalt him....Thy right hand, O Jehovah, is glorious in power, Thy right hand, O Jehovah, dasheth in pieces the enemy.

My hope is that Jehovah will destroy the enemies of Israel and that we will be educated and wise enough to prevent children, such as those in the Holocaust, from perishing again.






Notes of hope - I have a lot of them!

Tonight's video will show you how to melt Friendly Plastic pellets, roll them out flat, and then airbrush designs on them. And I'm also showing you a closeup of the canvas.




1,500,000 children died in the Holocaust. 1,500,000 children who never created art. A great loss to the entire world. So I ask you to make a simple butterfly and send it directly to the Holocaust Memorial.

Hanukkah - my Eight Nights of Lights. Jehovah Jesus Messiah - the Light of the World. My art - my way of spreading a little light into the night. I hope you have enjoyed it all. May Jehovah bless you richly in the year to come.

Night 7 - Eight Nights of Lights 2009

Tonight, it is the practice to reinforce the rituals of the past 6 nights. So, tell the story of the great battle, eat more good food, share some humor, play some games....and truly just enjoy the blessings of life.

This has been an incredible week. I go to bed each night saying my blessings. I wake up each morning with such a feeling of excitement. Why? Well....I haven't known what I was going to do except for the first night and tomorrow night! The rest....I've just left up to the "moment". And while there have been a couple moments of panic....for the most part...it's been one of the most fun weeks of my life! This morning, I was clueless. So I got out every single thing I own that could be Hanukkah related. Spread it out on the table. Pulled out all the blue, white, silver, gold papers that I have. Pulled out all the crystals, buttons, beads.....and then I got to the acrylic. I had forgotten about the Messiah journal.

And that was it. I knew that today....in just a few short hours....I had to start this journal. And while it's not finished....it's ready to finish! All that's left is to write my story....and I think I will write the story of this past week. Each day has been such a blessing. Filled with scripture reading, Hebrew study, creating, playing. And bless Kerry! He has just been so patient with me through it all! "Honey, can you fix lunch? I've got ink all over my hands and I don't think you want green chicken today!" or "Sweetie, can we go out for dinner tonight? I'm just way too exhausted to cook anything!"

(OK, it really helps to start everything with "Honey" or "Sweetie".....just give it a try!)




For my project tonight, I simply incoporated a lot of what we've been doing.....but I added a few new things! Isn't that all art is? We just do the same things over and over while we add new techniques, new products to what we do....and it's so much fun!

I love playing with acrylic journals. In my video I show you how to use alcohol ink to color acrylic....and not get that polished stones look! I know! We all want polished stones. But once in awhile, I don't want it - I want something that looks like I sprayed it on. But if you spray paint, you won't get a transluscent look. That's why I like using alcohol ink!










You can contact Scrapbook Your Life to order word books - pick any word you want...and you can go 3 rows deep!



The stamps are by Outliners.





For me, personally, nothing inspires me more than the Star of David. It is the shield that protected David in battle. It is the star lights the world. It is my sign that I am always seeking the Messiah. And it is His sign that I see in every snowflake that falls. Oh! To be so blessed! To be able to share my art with you! Hanukkah is not just 8 nights of lights - it's 8 nights of delight!!!

night 6 - Eight Nights of Lights 2009

Humor

Mom always said, "forgive and forget". So when I would get mad at my sister, mom would patiently tell me that I had to forgive her and then forget about it. So, I went off to church and asked someone how many times you had to forgive something and was promptly told: 70 times 7. That's 490 times. Yes, I went home and started counting. I was probably around 12 years old. And when I got to 490, I went back to mom and said, "Now I don't have to forgive her anymore." I explained that I had been counting. And mom said, "Jennifer, if you truly forgive, then you will forget. And if you have forgotten, how can you remember that it has been 490 times?"

LOLOL!!!!

And with that, I gave up not forgiving. It was such a great lifetime lesson. I learned to forgive, to forget, and to laugh at myself.

So, tonight, pick one person in your life. Forgive them. And then find someting humorus in your thoughts about them. Even if it's as simple as "wow - I spent all that time being mad at them!" I honestly don't think any of my sisters or my brother could ever do anything to make me angry at them these days. But as kids - oh yeah! No less than 300 times a day! LOLOL!!! Age does have it's blessings!!!

I'm going back to Friendly Plastic tonight because I find it completely humorous. The possibilities are endless. You can use funky face stamps, an image from the internet....or use your imagination to create your designs. I hope you enjoy what I've done with it.

