Audra Jennings

As Texans, there are many things we are proud of. Bluebonnets in April are one of them.  For the day, I'll simply leave you with these photos I took right behind the Westhill church building.

We've kicked around ideas of other things to cut into books. We haven't done a lot of different things for various reasons. Mainly, we need to keep semi-streamlined because we do so much other stuff. However, on Monday, we started with doing Texas books because we have been asked about them. We started off with red and blue, and have those "in stock" as well as a few other colors. We've done custom orders as well.  For now, all Texas are on solid color books. Some of the patterned books have looser paper covers that make for potentially problematic cutting.  We will absolutely do these any any state! Let me know if you want to order one! They are $12 each... in Texas add tax. I'll ship anywhere in the US.  Next week, I'll be sharing photos of Indiana!

I haven't had much time to get in the studio lately, especially with craft events for three Saturdays in a row, but I did finish off an order this week. This one is Texas State University. I think I may make these in other colleges by the fall, but not as many colleges as the Kleenex box lady has. There is a woman we have seen at numerous craft shows that sells Kleenex box holders like my great grandmother made back in 1982. I do believe she has every university in the United States as well as most every professional sports team. I don't know who on earth actually wants one of these things, but she has tons of them along with gift card holders made from the same needlepoint mesh and yarn. She even had two booths this past weekend. I don't see how she would have covered her booth fees. She told me one time how much she had sold during a given weekend. I didn't believe her. Below I have just one example of the boxes she does in a random college, true to the randomne...

I don't think I've shared enough vacation pictures. I have been working on getting a few uploaded to Shutterfly so I can print some for a collage picture frame. I realized that out of somewhere around 800 pictures, none of us got a picture of the snowy peaks around Flagstaff, just one in New Mexico.

It's a typical Texas winter around here. Cool one day, 70-something the next. Thankfully, no one seems to care too much because I've still sold at least 6 hats this week. Thank goodness for the messy bun craze! (A couple of these didn't have holes in them though.) Speaking of Texas... We did Texas signs in other colors. We'll do other states in whatever color you want too!

An interview with Anita Higman, author of A Marriage in Middlebury Can you pinpoint one decision, one moment, one action that changed your life forever? We all have definable moments that shape who we are and the path we follow, but sometimes other people make that decision for us. In A Marriage in Middlebury (Abingdon Press/November 5, 2013/ISBN: 978-1-4267-3387-1/$14.99), Anita Higman weaves a heartwarming tale of how one choice takes a woman down an unexpected path to forgiveness. Q: What was your inspiration for A Marriage in Middlebury ? The idea for this book came from my absolute love of tearooms in Texas. More than a decade ago I met a woman named Linda Becker who opened a tearoom in the Houston burbs called Tea for Two. Her eatery and gift shop did so well she opened a second shop. Throughout the years I’ve enjoyed her wonderful tearoom fare as well as the quaint ambiance. Linda’s tearoom isn’t just a café — it’s a gathering place for friends, a place to eat h...

Forgive like Christ forgave us Anita Higman takes readers to a quaint Texan town with a tale of forgiveness, hope and love. Can you pinpoint one decision, one moment, one action that changed your life forever? We all have definable moments that shape who we are and the path we follow, but sometimes other people make that decision for us. In A Marriage in Middlebury (Abingdon Press/November 5, 2013/ISBN: 978-1-4267-3387-1/$14.99), Anita Higman weaves a heartwarming tale of how one choice takes a woman down an unexpected path to forgiveness. At a young age, Charlotte Rose Hill thought she found the man she would marry: Sam Wilder. But when Sam proposed, Charlotte rejected his offer. Despite her love for Sam, she bowed to the pressures from Sam’s family to break off their relationship. Sam and Charlotte went their separate ways, neither understanding the real reasons why. More than a decade later, Charlotte is comfortable with her life; she owns her own tea shop, ser...

An interview with Colleen Coble,  author of Safe in His Arms Each and every one of us has felt unattractive or awkward at one time or another. Our insecurities often give us the false impression that we are not worthy of the unconditional love and acceptance that we all desire. This sense of love and security is something Margaret O’Brien thought she would never find. In Safe in His Arms (Thomas Nelson/January 29, 2013/ISBN 978-1-59554-914-3/$15.99) by best-selling author Colleen Coble, readers follow Margaret’s journey from never fitting in to realizing the love and acceptance we can only find in the safety of God’s arms. Q: The heroine of Safe in His Arms feels very awkward and unattractive, as we all do at times. Did you draw on any of your own experiences as you wrote Margaret’s story? There’s a lot of me in Margaret. Growing up, I always felt awkward and unattractive. I was taller than every boy in my class until I was in the seventh grade. I hated my wavy hair...

Sometimes it Takes a Stranger to See You for Who You Really Are Best-selling author Colleen Coble Explores Unconditional Love in Safe in His Arms Each and every one of us has felt unattractive or awkward at one time or another. Our insecurities often give us the false impression that we are not worthy of the unconditional love and acceptance that we all desire. This sense of love and security is something Margaret O’Brien thought she would never find. In Safe in His Arms (Thomas Nelson/January 29, 2013/ISBN 978-1-59554-914-3/$15.99) by best-selling author Colleen Coble , readers follow Margaret’s journey from never fitting in to realizing the love and acceptance we can only find in the safety of God’s arms. In this second installment of the Under Texas Stars series, Coble takes readers back to one of her one of her favorite locales and time periods, Texas in 1879. Born and raised on a sprawling ranch, Margaret prides herself on her competence as a rancher. She is c...

I'm too hot and tired to blog. This is what I get for getting out of the house. I went walking 30 minutes at the church without the air on, went out to eat, got home and am just hot and unenthusiastic (guess the word my mom always used "unenthused" is not actually a word or just flat out spelled wrong) about blogging. This is why I'm glad I don't have to get out of the house during the day. Especially since it's over 100. Evidently the cats my in neighborhood think my house is a cooler locale to be. They've made my backyard their haven the past couple of days. Why? I have no idea. Maybe everyone else ran them off. I wouldn't mind if they wanted to hang out here, but it drives me nuts when they shoot off all scared. Especially the mother cat who is actually Spot (as in Spot in the Pot - the palm tree pot). She's been showing up here off and on for years. Her kittens are much prettier than her. One did let me pet it when I kind of snuck up on it....