Confirmation Stole Blanks

How they came to be... Many years ago I was approached by my home church to create stoles for our confirmands. Many sewers came together to pray for and create those first 30+ stoles. And I found that the process of exploring spiritual gifts and embellishing the stoles was a lot of fun...even for the kids that said, "I can't draw." The icing on the cake was the worship service that blessed the confirmands and led them to begin their next phase in their faith journey. The students came forward with their parents and the pastor laid the stole around their neck and prayed for them one by one. The Carrot Top Studio confirmation stole blanks have since been offered in our online store to enhance the confirmation process. Some churches purchase them (in red or white) to be used as is, but the original idea was that the stole blank would be used for students to embellish on their own. Following the FREE tip sheet on our website or the purchased curriculum youth leaders have used fabric paint, iron on appliqué,  embroidery and other techniques to personalize these waist length stoles as symbols of the students call to their unique walk with the Lord.

Meet Laura! We'd like to introduce you to the charming seamstress behind your confirmation stole blanks. Laura is a young women with an easy smile who has been sewing for years. She is living in Pittsburgh as her first venture away from the home she grew up in. In addition to sewing the confirmation stole blanks this dynamo packs her time with a full time job, an apprenticeship with a tailor, activity in her church and an occasional mission trip abroad! When Laura and I decided to give this sewing deal a try I shared my steps for successful construction and then added that I tried to say a prayer for the confirmands as I was sewing. I didn't know Laura well at this point but when I saw her eyes twinkle at this thought I felt confident that this would all work out in a lovely way...because I knew she understood where I was coming from. Laura is working hard at honing her skills in hopes that she will someday work behind the scenes in theater.


Still need to purchase your confirmation stole blanks? Send us an email telling us: 

1. how many stoles you'll need 
2. red stoles or white
3. your name
4. your shipping address

We'll confirm your order, inform you of the shipping/handling fee for Priority mail and arrange for payment via Paypal or a paper invoice.

Peace

Peace Be Still, He Qi

Last week I had the pleasure of attending an informal gallery talk by Dr. He Qi. He spoke about studying Jesus' ministry and all that he taught. This artist sees the common theme of peace throughout the earthly life of Christ. After growing up and surviving the Cultural Revolution in China the artist has devoted the message of his artwork to that of peace while telling the stories of the Old and New Testaments through his unique visual interpretation.

The message of the gallery talk has not left me this week as I've watched and listened to a lot of disharmony and distress unfold in the news worldwide. I have said it before and will say it again....the artist in my sometimes has to work through these things by creating. In the studio, this batik fabric spoke to me and new stole design unfolded. Peaceful, calming colors of mint green, pale pink, and peach are embellished by dragonflies and butterflies. These creatures, both symbols of the Resurrection,  are flitting serenely across the lovely variegated, dyed fabric. Thinking about the scripture: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, Ephesians 2:14, we accented the border with "peace" translated into several different languages...shalom (Hebrew), mir (Czechoslovakian), rahu (Estonian), paix (French), asti (Kurdish), pace (Romanian), satta (Jamaican), beke (Hungarian), nala (Lozi). 

Signing off, praying for world peace, that the walls may come down.

**This stole is part of our peace and healing collection. You can see it on the website here.