happy easter

It's Easter! This may well disappoint but this isn't a post filled with eggs, bunnies, chocolate, fluffy chicks or a mixture of the above. This is a canvas that I designed that hangs on our wall all year round to remind us that Jesus has risen! 

We remember this at Easter but really we can give thanks every day that Jesus conquered death once and for all on the cross. God loved us and blessed us but rather than acknowledging our maker, we have all turned away from him. Our selfishness has ruined the earth we live on and created a massive barrier between us and God. Instead of getting what we deserve he showed us amazing love and grace in sending his Son to live the obedient life we never could and dying the death that we deserve. He took our punishment even though he was betrayed, mocked and ridiculed all the way to the cross. 

Jesus wasn't just a good man; he was either the son of God sent to save us or a total nutter who voluntarily died an excruciating death for no reason! Who do you think he was? On Easter Sunday we remember how he rose from death and offered us new life in him. God always had a plan to save us from ourselves and on the cross all those promises came true. He longs for you to accept that you can't save yourself but instead put your trust in Jesus. Through him you can be forgiven and enjoy a relationship with your creator! This is the best news you'll ever hear because there is no way we can earn favour with a perfect and holy God. Even our kindest actions are tainted by selfishness. 

Too often we are looking all around us, desperately trying to find hope, happiness and fulfilment in the things of this world but it doesn't take too long before we realise these things never deliver the satisfaction they promise. But Jesus does and if our trust is in him alone, we receive an inheritance that lasts forever. Without Jesus we all deserve eternal punishment for how we've rebelled against a loving God but with him we have also defeated death and will live on in a world made new. This time there will be no sin to mess it up and we will give God the worship he deserves! Everything thing will be as it should.

If you'd like to make your own canvas you can download the artwork here and send to any canvas printing company. I used My Picture as it was really reasonable.

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happy but naughty

This is a pretty random post for Good Friday but it was ready to go and who knows, you might be looking to bake some treats with the extra time you have over the long weekend. It was Nick's Birthday on Monday and therefore time to bake something a little bit extravagant. This peanut butter & salted caramel mountain is pretty much a heart attack in a cake but I'm not sure Birthdays are about doing anything by halves! If you want to give it ago then find the recipe here. Luckily our church family very helpful demolished the left overs. This is not a cake for 2 people! 

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happy birthday mr muncey

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two little words

Receiving a little thank you card the other day reminded me just how nice it is to get one. Here's a pack of thank you cards I made on request for a friend. Somehow I keep on being drawn back to my ink pot at the moment. I used to be a little ink crazy during my BTEC in art but somewhere along the line I forgot how satisfying it is to write or draw with the stuff. Good thing I remembered.

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hello shepherd's bush

If you’ve read my blog for a little while then you might well remember this post, written just before moving to London to set out on a bit of an adventure. God very obviously guided Nick and I to Shepherd's Bush to be a part of Trinity West Church. Reuben and Louisa Hunter, started the church from scratch in 2012 and by the time we were able to move to TW, it was a group of 22. Nick has been working as an intern for the church since November and we’ve both LOVED getting more and more involved in our new church family and are excited about our vision of reaching the local area with the good news of Jesus. It’s not without challenges but it has been really encouraging to be part of God's work so far. After launching publicly in January this year, God has already brought quite a few new people to join us, which is awesome!

Yesterday our new website was launched, so take a peak right here. Nick has spent hours getting the site up, running and looking slick. Seeing the end product you wouldn’t think this was his first time building a website! I worked on the above artwork for our current sermon series in Luke’s gospel and another fellow creative among us worked on a lot of the photography, the video and Exodus series artwork. 
If you live in the area and want to come along and join us on a Sunday morning, whether you’re a Christian or you’re just intrigued then please do. We’d love to have you. Jesus really is a saviour for ALL, no matter who you are, where you’re from or what you’ve done!

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spring colour inspiration

watch / DIY mouse mat / regret nothing print / kitchen / London photograph / iphone case / bonjour amour print / single bead necklace

It's mildly amusing that I'm posting this on such a dull and dreary day. It seems a very long way from spring, not helped by the blizzards earlier this week! Nevertheless this fresh colour combination might put a 'spring' in your step and in the meantime I'm just grateful for more sunlight hours. Leaving work while it's still light is a real treat. 

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you, me, geometry

Here's a simple DIY idea for yourself or even better, a gift. When I think fridge magnets, I usually think 'tacky' but these should add some colour and life to your fridge or notice board without the tat. All you need is...

For the gold areas I used my gold metallic paint as a base and then covered this with two layers of gold glitter Barry M nail polish. It might sound strange but it worked and it's ridiculously durable. Getting that gold stuff off my nails is some hard graft I'm telling you!

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woodland love

This project has been quite the lingerer. Back in September I realised I was becoming far too pally with my computer and losing touch with the art of drawing. Most things I produce at work or in my own time, start as drawings or have an element of handwork but it felt like too long since I just sat and sketched for a good few hours. If I could only count the hours I spent drawing as I was growing up I’m sure it would be a crazy amount! Dad used to bring home old work print outs for me to draw on the back of. His wallet would have taken a serious battering with the amount of paper I could get through otherwise. Back in September I was still a long distance commuter (yuck). I decided to spend a week sketching on my hour long train ride home. Armed with my sketchpad and settled/ wedged into a luggage rack, I did a series of sketches of woodland animals  using tiny lines to create the shape and shading. I combined two of these drawings with some ink work and came up with these prints...eventually. It’s quite nice to have a project you can dip in and out of.

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