mavora art and design

inspire with what you have

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I have a friend in the hospital. She'll be there for another month at least. She's young and amazing and this is ver unexpected. Last week before my visit I really wanted to bring something that would be pretty and encouraging so I designed an encouraging illustration and framed it. (above) 

Next week I hope to paste a giant paper full of cards from her friends at our church. Her vision is very bad at the moment so I'm thinking of lining the cards up to make a big cross or heart. She can't read each card but I want her to see the big picture of love. You can say a prayer for her if you'd like. Her name is Jenni.

And to all my readers who give tirelessly to sick loved ones or are hurting yourself. This picture can be for you too. Feel free to print it at no charge.

special deal

God blessed me twice this week in very big ways! I'm overwhelmed by His kindness and I just want to shout thanks and pass on some love!

Looking through my stock tonight I ran across a recently mis-ordered ream of card stock. I have 80lb flat ivory card stock (I usually sell 80lb linen). Because of this and God's goodness to me, I want to offer the first two brides to comment or e-mail 50% off any invitation purchased using this card stock*. That's less than $2.00 an invite set! I hope it blesses two brides with great style and a tight budget.

*This deal does not include folders but does include envelopes up to 150 invitations and rsvp cards. 80lb flat, ivory card stock only. Cannot be combined with any other offers. 

my first goat

Mavora Art and Design gives to World Vision every year. One dollar from every Big Picture Card that sells is donated and we always throw in more. I just sold a set of 12 cards last month and with all my wedding sales I knew I had some profits to share. I've never purchased a goat before, usually just ducks and chickens, and once I sent money toward a well - I'm so excited about the goat though! Thank you to all my clients that support my little design biz. You all bought a little piece of a goat with your save the dates and business designs! Now another family has a way to help provide for themselves. I pray today for those in the world that don't have food, medicine, and clean water and I'm thankful that the Lord has blessed my family so much.

I have a feeling "my goat" is going to be awesome. 

useful

In my bible study last night Beth Moore said, "Our ego wants us to be special rather then useful." That's my thought for today - trying to thank God that I am just useful. Working my butt off useful.

designing

parenting

friending

worshiping

the long stroll

So today I did something that I thought was brave and my husband (and the lady at starbucks where I had to pee) thought was dumb. I walked from my house to the river downtown. I figured, hey, I need to walk today, I need to get to the river, and I don't know how to fold this HUGE stroller I just got for free. My new house is so close to downtown but....not quite THAT close. It took me 50 minutes to walk about 3 miles with this very large stroller in 97 degree weather. When I hit Vine Street I just focused on the trees - get to the trees!! I met up with my church at the park to give away Otter Pops for free as a blessing. The problem was that after such a walk in the heat and continuing to walk in the sun and pass out frozen sticks of love I began to see half the park and half black fuzziness. Trying to take care of two kids in such conditions is a tad difficult too. When you're alone you can pity yourself and sit down, when you have a three years old who has to pee you keep walking. Somehow I managed to make it without passing out....but made it to what? Sitting by the river with one kid afraid of the water and one infant SCREAMING because (I can only guess) she's so very hungry but too hot to eat. Needless to say I scooped them all up in the stroller as soon as I stopped seeing spots and made it back to the McKinley Arts center, another 10 minute walk away, where my rescuer Tim who left work came to pick me up. So it all worked out...kinda.

This was my view from the extraction point - laying on my back in the shade.

super hero dreams

I had my weekly staff meeting for Coram Deo today - yes I work ANOTHER job, because two kids and my own business is just not enough - HA!. I do communications and just some people stuff for my church that I love and it makes a few extra bucks that we desperately need. The last few weeks I've been working extra - catching up from maternity leave I guess - and I'm excited about the things I'm doing. Ministry is what I'm actually trained in by the way. 

So today it happened again. I wanted to be a super hero. I got really excited and the music montage started playing in my head and I envisioned all the stuff I could do. It was stuff for God this time but other times it's things in design or even just wanting to be a super mom. And then the music floating over my head crashed down on top of me. Why? Probably because Calli spit up so much it soaked me AND still managed to make an audible splash on the floor. Or maybe it was the fact that Grant asked 6 questions is a row - none of which I really understood {is he talking about a jet or a balloon, because it keeps switching}. Or then again it could have been the fact that there's suddenly no time to eat built into my schedule and still no air conditioning in my car and I begin to feel myself slowly dying. So once again I didn't rise to super hero status but I enjoyed thinking I could for a bit. I think God puts those times of excitement in us just to keep us going. I work so hard for nothing sometimes (or so it seems) but when I get a glimpse of what God is doing thru me, or I see some hope of being someone I want to be, I can keep going. So I think it's okay for all you working moms to aspire to be super heros - we all know it's not gonna happen, but sometimes we just need the dream to keep us going another day. 

seeing god

Sometimes you can't help but see God around you - in a sunset, a waterfall, the kindness of another. I see it often these days in my tiny baby girl, you know, when she's not crying hysterically. 

 

new church designs

I've been slaving for a few weeks now trying to come up with a new bulletin design for my church - Coram Deo in Reno. I got the okay to change the colors to my favorites right now - green and blue. It matches the school we meet in and the vibe of the church as a whole. Plus I got the okay for better paper and more ink usage. I find it challenging to design things with lots of information spanning a whole page or two (which leads me to my next problem: redoing the brochures!) but I'm excited to unveil this new bulletins in about a week, I think it turned out quite well. I hope it makes people feel like they can get to know our church right from the start.