the hugheys

pillows for the Tree of Life Children's Village

2011-07-21T02:33:00.000-07:00

I did these cute pillows with chitenge and they now live in the Freedom home with 14 little orphans who now have a safe home to live in! Praise the Lord!

a baby gift...

2011-07-21T02:30:00.000-07:00

Abigail means Rejoices so I thought this was a great verse to bless her with!

everything's cuter with a little Chitenge fabric

2011-07-21T02:27:00.000-07:00

What is chitenge?

In American culture we cover the top parts of our body but show our legs and thighs in short skirts. In the Zambian culture breastfeeding openly is not an issue but if you are female you must keep everything covered from your midriff down to below your thighs. In Zambia this area of the body is seen as the erotic area and shouldn’t be shown, not even in trousers.

In order to preserve their modesty then, Zambian women, in rural areas especially, wear something called a chitenge. A chitenge is a piece of cloth, 2 yards or meters in length that women wrap around their body. The width of the cloth is long enough to cover you more or less from your waist to your ankles.

Go to a village in Zambia or the comounds in the city of Lusaka and it would be very unusual to find a woman not wearing a chitenge. It is a practical item too, it covers your clothes which can become dirty quite quickly in the dust and charcoal stoves, it can be used to cover your hair so you don’t smell of smoke from cooking and it can be coiled onto the crown of the head as padding when you fetch water and they are essential for carrying your baby.

The patterns and colours are immensely varied and I have seen chitenges with pictures of politicians on them, light bulbs, even mobile phones. There are some incredibly beautiful patterns and colors and I am obsessed with them. These days, I think all things are better with a little chitenge on it. So I in my life of no Hobby Lobby or Michaels or really any access to art supplies I have been using chitenge for everything. I use it for wrapping gifts, decorating the girls rooms, pillows and art! I have found it a good substitute for the cute scrapbooking papers I used to use in the states for some of my artwork!

This is a piece that I did for a girl whe was here in Zambia for Camp LIFE. I think it turned out really cute! Let me knoe if you want one!

A kitchen I painted hours before we moved to Africa...

2011-07-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

great video from when the boys were small

2010-10-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

This video was taken after I got a box of bridesmaid dresses to try on for my sis-n-laws wedding. I opened the box, went to the bedroom and tried them on. I came out, maybe 10 minutes later, to find this.... BTW, to this day, I still occasionally find popcorn pieces around the house!

Hopes I have for loving my children well...

2010-10-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Let there be much spontaneous celebration verbally of every hopeful sign of life and goodness in our children.
Let us forgive them often and be longsuffering.
Let us serve them and not use them.
Let us lavish them with joyful participation in their interests.
Let us model for them the joy of knowing and submitting to the Lord Jesus.
Let us apologize often when we fall short of our own Father’s requirements.
Let us pray for them without ceasing.
Let us saturate them with the word of God from the moment they are in the womb (the uterus is not sound proof).
Let us involve them in happy ministry experiences and show them it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Let them see us sing to the King.
Let us teach them relentlessly the meaning of the gospel in the hope that God will open their eyes and make them alive. It happens through the gospel (1 Peter 1:22-25).

oil paintings

2010-10-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

"I pray that you being rooted and established
in love may have power to grasp

how wide and long and high deep is the love of Christ."

This is a lilly that I enlarged by at least 100%

until the background was more abstract.

I wanted the lilly to be true to form and the

background to have a more whimsical effect.

is there anything better than little boys in a tree?

2010-09-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Maybe one dressed as a rockstar?

or maybe a little girl dressed as little bo-peep/princess?

Fall Wreath Makeover

2010-09-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my "fall wreath" which I have been using for many years now.

It is starting to get REALLY BORING and I wanted a new one.

Howver the ones I liked did not fit our missionary budget...

So, I went to HL and picked up this great sign that reads, "With Grace Surround Us," and a gorgeous green acorn ornament and wired them to the wreath. I used some double-face satin ribbon I already had and it freshened it up beautifully!

and here is my sweet girl who wanted in on the camera time!

I Peter 3:4: one of our prayers for the girls!

2010-09-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is a big painting I did for the girls room. I was really happy with how it turned out and I pray that when we they look at it they know God is good and they are loved dearly!