Or you can turn it into something meaningful and beautiful like this Star of David. Bet you're wondering how I got the lines to go over and under? It's all in how you layer your Friendly Plastic strips!



Do you think Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was a rock group during the 60's?

When the pastor tells you to turn to First Condominums, do you look it up?

Do you think the minor prophets worked in the quarries?

If so, you just might want to read your Bible a little more often!!!

LOLOL!!!!!

Night 5 - Eight Nights of Lights 2009

Tonight, on this 5th night, we share our gratitude and remember our blessings. Oh! What an amazing year this has been! My life has never been more blessed than it is right now and I wake up every morning just thanking Jehovah for life.....and for His Light!

I am thankful that mom and dad taught me how to ask questions. OK, that they taught me to question everything. That they taught me how to look things up (ok, back in "those days" we had to use and actual encyclopedia and a dictionary!) I used to get so mad at my dad. I'd ask, "How do you spell 'administration'?" And he would say - "look it up". And I would argue - how can I look it up if I don't know how to spell it? And he would say, well, just read the definitions until you find the right one!

Yes, I was a frustrated child! But how brilliant was he? Kept me occupied for hours on end! LOL!!!

I am thankful that they had so many kids! That I am blessed with 3 sisters and a brother. That we are all as different as night and day, but we all love each other so much. You know, we would never have made it in today's world. They put all 4 of us girls in the back seat - and you couldn't get 4 carseats in the rear of 1 957 Chevy even today!!! I wonder just how they would have gotten us all to church? I can just see dad making 2 trips. He was so determined - he would have done just that!!!

I am so blessed because of my art, my ability to design, and all the amazing friends I have met who are such incredible artists that inspire me to learn and do even more....and then to share what I know. I really do have much to be grateful for!

So, I've posted tonights photos between my writing. It's a light box. It's fabulous if I do say so myself! Over 100 swarovsky crystals hand set down the left hand side. 22K gold leaf and silver leaf used on paper So yes, tonight's video will show you how to take an ordinary diecut....and turn it into gold or silver. Everything in my light box is made from 80# white cardstock. How fun is that???

Now, be sure to watch all the way to the end of the video so you can see how the light box operates!

Be sure to count your blessings every single day!

Be sure to honor Him because He is the Light of the World!

Night 4 - Eight Nights of Lights 2009

Oh - my favorite night! All about food. Food traditions, recipes, enjoying time together. Yummm!!! So, I thought I'd share my memories of food as a child. Yes, there were lots of them!

I remember freezing cold nights where the ice on Duck Creek would freeze solid (well, ok, it was only about a foot deep!) Dad would light a fire and the kids would all come over and we would go ice skating after dark. When we were frozen stiff, we'd go back to our house and mom would have taffy ready for us to pull. She was so smart. Have you ever pulled taffy? I think you have to pull it for at least an hour! Great way to keep a whole bunch of kids busy!

I remember Sunday lunch at Aunt Dorothy's house. The kitchen would be buried deep with food and pies would line the counters and the bureau in the dining room. So much food you just didn't know where to start. And all the cousins, aunts and uncles would be together. I tried to count up once and gave up at 48. What a crowd!

And can we talk about pies? Gooseberry? Yuck! Raisen cream - which I really loved. Black Raspberry - my absolute favorite. Crust that was so good I can still remember the taste. Grandma Moore's caramels, Aunt Marilyn's tea bread ring, Mom's divinity....the list is endless. Shall I end the blog here while I go eat? LOL!!!lllll

It's intersting to me that in Christian religions, Jesus Messiah is referred to as the "bread of life". Jews have a heirarchy of blessing, and the bread they eat receives the highest blessing. It is equally interesting to me to have visited the Sinai desert and to just imagine the manna - a crystal like substance - falling from heaven every day to feed the Israelites.

Yesterday, I showed how to tool leather. Today, we'll take those same principals and "tool" metal. Some call this metal repousse, but for me, it is the exact same thing as tooling leather. I'm using Amaco's pewter - I've been using it since 2004 and it is one of my all time favorite mediums!




Amazing what you can do with a single piece of rolled pewter!

Close up of the charms. Again, these are from 1-800-dreidle

And did you notice how well I painted the light blue background? Another video?

He is the Way, the Truth, the Life....

He is the Light of the World.....the Bread of Life.