Spring forward, fall back

Phew! Now that I've had a chance to catch my breath, I realized it's been two months since I last posted! Not that I've been lounging around. I've been to the emergency room (twice in one day!), helped host the Episcopal House of Bishops (including a trip to Mexico), staffed our annual Diocesan Convention, had a flu-like illness, AND gave myself a concussion!

In between all that I have managed to sneak in a few craft projects....

First of all, I created this Betsy Ray bracelet while thinking about my favorite kidlit author, Maud Hart Lovelace. While I don't know if she ever play mah jongg, the tiny green print on this set makes me think of her and the old-fashioned wallpaper that might have adorned the rooms of her or her friends. And it's green which was her favorite color! So I chose her birthdate, 4/25/92 and added a green dragon since 1892 was the year of the dragon. The beads I chose are 10mm jade since Maud mentions jade so often in her Betsy-Tacy books. It's available in my Etsy shop.

I made this Golden Anniversary bracelet in honor of my parents' upcoming 50th anniversary. We love the colorful gold confetti mah jongg tiles and Mom paired it with the 10mm blue fiber optic rounds since it picks up one of the many colors in the tiles. Personalized versions of this are available in my Etsy shop.

I got two lots of blank mah jong tiles which I thought would be fun for jewelry - and they are! The first is a blue-striped Mah Jongg bracelet with 10mm powder blue fiber optic rounds, although white would work well, too. It's available in my Etsy shop.

I also got these lavender mah jongg tiles and paired them with cracked blue and lavender resin beads of slightly differing sizes. It's fun and makes me smile. It's available in my Etsy shop.

Finally, two necklaces. The first is a set I've admired for awhile so I was delighted when one appeared in a mixed lot I bought. It features two traditionally dressed Chinese children in a colorful print. I plan to keep this one, but if I get enough requests I can buy a set and make more. It's on a 20 inch steel cable necklace with a magnetic clasp.

I also made an elegant necklace from a single gold and black glitter tile on a 20 inch black steel cable necklace with a magnetic clasp. There's another that's black with a faint glittering in it like stars but I'll have to shoot that another day.

I need to make up some new bracelets on 9 inch steel cables which will match the necklaces. Look for those soon! (Seven inch cables are also available but I personally think they'll be too small for anyone to wear after stringing a tile on it.)

I also intend to make more Christmas items, such as my Gingerbread bracelets.

My friend Jennifer taught me to crochet this fall, thanks Jen! Once I get the hang of it I can't wait to try some felting.

Click on any photo to see it larger.

Episco-what?

As a cradle Episcopalian, I grew up with almost everyone saying “Episco-what?” when I told them what religion I was. Imagine my surprise and delight when I was in seventh or eighth grade to discover in the school’s library a series of books featuring a girl my age who was an Episcopalian, too!

These delightful books by Maud Hart Lovelace have been in and out of print since their publication began in 1940. Betsy, her family and her friends live an idyllic life in fictional Deep Valley, Minnesota about 1900. It starts with Betsy’s fifth birthday and goes through her first few years of marriage. But while it’s an idyllic life, it also shares some of life’s hardships: disappointment, heartbreak, and death.

In the first four Betsy-Tacy (1940), Betsy-Tacy and Tib (1941), Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (1942), and Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown (1943) Betsy attends the Baptist church while her friend Tib goes to the Episcopal church. These four books have usually been in print since their initial publication.

However, in the harder to find Heaven to Betsy (1945) Betsy and her older sister decide to become Episcopalians! In some of the wisest writing I’ve ever read Betsy’s father says of their decision,

“The important thing isn’t what church you want to join but whether you want to join a church at all.”

After more discussion he says,

“And we support the church. You have to think of that. Churches need the income just as a family does; and it is your duty to support your church if you join one. With more than money, too. A church needs members who take an active part in the church work. Mother and I don’t do as much as some, and some folks overdo it, in my opinion, but we try to carry our load. My point is that if you’re going to join a church, you want to be prepared to support it, both with money and time.

“But that’s just the beginning,” Mr. Ray went on, and sat straight in his chair. “It isn’t enough to go to church, and to support the church. The most important part of religion isn’t in any church. It’s down in your own heart. Religion is in your thoughts, and in the way you act from day to day, in the way you treat other people. It’s honesty, and unselfishness, and kindness. Especially kindness.”

I can pretty much say that everything I learned as a kid about faith, religion and the Episcopal church, I learned from Betsy Ray and her father, thanks to fellow Episcopalian Maud Hart Lovelace. (The change of religion was so controversial when it was released in 1945 that some libraries, such as the New York Public Library, banned it!)

On Sept. 29, 2009 HarperCollins in reissuing six of these out-of-print books in three volumes as part of their Harper Perennial Modern Classics:

• Heaven to Betsy (1945) and Betsy in Spite of Herself (1946) with a forward by Laura Lippman
• Betsy Was a Junior (1947) and Betsy and Joe (1948) with a forward by Meg Cabot
• Betsy and the Great World (1952) and Betsy's Wedding (1955) with a forward by Anna Quindlen

And finally, three very hard to find books set in Deep Valley (including my first-read and absolute favorite, Emily of Deep Valley) will be reissued Oct. 12, 2010 as Harper Perennial Modern Classics:

• Carney's House Party (1949) and Winona's Pony Cart (1953)
• Emily of Deep Valley (1950)

I hope that you find these books as delightful as I have over the past 30 years. I have worn out library copies, paperbacks, and hardbacks reading and rereading this series, and am delighted to have the chance to buy more copies to share with my friends and family, especially my church family.