Oaks of Righteousness

2010-08-05T02:26:00.000-07:00

A painting i did for some friends of ours boys room. I traced their hands for the painting.

2008 Christmas Card

2010-08-05T02:04:00.000-07:00

Love this baby girl!!!

2010-08-05T02:02:00.001-07:00

love this picture of my baby girl!

2010-08-05T02:01:00.001-07:00

In Christ Alone...

2010-08-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

SOLD!! for a sweet baby who is also an emmy but emersyn!

some art pieces...

2009-12-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

Tree of life!

SOLD!!

"I pray that you being rooted and established in love will have power to grasp how high and wide and long and deep is the love of Christ."

"Peace be with peace you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

SOLD!!

"whatever..."

The Kahleys guest room

2009-10-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

This bedroom had just been transitioned from a nursery and the guest bed and bedding were stuck in there awaiting a re-do. Here I come!

Guest Room Before

and after...

I wanted to do an eclectic mix of things. Old and new, a little modern and a little traditional. I found this beautiful rich brown floral duvet with a burlap trim and a reddish spice satiny quilt to dress the bed with. I added a pillow made out of paper, which is really cool. Burlap like panels dress the window. Antique prints advertising sewing patterns for beautiful women's dresses are framed above the bed and a great hutch that will eventually house the flat screen hangs on the opposite wall. On the bed-side tables are sitting the two most GORGEOUS tortoise glass lamps with the great black shades on them.

a beautiful blue capiz bowl hangs above the towel bar.

Selah Center

2009-10-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Reception area BEFORE

This Doctor took over this practice from a doctor that was retiring. They needed some major updating!! We took out the window and closed in the wall and also the ledge above the doorway. Everything actually looks so much warmer in person, truly, it does! I thought the walls needed some texture to them so we chose a very beautiful textured paper with beautiful bamboo leaves in warm brown tones. We added some comfy furniture and great lamps. The hallway has a water fountain that hangs on the wall. The office incorporated colors and elements inspired by nature.

Reception Area AFTER

Reception Area BEFORE
I commissioned a painting of birds that references Luke 14. I love how it turned out. The artist did a great job and is a pastor at our church. He is awesome!

Reception Area AFTER

Conference Room BEFORE

The conference room had THE MOST AWFUL FURNITURE in it!! and truly that is being nice :o) I found a great table and six beautiful parsons chairs on casters and slip-covered in them a great espresso brown.

Conference Room AFTER

The Engelsons Redecorating

2009-10-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

This is Clay's sister's apartment in NYC. It is such a cute home! It is getting a little crowded with baby j in the "nursery nook" (which once was home to the kitchen table!) So fun! I am ready Dave's friend! You too can have this adorable and welcoming home!

Kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen AFTER

Bedroom BEFORE

Bedroom AFTER

Living room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

the hewletts

2009-10-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures that I did from the hewlett's bedroom and bath...

BEFORE

AFTER

Solidarity With The Poor

2009-10-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

This was taken from a blog that I read.... take your vitamin Z

"Like nothing else could ever do, the gospel instills in me a heart for the downcast, the poverty-stricken, and those in need of physical mercies, especially when such persons are of the household of faith.
When I see persons who are materially poor, I instantly feel a kinship with them, for they are physically what I was spiritually when my heart was closed to Christ. Perhaps some of them are in their condition because of sin, but so was I. Perhaps they are unkind when I try to help them; but I, too, have been spiteful to God when He has sought to help me. Perhaps they are thankless and even abuse the kindness I show them, but how many times have I been thankless and used what God has given me to serve selfish ends?
Perhaps a poverty-stricken person will be blessed and changed as a result of some kindness I show him. If so, God be praised for His grace through me. But if the person walks away unchanged by my kindness, then I still rejoice over the opportunity to love as God loves. Perhaps the person will repent in time; but for now, my heart is chastened and made wiser by the tangible depiction of what I myself have done to God on numerous occasions.
The gospel reminds me daily of the spiritual poverty into which I was born and also of the staggering generosity of Christ towards me. Such reminders instill in me both a felt connection to the poor and a desire to show them the same generosity that has been lavished on me. When ministering to the poor with these motivations, I not only preach the gospel to them through word and deed, but I reenact the gospel to my own benefit as well."

- Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians

there are no words...

2009-10-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

I went to the bathroom and smelled something AWFUL!

I thought she must still be asleep because she wasn't making any noise,

but I thought I'd better check...

It was the most shocking moment of my motherhood life, maybe my whole life.... I could not believe the amount of poop covering her body. She was not crying. She was snuggling with her gigi and sucking on her passy, both which were covered in poop! She even kept smiling at me, a little smile... like, "I'm sorry mom, have I done something wrong?"

There was a clean white circle of skin around her mouth once I took the passy out. Everything in her bed, including the bed itself was covered in poop. BUT, the diaper was spotless, clean and tucked in the corner of the bed as if she wanted to make sure it stayed 'poop free'.

It took three baths, many loads of laundry and bleach to make all this nastiness go away! I seriously thought about throwing the baby out with the bath water. I also thought, "should I spray lysol on her or febreze her?"

I decided against both.

Pictures courtesy of my dear friend barb who saw first-hand what words could not describe and what pictures could not fully capture!

Wow-- an amazing truth...

2009-09-30T06:19:00.001-07:00

The Heart of Sanctification

“For, until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by his paternal care, and that he is the author of all their blessings, so that naught is to be looked for away from him, they will never submit to him in voluntary obedience; no, unless they place their entire happiness in him, they will never yield up their whole selves to him in truth and sincerity.”

- John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religio n, Bk I, Ch. 2

tree art

2009-08-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is a picture that I have been wanting to do for a long time for the girl's room and i love how it turned out! It is made with 5 separate canvases, 1 8X10, 2 11X14, 1 14X18, and one 12X12 canvas.

kennedy jewel cox

2009-08-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

my sweet friend welcomed her long-awaited little girl to the world on Saturday, August 29. This is hanging in her nursery! Kennedy means strength and jewel means joy. I googled those two meanings in my esv and found this verse. so fun!

door banners

2009-08-31T06:12:00.000-07:00

These are some door banners that I have been doing for our moms. They have all of the kids handprints on them! So fun. I will be posting some more soon that don't have handprints but could be for anyone!

2009-08-31T05:59:00.000-07:00

I did this for Clay's cousin who is a freshman at aTm this semester!

j is for jessica!

jess, hope you have a great year!

2009-08-31T04:53:00.001-07:00

I can't paint without all of the kids wanting to dive right in and I can hardly keep everything from having acrylic paint on it. Their little hands, all 6 of them... (emmy hasn't figured out how to get in the middle of it all yet....) move so darn fast! Ellie and I did this painting together. I took the painting she did and used it to cut the letters for Jake's name out of. I thought it turned out pretty darn cute!

Here is a sweet picture of Jake with Ellie! He is such a cute baby and I cant wait to see him again!

kelsey goes to ACU

2009-08-31T04:35:00.000-07:00

our sweet babysitter left for ACU this summer! The kids are already missing her and so am I!

I painted this for her dorm room!

SNO CONES

2009-08-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

Carrie, Ali and Emmett were in town this summer for about a month in between their move from boulder, CO to San Fran, CA. I hated to see them go. We had lots of fun hanging out and the kids had a great time together. Here they are eating sno cones...

Soooo cute!

We made it to London!

2009-06-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip and just had fish and chips and are going to bed. Our flight leaves London at 11:30ish London time. We get to dallas tomorrow afternoon. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE GIRLS!! If someone reads this, please let call my mom and clay's mom and let her know we made it to london! They may not see this since it is the weekend!!!
The flight here was good we were de-pesticized per the world health organization. So there should be no malaria follwing us back to the states! The flight was great and the boys were really good. Their grandmothers would not have been real happy to see some of the places that the boys traveled over the week, but they were safe and under God's protection! The boys made lots of friends and it was so fun to watch them play with the kids. Several of our boys came to trust the Lord as their savior and we are praying that several of them that suffered abuse and lots of bad dreams will have healing from those things which have held them captive for so long. \we can't wait to show you video of Bennett dancing with the Zambians. It is priceless!!!

