Outside Carrot Top Studio: Time With Family & Life Lessons

Last week I ventured out of Carrot Top Studio to head East for time with family. Here's my mom (who I get my gift of color placement and love of fabrics from) and my daughter (who has a great artistic eye for photography) and that's my dear son making the photo bomb. His action is an example of the good fun we were able to have throughout the holiday. Life lesson: laughter is a gift.

Many of you have bought our peace and healing themed stoles that give back to the Alzheimer's Association in honor of my mother in law. We loaded the iPad with pictures from her past and enjoyed traveling down memory lane with her. She doesn't speak much anymore but it was interesting to see which images she'd react to by tapping on the screen with her hands. Life lesson: visual images can speak loudly.

Last Monday we spent time with my husband's Aunt Mary. She was the one that introduced my husband to the joy of trips into New York City for shopping, fine food, and a bit of Italian opera. In recent years we all loved eating strawberry ice cream with her as this particular food brought her little bits of joy. Aunt Mary was surprisingly called home as she slept that night. Life lesson: savor each moment and embrace those little bits of joy.

I write this on the 6th Day of Christmas. As Christians we can mark this day not just by thinking of the six geese a laying in the popular Christmas song but as the six days of creation that confesses God as Creator and Sustainer of the world (Genesis 1). My take away from a very full last week, logging 30 hours of driving, spending time with friends in our former hometown, cherishing time with family in three additional cities, and celebrating the life of a loved one leads me to the last life lesson: "He upholds all things by the word of his power." Hebrews 1:3. I am so grateful for God's love and the witness I have had to it this past week! 

P.S....it is great to be back in the studio....doing some cleaning out and goal setting this week! We'll be back with new inventory and plenty of ideas for 2015! Follow us on Facebook or Instagram (carrottopstudio) for the latest news!

What's New?

So you're curious as to what's new in the world of Carrot Top Studio? I'm bursting with joy that my son asked his girlfriend to marry him! We love this young lady and it's been exciting to watch their relationship grow over the last couple of years. And our dear daughter has returned from a semester abroad in Belize. She returns more mature and wiser to the ways of the world and the desires of the good Lord for the care of His creation. If you mentor anyone that is college aged I can highly recommend the Creation Care Study Program with campuses in Belize and New Zealand.  

These guys keep me on my toes when I'm not in the studio!

What? You were really asking about what's new in the studio? Ok! There's lots to share there too! We added three new designs to our Christmas ministry stole collection this season.

The 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' stole (on the left) is lovely first because we think the whimsical buildings echo the joy of the Christmas celebration. Secondly, some of the gold stars are created out of sheer gold fabric and then free motion stitched with variegated threads. They are on top of a silver dotted background which truly says that this stole and its message are special. The middle stole in the image above honors the names of Jesus that are foretold in the book of Isaiah. The holly echos the prophecy of the King we await as it symbolizes the crown of thorns that will eventually be worn at the Messiah's death. This death and eventual resurrection of course complete the story. The stems of the holly add an interesting detail being created out of softly textured yarns. Lastly, we've redesigned an old favorite seller with the nativity border stole. Often artists depict the nativity as if they were seeing it in their hometown. If that were Carrot Top Studio we'd have surrounded the stable with evergreens and the tall deciduous trees of Michigan. But for this design we've chosen the palm tree which might have actually existed in Bethlehem. 

May those that you minister to be blessed with meaningful visuals that help connect them to the story of Christmas.