Sunday Night in Zambia

2009-05-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

We start camp Life tomorrow. We have already had an incredible time. It has been a blast watching the boys interact with the Zambians. We went yesterday out into the kabanana community. We played with the children in the community resource center. It is a safe-haven for children in that community. A kind-of YMCA, “ Zambian style,” but with intense discipleship and a 24 hour care for children who find themselves in dangerous situations. After about 1 ½ hours of playing with the children we took one month of food to four different families.
The homes were small and dark and most children slept on the dirt floors. One home was a one-room mud hut that was about 9’ X 16’. There were 9 children and a very elderly grandmother that cared for them. I am not sure that the food we gave them did not displace a child. We gave them the food and told them they were receiving the food as a gift and God wanted them to know that He loved them very much and that He is a good God. We prayed for all the families and the boys interacted with all of the village children and were such a great reflection of the love of Christ!
Please pray tomorrow that all of the children will show up for camp and will not be detained by their caretakers. Pray that God will use us and our children to communicate the Amazing message of God’s love. Clay’s leader group is Clay, Bennett, Omega and Aaron. My group is Erin, Parker, Nelly and Eric. Tomorrow is Emerson’s 1st birthday and I am hoping that I can talk to her!! Love you all! The boys are safe and having a great time. They peed in some very questionable places yesterday!!! But, all is well!!

Judy's painting

2009-04-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

This is a painting for one of my dear friends! I used her bedding as the inspiration! I had lots of fun doing it. Ellie was home with me and she loved getting to paint all day! It was a little messy and my rug might not ever be the same...

2009-04-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

A baby gift for my newest nephew. His due date is fast approaching and I am so sad to miss the baby shower this weekend! His bedding is made out of this beautiful rich dark chocolate and linen color. I crocheted a blanket to match the bedding and added an icy blue ruffle to personalize it for him! We can't wait to meet you baby engelson!

This towel is for another baby shower I have this weekend. These full size hooded towels are a hit at our house. All of my kids have one and they love to wrap up in them after baths! I had to display this one on my sweetest! ...because she is too cute in it!

Here is a close up of the fabrics!

christmas paintings

2009-02-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

I did a bunch of these for christmas gifts.

They turned out really cute and made great teacher's gifts!

This is a silly little painting that I think is cute. I wasn't brave enough to give it to anyone but my mom though!

teacher's gifts

2009-02-02T12:50:00.000-08:00

This was for bennett's lead teacher last year for preschool. She teaches full time now in fourth grade and has it hanging in her classroom!

This was for parker's kindergarten teacher last year.

This was a teacher's gift for bennett's teacher last year!

Nursery paintings

2009-02-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of paintings that I have done for friends' nurseries. They are so much fun for me to paint! All of these match the decor for each baby's room.

This was for a dear friend's nursery. It is sometimes scary to give something so personal to someone. You don't want for them to be disappointed in it and you don't want for them to feel like they have to hang it just because you painted it for them. Well, she cried.... and they were tears of joy! So much fun!!

This was for a sweet little girl's nursery!

This was for a friend's little girl that was born one day before Emerson. Her room was in black and ivory and red. It was hard painting something soft enough for a nursery in those colors and then I had the idea to put fabric on the canvas first and then paint on top of it. I thought it turned out cute.

elliana's headboard

2009-02-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

I just finished this! It is the headboard for ellie's bed. This use to be clay's grandfather's bed when he was first married. It was in incredible condition and so i refurbed it with a fun girly painting. I love how it turned out and ellie loves it even more....

my first blog

2008-12-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

So how many forms of media can I display my life on and which ones do I enjoy the most! I have a .mac page, myspace, facebook, .mac blog page and now a blog page! They all look so glamourous and you don't want to be left out! I guess it is today's form of journaling, but I don't usually let my friends and random people read my journal... You can't realistically keep all of them updated. So, where I am now.... I have decided I am a facebook girl over a myspace page... that is easy... the .mac blog is not easy to operate, so I never use that. The web-page is easy to update pretty much, but I don't know how many people actually look at it and keep up with us that way. So, we'll see. I guess you will see pretty quickly if I decide I am a blogger!